Aaaah, those two dreaded words that no conscientious student wants to hear…group work. While for some people, group work is an easy ticket to get to the other side, for others, it can be a cause of stress and frustration. While the availability of digital tools such as wikis should, in theory, enhance the ability for everyone to contribute equally, it still relies on each individual to have the motivation and inclination to do so.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my experience of online group work has not been as engaging as I had hoped, and instead of being a wonderful opportunity to genuinely connect and grow with other students in my class, I have found it quite cumbersome. Despite that fact that it has not afforded me the opportunity to bounce ideas off my peers in the way that I would have liked, I have found it a useful way to reflect on what leadership skills I possess and where I need to go from here.
For case study 4, I took on the role of of collator, however in hindsight, in ended up being more of a facilitator role. As someone who values communication, I drew heavily on this trait throughout the process. It was my plan that by doing this, I would be drawing on a democratic leadership style whereby all group members had an equal opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas. While Cherry (2019) suggests that democratic leadership can lead to better ideas and more creative solutions, she also warns that it can lead to communication failures and uncompleted projects. While we did complete and submit the case study and there was ample opportunity to contribute and discuss, the quality of the work itself was poor and as a group, we didn’t communicate as effectively as we could have.
In addition to the lack of communication between our group members, we once again had one member that did not contribute. I must admit, that if we were engaging in face-to-face group work, I would have drawn on some transactional leadership strategies and brought delicious snacks and coffee as a way to coerce our non-contributing group member to the party, but alas, this is one clear disadvantage of engaging in group work with individuals that you don’t know. Next week, I plan to take a step back and provide my peers with the opportunity to set up the wiki space and discussions. Though this will be a challenge for me, the art of listening to others is a critical leadership skill and one that I need to work on.
References
Cherry, K. (2019). The democratic style of leadership. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-democratic-leadership-2795315
Current Feels…image source: Pixabay
One of the things I find fascinating about studying my MedTL is the stark contrast between the subjects and topics I am engaging with. I experienced it last semester and I find myself in a similar situation this semester given the combination of subjects I have enrolled in. On any given day I can be learning about anything from metadata and cataloguing to exploring how the TL can work in a leadership capacity. It is a constant reminder of just how complex the role of a TL really is. At this stage of ETL504, it would be remiss of me not to admit to being completely overwhelmed by the leadership aspects of this role. Coming from small schools with small libraries, I have found it difficult to relate to the case studies presented so far. Despite this, when paired with the literature, I am beginning to understand why the TL would need to have a firm understanding of leadership principles in order to effectively run an effective library which effectively serves it’s school community.
What skills, strategies and leadership styles must the modern librarian employ in order to be a forward thinking and innovative contributor to their environment?
From what I have read so far, and that is what I am basing this on as I have no leadership experience, my understanding is that the best leaders adopt strategies from a variety of leadership styles. Smith (2016, p. 75) suggests that using an integrated model of leadership which draws upon a variety of leadership styles allows a leader to develop strong relationships, which he argues is the basis of strong leadership. This argument is supported by Moir, Hattie and Jansen (2014, p. 5) who’s studies show that secondary teachers see relational qualities such as trust, respect and effective communication as essential in effective leaders.
Several weeks ago, I would not have understood how this could relate to the role of the TL. However, I now understand that libraries are not always the small spaces with two part-time staff that I am accustomed to. A school librarian will often be managing a team of staff who work undertake a multitude of tasks. They are also providing services to teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as students. This therefore requires a far more complex skill set from that of ‘stamper and keeper of books’. TLs are, in their own right, leaders within the school and while I know I have much more to learn, of this fact, I am sure.
References
Moir, S., Hattie, J. & Jansen, C. (2014). Teacher perspectives of ‘effective’ leadership in schools. Australian Educational Leader, 36(4), 36-40. Retrieved from http://www.minnisjournals.com.au/acel/
Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(1), 65-78. Retrieved from https://selu.usask.ca/documents/research-and-publications/srrj/SRRJ-1-1-Smith.pdf
Even before beginning my career as a teacher, I wanted to be a school principal, though I’m not entirely sure why. Shortly after I entered the teaching profession, I quickly decided that I no longer wanted to be a principal and that I was destined for life as a classroom teacher. Even throughout the most challenging years in my teaching career, my love for the classroom has remained constant. Wanting to combine my love of the classroom with my love of children’s literature, I decided that I would make the move into the role of a teacher librarian. Since beginning my Masters in teacher librarianship, I have come to realise that the role of TL is far more complex than I originally thought. You can read more about that here. Yet another part of the role, as I am beginning to understand, is one of leadership. Given that I am only a week into this subject, I have not yet made solid connections between the role of the TL and leadership, however it has been interesting to learn about an array of leadership styles and to reflect on which of these I have experienced personally, and which of these I have employed within my own classroom.
A brief overview of leadership styles covered so far
Situational leadership – a leadership style which changes depending on the situation and the actions of the followers (Bales, 2019).
Transactional leadership – a leadership style which uses rules and incentives to motivate employees (Bales, 2019).
Transformational leadership – a leadership style which focuses on improvement and is particularly applicable to situations which require change, as it employs strategies including goal setting, planning and incentives. There is a strong emphasis on personal and professional development in addition to team building and collaboration between staff (Bales, 2019).
Instructional leadership – a leadership style which centres on the principal and their team but also draws on other key staff and community members to aid with decision making. While directing ‘from the top’, staff are given the opportunity to develop best practise (Bales, 2019).
Inspirational leadership – a leadership style in which the leader aims to empower and enable their followers through accepting and encouraging everyone on an individual basis (Smith, 2016, p. 69).
Which leadership style is most effective within a school context?
As I was reading about the leadership styles named above and considering my current leader, I found it difficult to pinpoint exactly which style she drew from. According to Smith (2016), this is actually a positive thing. Smith (2016, p. 75) surmises that employing strategies from transformational, transactional, inspirational and instructional leadership styles to create an integrated leadership model is important in order to build a strong school culture and have a positive impact on student achievement. While I don’t believe it is possible for everyone to be happy all of the time, there is certainly a strong learning culture within the school at which I am employed. Professional learning is encouraged and ‘thinking outside the box’ is supported in my workplace as per the inspirational leadership style. At the same time, there are certainly some transactional leadership strategies being used to ensure that tasks such as data entry continue to be carried out on time.
References
Bales, J. (2019). ETL504, Module 2.2, Leadership theories, Class notes. Retrieved from School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, website: https://www.csu.edu.au/
Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(1), 65-78. Retrieved from https://selu.usask.ca/documents/research-and-publications/srrj/SRRJ-1-1-Smith.pdf
