Through the ongoing isolation of the 2020 and 2021 calendar years in Australia, never has it been more startingly obvious that humans are naturally social beings. We humans crave social connection, interaction and relationships. In a blog entry on July 18, I suggested that “leadership is about people…a major role of the leader is to bring people together for a common cause regardless of differences.” Colvin (2000) presents a strong argument about people and leadership, suggesting that a group of people with united values comprises an awesome power to create, articulate and sustain such values for the benefit of others. In an organisation such as a school, leadership roles are appointed to create, articulate and sustain values and a culture which relate to providing the best possible educational outcomes for students in the context of that particular environment. Schools, therefore, are complex organisational structures that involve many levels of leadership, both internally and externally.
On commencement of ETL504, I held the narrow view that each individual leader exhibited a particular and singular leadership style when given opportunities to lead. This is highlighted in my introduction post on the discussion board, when I suggested that I was looking forward to “reflecting on my own leadership style” (Tuminello, 2021, July 15). Throughout the unit, my learning has led me to discover a range of different styles of leadership, as well as traits, and highlighted the importance of being able to integrate a range of these in schools to elicit the best outcomes. No one style is suited to every leadership role or responsibility, and it is the ability to adopt and integrate a range of styles and traits that makes a great leader in a school. Smith (2016) emphasises the requirement for schools to employ an integrated model of leadership to create effective schools that promote a positive school culture and encourage teacher satisfaction and performance.
As a budding teacher librarian (TL), it is important to consider the leadership styles and traits that are most appropriate to promote oneself as a leader in the school. School libraries envisage themselves as knowledge centres that play a key role in the promotion of literacy skills (Hartley, 2020). The definition of literacy has changed with rapid advancement in technology, and in the twenty-first century school libraries find themselves in the unique position to adapt and promote themselves as collaborative and exciting learning hubs that encourage innovation in pedagogy and learning so that the needs of twenty-first century learners are being met.
In a blog post on August 20, I reflected that it is up to the TL to see their responsibility as a leader in a school to “accept the challenges presented by rapid and dynamic technological change…by collaborating effectively via structured professional learning (PL) and collaborative planning and teaching practices.” From my perspective, the roles and responsibilities of the TL as a leader in a school lend themselves best to servant leadership, instructional leadership and distributed leadership styles. A shared dimension evident in all three is the ability to work with others effectively to achieve a common goal. I still believe that strong and effective collaboration with all stakeholders to demonstrate the important leadership role that the TL holds in a school is an optimal way to inspire others, lead from the middle, and promote the school library as a hub for exciting, twenty-first century learning experiences.
References
Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the info era. Fortune, 141(5). http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1.
Hartley, C. (2020, August 4). Libraries, the heart of the school. Professional Educator, 1, 23. https://scis.edublogs.org/2020/08/04/libraries-the-heart-of-the-school/
Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(1), 65-78. https://selu.usask.ca/documents/research-and-publications/srrj/SRRJ-1-1-Smith.pdf