ETL504 has opened my eyes to a world of possibility – one where change can be made. I started this subject with preconceived ideas of what leadership was, having had a taste of it in my earlier career. I was happy to have those ideas expanded upon, and they certainly were. While collaboration and working alongside colleagues already came to mind as aspects of leadership (Marreiros, 2022a), I have since learnt about a couple of leadership styles which fit in with the collaborative nature of leadership which I aspire to. The video of a dancing guy (Hughes, 2010) made it very clear to me that to lead you must have followers, which may be obvious, but hadn’t been to me prior to this video. Reflecting on this video also made me realise that there is bravery in both being the first follower and the leader as Hughes (2010) so eloquently puts it “the first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader” (0:46). The bravery of those who lead is not to be underestimated.

Investigating different styles of leadership, such as instructional, transformational, distributed or servant was enlightening, particularly as I had previously thought that style of leadership was more of a personality choice, rather than including situational analysis of the position within a company, such as a school. As I noted in a forum post reflecting on an article by Blanchet (2022), I do believe that nurturing and building relationships with those you are trying to lead is of utmost importance and will certainly be continuing to use this as the first tool in any leading I do, one from a position of trust (Marreiros, 2022c). In a forum post regarding leadership for program adoption, I did analyse a situation which I had seen play out where wellbeing processes were being put into place (Marreiros, 2022b). So many aspects of the leadership process in this scenario were started off well, with professional development given, time allocated, however, the notion of change fatigue came through ending in a poor result to date. The idea of change fatigue was one which was new to me, and as shown in Dilkes, Cunningham and Gray’s paper (2014), it is not new. I need to be aware in my future practice that while I may be enthusiastic, not all parties will be, possibly because of this very reason of fatigue and cynicism. I also need to be aware of following up on projects which have been started and ensuring that reflection and evaluation are constantly and consistently used in the process of achieving an end goal.

The idea of backward mapping, as discussed in Holmes, Clement and Albright (2013), in creating strategic planning was a newer concept to me. Where, the reality is that you often have a goal in mind, the concept of stepping it backwards from the final goal made sense to me. Creating a plan for change, particularly longer-term changes, such as timetabling for collaborative teaching, will require such a strategy to be put into play.

As a teacher librarian without the formal authority of a principal or assistant principal I have come to understand the style of leadership which I now adopt and will continue to do so, is servant leadership. As Bier (2021) reports, servant leadership has the development of community and the advancement of all, along with ethical decision making at its heart. Something I aspire to have too.

References

Bier, M. C. (2021). Servant leadership for schools. Journal of Character Education, 17(2), 27-46.

Blanchet, M. (2022, Feburary 1). What does trust look like in a school? Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-does-trust-look-school

Dilkes, J., Cunningham, C., & Gray, J. (2014). The new Australian curriculum, teachers and change fatigue. The Australian journal of teacher education, 39(11), 45-64.  https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n11.4

Holmes, K., Clement, J., & Albright, J. (2013). The complex task of leading educational change in schools. School Leadership & Management, 33(3), 270-283.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2013.800477

Hughes, M. (2010, June 12). Leadership from a dancing guy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO8MwBZl-Vc

Marreiros, K. (2022a, July 2). The likelihood of leadership. Stepping Bravely Into the Unknown – This Teacher’s Journey to becoming a Teacher Librarian. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/sbitu/2022/07/02/the-likelihood-of-leadership/

Marreiros, K. (2022b, September 5). RE: Program adoption [Forum Post]. ETL504, Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_62876_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_127077_1&forum_id=_281621_1&message_id=_4065843_1

Marreiros, K. (2022c, July 14). RE: What does trust look like in a school [Forum Post]. ETL504, Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&course_id=_62876_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_127077_1&forum_id=_281618_1&message_id=_4113955_1

Perhaps I’m showing my love of action movies too much in my blog, but the first thing that came to mind in looking at module 4.1 about Mission and Vision statements was ‘Mission Impossible’. While I hope that the mission of my school will not self-destruct in 5 seconds, it did start me investigating if my school had mission and vision statements in place.

Upon researching my school’s website, I only came across a vision statement which says:

‘At B*** Public School, we believe that every student should be challenged to learn and to continually improve in a respectful, inclusive, and high expectation environment. We support the development of students with a focus on student wellbeing, student academic growth and social success. Teachers, parents, and students will work in partnership to achieve this vision.’

According to Olsen (2016, November 10), a vision statement should be a statement of where the organisation is going and why it is going there. Olsen (2016, November 10) also includes a checklist to see if it is a vision statement which includes the following:

• 5+ year goal
• Written in future tense
• Directional
• Audacious
• Descriptive

She also suggests that you can start the writing process with a statement like ‘We envision…’.

Using these suggestions for my school, the vision statement fits in most of these categories.

Thinking about the library in the school I have created a vision statement for it:

‘We envision a school library which enables students to be social, literate, innovative, ethical and critical thinking learners.  Students will belong to a community of learning and literacy, where they are actively encouraged to become seekers of ideas and information.’

Unfortunately, my school does not have a mission statement… yet.

Olsen (2016, November 1) reports that a mission statement should be about why an organisation exists. It should be sustainable over time, have a staff connection and be memorable. It should also be short enough to print on a t-shirt (and want to be worn on a t-shirt too)!

I wonder what my school will come up with for a t-shirt…

References

Olsen, E. [virtualstrategist]. (2016, November 1). How to write a mission statement [Video}. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1xs4I349cdc

Olsen, E. [virtualstrategist]. (2016, November 10). How to write a vision statement [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/7yBUBmciQBk

Picture this… I’m completing my second course of university study and in the lecture theatre of about 150 students equally taking on further study, Ken Robinson’s latest offering is one of the course materials. Brilliant!

Of course, we are all going to incite change within the primary school system that we are heading into with eyes open as to the flaws which it contains and we would not continue to perpetuate within the walls of the classrooms we were soon to inhabit…

Problem is, this did happen in 2010, and, unsurprisingly, I have not been able to change the world of education as we know it. As I reflect on the state which Australian education is in, what is spoken about in has not been bettered, but has continued along the conveyor belt it has been on already. So, how can I make a change?

I realise that what I have shared has negativity in it’s core, and this might be because I continue to see the Creative Arts, which I love, pushed aside for another standardised data collection. However, all is not lost, I can make a difference from within.

When thinking about a difference I can make, it is to make change societally; through education of not only students, but their parents and my colleagues. It has been said that all are ‘experts’ in education because they have been educated themselves…, however, through relevant sharing with adults about evidence based education processes, this ‘expertise’ may grow in all.

Creating a culture of investigative learning, through research and a place of collaboration in the library is one way which change may occur. Allowing children and teachers the opportunity to gain skills and awaken and encourage divergent thinking, or as Robinson (2010) describes it as ‘an essential capacity for creativity’ (8:01). The capacity to work in groups and in an exploratory way is something which a librarian needs to strive for.

Structurally, a librarian can think of the physical layout of the learning space and encourage collaboration in this way. Thinking about my own library, I currently take students for lessons while teachers are released from face to face teaching. A future dream of mine is to teach collaboratively in the library with class teachers, so that while curriculum content is covered, there are the information skills and research skills which a teacher librarian can offer are taught simultaneously.

Reference

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

As I leap into Teacher Librarian as Leader in the upcoming trimester, I would like to take the time now to reflect on where I think this subject and the content will take me.

In my career I have taken the opportunity to participate in leadership training as a classroom teacher in Victoria. While doing this training I had the opportunity to shadow Principals and Assistant Principals, looking at their different leadership styles, along with some theory about leadership. I believe that this subject will add to what I have already experienced, adding more depth and understanding to what leadership looks like. While participating in this former training, my goal had been to lead from within, showcasing wellbeing programs which were of great benefit to the school I was working in. It gave me an opportunity to work alongside teachers by collaboratively working with them in the implementation of this specific program, along with organising whole school events.

Now as I come to this subject with a focus of leadership from the library, I think of the context of where I am now, and where I would like to be. Ideally collaboration with teachers and the time to do this is ultimately my goal in the position of Teacher Librarian, however, current circumstances, such as being the person who provides teacher release time, do not allow for this in a scheduled timeframe. This means that I will need to focus on how to come alongside teachers and leadership in a busy working environment to see how I can assist in the goals of the entire school. I hope that this subject will give me theoretical understanding of how to work with all; the reluctant, the enthusiastic and those in-between.

Now to move forward and learn…