ETL504 – Assessment 2 Part B

Teacher Librarians: Leaders from the Middle

As stated in my initial reflection upon starting this unit, I had very little experience and knowledge surrounding the notion of leadership and the library (Johnson, 2021, March 3). Having only taught for 4 years, most of which being in a school library environment in which the library is not necessarily valued as a 21st century learning space, means that this is still an area that requires a significant amount of personal and professional development.

In saying this, however, my knowledge has expanded significantly as a result of the modules and readings of this unit, particularly in the areas of leadership theory and understanding how leadership operates within school environments and has done so in my own situation and experiences. I now recognise my position in the school to be principally one of a servant leader; as someone who has focused not on my own aspirations or the school vision, but on listening to and serving the needs and interests of library users (Crippen & Willows, 2019; Stewart, 2017). This was made clearer to me when completing the conflict management self-assessment, identifying me as someone with tendencies to accommodate and compromise as opposed to compete, something that really resonated with me. While this leadership role certainly has its merit within school libraries, teacher librarians need to be curriculum, information and technology experts within schools that lead from the ‘middle’ – effectively bridging the gap between formal leaders (such as the principal and senior executive team) and classroom teachers (Toop, 2013). This role can and should be fulfilled by advising formal leaders on developments in pedagogy, curriculum and technology integration, and using this knowledge to collaborate with teachers to build their capacity, model best practice and support their teaching and learning (Cox & Korodaj, 2019). Leading from the middle therefore resembles transformational leadership far more than it does servant leadership (Baker, 2016), and is something that I need to focus on developing to become a more effective leader as a teacher librarian.

Reflecting on the role of teacher librarians as leaders, I believe that I need to become more proactive in seeking out collaborations with teachers in order to build my capacity as a transformational leader. I also need to start to challenge the perception of myself within the school as one of an early career teacher operating out of the library to that of a leader of teaching and learning – a perception that I believe will develop through effective collaborations. I have previously created information literacy lessons and programs and research scaffolds for specific classes (Johnson, 2021, March 3), however these were done individually and based on what I believed was best practice. While it important to model best practice to students and staff (Cox & Korodaj, 2019), I need to collaborate with the teachers in these classrooms to develop resources and lessons that meet the information needs of their students, and show me to be a leader and expert in curriculum development and support. Next year, moving to a new library as part of Marsden High School’s redevelopment I must take the time to explore meaningful collaborations with teachers in the Science, English and HSIE faculties to incorporate these resources into existing teaching and learning programs. This will hopefully provide a base from which I can grow my collaborations with teachers around curriculum development. I have also begun my journey as a technology leader this year, leading a professional development session on the effective use of Clickview to support teaching and learning (Johnson, 2021, April 21). This was a fantastic experience and I learned a lot from this. Now knowing the value of being a visible technology leader (Baker, 2016), I aim to pursue this as a regular element of my practice, leading technology integration and support within the school to develop my ability as a leader and to begin to change perceptions around myself as a teacher librarian.

References

Baker, S. (2016) From teacher to school librarian leader and instructional partner: A proposed transformation framework for educators of preservice school librarians, School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 143-158.

Cox, E., & Korodaj, L. (2019). Leading from the sweet spot: Embedding the library and the teacher librarian in your school community, ACCESS, 33(4), 14-25.

Crippen, C., & Willows, J. (2019). Connecting teacher leadership and servant leadership: A synergistic partnership, Journal of Leadership Education, 18(2), 171-180. https://doi.org/10.12806/V18/I2/T4

Stewart, J. (2017). The importance of servant leadership in schools, International Journal of Business Management and Commerce, 2(5).

Toop, J. (2013, July 2). Making the most of middle leaders to drive change in schools. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/jul/02/middle-leaders-driving-change-school

Teacher Librarians as Leaders

My Experience & Understanding of Leadership

As a reasonably early career teacher having only taught for four years now, I haven’t had an overwhelming amount of leadership experience… I have been working at my current school now for just over two years in the teacher librarian role, however this role and my understanding of it has changed dramatically over the course of those two years.

First Impressions

Initially I was employed as a fresh face with the purpose of bringing more technology, life and enthusiasm into the school library, something that I was more than open to. I was not seen as a leader within the school, nor was the library space seen as a space from which to lead. My understanding of the role was as a supportive element of the school, one that principally supported both students and teachers in teaching and learning and well-being. It was not necessarily a position from which to lead curriculum development or be a leading force for change and development within the school, particularly for someone with my lack of experience. For starters I was too scared to even speak in front of the school at assembly…

I approached a number of other TLs from the local area to gain some experience and expertise and to develop my knowledge and understanding of the role and what it meant to be an effective TL. In doing so I connected with some awesome TLs and received some amazing advice and experience to help me going forward. This advice not only shaped my initial practice in the library, but lead me to the course I am now more than halfway through completing. After just the first year of study and the shared knowledge I have gained from the TL networks I have now become a part of, my idea of who and what a TL is in a school environment has changed dramatically.

Beginning ETL504

Having developed my understanding of the role significantly over the course of two years, I now realise that the leadership potential and responsibility of the TL as a leader in the school is massive. In my first year I was operating in the library under the then Head Teacher of Admin, a very capable teacher but someone who was even less aware of library processes and the value of the school library than myself. I was still settling into the role and finding my feet, but this supervision, along with the lack of value given to the school library by other more senior leaders and members of the executive team, severely limited my ability to operate as a leader within the school.

Going into ETL504 in Semester 1 of 2021, I have now completed 5 units of the course, including ETL401 and ETL501, and my ability to lead from the library has already seen vast improvement. I have managed to lead a number of programs coming out of the library to do with reading in Stage 4, information literacy development in classrooms, research lessons and resource development for EAL/D students and the development of student voice in the library and across the school, all things that I would never have thought possible when first starting in the role. I also have a greater understand of how well positioned the TL is in a school to lead curriculum development, support staff in the implementation of school-wide programs and operate as a force for driving change.

However, whilst I feel I have personally made leaps and bounds since the beginning of the course, there is still a long way to go! My understanding of leadership as a concept and the underpinnings of good leadership, particularly in a school environment, are still very basic. Although I have completed a number of personal goals to lead programs and teams, I strongly believe my library still has a long way to go to be seen as a place of leadership within the school and for myself to be seen as one of the leaders. Over the course of this unit I hope to extend my knowledge and use key leadership theories and principles to extend myself as a leader within the school, leading alongside senior executives and other key leaders to change perceptions around the library and myself and begin working as a leading force for driving change within our school.

Category: ETL504