As I near the end of my degree in becoming a teacher librarian, it has been a thought-provoking semester learning about leadership. My knowledge regarding the leadership of the teacher librarian has changed, and I now know it is vital to advocate for the library while supporting the staff and students using various leadership styles to serve the library community. 

In my first blog post (Bolden, 2024, July 20), I outlined the changes that were happening within our school. Introducing new leaders brings new ideas, visions, cultures, and changes. I find it difficult to see myself as a leader, preferring to work in the background. In my next blog post, (Bolden, 2024, July 20), I mentioned that I am given few opportunities to lead, increasing my confidence in this area. After completing the Conflict Resolution questionnaire from Psychologia (2013), I explained my thoughts about the results in a blog post, (Bolden, 2024, August 25), and where I feel I can improve.  

My first assignment, looking at my current school’s leadership structure and evaluating each leader’s leadership style was engaging. Having the opportunity to create a leadership diagram, as shown in my discussion post, (Bolden, 2024, July 28), displaying the different styles was a great opportunity to understand the six different styles. I determined that the current library coordinator displays a situational leadership style, which shows she can manage the daily tasks and ensure the library runs under specific control but is not leading as she should. 

As a teacher librarian, displaying varying leadership styles, as explored in the modules, may be valuable depending on the situation and the outcome. How I approach the principal may differ from how I approach a classroom teacher. The principal may require professional strategic plans or proposals, but I must implement those plans in collaboration with the classroom teachers.   

The teacher librarian role encompasses many different aspects compared to the role of a classroom teacher. In the blog post relating to Module 6, (Bolden, 2024, September 15), I explain how I see the role, as librarian and teacher, but according to Weisburg & Walter (2010), it has many different aspects. Some include being in charge of resources, providing support and collaboration to the teachers, being a leader and problem solver, and having knowledge of the curriculum. 

Looking to the future, I stated in my Module 5 post, (Bolden, 2024, September 8), I feel overwhelmed but am looking forward to the challenge. I have made a list of policy documents that require attention. I plan to use this towards my professional learning, as mentioned in the discussion post, (Bolden, 2024, September 15), as the ones I included in the discussion post, (Bolden, 2024, September 8), are outdated. I also plan to work on different leadership styles, including displaying transformational leadership to inspire the library staff and bringing a fresh vibe to the library, firstly by changing the library layout. I want to create a website of resources for high school students that would require working with the high school teachers, using transactional leadership to ensure there is time to plan, and the resources are changed each term (aligning with the topics covered in each subject) and are available promptly. Finally, to display servant leadership, showing that the library serves the community and is aligned with 21st-century learning. 

References

Psychologia. (2013). What’s your conflict resolution strategy?  What’s Your Conflict Resolution Strategy? [TEST] | Psychologia

Weisburg, T. R. & Walter, V. A. (2010). Being indispensable: A school librarian’s guide to becoming an invaluable leader. American Library Association.

Information literacy is a new term that I am coming to grips with. As far as I am aware the school that I am currently working at hasn’t developed an information literacy policy. I don’t recall reading a document with that name when I went through the induction process but it might be worth digging to find out. 

It seems as if we are own our own when it comes to information literacy. Maybe because I am in the lower years of primary that the focus is on teaching students to read, write and the basics of Maths. There is the basics of IT thrown in once a fortnight, but as to what that covers I am not sure as I don’t teach it. As we work as a team we each are responsible for a certain area of the curriculum to plan and prepare resources.This year it has been my responsibility to plan Maths. It would be good to have an overarching approach that all teachers could follow and know that this is what we do, this is how we teach it and why.

Being in the lower years we monitor what the children are doing when it comes to online activities. The apps that are being used on the ipads are ones that have been approved by the IT department and I would say that the students use the ipads 2-3 times a week. I would think that students are being taught how to behave online and to be careful what they do when online, but I am not overly sure. 

Transliteracy is a relatively new term and is going to be a work in progress. I am not sure if it will apply to all teaching levels especially lower primary. But then again I grew up in the technology era and have self taught myself a lot of computer skills, am still learning and I can see that my students can have a higher knowledge and understanding than what I do. It really is just something that we are going to have to be constantly adapting to as changes occur. As we head further into the 21st century we are going to have to teach students the basics and also how to deal with more and more things being online, how to be social online and how to critically think about what they read considering some things online are just a person’s opinion.

When reading about the topic of Inquiry Learning my thoughts were this sounds great, we should be doing more of this, but they then turned to but how can we focus this in the lower primary area. Upon further reflection I realised we do use this approach in lower primary once a year, but it is still very structured, where we teach the content and then allow the students to research. 

It is a hard topic to fully incorporate into all aspects of teaching because there is still some relevance in teaching and then expecting students to complete a test. This test can then be used as our own evidence to ensure we are completing the standards but also to show to parents what their child has achieved and how they are progressing. Our expectations and time is also another factor that stands in the way of inquiry learning. We don’t have the time to allow this all the time. And what about the students that require our help or guidance and may just ride on the coattails of other students because they really aren’t sure of what they need to be completing. Or is this idea just my picture of needing to be in control? 

Time is a big issue that stands in the way of teachers and teacher librarians being able to collaborate. Our afternoons are taken up with meetings and paperwork and marking and preparing for the next day that we aren’t able to meet and plan units for inquiry learning. Is one Teacher Librarian working in a P-12 school being stretched too thin to be expected to work with all years levels to undertake this process as well? 

It is an interesting topic that challenges me to do further research and collaborate with the other teachers in the team to see where else we could possibly incorporate inquiry learning into our current curriculum.

Communication… Communication is vital in the ways in which Principals can enable the teacher librarian. And the same will be for how TL’s might enable the role of the principal. The Principal should be clear about what his visions are and the same should be said about the teacher librarian. But no one is going to get anywhere if it is just one way. I was a part of a few meetings with the principal regarding building the new library, but the motto was “you can have your say but not get your way.” From my readings this week I can see how important it is for this communication to take place so that both are on the same page, supporting each other and asking what you can do for the other person. It is like a partnership between a vital resource and the person leading the ship.

But not every school is able to have this partnership when a lot of it comes down to the monetary benefit. I did a little bit of research and I find it interesting that in NSW it is mandatory for a government school to have a teacher librarian as mentioned by Carmody, (2019). It is considered to be an aging profession but is it possibly on the rise, if it is becoming mandatory? Staffing is predominately up to the Principal but they require a teacher who is able to cover lots of areas and able to keep up with changes. According to Hughes (2013) Principals can see what the role of a teacher librarian is but some of the things that are needed include resources available, updated spaces, more staffing and an awareness of the library to the other teachers and back to monetary benefit. Overall, this then becomes a whole school approach and should hopefully aid the partnership between the Principal and the library. 

Communication and partnership between Principals and teacher librarians are essential to enable each other’s roles. 

References

Carmody, R. (2019) School libraries hit by the loss of a dying breed as teacher librarians enter ‘survival mode’ ABC News . https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-15/research-reveals-alarming-loss-in-teacher-librarians-in-schools/11494022 

Hughes, H. (2013). Findings about Gold Coast Principal’s views of school libraries and teacher librarians. School Library Association of Queensland Queensland University of Technology: Research Report. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/60260/38/60260b.pdf

School librarians should not be an endangered species because they are vital teachers that support and encourage other teachers. I think that they have almost become this way because of an aging profession and some schools don’t see the benefit of replacing them. Some schools may not have the funds to support this vital role instead using the funds to support other aspects or they expect teacher librarians to have a range of skills so that they are getting their money’s worth for that role. Teacher librarians need to work hard to have a plan for success in teaching, supporting and working in their role.

The term ‘Information’ has just become something that I am finding is now very broad and can cover a multitude of definitions, facts and data. I have never thought of it in this context but I think it is twofold – where there is a giver and a receiver and then it depends on what you do with that information – whether you keep it or pass it on. It can be said that the more information you have the better decisions you can make in the process of becoming wise, but when does it get to a point that there is an overload of information and a decision can’t be made and you certainly don’t feel wise?

In the digital information realm, there is so much information at our fingertips or even in our fingers that it is eye opening how many people are accessing the varying facets of the internet. It was really interesting to read the history of the internet and I had no idea how many years ago it actually started. Even reading about the aspects of the internet and what is stored and hidden is fascinating. I think about what technology was available when I was growing up and how different it is now for my own children growing up in today’s society. I was teaching an IT lesson with my students this week and I was explaining how more portable technology has become. There was no way that you would be wanting to move your computer from home to work with all the cables and hardware. Today we are instantly connected to the internet whereas you had to connect and listen to the dialling and beeping of the modem connecting through the phone line.

As a future TL it is important to be up to date with information to be able to inform, support and teach students and teachers. I need to widen my scope of information to stay informed with the right amount of information. It will be important to remember not to get into the state of an information overload.

My understanding of the role of the teacher librarian in schools were there seemed to be a few requirements of the role based in the library, working alongside the library manager. When I first started teaching in the classroom we were lucky to have a teacher librarian (TL) and my understanding comes from my observations of her role.

The TL took each primary class for library and IT lessons once a week. I thought this was great because it gave me non contact time that was certainly invaluable to getting things done. So part of me believed the role was to provide planning and organisation time to classroom teachers. What I thought this role entailed during those lessons was reading books to the students to engage them in the excitement of all types of picture books and novels. The TL would help students to choose books that they would like to borrow for the week to continue the excitement of reading at home with their family. Being able to scan the books for borrowing and returning and then placing the books back on the shelf was certainly part of the job. They are also responsible for issuing the slips of paper to inform the students that they had an overdue book that classroom teachers would hand out. 

I figured the teacher librarian would teach the students the difference between fiction and nonfiction, where these books belong in the library and how and what the Dewey Decimal system was in order to find the books you were looking for. I hoped that the TL would find out the interests of the students to be able to guide them in the books that they might enjoy or require for particular projects. 

If I needed help I could go to the library and ask the TL where a particular book was and I was shown its location. I never received any further help or interest so I was left on my own to decide whether the book would help or not. If I had more questions they would get answered but that was about it. The TL was just the first point of contact in the library space. 

During lunch times the library would be open so that it was a space students could go instead of playing outside. The TL would supervise the students and make sure books were put back after reading and allow high school students to play chess. If students were too noisy or not behaving the TL could ask them to leave. 

There was a library manager that would order books and deal with the budgets so there was no need for the TL to undertake any of these jobs, I recognised that the role of TL was to teach the classes and help maintain the library space.  

What I thought previously is that the teacher librarian was just a teacher who would allow classroom teachers non-contact time, help students and classroom teachers to navigate the library, manage books being put away and supervise the library during lunchtimes but I realise now that there is a wider range of skills and knowledge that is the role of the teacher librarian.