Becoming a successful school leader must take a lot of hard work as there seems to be SO MANY attributes that go into this important role. The amount of communication that a school leader has with their colleagues definitely is demonstrated both constantly over a short period of time and also building long term relationships with others. Each school leader can change depending on the role that they are currently working in; for example a classroom teacher might be currently striving to work up to becoming a stage executive after several continuous years at a school. However an individual school leader might just be hoping to improve their teaching qualifications so they can become more involved with groups in the school community (i.e. extra-curricular courses for students or part of the library body). No matter the amount of experience or level of qualification, if an individual doesn’t work together with their colleagues there is no way a team can be properly motivated to improve and be the best they can be.
Sutcliffe (2013) highlighted the importance of key qualities that schools look for in a leader. These include:
- Vision – formulating and shaping future events based on ideas and purpose.
- Courage – leaders that show determination, willpower and patience to complete tasks.
- Passion – having motivation to take personal interest in student’s learning through teaching.
- Emotional intelligence – empowering staff and students to demonstrate great empathy for each other.
- Judgement – making wise decisions or the right call.
- Resilience – striving to do their best and never being afraid to ask for help where needed.
- Persuasion – confident communicators and storytellers that motivate others to do their best.
- Curiosity – looking to the current situations that need attending and looking to the future.
Each of these qualities is vital in expanding the level of involvement and cooperation a group of colleagues can obtain from each other by learning together with the assistance of the school leader. The Teacher Librarian (TL) can have numerous roles and responsibilities in their position as they aim to ensure teaching and learning is relevant to their students’ needs. Digital transformation is becoming even more influential in maintaining real world learning scenarios, which encourages both the TL and students to work together in enhancing learning experiences through new frameworks (Digital Promise, 2016). When technology programs become updated, the need for more training and updates of knowledge is vital, which results in the TL becoming the middle leader that encourages other team members to learning these professional technological skills that can enhance teaching. Having the TL as the middle leader ensures that they are visible within the school community and constantly communicating with the entire school cohort.
References:
Digital Promise (2016). The new librarian: Leaders in the digital age. In SCIS Connections. Retrieved from https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-96/the-new-librarian-leaders-in-the-digital-age/
Sutcliffe, J. (2013). The eight qualities of successful school leaders. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/sep/24/eight-qualities-successful-school-leaders
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