Report and case study participation and reflection

My learning journey in this subject has changed my opinion on leadership and the teacher librarian (TL) drastically. I struggled initially to see where the TL fitted when considering school leadership. My initial blog post on the subject reflects this, as I don’t mention the TL once when reflecting upon what is leadership to me? (Johnston, 2017a Blog).

As I have worked through this unit and participated in the case studies my belief on leadership of the TL has deepened, I have come to understand that leadership is not a one size fits all approach, however feel that transformational, distributed and instructional leadership best suit the TL and the place they sit within the school as they contribute across all learning area and bring with them passion for innovation and collaboration and skills in technology, curriculum and 21^st century learning. Something that really stuck with me is how building trust is vital to any leader wanting to establish successful change (Group 7, 2017 Module 3). Those that have trust in their leader will take risks for them and enable the leader to achieve real momentum (Fleet, Gioia & Patterson, 2016).

A strong leader is able to build team and put their differences behind them as they collaborate for a common goal (Bundy, 2008). If teachers are not feeling heard or valued then that it a big sign that the leader needs to adjust their practices as a strong team is one who communicates and values what others bring (Styan, 2017 Module 2). Good leadership always involves a team that strives to bring about change by collaboration and TLs are respected members of these teams as they use their unique platform and knowledge to support the school (Johnston, 2017 Module 4).

Working in tutorial groups I have learnt a lot about leadership. I didn’t really have a deep practical understanding of how great collaboration and communication can or lack of can adversely affect the outcome of any goal. Issues that arose in our group were from lack of communication (Johnston, 2017b blog). The TL must posses high level communication skills as they support learning and teaching, advocate for the library and are fluid in their role and work with many different people on many different teams across the school (Group 7, 2017 module 5).

As this unit comes to a conclusion I reflect upon what I have learnt about the leadership role the TL holds and how I can implement these strategies. A TL must lead from the middle; they must adapt and change their leadership style to meet the different things they are involved in across the school. They must build team, create trust and communicate well. At the beginning of this course I did not consider myself a leader as I did not hold a title but now I know I am. I have something to offer and will strive to step out of my comfort zone and contribute to my school.

References

Bundy, A. (2008). How are your library’s mission and vision statements? Australian Public Libraries and Information Services, 21(1), 3-5. Retrieved from http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=006645691762208;res=IELAPA

Fleet, A., Gioia, K. D., & Patterson, C. (2016). Engaging with educational change: Voices of practitioner enquiry. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. Retrieved from Ebook Central.

Group 7., (2017, August 11). Online forum comment module 3. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_26665_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_45045_1&forum_id=_88878_1&message_id=_1424753_1

Group 7., (2017, September 22). Online forum comment module 5. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_26665_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_45045_1&forum_id=_88871_1&message_id=_1487210_1

Johnston, M. (2017a, July 16). What is leadership to me? [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/melissa/2017/07/16/what-is-leadership-to-me/

Johnston, M. (2017b October 5). Working in collaboration [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/melissa/2017/10/04/working-in-collaboration/

Johnston, M. (2017, September 7). Online forum comment module 4. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_26665_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_45045_1&forum_id=_88877_1&message_id=_1267665_1

Styan, H., (2017, August 12). Online forum comment module 2. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_26665_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_45045_1&forum_id=_88880_1&message_id=_1389291_1

As I sit here ready to delve into all things leadership I have been reflecting upon what I believe leadership to be. Upon my reflection I came to the conclusion that there really isn’t one answer or type of leadership. There are many different avenues that suit many different personalities and situations.

However saying that I have always viewed leadership to be the ability to gather and motivate others. A good leader in my books is someone who supports and cares for the team and wants the best for them and to assist them in achieving their goals. A leader is someone who takes on the responsibility on behalf of others.

I along with many others have had the pleasure to work with some great leaders over the years who always fought for the benefit of others and always valued people first but on the other end I have dealt with leaders who unfortunately saw task and their own progression in their career more important than people.

While learning about leadership I would really like to learn how I could be a leader in my school and support others well. I believe teachers and school staff need to work together for the good of the students so I would love to be able to learn what style of leadership suits me and how I can use that to benefit the goals of my department and school.