Third rung - ETL504 - The Teacher Librarian as Leader

Leadership is a very ambiguous and indistinct term, am I a leader, or do I just guide the students and team members around me in the direction I believe that is correct…. Is that leadership?

So far as I understand it - in a school situation the effective leader’s direction (and this is not necessarily the Principle) inspires the teachers who in turn encourages the students to achieve.  (Marzano, Waters & McNutty)

I expect, as it has in previous semesters and previous subjects, that as this semester unfolds my understanding of leadership in schools will be altered.

In answer to the first Forum I believe that leadership is a performance involving the collaborative interpersonal processes of a manager’s job, but I also believe that many managers are not necessarily leaders. Leadership must involve a least two people, where one is intentionally influenced to make something happen by the other.
Leaders: 


• Use communication to influence fulfilment of a goal


• Regard the workplace dynamic as a partnership 


• Guide rather than push


• Guide others to a ‘result’ and then let them claim ‘ownership’ 


• Don’t always have the right answers, but are willing to find them


• Have the energy, drive, integrity and credibility to be able to inspire others

Leadership should involve looking behind you occasionally to see if anyone is following or if you actually are making a change for the better. 



My position does not lend itself to making big changes within the library so I attempt to lead by example in providing the best processes I can to teachers, students and my team, as well as directing them to the ‘new’ that I find to advance what they do. I allow those I ‘lead’ to achieve and to become self-sufficient, to take ownership of a project and also take ownership of the success of that project. I have tried to create a team that is independent but also works with each other’s strengths to achieve our common goal of making the library the hub of the college. 

16/04/2014 - I do not find it that unusual that study and my everyday life continue to intertwine at certain points.

My subject this semester is based on the Leadership qualities to be found within the school library spectrum, my work life this semester is also revolving around the leadership ‘qualities’ of those who are directing us in the largest series of modifications seen in decades. Yet I have just watched a movie, ‘Invictus’, a story of two leaders who lead by example and inspire others to excel by expecting more of themselves. While watching this movie I could not help reflecting and contrasting the movies plot, my studies and the situations occurring at work...

Second rung - ETL503 - Reflection

To sum up the ETL503 ‘Resourcing the Curriculum’ is difficult, even at this late stage, but this is the image that is forming n my mind…

The creation of a collection development policy for any educational library facility must be centred on the collection, so that both, not only provide for current clients, both staff and students, but it must be flexible enough for its future web-based clients. As such, the policy is a blueprint for the strategic building and ongoing maintenance of the essence of the library, the collection (Evans, & Saponaro, 2005, p. 49).

Not working in a primary or high school I based the collection policy on my TAFE library.  In assessing my library’s collection in relation to the course notes, what became apparent was, ironically enough, the necessity of every library initiating a current development policy. This realisation became apparent when I realised early in the subject that in my 20+ years of working in the TAFE library sector, I have never seen the policy that is the ‘blueprint’ guiding how I function each day.

Over the period of my employment in libraries I have had experience with the functions of weeding, stocktaking, the acquisition and accessioning process and recetly, the selection process. My expectations were that I would expand my basic knowledge of the library from a different slant, the school library. However the process is a lot more detailed, with more considerations than I imagined.

One point resonated, while reviewing the modules and forum contributions on safeguarding the collection from undue censorship, I realised that with all TAFE library resources being purchased through contracted vendors, as per TAFE Queensland contractual oblations the purchasing system may be open to censorship by our suppliers, it may not be, but we have no where else to buy from. I now realize that a clear and transparent challenges policy and procedures, linked to selection criteria, is essential in a collection development policy to prevent what may happen.

I found the forum postings, podcasts and online meetings to be invaluable. Along with assisting in clarifying my understanding of the concepts discused, and their importance within libraries, they helped me in connecting with my fellow students and the presenters, lessening the disembodiment I find in distent educaton.

Finally, I must acknowledge the growing impact that the virtual collection has for libraries. It is a fact that the students of today demand instant connection to information, this makes it imperative that online and digital resources are incorporated into collection policies. This requires that the teacher librarian is conscious of licensing and copyright restrictions when selecting to these resources for the virtual collection.

The policy is critical in guiding the collection to reflect the educational, teaching and learning needs of the institutions staff and students. This is supported by Ondrack’s (2004) statement that ‘libraries will not be deemed part of the teaching processes’ if they do not contribute resources required by the learning and teaching needs of their clients.

References:

Evans, G. E. & Saponaro, M. Z. (2005). Developing library and information center

collections. (5^th ed.). Westport, CT.: Libraries Unlimited.

Ondrack, J. (2004). Great Collection! But is it enough? School Libraries in Canada, 23(3). p.

12. Retrieved from - http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/14939376/great-collection-but-enough

First rung - ETL401 - Critical reflection

Critical reflection: - There and back again

As a library technician with over 20 years’ experience in a TAFE library I believed that it was time for a role change. I wanted to work with children in an education environment: to teach students to love the attainment of knowledge and to appreciate using literature in all its forms. To this goal I focused my studies towards teacher librarianship. Despite coming from an academic library background, I have discovered that there is much more to the teacher librarian role than I had previously considered. One revelation was the concept of TLs directing and teaching other teachers (ASLA & ALIA, Standard 3.1, 2004). I had considered TLs to be equally qualified, to teachers rather than having higher qualifications.

Information literacy

My understanding of the concept of information literacy has undergone a radical upgrade. In my blog “Third rung” (Burnett, 2012c), I discussed the role of supporting students through an improved information literacy program with each class. The illustration I presented was in relation to information skills – defining, locating and using information. Now I link other essential skills such as, feelings, thoughts, values, dispositions within my understanding of “Information Literacy” (Kuhlthau, 2004), improving my understanding of student learning by relating the processes they progress through.  I consider it to be an advantage for students to know in advance that anxiety and confusion is an expected part of the process. I believe that this will assist me in guiding students to develop transferable literacy abilities for “lifelong learning”, enabling them to continue independently long after they have left the academic arena, rather than limit my TL role to that of a resource provider (Burnett, 2012d).

Readings

I have found the literature to be extensive and provocative; not only the set pieces but the abundance of information located in texts and online that provoked me to review my ideas, such as Todd’s statement that that “Information Literacy is the bridge between ‘Learning to read’ and ‘Reading to Learn” (Burnett, 2012e). These texts have encouraged me to take into account so many new processes that I had not considered essential to successful learning; holistic learning styles, information search processes, guided inquiry strategies (Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari).

Assignments

I struggled with first assignment. After reading the comments on the return of the assignment, I recognised that I had not been working at Masters Level. My goal for assignment 2 is to meet the level expected. The 12 ASLA/ALIA standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians, which was the basis of the first assignment, provided me with guidelines of obtainable objectives that I as a TL can aspire to, rather than a mandatory checklist of skills (ASLA & ALIA, 2004).

Blogs & Forums

To blog or not to blog… social media has not been an aspect of technology that I have been acquainted with in the past. The need to create and use a blog challenged not only my technical skills (Yang, 2009), I was also surprised and encouraged to find that I was not the only one with blogging dyslexia.  After my experiences this semester, I now regard social media as effective learning tools and can see a definite use for this technology in giving students and staff the opportunity to question, share and receive information and reflect on progress.

I discovered that the forums filled a gap that I believed would be lacking in online education, notably student contact and the sharing and debating of ideas and theories (Burnett, 2012f). Far from this case, many of the posts from my fellow students and teachers were ideal continuations of threads that merged with and illuminated my own thoughts. I have found contributing to the forum difficult at times owing to my lack of knowledge of educational procedures, but retrospectively, the posts and comments on the modules highlighted the value of collaboration that comes from sharing ideas with classmates and obtaining their opinions and timely support when needed (Fraser; Kayte, 2012).

Conclusion

Has my view of TLs changed? When I consider my first submitted blog in this arena, it was to reflect my climb through “uninformed knowledge emerging with an insight of the role of the TL” (Burnett, 2012a,). My view of the ‘library’ role of a TL has not changed radically, but there has been a change in my more informed view of the ‘educational’ role of the TL. I was well aware that TLs accomplish much more than just “check out books” (Purcell, 2010). However, until perusing the literature and participating in the forums, I had never considered that TLs would have the need to persuade an educational team to work together. The most revealing statements came from my classmates; that TLs have to prove their worth not only to their fellow teachers but to the principal, whose support of any library program is essential for success (Burnett, 2012b, Burnett, 2012g; Crowe, 2012). I have come to realize that I should become professionally involved in associations such as the School Library Association of Queensland, in the hope of raising the profile of my future profession.

Overall, my view on the role of the teacher librarian has been enlightened and expanded and I’m confident it will continue to evolve as I progress with my studies and within my future career as a teacher librarian.

References

Australian School Library Association & Australian Library and Information Association (ASLA & ALIA). (2004).

Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Canberra: ASLA

Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/policy/standards.htm?print=1

Burnett, S. (2012a, July 9). First rung. [Blog post]. Retrieved from

http://climbingthelibraryladder.blogspot.com.au/2012_07_01_archive.html

Burnett, S. (2012b, September 9). Ninth rung- Blog Task #2: The role of the teacher librarian in practice with

regard to principal support. [Blog post]. Retrieved from

http://climbingthelibraryladder.blogspot.com.au/2012_07_01_archive.html

Burnett, S. (2012c, July 26). Third rung: We need to rock the boat. [Blog post]. Retrieved from

            http://climbingthelibraryladder.blogspot.com.au/2012_07_01_archive.html

Burnett, S. (2012d, July 29). Fifth rung – Blog task #1: Assessing information literacy and inquiry learning in

regard to the practice of teacher librarians. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://climbingthelibraryladder.blogspot.com.au/2012_07_01_archive.html

Burnett, S. (2012e, September 24). Eleventh Fifth rung – Blog task #3: Information literacy is more than a set

of skills. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://climbingthelibraryladder.blogspot.com.au/2012_07_01_archive.html

Burnett, S. (2012f, July 22). Topic 1: Online support. [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from

http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201260_W_D_Sub5_forum

Burnett, S. (2012g, July 28). Topic 2: Teacher librarian evangelism. [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from

http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201260_W_D_Sub5_forum

Crowe, T. (2012, July 29). Topic 2: Support. [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from

http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201260_W_D_Sub5_forum

Fraser, C. (2012, September 19). Not exemplary, but for what it’s worth: Ass 1 subforum. [Online forum

comment]. Retrieved from

http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201260_W_D_Sub5_forum

Kayte. (2012, September 19). Re: wasting my time: Ass 1 subforum. [Online forum

comment]. Retrieved from

http://forums.csu.edu.au/perl/forums.pl?forum_id=ETL401_201260_W_D_Sub5_forum

Kuhlthau, C, C. (2004). Seeking meaning: a process approach to Library and Information Services. Westport,

            Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Kuhlthau, C, C., Maniotes, L, K. & Caspari, A, K. (2007). Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st century.

 Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Purcell, M. (2010) All Librarians Do Is Check Out Books, Right? A Look at the Roles of a School Library Media

 Specialist, Library Media Connection, November/December 2010, Vol. 29 Iss. 3 Pp. 30-33.

Yang, S. H. (2009). Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice. Educational

Technology & Society, 12(2), 11–21.