Reflect on the four key elements of organisation theory as presented by Bush (2015) and compare these to the approach in Robinson’s presentation. Think about the influences upon a school (Bush, 2015 = goals, structure, culture, context; Robinson, 2010 = structural, cultural, societal) and identify key drivers for change that the teacher librarian could respond to through school library programs.

As I write this post, our school is going through a period of change. We employed a new Head of Secondary last year and this year we employed a new Head of Primary. Both bring their own goals, changes, how they would like the structure to be and their own culture – changing our current school culture. Both have their own vision for what they would like to see our college become. One of the changes is removing the library lessons as this was perceived as not benefiting the teachers and introducing a STEM teacher instead. This puts my succession in jeopardy, but thankfully I spoke with the principal and the library is valued but the role will be different. The video about Organisation Theory from Marketing Business Network (2023) is very applicable. The leaders just shared their visions with us (like their goals) but we have not been given the objective – how are we going to get there. It feels as if we, as teachers have to get on the boat and hold on to see if we will sink or swim. 

As I listened to Robinson (2010), there are many aspects of what he explains that I can resonate with like the age of students starting Prep. As a current Prep teacher this is something that I struggle with. In Victoria it is common for students to be held back so they are a year older when they start Prep. This was not the case in Queensland where I first started teaching. Why can’t we all be the same? There seems to be more learning difficulties and diagnoses, which I am not against, but surely there has to be a reason for the shift in changes in behaviour too. Do we need to change how school works? I know that routine works well for students, but how well do we cater for the students that are not coping? And each teacher is different. It was interesting that he said that there was a focus on people being educated with degrees – this is certainly not the case anymore. A new coordinator can be chosen with no qualifications, which seems unfair to our current coordinators that did complete the study. We should be people that are constantly learning, sometimes that requires a degree in order to get the position.  

Currently our library teacher is an island and does not like change. There is so much potential that could have happened to help support the teachers, include more of the curriculum and invest in students to be researchers, to take part in their learning, or change the library space – it just never happened. I see so much potential but I just have to wait and see how things play out, learn from this subject and present what I can do to leadership to ensure the library is valued and functioning better than it currently is.   

Marketing Business Network. (2023, January 11). What is organisation theory? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_oyhk2fMyc&t=161s 

Robinson, K. [RSA Animate]. (2010, October 14). Changing education paradigms [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U