Category: ETL504 – Teacher Librarian as Leader

Before engaging with ETL504 my knowledge of leadership itself was limited and informed by my experiences as a teacher. As far as I was aware, leadership in schools was hierarchical and involved a filtered-down approach of telling staff what they needed to do, when it was due and, depending on the individual, offering varying degrees of support. Clearly I had a basic understanding of leadership theory and organisational structure, which is reflected in an early blog post (Coddington, 2024a; Robinson, 2010).

The immediate development of my knowledge evident in an early viewings and contributions discussion boards. Initially I was challenged by how to visually represent my buddying knowledge about leadership styles, particularly for my central school context (Coddington, 2024b). Viewing other’s posts helped me achieve this goal. Some that I found particularly helpful for element inclusion and potential tool selection were Marchant’s (Marchant, 2024) and McDonald’s (2024). In this thread I posted a basic visual representation of the structure and different leadership styles in practice at my place of employment (Coddington, 2024b).

This identification of leadership styles indicates growth in my knowledge. This was informed by module content and by close study of Smith’s (2016) and Bush & Glover’s (2014) detailed explorations of leadership theory. Farrell’s work (2014) further developed my knowledge of how the TL can operate effectively by leading from the middle of the school context, leading me to reflect on my own leadership styles. This prompted me to identify the use of transactional leadership by colleagues and myself in my own practice. However, my study of this literature imbued me with the desire to implement transformational leadership styles in my daily role for the positive influence it has on goal accomplishment, whilst distributed leadership is one I identified as being highly useful for larger, school-wide leadership projects. It will be one I seek to implement when engaging in substantial projects I plan to lead across the school to draw upon colleague’s expertise and increase the success and longevity of the project (Abbot & McGuinness, 2022; Bush & Glover, 2014; Smith, 2016).

This represents my developed understanding of the TLs role and capacity to lead across the school, which is further revealed through blog posts. Early on I identified my capacity to lead professional learning of staff in the digital sphere, but didn’t identify a leadership style to do so (Coddington, 2024c; Coddington, 2024d). This occurred later however, where I explored the positive impact transformative leadership of beginning and proficient teachers I can make using Soulen’s continuum of care (2020) on mitigating teacher stress and improving retention in the workforce (Coddington, 2024e). This change reveals the development of my knowledge, and these are certainly additional strategies I will implement in my future practice to support my colleagues.

This is only some of learning gained in ETL504. However, it, and the opportunities provided to implement it practically in assessment tasks has worked to consolidate all of my learning thus far in my studies, whilst also equipping me with a range of skills and leadership approaches I will certainly use to implement change in my practice as a TL.

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References

Abbott, L., & McGuinness, S. (2022). Change management in northern Ireland’s transformed integrated schools: what we want is a school where you can be who you are and its a safe place. International journal of inclusive education, 26(6),576-591.

Bush., T. & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: what do we know? School Leadership & Management, 34(5), 553-571. DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2014.928680

Coddington, M. [monica.coddington1]. (2024a, July 13). 1.1 Influences upon an organisation – change it, for change’s sake. The Learning of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/teacherlibrarianintraining/2024/07/13/1-1-influences-upon-an-organisation-change-it-for-changes-sake/

Coddington, M. (2024b, July 25). Module 2.3: Feedback on diagram opportunity – Central school diagram. Discussion forum post [ETL504 Brightspace].

Coddington, M. [monica.coddington1]. (2024c, August 16). 3.1 A vision and plan for leadership opportunities. The Learning of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/teacherlibrarianintraining/2024/08/16/3-1-a-vision-and-plan-for-leadership-opportunities/

Coddington, M. [monica.coddington1]. (2024d, August 1). 3.1 Learning in the 21^st century – Preparing to be prepared. The Learning of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/teacherlibrarianintraining/2024/08/01/3-1-learning-in-the-21st-century-preparing-to-be-prepared/

Coddington, M. [monica.coddington1]. (2024e, October 1). Leadership approaches to mitigate stress in schools. The Learning of a Teacher Librarian in Training. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/teacherlibrarianintraining/2024/10/01/4-1-leadership-approaches-to-mitigate-stress-in-schools/

Farrell, M. (2014). Leadership Reflections – Leading from the Middle. Journal of Library Administration, 54, 691-699. DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2014.965099

Marchant, S. (2024, July 22). Module 2.3: Feedback on diagram opportunity – Module 2.3 Diagram Feedback. Discussion forum post [ETL504 Brightspace].

McDonald, E. (2024, July 22). Module 2.3: Feedback on diagram opportunity – Module 2.3 Diagram Feedback. Discussion forum post [ETL504 Brightspace].

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

Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Journal Review, 1(1), 65-78.

Soulen, R. (2020). The continuum of care. Knowledge Quest, 48(4). 36-42.

Direct your reading of this report to the relevant content and practical snapshots to envision and plan for leadership opportunities to explore in your own situation.

STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMEMT

Wolf et al. (2014) discuss the emerging and highly important role of the teacher librarian in the digital sphere, wherein they should maintain the currency of their digital literacies in order to support staff and students to access digital resources and develop their own digital literacies (p.5). In my own context I work with an older demographic of teachers who do not have the skills or confidence to implement new technologies or effectively utilise the digital technologies or hardware already accessible to them. There is certainly space and a need for my role as teacher librarian to support staff more effectively in improving their digital literacies through ongoing formal and informal training, so that they can more effectively implement these technologies with their students. However, I would need to be careful to ensure that this remains a role focused on the support of digital learning and does not transition to resolver of technological problems (Wolf et al., 2014, p.6).

COLLABORATION TO BUILD A BRIDGE ACROSS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

Another aspect to consider here is the impact of the digital divide, and how I as teacher librarian can work to reduce this disadvantage. This is particularly important given my context, where my school supports a significant number of students who live on farms and in reception-poor rural areas, or don’t have access to the hardware required to reliably access the internet at home. Often, students will ask to use the library at lunch time to work on assessments.  This trend is also reported by Wolf et al. (2014), who further suggest that the school library could extend their opening hours to before and after school to provide these disadvantaged students with the access to the support, the internet and hardware they require to effectively engage with course work (p.5). In my small school, this would present a challenge. Staffing the library for these additional hours would be difficult. In the future, I would like to investigate setting up a volunteer roster of teachers willing to offer their time to supervise these students, or perhaps even liaise with the local public library to support students in that third space beyond the school library to help students bridge the digital divide.

Reference List

Wolf, M., Jones, R., & Gilbert, D. (2014). Leading in and Beyond the Library. Alliance for excellent education. p.1-24.

The ever evolving nature of digital technologies and the echoing impacts of COVID-19 on learning and the workforce both present challenges to, and impact the nature of, learning in a school setting. The  2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition explores these changes and their impact primarily on tertiary education. Examining these changes using the lens of a teacher librarian reveals the challenges school-based teachers subsequently face, and reveal opportunities for teacher librarians to support and lead teachers in addressing them in their classrooms.

Teacher librarians are in a unique position to be able to support teaching staff address the changing skill requirements of students. Highlighted in the report, rapid developments in technology and the increasing hybridity of learning and work beyond the secondary classroom brought about by COVID-19 have fundamentally altered the core skills students need to enter the workforce with. No longer is the ability to memorise facts and regurgitate them in formalised, controlled test settings of highest importance (despite what the hype about the HSC and ATAR might lead one to believe). To be successful in the workforce, students now need to be flexible, be aware of their learning capabilities and the need for continuous learning, and be equipped with the necessary tech skills to continuously manage and utilise changing technologies (EDUCAUSE, 2023, p.6). In short, they require versatile digital literacy and meta-cognition skills that will continue to serve them in dynamic work environments.

The need for the teacher librarian to support teachers in developing these capabilities in today’s students is reflected in the highly transformative nature of the digital space itself. Published only a year ago, the report suggests that AI has the potential to become a common part of everyday and workplace life (EDUCAUSE, 2023, p.6), leading to debates about its potential to proliferate academic cheating, impacting “academic integrity, accuracy, and fairness and equity” (EDUCAUSE, 2023, p.10). Now, just a year later, academic settings across the spectrum of education are indeed dealing with these unique issues. The place to address them is in the school and the school library, with the  librarian working to supporting teaching staff to guide their students not only to develop the increasingly complex digital literacy skills required to navigate such an online world, but also the skills to master and implement this “low code” and “no code” technology in ethical, productive ways (EDUCAUSE, 2023, p.11).

This mastery of technological advances, rather than an avoidance of use of it out of fear or misinformation, is crucial. Positioned as the digital literacy expert within the school, it is therefore the role of the teacher librarian to foster this education not only of the students, but the teaching staff as well to ensure that staff are well informed and equipped with the necessary resources, skills and knowledge to effectively teach these new digital skills.  AI can and should be a tool in one’s digital competencies tool belt, and students – and staff alike – are better off embracing and preparing for this change rather than avoiding it. In order to navigate our complex digital world, our students and our staff need to prepare to be prepared, and what better way to do that than with the host of digital literacies the teacher librarian can guide them towards developing as a leader of technological, pedagogical change?

Reference List

EDUCAUSE. (2023). 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report – Teaching and Learning Edition. https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/5/2023-educause-horizon-report-teaching-and-learning-edition

 The education system broadly, and schools at a more localised level, are organised and approach learning according to the four key elements of theory as presented by Bush (2015).  The programs, the overall structure, and the learning that happens in a school are driven by the school’s keys to strategic directions, known as goals in Bush’s approach. These goals, determined by the executive team, are filtered down to the teachers and the students in a top-down approach through the hierarchical structure of positions in the school. These goals are influenced by the social, geographical and political context that the school operates within, and are simultaneously invisibly influenced by and determine the underlying culture of the organisation. Given the all-pervasive nature of these elements, it is clear that if the teacher librarian seeks to implement effective and supported school library programs, they need to reflect the goals of the school and be supported through all tiers of the organization’s structure if they are going to positively change and address the culture and context of the school. 

This top-down structure of organisations is likewise reflected in Robinson’s (2010) presentation. However, he identifies cultural and societal forces as the key cornerstones of change – or lack thereof – in education. Reflecting on the physical structure of education, Robinson notes that things have not changed since it’s inception, with factory-like bell times still ushering students from one rigid, single subject class to another. And indeed, all those who have stepped foot in a secondary classroom recently have heard some rendition of the disengaged complaints of “How long until the bell?” and “When will I ever need to do this in real life?”. And they’re right, 

to some degree. How can we expect the school and classroom structure to stay relevant when it has remained irritatingly stagnant in a world that has done nothing but evolve since the Industrial Revolution? Today’s students are learning in the same manner that our parents did, and yet if you mention watching Lady and the Tramp on a VCR, finding an old floppy disk in your office, or reminiscing about physically rewinding your cassette tapes to listen to your favorite songs again, you’ll be looked at like you’re speaking Dutch, and your students can’t access Google Translate to figure out what you’ve said because we’ve locked their phones away. What a way to be made to feel ancient.

So if society and culture are changing so much, the teacher librarian can, and should, approach student learning in a way that reflects these changes. Flexible and student responsive guided inquiry learning that leaves distinct subject disciplines at the door is one way that the teacher librarian can adapt learning opportunities to meet these key drivers of change in schools. Perhaps students still won’t leave knowing what a floppy disk is, but they’ll have approached their learning in a more flexible, collaborative manner that is more in tune with the skills today’s students will need beyond the classroom. And at the end of the day, isn’t preparing our students for life beyond school the goal of every educator?

Reference list

Bush, T. (2015). Organisation theory in education: How does it inform school leadership? CORE. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162657439.pdf

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