Leadership

7. Leadership

Before the commencement of this course, I had not given much thought to the concept of leadership in relation to the TL. I now understand that not only should the TL be a leader in their library and all that entails, but they should also be a leader in their school and within the wider community (Herring, 2007), (Purcell, 2010) (Lamb and Johnson, 2008). An extra dimension is added to the concept of leadership if the TL has a thorough understanding of what it means to be a leader and the types of leadership styles employed by the people with whom they work. An understanding of the way people operate can equip the TL with knowledge and understandings that can aid them to successfully work with people and to achieve their own aims of providing the best outcomes for their learning community.

In addition to being an information and technology specialist, and leading the school library program, the TL should be seen as an advocate for the program, providing evidence of worth as to the success of the program and the learning outcomes of the students.

The TL should be a leader in the school. The TL should be seen as a leader of teachers (Lamb and Johnson, 2008). They should be seen as a credible, authoritative person who has a thorough knowledge of the curriculum and educational pedagogy. To be viewed thusly, the TL is able to effectively collaborate with staff, ‘leading from the middle’ (Winzenreid, 2010), to ensure that IL skills are embedded into the curriculum thus giving priority to the principles of lifelong learning.

The TL should be on various school committees developing policies and curriculum that guide the school (Purcell, 2010) and creating, developing and implementing PD to ensure that IL is incorporated into the wider school curriculum.

The TL should also be a leader in the community. They should participate in local and national committees and organisations such as IPSHA and ALIA, and they should promote the profession by contributing to reputable publications and developing community partnerships.

Not only should the TL have leadership skills outlined above, they should also have a good understanding of the various leadership styles (Goleman, 2006) employed by the people with whom they work. The style of leadership a TL experiences has a large impact on the way they are able to carry out their job, being able to identify styles of leadership and understanding how a leader operates can give the TL the confidence to develop strategies to find ways to successfully work harmoniously with their leader. Making connections and forging a good working relationship with their leader will enable the TL to get the most leverage for their library and the people who use it. Both Winzenried, (2010, p 70) and Goleman, (2006) would contend that by making that human connection and building sound relationships with ones leader, even the “ordinary” TL could create a position of influence and power and give the TL the necessary leverage to carry out their job effectively.

Link to Becoming an Effective TL in the Future

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 * References **

Goleman D., (2006) The socially intelligent. Educational Leadership; September, 76-81 Retrieved March 12, 2012, from the CSU database.

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century : charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Lamb, A., & Johnson, L. (2008). School library media specialist 2.0: a dynamic collaborator, teacher, and technologist. Teacher Librarian, 36(2), 74-78.

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, 29(3), 30-33.

Winzenried, A. (2010). Visionary leaders for information. Wagga Wagga, N.S.W.: Centre for Information Studies.