504 Critical Reflection

Over the course of this unit I have developed an understanding of leadership in a much deeper sense than that of simply leading a team. This includes leadership styles and qualities, aspects related to leadership and what constitutes an effective school leader. It is these elements together that demonstrate the true depth of a leader and the impact they have on their school system.

Through regular readings, I was able to understand the multi-faceted role of a leader and how a teacher librarian could adapt some of these elements to ensure they effectively lead their school into twenty-first century learning. The very first module of the semester allowed me to better understand leadership qualities and styles and the difference this can make in determining the type of leader one may become.

A topic that proved to be particularly helpful for me was collaborative curriculum programs. This topic allowed me to better understand what constitutes collaborative planning and how this could be a basis for planning for the new curriculum. It has allowed me to feel more confident in the ability to lead a collaborative culture within my school even if I am in an RFF situation.

In looking back at my blog postings over the semester, I can see how my thought process has shifted. Our first assignment provided us with the opportunity to reflect on what we understood about leadership at that point and what leadership qualities we could personally bring to the role of TL. At present I have a very minor leadership role within my school which I reflected mostly on, yet I began to think about ways in changing this allowing myself to lead more within my school. Kotter's 8 Step Process in Leading Change has been particularly helpful in creating a strategic plan. By critically evaluating where my library is at and where I want it to be, I can now see the process that I must undertake, along with fellow staff, to ensure that the school library becomes a vital element to student success.

Through reflecting on other blog postings I can also see my own learning journey throughout this semester. These postings have allowed me to reflect on my own practice as a TL and have given me the opportunity to look closely at my current library situation, including a quick scan of my library using STEEP. This method allowed me to better understand where the library is at in terms of a twenty-first century learning environment and has formed part of the basis for the change process. Another posting that has proven to be particularly helpful in reflecting on my own leadership capability is that of conflict resolution. It allowed me to critically evaluate the way I approach conflict and to become more collaborative and accommodating rather than compromise my own ideas and opinions to keep others happy. However I have made a point to remember that any decision made is for the benefit of the whole school and not to take any conflict that does arise personally.

The forums have been an essential part of this course. They have helped enhance my understanding of the modules and have provided the opportunity to share ideas with others. It was especially helpful to see how TLs in training have taken on the role within their school and how different our experiences all are whilst going through a similar situation.

As I continue through the last section of this course I feel much more confident to lead my school community into future learning. I have never been a natural leader and for me it has always been quite a daunting role. However I now feel much more confident in my own ability and better equipped to deal with many of the issues facing TLs in the future than I did 12 months ago. I need to continue to reflect upon my own practice in such a multi-faceted role as it is easy to become complacent with what you are doing. TLs must never become complacent and must continue to be an advocate for their role and its importance in the school community (Boaanno & Moore, 2009).

References

Bonanno, K., & Moore, R. (2009, October 2). Advocacy: reason, responsibility and rhetoric. Australian School Library Association :: ASLA. Retrieved on 28th September, 2013, from http://www.asla.org.au/advocacy/School-library-advocacy.aspx

Kotter, J. (n.d.). The 8-Step Process for Leading Change . Kotter International - Innovative Strategy Implementation Professionals. Retrieved on 26th September 2013, from http://www.kotterinternational.com/our-principles/changesteps/changesteps

ETL504- Digital learning

My understanding of digital learning is the development of information literacy and ICT skills in students, which forms the basis for some of the general capabilities in the Australian Curriculum. The ICT general capabilities are integrated across learning areas as well as form their own learning area that must be addressed according to set outcomes.

To develop a digital literacy framework across a school it is necessary to ensure all staff are aware and have a sound knowledge of the general capabilities of the new curriculum. From here an information literacy scope and sequence may be created to ensure IL and an inquiry approach is embedded into teaching and learning programs across the school. This would require students to meet certain targets of these capabilities each year and would keep them on track to meeting the overall general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum.

STEEP

A quick scan of my current library situation shows the following-

SOCIAL
-library used before school and at lunchtime as a place to use computers for assignments or games, drawing, reading and playing boardgames
- used as a STLA or small group work space
- utilised as a space for whole school meetings, committee meetings and special events and visitors

TECHNOLOGICAL
- access to the internet and apps through computers and ipads
- wireless access across school (although through different ports which is currently causing problems with internet access on ipads)

ENVIRONMENTAL
- school wide approach to recycling of paper and cardboard
- trying to reduce paper wastage and limit printing and photocopying
- students do not have direct access to printing- student work is sent through to the library office and printed by the TL

ECONOMIC
- smaller budget than previous years
- concerns about resourcing the new curriculum on a limited budget?

POLITICAL
- change in government / further cuts? Gonski?
- overcoming internal politics due to library transition from CPT to RFF

This gives me a lot to think about in terms of my own strategic planning for the next few years. How do I go about dealing with these currents issues and will these have changed in 3 years time?

Conflict resolution style

Through completing the conflict resolution survey I found that I have a tendency to compromise during conflict. This is nothing new to me as I find that I do this quite often. Not wanting to step on other people's toes, I will make decisions for the benefit of others which therefore puts my own needs to the side.

However the role of TL has definitely made me more aware of this and the need to change this strategy when dealing with staff, parents and the community. This is not something that will happen overnight and may never completely go away. Yet by being more aware of this I will hopefully begin to deal with such situations by taking on a more collaborative and accommodating approach which will allow both sides to benefit and neither side need compromise their own ideas and beliefs.

ETL504 Reflection

Over the course of this year I have begun to see the true importance of my role as a leader in the school and the effect this has on the wider school community. Working in quite a large school with close to 800 students sometimes becomes a struggle to make my position and role known across the school. Students often see me as a librarian and not a teacher although I always correct them as soon as it is mentioned. My main goal this year was to present myself as a figure within the school that is full of information and those skills that other teachers do not possess. This sets me apart from the rest and assures the school that my position is crucial. This will continue to be my focus for as long as I am a TL.

I have often considered myself a follower, never a leader, which has made for quite a big learning curve. Having only taught as a classroom teacher for a few years, I have also not had a great deal of experience in organisation and decision making. Therefore, I have definitely surprised myself in what I have achieved personally over the last two and a half terms. 

At present my leadership style lies somewhere around the servant style of leadership. I feel I am quite nurturing and understanding of others in my school and often put others before myself in my role. While this is a good trait to have I know I need to stand up for myself more and become more assertive in my role and the way in which I communicate with staff. Showing qualities and traits of a transformational leader would be ideal and is something to work towards. I may never show all the qualities of a transformational leader as I realise that some simply come down to personality traits. However over the remainder of this unit I am sure I will continue to build upon my leadership skills.

While I have the full support of my principal and fellow staff members, I often feel that I do not have a particular team or stage that I belong to. I am continuing to make that extra effort to be central to everything that is happening in our school and to show staff and students how important my role is and how it fits in with what they are doing. I know this is something I need to continue to be proactive about and aim to ensure the school is aware of this.

While I know I still have a long way to go in becoming the type of TL I would like to be, I often need to stop and consider how much I have already achieved this year. It is reassuring knowing other people are going through something similar and this is quite evident on the forums. The network we have built as retraining TLs is quite strong and is good to see the small successes each of us have made. It’s also reassuring knowing we all have issues and problems we need to deal with as well. I hope I can reflect back on this year in a few years time and see the impact I have made as a qualified TL.

ETL401- Critical Reflection

Over the course of this unit I have experienced many different emotions. I have felt anxious, perplexed, overwhelmed and most of all stressed. I can almost compare it to Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (2004), as the initiation stage brought with it anxiety and uncertainty which ensued throughout selection and exploration until I finally began to formulate my own ideas and opinions to collect and present. Although I still experience those bouts of anxiety now and again, I feel much more confident in my ability as a teacher librarian.

My personal view of the teacher librarian (L) prior to this course was quite naïve. I thought I had a good understanding of what the role entailed and believed that completing this course would simply ‘fill in the gaps’. Little did I know that I would be changing my whole perception of the TL. Although overwhelming and anxiety-ridden at times, this course has assisted me immensely in my role as the TL in my school. 

Since keeping an online learning journal (OLJ) and completing three compulsory blog tasks, I can see where my thinking has changed. Looking back on my very first compulsory blog task, constructivist learning and the Australian Curriculum, I can see how I missed the point completely. I was in no way confident in my own ability to construct a piece of writing that was critical of what I had read. I had no voice in my writing and relied on the words of others to get my point across. I feel this is one area I have definitely improved upon. As I begun to reflect upon what I had read, I learnt to become much more critical and form my own opinions and ideas which I feel is evident in the next two blog posts and assignment 1.

Through reading other personal reflections posted on my blog I can see that I have focused on how I was feeling in that moment and have tried to make sense of the experience as a whole. This is interesting to reflect upon now as I can see how my journey begun and can compare it to where I am now. Although I still have a lot to learn, I feel like I’m well on my way to becoming the type of TL my school deserves.

Although posting my responses on the CSU forums was at times inconsistent, I feel like it was reflective of where I was at that particular time. Sometimes I felt strongly about a particular topic and felt the need to share that with my peers while at other times I was much more comfortable with observing the ideas of other people and reflecting on these to shape my own ideas and opinions. Either way, the forums have been extremely helpful and an integral part of this whole process. As a distance education student it became the main form of communication between peers and lecturers. 

A particular module of this course that I found interesting was the importance of principal and administration support to the role of the TL. This is quite an ironic topic as not only did I begin to see how vital the support of the principal is, I began to see the many sides of the role of TL and the lengths a TL must go to make this known within their learning community. They must promote their role to staff, including the principal, and keep them informed of library events and programs to enforce the library as ‘the hub’ of the school (Oberg, 2006). Not only did it convey how important it is for the principal to understand what the TL does, it also put into perspective for me what the TL actually does. This became a massive turning point for me personally as my opinion of the role shifted from a somewhat vague understanding of what the TL does into a much more clear and defined role. Once again, very similar to the experiences felt by learners using Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (2004).

This assignment particularly has helped me to better understand the benefits of implementing an information literacy process into my own teaching programs and feel a lot more confident in doing so. Prior to this course I was aware of such processes and had both witnessed and been involved in the implementation of the NSW ISP (2007) but once again had a different perception of the overall experience. Although I still have a long way to go in this area, I feel confident that success will come with practice and lots of it!

References

Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Information Search Process. Retrieved from

            http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/index.html

NSW Department of Education and Training (2007). The Information Process: Information

                skills in the school. Curriculum Support. Retrieved from

                www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au

Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian,
                33(3), 13-18.