Author: clairetuminello89

Reflections on Leadership

Reflections on Leadership

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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

The Challenge of New Opportunities

The Challenge of New Opportunities

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The Australian Curriculum is providing teachers and teacher librarians with many new challenges, including the need to continually improve personal knowledge and understanding of digital tools and digital environments. Indeed, if we are expected to contribute to an educative experience that prepares our students to function efficiently and effectively in 21st century society, then we ourselves need to accept a level of responsibility to develop our own skills and knowledge in relation to digital tools and digital environments. These tools and environments are likely to feature extensively in workplaces and in society in general for a long time to come.

Putting aside the complexities and politics of a teaching career, being a teacher provides a wonderful challenge for those in the profession to embrace and adapt to constant change. Certainly, it sometimes feels like the change is never ending and it can really induce a lot of stress! But ever the optimist, it is something I secretly love about being a teacher. Danielson (2007) describes teaching as a “flat profession”, whereby as we gain experience, our responsibilities are essentially the same as a new teacher. I don’t necessarily agree with this. Sure, there are similarities in being able to deliver exciting learning opportunities to students regardless of the stage of your career, or being passionate about your subject and content. However, I think that as we gain experience, it’s not a “flatline” but (hopefully) on an upward trajectory in terms of the richness of what we can provide! Our challenges and responsibilities change quite a lot. The responsibilities of a new teacher are to learn how to juggle life as a teacher, how to manage a class of students after being dumped headfirst into your own classroom with limited practical experiences, how to try a few different things just to see if they work and be OK if they fail, and be motivated to improve them to make them better, even if they do come off well. Experienced teachers have different responsibilities – they’re often no longer experiencing the aforementioned challenges, but rather a whole set of new ones.

A huge personal challenge for me is the rate at which technology, and in particular digital tools and environments, are changing. It is really difficult to keep up with all of the fantastic opportunities that the digital world presents, which in turn makes it feel like an enormous challenge! A great example of my ignorance in this field relates to coding. I find it extremely intimidating, I have never done it and I wouldn’t even know where to start. However, I acknowledge and accept that coding is likely a working/learning skill required to function in 21st century society. On completion of this masters, I will hold a leadership role in a school as a teacher librarian. Part of my role is to embrace such challenges, and acknowledge the importance of digital upskilling for the benefit student learning, and ultimately, a rich and useful education. Furthermore, I’ll probably have to inspire others to embrace them too!

Leaders in schools, including but not limited to senior executive members, teacher librarians and teachers, have a responsibility to accept the challenges presented by rapid and dynamic technological change. This includes everyone accepting a personal and professional responsibility to learn about digital tools and environments. I envisage a world where professional learning communities made up of teachers across all experience levels and all domains can commit to improving outcomes in digital skills (in the case of coding, these would include digital literacy, design thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration, etc.) for students by collaborating effectively via structured professional learning (PL) and collaborative planning and teaching practices. Collaboration in PL can lead to the kind of accountability, support and engagement required to actually implement the PL into the classroom setting (Cole, 2012). I am also as ambitious to think that in a secondary setting, and potentially even in upper primary settings, students could be contributors of skills/knowledge to professional learning in coding, alongside other experts in the field.

Leadership is about many things, but I think great leadership includes a strong element of foresight and anticipating what will be needed in the future. The state of our country at the moment is a wonderfully depressing example of leadership that has failed to employ foresight or anticipated what might happen next (and if it does, what are we going to do). To state the obvious examples, our response at both state and federal levels to the pandemic, our involvement and response to the events in Afghanistan, our response to the bushfires and to climate change in general…it’s quite frankly embarrassing. Instead, we are stuck being constantly reactive and backpedalling.

Digital tools and environments are certainly not new, and they are still ever-changing, but rather than be on the back foot, it is up to us to see the writing on the wall. The present and the future of education is certainly going to include these tools and environments, so it’s up to all of the leaders in schools to embrace them, and attempt to anticipate their use in the future. Collaboratively, we can be held accountable for each other to focus on providing authentic learning for the future.

 

References

Cole, P. (2012). Linking effective professional learning with effective teaching practice.
https://ptrconsulting.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/linking_effective_professional_learning_with_effective_teaching_practice_-_cole.pdf

Danielson, C. (2007). The many faces of leadership. Educational Leadership, 65(1), 14-19. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept07/vol65/num01/The-Many-Faces-of-Leadership.aspx

 

What Does Leadership Mean To Me?

What Does Leadership Mean To Me?

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As a huge fan of the rule of three writing principle, I’m going to summarise what leadership means to me in this way in an attempt to keep it brief and effective.

Firstly, leadership to me is about people. Leaders are always challenged with and by the people that the lead. In any context, groups of people present challenges for leaders as every person is unique in their own right, in their beliefs and values, their personalities, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as many other variables. A major role of the leader is to be able to bring people together for a common cause regardless of these differences. A great leader should be able to support all individuals to contribute productively and effectively to a team.

Secondly, leadership means decision-making. Most leaders are passionate about instilling change for a better outcome. Sometimes, this means being courageous enough to make unpopular and potentially risky decisions. Furthermore, great leaders have to take ownership of these decisions whether the outcome is good, bad or otherwise.

Thirdly, leadership to me is about critical reflection. In order to be successful as a leader, you have to be able to reflect on your leadership style, and be critical of how you manage people and decisions in order to improve. Being a great leader is about evaluation of what you do well, what you don’t do so well and being able to adjust and change so that your leadership can constantly evolve and improve.

Resourcing the Curriculum of Today and the Future

Resourcing the Curriculum of Today and the Future

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Historically, change has been a recurring theme of human existence. Categorising these changes has been popular practice in understanding our history – for example the Industrial Age occurring between 1760-1970. Currently, we find ourselves as consumers of and contributors to the Digital Age or the Information Age which began in 1970 when transistor technology was developed. Libraries, including school libraries, have always been concerned with information as they have always housed collections of information in a variety of genres and formats. Thus, the so-called “Information Age” has impacted and continues to result in change for libraries and the collections they house.

Collection development is a central activity occurring in any library. Corrall (2018) suggests that a collection pertains to the entire notion of a library, and that the words ‘library’ and ‘collection’ are essentially synonymous. Where once the professional practice of collection development involved a much less diverse and interactive suite of resources, the Digital Age has seen a proliferation of information that seems to defy the constraints of space and time (Newsum, 2016). In relation to school libraries, SLAV (2018) states that “school libraries reflect and contribute to the achievement of the school’s mission by managing and curating equitable, inclusive and diverse physical and digital collections that reflect both a local and global perspective.” This statement reflects the need for school libraries to continue to develop collections that are driven by the needs of the community that they serve (Tuminello, 2021, March 3). However, following my engagement in this subject, I believe the collection should promote not only the consumption of new information and ideas, but also the creation. I believe that it is paramount for school library professionals to continue to be able to promote and encourage a life-long love of learning and growth for all students, regardless of the complexities that the digital age has contributed to the collection development role, now and into the foreseeable future.

Throughout this subject, I became particularly interested in the notion of selection versus censorship in the context of a digital age. As a future Teacher Librarian (TL), I certainly see myself as an advocate and supporter of intellectual freedom. However, there has to be a place for censorship in schools with access to the internet. Whilst the internet is an abundant resource for information that can resource and supplement the curriculum in a way that has not been done before, I bring into question whether the all of the information it provides is intellectual in nature, and therefore if the use of filtering in schools is compromising “intellectual” freedoms. In a blog post on April 13, I commented that “our communities have constant and uncensored access to the whole world of information. I would question this level of self-selection autonomy in the school context, and argue that internet filtering is necessary on some level in a school context.” However, whilst internet filtering is common practice in schools for this very reason, it is also as problematic. Johnson (2010) highlights some of the issues that occur when using blocking tools to filter what information is accessible to students and provides example of situations where student learning is negatively impacted by poor filtering decisions. Of note, his first suggestion to rectify these issues relate to the school policy that underpins internet filtering decisions.

The complexities of collection development in school libraries continues to evolve and change as the ongoing digital revolution influences publishing models and digital content. In such an age, school libraries should be promoting 21st century learning, and thus should access and acquire collections that provide this. However, to create such a collection requires professional decision-making that must be supported by policy should it aim to be ethical and accountable for the decisions made. A collection development policy (CDP) “aims to ensure equitable access to resources for all in the school community” (ALIA, 2017, p.4). In a blog post on May 14, I stated that “it is important to be able to be transparent, and to make conscious and systematic decisions that can be backed by the CDP so that questioning by stakeholders in relation to censorship, money and other issues can be answered and supported by documentation.” Whilst a CDP does provide a written document that supports the decision-making that pertains to the collection, it further supports the school library professionals by outlining the purpose of the collection and assists in future proofing the importance of the position of the library in the school. Thus, having a thorough and professional CDP that is regularly reviewed alongside the corresponding procedures is essential to justifying and promoting the worth of a school library.

Remaining relevant in a digital and dynamic age is a challenge faced by all libraries, including school libraries. On May 20, I commented that “the future of school libraries is directly related to the future of education, the future of learners and the future of content.” As mentioned earlier, in some ways it can be deduced that the library is the collection and the collection is the library. In order for libraries to justify themselves in a world where free and open access to information is afforded to anyone with an internet connection, they must be able to support their claims. A CDP allows the TL and the staff who collaborate to develop the document to provide a purpose and projection into the future for the collection development practices in a school. Prior to completing all of the modules, I made comment on April 13 that “the TL must have selection policy that is clear, strong and defensible to allow them the courage to make decisions that allow the community intellectual freedom.” I now understand that the policy requires more than just consideration of selection, but also pertains to identification, as well as acquisition, evaluation and deselection issues. If the policy is created collaboratively, and is able to succinctly address these principles, set goals and provide continuity, then the TL alongside the school community allow themselves the ability to be flexible and adapt to future technological changes, and can also demonstrate a clear vision that outlines the ever-changing complex notion of collection development.

References

Australian Library and Information Association School, & Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians. (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/ALIA%20Schools%20policies%20and%20procedures%20manual_FINAL.pdf

Corrall, S. (2018). The concept of collection development in the digital world. In M. Fieldhouse & A. Marshall (Eds.), Collection development in the digital Age (pp. 3–24). Facet. https://doi.org/10.290/9781856048972.003

Johnson, D. (2010). Censorship by omission. Library Media Connection, 28(4), 48-49. http://dougjohnson.squarespace.com/dougwri/censorship-by-omission.html  

Newsum, J. M. (2016). School collection development and resource management in digitally rich environments: An Initial Literature Review. School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 97–109.

School Library Association of Victoria. (2018). Statement on school libraries. https://slav.org.au/Statement-on-School-Libraries

A Crystal Ball for School Libraries and Collections

A Crystal Ball for School Libraries and Collections

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I do not have a crystal ball to predict the future. A quote that I love from Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, is “life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards”. Often, looking back on events and experiences can bring some hindsight, but we cannot change history. We can look forwards and try to create new events and experiences that acknowledge the gains and the losses of the past.

In the context of school libraries, Wade (2005) highlights that the school librarian is no longer a keeper of books that demands a quiet space in the library and occasionally comes into a classroom to talk about their contents. I acknowledge that maintaining a collection that meets the needs of it’s audience and provides resources and evidence for learning is a gain for a school community. However, given what we now know, the idea that learning must occur in utter silence and can only be presented directly from teacher to pupil is a potential loss of the past.

The future of school libraries is directly related to the future of education, the future of learners and the future of content. The challenge for school libraries and school library collections is to remain relevant and future-proof themselves in a world that seems to change faster than the speed of light. Not only is this change swift, it is also dynamic. It was once suggested that students appear as aliens in a library, as students entered the spaces with superior computer literacy skills than the school librarians themselves (Wade, 2005). Perhaps this observation is true, however there has been research to suggest that whilst Generation Y demonstrate confidence in using technology, this does not necessarily translate to intentional, effective and meaningful information-seeking behaviour (Coombes, 2009).

Consequently, I believe the future of school libraries is impossible to predict – and nor do I want to. It is too dependent on the future of other factors. IFLA Trend Report Update reminds us that “the library in itself is an enduring demonstration that expertise and truth exist, matter and are appreciated.” For now, and I may be wrong, but I can only see the relevance of this statement being magnified. In this vain, I hope that school libraries find a way to embed themselves in a school such that they are an irreplaceable piece of the education puzzle.

 

References

Combes, B. (2013). Educating the digital nature of the future. inCite, 34(4), 33-33.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. (2016). IFLA Trend Report.  http://trends.ifla.org

Wade, C. (2005). The school library: phoenix or dodo bird? Educational Horizons, 8(5), 12-14.

 

 

The Importance of Collection Development Policies

The Importance of Collection Development Policies

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Schools need to develop policies that reflect the values of the school and communicate the stance that the school takes on a particular topic or area. They often come into play on a day-to-day basis, and therefore it is really important that they are kept up to date so that they remain relevant to the community that they apply to. Where policy does not exist, it creates issues into the future as to how to deal with certain issues. For instance, in the context of a collection development policy in the library, if the policy were only to “exist in the head of the incumbent teacher librarian and when that person is gone/absent so is the knowledge” (Module 6.1). A collection development policy (CDP) provides teacher librarians with a working document that allows them to manage the collection in accordance with the underpinning principals of being open, accountable and ethical in their decision-making relating to the library collection. It is important to be able to be transparent, and to make conscious and systematic decisions that can be backed by the CDP so that questioning by stakeholders in relation to censorship, money and other issues can be answered and supported by documentation.

Being able to manage the collection effectively and efficiently ensures the community that the library serves is provided with resources that are relevant, engaging and suitable. It is crucial that the collection is managed with the support of CDP documentation to ensure effective conduct.

Collection Methods

Collection Methods

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When analysing data to inform decisions, it is often important to include quantitative and qualitative methods to get a holistic picture. Such is the case when analysing the resource collection in a library and making decisions based upon the data to manage resources.

The following quantitative methods would provide robust data to assist in auditing school library resources:

  1. For print resources, using the library management system (LMS) to gauge borrowing statistics, as well as collection size and growth. Such data may inform the weeding of resources that have not been borrowed or used in certain time parameters (the criteria would be set by the TL for this).
  2. Depending on budgetary requirements, content overlap studies may be useful to investigate resources that cover content across more that one curriculum area.

Qualitative methods that provide further important insight into the collection are:

  1. User opinions via survey and discussion with students, teachers and the wider school body.
  2. Collection mapping if time allows – looking at the school curriculum and mapping out which areas are supported by resources, and which areas require resources.

Further to these ideas, I really liked the idea presented by Jevanord (2021) where, with the use of a rubric that had to justify a book’s removal based on age, relevance etc., the students were “given the gardening gloves” for weeding the books. Students developed a much greater understanding of the collection in the library, and the TL developed a greater understanding of the needs and interests of the users.

References

Jevanord, J. (2021, April 13). Weeding library books: A brilliant strategy. Library Learners. https://librarylearners.com/weeding-library-books

Literary Learning is for Everyone

Literary Learning is for Everyone

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At the commencement of my studies in ETL402, I had little experience or knowledge relating to the use of children’s literature to support the curriculum. As an experienced teacher across a range of subject areas in secondary schools (but not English) it had not occurred to me that the subjects I taught could be supported by literary learning as it had not been presented to me, either by other staff or students or during professional development activities.

Initially, I held the narrow view that literary fiction is used to address the English curriculum in schools but is otherwise enjoyed as a hobby. In a blog post on March 8, in relation to graphic novels and wordless picture books, I made the comment that “it is uplifting to think that we can advance beyond our notions of what we have always thought something to be, and challenge these ideas for the benefit of future generations.”  The concept of this statement can also be applied to my views on the integration of literary fiction. Cornett (2014) describes the value of including literary arts across the curriculum, emphasising that literature encourages a reader to make personal meaning of themes, helps students build empathy and respect, and helps students deepen their understandings and engage in creative inquiry.

It is difficult to engage in a curriculum-based unit and not apply the content to the curriculum areas that you have the most experience in. However, it is important to be receptive to new knowledge and research. The completion of the assignments and course content of this subject has opened my eyes to the value of using literary fiction to teach and facilitate learning. On a basic level, literature presents a conflict that requires a solution, and this drives the plot. This allows students to imagine possibilities, connect ideas and draw conclusions (Cornett, 2014). What I have learnt is that this type of creative inquiry need not be exclusive to an English classroom and can provide incredibly rich learning experiences across a diverse range of subject areas. In fact, I even learnt about bibliotherapy, the use of books and stories to support social and emotional needs (Heath, Smith & Young, 2017) and had never come across this in 8 years of teaching mental illness. On April 13, I wrote a blog post and made the comment that “as TL’s, it is our professional responsibility to encourage students…to engage in and enjoy reading.” I would like to suggest that it is the professional responsibility of all teachers to encourage and engage students in reading.

Embarking on a new career as a TL is as daunting as it is exciting and provides an opportunity for me to reconsider my educational philosophy. This subject has opened my eyes to the potential of children’s literature to address the curriculum in a way that is genuinely engaging and exciting. In a post on March 8, I stated that “my vision…allows engagement of all children in quality literature existing in a diverse range of genres, forms and formats and accessed through both print and digital publishing.” Whilst this still holds true, I would like to add that the value of literature lies in its ability to provoke personal connection, and a true sense of understanding of ourselves and society.

 

References

Cornett, C. E. (2014). Integrating the literary arts throughout the curriculum. In Creating meaning through literature and the arts: Arts integration for classroom teachers (5th ed., pp. 144-193). Prentice Hall.

Heath, M. A., Smith, K., & Young, E. L. (2017). Using children’s literature to strengthen social and emotional learning. School Psychology International, 38(5), 541-561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034317710070

Literate Practices

Literate Practices

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Teachers in Australian schools are incredibly time poor. As time goes on, it seems that the multifaceted role of the classroom teacher continues to evolve in a way that compounds this issue, rather than relieving some of the pressure. As the information world changes rapidly, so too does the range and access of literacies available in an educational context. It is an important role of the Teacher Librarian (TL) to collaborate with teaching staff and provide support, promotion and access to literate practices so that students can be proficient flexible communicators and information analysts. However, providing such support must be done in a way that is mindful of already time poor teachers.

 

In this context, the use of LibGuides are a practical solution in supporting, promoting and providing access to both traditional and digital formats of children’s literature for classroom teachers. LibGuides allow teachers excellent access to multimodal literature that supports their curriculum content and promotes students literary experiences in their classrooms. They are easily updated as new resources become available, and can be made collaboratively with teachers. Furthermore, LibGuides support multimodal representation of text that have been made available through multimedia and technological change.
Would we build them?

Would we build them?

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Parkes (2010) poses the question: “If libraries didn’t exist, would we build them today?”
Libraries of the past were the beacons of knowledge, the keepers and preservers of the books. In current times, information and knowledge are easily and freely accessible most of the time, largely thanks to the dawn of the technological age. Physical resources still exist. They are still highly relevant and have a place in society just as digital resources do.
But libraries provide something that no online environment can (at the moment). A human, face-to-face interaction that can lead the horse to water, and allow the patron a physical experience with a book (or other physical resource). Whilst online environments can still provide a vast range of high-quality and engaging resources, they cannot replace the personal relationship or interaction that you can have with a librarian, nor can they offer the physical experience of turning a paper page and the feel of a book. Perhaps I’m nostalgic or a bit of a romantic, but this experience contributes to my love of books and reading.
It is based on this that I think libraries would still be built today. Perhaps smaller, perhaps differently, perhaps to include more technological advancement – but still, they would be built.

Now, that statement is a hypothetical situation that doesn’t exist because we do have libraries. They were built, and they still are built. The ways in which we arrange the libraries to encourage active participation in reading behaviours are being studied. In particular, the organisation of the fiction collection has been scrutinised. Where once these collections have simply been organised according to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), a quantitative system in which the fiction section is the least specifically organised, now libraries are seeking to depart from the DDC system and move towards classifying this section by genre to make books that may be of interest to the user easier to find. Whilst genrefication can be challenging to roll out, especially given how many genres there are, reclassifying the library’s fiction collection by genre gives students more ownership of the fiction collection and allows them to find materials that genuinely interest them (Moeller & Becnel, 2019).

As TL’s, it is our professional responsibility to encourage students and the whole school community to engage in and enjoy reading. Let’s make it easier, not harder, for our young people to get excited about reading and empower them to choose their fiction based on what they’re interests are.

References

Moeller, R. A. & Becnel, Kim E.  (2019). Why on earth would we not genrefy the books? A study of reader interest classification in school libraries. Knowledge organization, 46(3), 199-208.

Parkes, D. (2010). Web 2.0 and libraries: Impacts, technologies and trends.