Navigation of leadership role

The implication of our role as an information specialist in both education, librarianship and technology assumes an enhanced and leadership role we play. Interestingly, I am beginning to see the fruit of successful interactions with my school executive last week in a discussion about the new library. My discussions were supported by clear objectives, sound research based on our schools needs and resource use and a vision of how to integrate technology with the school's vision for future growth. I did encounter limited resistance by a non-teaching colleague who displayed an acute sense of lack of knowledge as to library process and pedagogy. Diffusing and articulating an argument based on student outcomes appeared to flow easily and drew upon the support of the Principal. Henri (1999) would have been pleased!! My subconscious has been able to process the learning and apply it to situations that depend upon leadership skills. Why this is important for me is that I have been able to draw upon my readings and knowledge on leadership (Fullan) and apply these to my understanding of the role. I am learning to address the responsibilities of my role and promote the role of collaborator across leadership and pedagogical domains. For me this is real, transference of knowledge. Now, the challenge is to enthuse and collaborate with the remainder of the staff who are reluctant to engage or is it they find it difficult to afford time. Gibbs' solution of structural change (meetings designated for collaboration) may be an area I will address with the school executive. At this point I will continue to be active and seek them out!!! So far, I have had success with the SOSE and English faculties in collaboration, although this has been piecemeal- RFF, sourcing Resources, and Lit circles. My aim is to incorporate a greater degree of Information Literacy within these KLA's.

Last week I was asked to brief the school's architect on my vision for the new library. A number of proposals were

More Musings on Collaboration and the future of TL's:

After some further reading Reframimg the role of the teacher-librarian: the case for collaboration and flexibility by Gibbs, R (2003), it became apparent that action on seeking collaboration is imperative for the enhancement of student learning.
Gibbs argues that schools and TL's have operated within a culture of fragmentation and independence as they focus on their individual subject and teaching areas and schools as an entity have provided the environment for this to thrive. However, there needs to be a reorientation of focus and staff must collaborate with TL's if they are to influence student outcomes. Gibbs (2003) argues for the alignment of ones personal vision to a shared vision. This process according to him occurs when there is an ongoing, professional relationship between the TL and the staff. Henri (1999) suggests that the relationship between the TL and the Principal is crucial to the development of an information school community.

Also, the vision needs to be felt and understood by other staff otherwise it lacks commitment and direction. Covey (1990) believes vision creates a frame of reference for professional relationships that can guide future directions and help with decision making.

What resonates for me is the emphasis placed on the culture of schools that needs to be changed and ultimately this can be chipped away with greater collaboration and CPT. For this to essentially take effect schools like Gibbs' must adopt a structural change to timetabling, meetings (KLA or stage) and a focus that is geared to acknowledging and building collaboration. Without executive and structural support, programs may run in isolation , appear fragmented and do very little for enhanced student outcomes.

Collaboration between TL's and teachers.. What are the possibilities?

What possibilities arise for collaboration b/w teachers and TL's?

Schools as Learning Organisations: A review of the literature
J Cibulka, S Coursey, M Nakayama, J Price and S Stewart

• Exploring curriculum and resources
• Offer learners opportunity to share and take control of their learning
• Increase in professional relations
• A more public display of the learning and collaboration taking place
• An increase involvement by other stakeholders of the school- eg parents, Heads of Year, Auxiliary committees etc
• An awareness that learning is never static but rather a continuous and evolving process
• Teachers can benefit from the greater knowledge about student learning by demonstrating a capacity for collaborative practice. In fact, this must be addressed and supported across the whole learning community. Essentially for this to make real impact, it is assumed that our leaders may need to recast themselves as learners to fully influence others about collaborative practice.

The implications for us as TL's and leaders is simple. We must demonstrate how and why we do what we do. We must be the driver of change, albeit however small those developments may appear at first. I try and liken it to the ripple effect.

Collaborative practice- What does it really mean?

After reading Fullan's account of collaborative cultures and how they are constructed it leaves me feeling somewhat more enthused about this process of change than I have been feeling of late. I have felt that I too have hit a wall in terms of 'real' and meaningful collaboration with colleagues. Whilst I am happy to source information and resources for teachers and their classes, collaborative practice is something of a mystery to this school. Ironically, why do teachers work in a selfish(individualised) manner when they expect their students to share and collaborate on research and investigative projects. Why are teachers as a whole inflexible with their own learning practices and teaching resources. Is this because they are working without a united vision and not as a professional learning community; rather they are steering their own ship in waters they know very little about?? I am beginning to see that the same can be applied to TL's. Like teachers we to must be part of the professional learning community- clear purpose, collaborative activity and collaborative responsibility to achieve optimum student learning. Essentially for me this has opened my eyes as to why I am witnessing such a fragmented approach to my implementation of a whole school approach to info literacy. My vision needs to align with the whole school's understanding. How this translates to real practice will depend upon the natural resistance and anxiety others will demonstrate. Teachers on the whole are open to discussion and new ideas but can also be territorial with their resources. Does this help to explain their reticence to collaborate? Organisational change is easier to understand when thought of in terms of what Earl and Lee (1998) believe; urgency and agency generate more momentum which leads to consolidation, reflection, celebration and the capacity to push the boundaries of change. Therefore, I need to be able to state/use evidence based data to inform and then propose the framework for change; this is akin to showing leadership to drive a connected vision. Principals are instinctively aware of how vital good staff are to the school particularly staff who can engage and drive organisational change. Fragmentation is divisive, time consuming and does no one any favours. Coherence is a process, it is not static and as this develops with all its synergy so should the collaborative efforts of the school community.

Musings on the role of TL

I have spent the better part of the last few weeks frantically writing a report for the Principal for the "new library" which was promised to us with the recently released government funding. Only to find out that the first tranch of money will go to a new sports hall and the library will be built in 2 years. Two months ago I was told that the new library would be underway by the end of this year! NOT!!! My level of disappointment has been so high as it strongly reflects the school's priority and this does not gel with mine! Coupled with the readings and the work on my assignment I have started to reflect on why and how Principals come to such decisions and why places like libraries are not valued or seen as an integral learning portal. Does this stem back to their own recollections of what a library meant for them? Do they not see the library as the hub of the school and its learning community? Do they secretly not value the work we do? Do they think we file books all day??? How then can we effectively canvas support from them when their actions speak louder than their words?

It has been interesting following the readings and in particular the forum comments. There seems to be a huge disparity between what is realistic and idealism. The contention that Principals ask teachers and teacher- librarians to collaborate on units of work seemed to illicit rather though provoking discussion. The reality is that when Principals create structural changes such as timetables and allocated meeting time it will be embraced, currently time limitations hinder the process which is a poor reflection on a school's ability to embrace RBL and RBT given the supportive data we have!

Back to the assignment!

TL's role and what matters at this point.

Whilst it is interesting to read the various interpretations of a TL's role description and try and make sense of the enormity of the role both in terms of ability to manage, lead and teach. For me at this point in my journey my focus is to find a workable way to collaborate proactively with the subject teachers to inform, support and enrich the curriculum resources they are currently using. As we are all discovering this is no easy feat, however, after reading Henri's article and in particular Kuhlthau's identifiable inhibitors it clarified for me where my immediate attention must be directed. Ultimately I am a teacher first and this colors my view of my role as a TL. My goal is to continue to initiate, instigate and develop programs that teachers can also use whilst they are in the library and not in isolation. Ultimately this has not been easy as I have taken on the position as TL in a school that has a dated view of how a library should operate and with very little knowledge or initiative to incorporate new ideas and programs -not to mention severely understaffed. My challenges are many, however, I would like to think that I can build upon my skillbase and then tackle the management, leadership and ICT developments that will invariably require continual attention. It is in this light that I would like to make the most impact in guiding an information literate school community. In fact today whilst assisting a History teacher with selection of resources I was paid a compliment- she said " you must have been a teacher first, it shows". This helped to allay my feelings of frustration and overwhelmness as I realised that my contributions are slowly making an impact. Now for the other hurdles!!

As part of my learning journal I am asked to reflect upon my journey and to make comments and observations about the process. At this point in time after having completed the readings of Hazell and Lundin I am wondering about the clarity of our future roles as TL's. Whilst we need to be at the epicentre of new technologies we also need to be able to mesh our new roles with our instructional and research skills to maximise our students' learning. Coupled with promoting our roles and the services we offer we also need to be able to work collaboratively with other staff to ensure that the learning reflects the expectations of both teacher and student.

Hazell's key points are that the role of TL requires unification and clarity.
To persuade teachers that our role is really an extension of the classroom
To promote Research based learning as then we can be seen to be a partner in student learning rather than an organiser of resources. This viewwas consolidated after the Fenwick report (1966) and set the scene for the TL redifinement of their role as- cooperative planning and teaching partner, providing language enrichment through literature and information skills taught in the context of the curriculum.

The current concerns for Teacher-Librarians seem to be to teach content such as info skills in isolation from the general curriculum, and to not have other teachers working along side them with co-operative planning.

My experience as a TL so far has revealed that Teachers welcome promotion of the skills we have. They are unwillingly seeking assistance with their classes and the library's resources are often seen as an exciting adventure to exploit. Teacher Librarians should be actively disseminating information, promoting new ideas, resources etc. My personal experience has revealed that if you show interest in what is being taught you have a much better strike rate with gaining the trust of classroom teachers to bring classes into the library. Today I compiled a wider reading list for a group of year 8's who were doing an assignment on Australian authors. Whilst the students were actively selecting from the list, it gave me an opportunity in collaboration with their teacher to select an appropriate resource. This allowed us both to be a part of their learning process and viewed by the students as equal partners. What made it fulfilling is that the students were palpably excited and solicited advice to select without the fear of being judged. In fact I stressed the importance of reading what you like and repeated the phrase 'Ditch it if you don't like it, there are many other books to choose from'.