Even before doing the questionnaire, I knew that my approach to conflict is to be the peacekeeper. This was always how my family describes me when conflict occurs. To be completely honest, conflict gives me the stomach flips and I try to avoid it as much as possible. I don’t enjoy it and find it anxiety-inducing and stressful. My way to deal with conflict is to try to come to a solution as quickly as possible, even if this means I compromise my own wants for the situation. This came out quite strongly in my score, scoring 14 in the areas of ‘Accommodating’ and ‘Compromising’. My next strongest area of conflict resolution in ‘Collaboration’ in which I scored 13 and ‘Avoiding’ gaining 11. These all seem quite high and on reflection it appears that if I can’t accommodate, compromise or collaborate, then I do everything I can to avoid the conflict. This is in line with the way I perceive myself in conflict situations and reiterates on how others perceive me in conflict situations.
The area of ‘Competing’ only scored 5 points. This is not surprising to me, but I have never thought of this as a deficit in how I manage conflict. My perception of competing (standing up strongly for my ideas) would antagonise a conflict situation. I would rather back down or try to compromise rather than stand firmly with my side of an argument. I feel this is an area that I need to improve on because in order to compromise and collaborate well, all ideas need to be heard and considered rather than being drowned out by the loudest idea.
What is leadership and how does this relate to the role of the TL? This question has really got me thinking and initially one important term springs to mind. The term ‘collaboration’ comes first and foremost. The concept of collaboration was my big take-away from ETL401 and without collaboration the role of the TL is redundant. One cannot lead without collaborating with others. TLs are the conduit that link the vacuum of the school to outside information. They communicate this throughout the school through collaboration and membership of both the teaching and leadership communities.
Before I go any further, what is meant by leadership? When I think of leadership, I think of someone that others look up to for guidance and information. Leaders have a goal and are able to guide groups to achieve these goals willingly. Leaders are inspiring. When I looked up the definition of leadership a multitude of answers came back. The more I looked the more definitions came up. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary (2021) defines a leader as ‘a person who leads a group of people, especially the head of a country, an organization, etc.’ This definition doesn’t do very much for me and is too rigid and sterile. Leadership is more organic and involves identifying issues, supporting people and strategizing the best solutions to problems while keeping the humanity of the decisions in mind.
These ideas about collaboration, leaders and leadership are important to the role of the TL because the TL is the link between classroom teachers, curriculum, school leadership and outside information. As an information specialist TLs are at the forefront of sourcing and research skills for students, keeping all parties up to date with resources. As one of two TLs in my current school the importance of library advocacy and collaboration is paramount. We are the linking ingredient at the centre of the school, guiding the research and reading culture of the school. If the TL was considered a stand-alone position than there would be no consistency across the school regarding these areas.
References
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. (2021). Leader. In oxfordlearnersdictionary.com dictionary. Retrieved July 5, 2021, from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/leader?q=leader