March 2020 – Paige's Reflective Journal

Colvin’s Article Response

paige.bernard95 ETL504 March 9, 2020infotech, library, reflection 0 Comment

Importance of Infotech
- Libraries act a central hub to information services and the ability to incorporate Infotech within schools will provide students, teachers and wider communities’ opportunities to both gain more knowledge and to be better equipped to act as a team player in the Infotech Era.
Shared values
- The library is central within the school and should focus on aligning the goals of all users, whether educational, personal or institutional. Sharing values allows the library to become a communal and collaborative area where the services are catered to the needs of the individuals and groups.
Knowledge workers
- Librarians are able to actively support ‘knowledge workers’ rather than ‘physical workers’ due to the services provided by the library. TLs focus their attention on the motivation, needs and values of ‘knowledge workers’ and best services available to support them. TLs embody creative and adaptive capabilities, being ‘knowledge workers’ themselves and are able to develop a managerial/leadership role through this understanding.
Flexible thinking
- Libraries are constantly updating and changing, the very nature of information in this digital era. TLs, consequentially, are the forefront to make the changes and develop the skills (creating, judging, imagining and building relationships) with their team. Given the slow-changing ideologies still present, TLs have an advantage to adopt the new ways of thinking (organisms vs. machine) faster than other managers and companies.

Colvin, G. (2002). Managing in the info ear. Fortune, 141 (5)

Diigo – Leading the Way: 5 Ways School Leaders Embrace Change For Australian Students

paige.bernard95 ETL504 March 9, 2020March 9, 2020Diigo, leadership, Success 0 Comment

Skoolbag (2018) highlights the importance of strong leadership and discusses 5 methods for fostering change within the communities and students to promote inclusivity and success.

The 5 methods Skoolbag (2018) articulates is

1. How establishing a communal vision will encourage individuals to support the cause and 3 directions on how this communal vision can be achieved.
2. Leadership is ensuring that the decision makers within the school team and beyond are involved at every step. This opens opportunities for discussions and is essential in having effective change management strategies.
3. Providing the most effective resources, tools, technology and support to classroom teachers to assist in alleviating and/or minimising the additional workload time. Teachers are then able to better support their students within the classroom.
4. Champion student success, prioritising a student-first approach. Address student wellbeing and assist in their development of being well rounded individuals.
5. Evolve your leadership strategies to address the needs of every student. Use data-led insights to support students in every way possible and inform the decision makers through the use of the data presented. Approach change by being flexible.

Reference

SkoolBag. (2018, July 1). Leading the Way: 5 Ways School Leaders Embrace Change For Australian Students (blog). Retrieved from https://www.moqproducts.com.au/skoolbag/blog/leading-and-managing-change-in-schools/

What Makes A Good Leader

paige.bernard95 ETL504 March 9, 2020March 9, 2020leadership, reflections 0 Comment

Typically, ideas of leadership stem from business models that are a hierarchical structure with the ‘laymen’ being at the bottom and those who are the leaders, for example managers, CEOs, executives sitting in the top tiers. Removing choice words from the original image and using Michelini’s (2019) picture provides a visual explanation.

The image provides a good laugh, however, it traditionally villainies those in ‘leadership’ roles.

The question What Makes A Good Leader is one that I have been reflecting on throughout Module 1 and in my current employment situation. Our principal, who we all admired, acquired another principal position at a different school and there were numerous discussions over what qualities the staff wanted our new principal to have. Our school staff community is a very close-knitted group and the loss of our principal was devastating, because, our principal embodies the qualities of an excellent leader.

Leadership is not a position of prestige or a higher pay packet, although the demands for leadership are greater to those with more responsibility as Spider-Man would vouch ‘with great power must also come — great responsibility.’ (Lee & Ditko, 1962). Leadership is the ability to structure people and delegate, provide support and ensure that the end goals of those key players are being met. Being a leader requires the respect of those working on your goals and an understanding of the unique attributes that individuals bring to a team. A leader will find opportunities to highlight the strengths of others, and promote a positive attitude to the harder areas of a task.

Personally, I feel that our principal is missed because of his sense of humour. Our leadership team is one part of our school family, but they never considered themselves the end-game. The leadership team is a way to ensure that all voices and ideas get brought to the table and thoroughly discussed to ensure that our business is able to be the best place for learning. We have a clear goal and direction for our students and that is to provide a place where they feel safe, connected and able to learn.

Interestingly, our library is not the center of our school and currently does not have a librarian in at all. I am hoping that this course will support my understanding and love of library to be able to be a leader within this section of the school and highlight the importance and strengths that a library can offer to the wider school community.

References

Lee, S., & Ditko, S. (1962). The amazing Spider-Man. Marvel Comics.

Michelini, M. (2019). Funny Idea of Management Structure – But I Disagree [Blog]. Retrieved 9 March 2020, from https://mikesblog.com/funny-idea-of-management-structure-but-i-disagree/.