Challenge

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“I know all that. Tell me how!”

Having worked in schools, in various roles, more on than off since 1982, I’ve comfortably assumed that I know quite a deal about leadership in schools… but schools have changed, are changing still, and I am changing too as I participate in the new challenge of the role of Teacher Librarian. This opportunity now, courtesy of the MEd(TL), to learn about the theory behind the practice of leadership, has given me pause, and an opportunity to reflect – both on the leadership I have witnessed in schools over the years, and on my own participation in it.
My viewpoint now is that when I started in schools, leadership was conceptualised as the responsibility of a small subset of the staff of a school. Certainly there was the sense that the role of Principal or Headmaster/Headmistress was exclusive in the perception of a well managed school – in essence there was a real sense that leadership lived or died in a school dependent on the personality characteristics and practices of that single individual. When I look back at that approach now, I realise this was quite a comfortable perception for everyone other than the Principal. Thirty years later, my thoughts now are that leadership in schools is much more than the role of the Principal – trouble being that this may still put me in conflict with those staff who continue to perpetuate this notion of effective school leadership being dependent on that single individual at the head… and I don’t think it is that simple anymore at all.
As this course has presented readings covering leadership theory and the changes that have occurred over the same time span that I have been teaching in schools, so I see how my own view of leadership and participation in it, have developed over these decades. Ideas about “natural born leaders” have floated around during that time, but I have come to believe that leadership is as much about innate characteristics as it is about learning how to lead… and being given opportunities to practice those skills. The concepts of Distributed Leadership and Transformational Leadership are of particular interest at my career stage and I look forward to a deeper understanding of these theories.
This year, as I started a new adventure in a NSW Department of Education School Library, circumstances have already provided a series of challenges and opportunities to participate as Teacher Librarian as leader, and also to observe other staff in various positions, participate in leadership development – regardless of their named position.
The ASLA guidelines for excellence in Teacher Librarianship provide a framework for establishing the role and taking a place in the leadership in my school. These give a strong focus as I look for opportunities to:
actively engage in school leadership and participate in key committees
promote and nurture a ‘whole school focus’ on information literacy policy and implementation
build and foster collaborative teams within school and professional communities
provide effective and transformational leadership to school library and information services staff
As it happens, my new school has also been in particular need of leadership in IT management and ICT integration, and these areas within my skill set have been utilised within my new situation – providing a bridge for other projects and collaborative practices. Recently I have been approached by the Head Teacher of the English Faculty to consult on plans for establishing a Literacy Committee for our school in 2016 and I look forward to those challenges.
As this course expands my knowledge of leadership practice, I look forward to increasing my availability to participate in an essential Servant Leadership opportunity within my school as their Teacher Librarian.

Bibliography:
ASLA (2005) Standards of professional excellence for Teacher Librarians. 1st Ed. [PDF] Australian School Library Association. Available at: http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.aspx

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ETL503 Final reflection: so many books… so little time

 

“It does not matter how many books you may have, but whether they are good or not.”
– Lucius Annaeus Seneca (3 B.C.-65 A.D.), Epistolae Morale

Six months into a new position as a Teacher Librarian in a NSW DEC high school, writing a proposal for a Collection Development Policy has been an opportune and significant learning activity. While the second assignment required broad strokes utilising the topics covered in modules presented in the course, I found myself mentally applying the elements of the topics covered and the resulting proposal structure, to the specific circumstances and challenges of my new role. The narrow focus of the first assignment, resourcing for a specific topic, was a good introduction to the challenge involved in developing a collection to meet specific curriculum requirements (Hogg, 2015a). The second assignment widened the horizon to incorporate the Library Collection as a whole.

As the course has progressed, I have applied the learning to the collection I now manage, and find myself suitably impressed by the previous holder of my current position. She was known as a bit of a dragon… but her skills in Collection Development are revealed to me now in a way that can only be described as impressed. I inherit a solid collection that is meeting the current needs of the learning community of my school – my challenge is clear… the continuation of this legacy. The development of my own set of selection criteria, applicable to my school circumstance and its changing needs, has been well informed by the readings and discussions on the forums in this course. The process of selection and acquisition in a school with specific budget constraints has also led me to realise the benefits of a well established, local bookshop, and the long connection that the staff have with my library collection (Hogg, 2015b).

Weed

To weed…

The Australian Library and Information Association Schools considers that a Collection Development Policy is essential to a school library as it explains why the collection exists (ALIA Schools and VCTL, 2007). In considering the development of such a policy for my school, I have come to realise how important the four areas of analysis provided by the Collaborative Access Environment model are as posited by Hughes-Hassell in Collection management for youth : responding to the needs of learners (2005). In order to provide the service required by our Collection, as the Teacher Librarian I need to achieve a deep knowledge of my resources, a clear understanding of the learner characteristics of the students at my school, foster strong collaborative partnerships with other teaching staff, and gain access to and understanding of the teaching and learning programs being offered at my school. This is quite a challenge and forms only part of the role of the Teacher Librarian in a school library – but certainly provides clarity of purpose as I move forward and develop skills in this position.

Amongst the many other topics covered by the modules in this course, there are a number of challenging facets of the TL to be honed, one that particularly stands out for me is the process of weeding. Essentially, collection development means both adding to and subtracting from a library’s collection (Olin, 2012). Completing the CREW (Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding) (Larson, 2012) exercise was difficult – both in finding the time in a busy school timetable, and the torture of making decisions about the fate of individual books! Being a hoarder by nature is certainly not a useful attribute for a Teacher Librarian… and a focus for future personal growth in the role!

Lastly, planning a Collection is built on speculation (Anderson, 2011) and it is influenced by our inability to predict the impact of new technologies in education. Some aspects of our future in libraries seem predictable while others we will just have to wait and see.

 

References

ALIA Schools, and Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians, (2007). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centres. 1st ed. [ebook] Melbourne: ALIA Schools and VCTL. Available at: https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/documents/events/policies.procedures.pdf

Anderson, R. (2011) Collections 2021: the future of the library collection is not a collection. in Serials, 24(3) Available at: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/67113024/collections-2021-future-library-collection-not-collection

Hogg, D. (2015a) Annotated resource list. Available at:  http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/04/03/etl503-assignment-1-annotated-resource-list/

Hogg, D. (2015b) Personal connections in the purchasing process.  Available at: http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/debhoggoz/2015/04/03/etl503-reflection-personal-connections-in-the-purchasing-process/

Hughes-Hassell, Sandra. & Mancall, Jacqueline C.  (2005).  Collection management for youth : responding to the needs of learners.  Chicago :  American Library Association

Larson, J. (2012). CREW: a weeding manual for modern libraries. Austin, Texas: Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Available at: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/sites/default/files/public/tslac/ld/ld/pubs/crew/crewmethod12.pdf

Olin, J. (2012). Letters to a young librarian: weeding is where it’s at: deacquisitioning in a small, academic library. Available at: http://letterstoayounglibrarian.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/weeding-is-where-its-at.html

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27 things your Teacher Librarian does…

27 things Teacher Librarians do

I’ve inserted this infographic here in my CSU blog so that I can reflect on this analysis… and return to it as I learn about the facets of this role… and add to the skills that I currently present with.

Like all roles in schools – the idea is to get better at the job as you face it day-to-day. I am beginning to see how this particular role has enough variation in it to keep even the most multi-tasking hungry of Teachers completely satisfied in the short and long term. The Teacher Librarian role is somewhere to explore a wide range of teaching and learning opportunities. The important thing to remember is “to grow is to change”!

Deb Hogg

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How visible are you?

2015 has challenges in store! Apart from beginning the Masters of Education (Teacher Librarianship) at Charles Sturt University… which is challenge enough… I will also be starting in a new position – a new role in a new school.

As I prepare for the transition, and try to achieve orientation in lots of spaces, my first thoughts have been about… how visible are you? and how visible do you want your library to be? Much to consider – and finding Dr Jennie Bales’ presentation has given me a framework to scaffold some thinking and planning. I look forward to figuring out how my role fits into the school planning in my new workplace. I’m excited by the prospect because the interview certainly hinted of significant expectation and opportunity!