TL Under Construction

Everybody loves a rebel with heart. And reading Sergiovanni’s book Strengthening the Heartbeat: Leading and Learning Together in Schools, reinforces for me something I’ve always believed and is so succinctly summed up by the author — “[there is] doing things right and doing right things (Sergiovanni, 2005, p. 19). Sergiovanni talks of how systems can sometimes lose the point of leading and leaders — focussing too much on the managerial, authority role of leaders. He suggests that in order for schools to thrive, leadership must be re-examined, redefined and re-distributed so communities can be formed that lead and learn together. His definition of leadership has further clarified for me how TLs (and other teachers) can truly be leaders, ‘leading from the middle’  –

… thinking about leadership as a practice makes more sense than thinking about leadership as an expression of individual agency. Practices may be singular or group. Regarding leadership as a practice helps us to see teachers and principals as members of communities of practice within which knowledge is used  and exchanged to achieve goals with little regard for roles and positions. Within communities of practice, for example, leadership activity takes place at the level of the community rather than at the level of individuals. (Sergiovanni, 2005, p. 49)

As a faculty member of an alternative, democratically aligned school, this definition interests me greatly. It fits very well with what happens in the classes and amongst the students. However this is not practised amongst the staff and wider community. (At times it becomes obvious where we have not applied the philosophy of the school beyond the students and it always hits me hard. Q. How can this be? A. No time to consciously examine this issue, complete focus by teachers on student/class day-to-day issues.)

Sergiovanni’s definition of leadership I find strengthening. It is not about someone giving you permission to lead. It’s not about getting out in front and saying, “I’m going to lead you.” Its not about roles and positions or positioning at all, it’s about action. I can relate to this, I have quietly taken action this year and begun to lead by walking the talk, and by saying, “I’d like to [do] … ”

What would our school be like if we all adopted a leadership of practice? Well it would improve, it has already. This year I’ve won a literacy grant, I’ve got parents now raising money for the library, I’ve got library sessions for the classes on a weekly basis, … things are changing and for the better. How to encourage the others? Well it always seems to come back to building relationships. Sergiovanni quotes Lambert as suggesting that leadership is a ‘pattern of relationships’.

Leadership is a reciprocal process that enables participants in an educational community to construct meaning that leads toward a shared purpose of schooling’ (Lambert as cited in Sergiovanni, 2005, p. 51)

Building trusting relationships and sharing, acting with moral purpose always …all very hopeful business. =)

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Photo from: http://www.morguefile.com

Sergiovanni, T. (2005). Leadership as entitlement. In Strengthening the heartbeat: Leading and learning together in schools (pp. 41-54). San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

That old truth that actions speak louder than words. It is an idea I am considering again within the leadership unit of my TL course. In the case of leadership within a school, stakeholders will react more to the leader’s behaviours than they will to what that leader has to say. This is very important to understand in the communication within a school. Parents often complain about the lack of communication or the quality of communication from schools. Yet you can publish pages of reports and updates in the school newsletter and they don’t read them. This has always perplexed me. Perhaps without being able to express it, what parents are looking for is the behavioural communication not the written words.

We’ve been asked to read an article by W. Savage entitled “Communication: Process and problems” from Human Resource Management in Education. There was a paragraph that caught my eye in particular.

A school administrator’s demonstrated concern for the welfare of his staff and the pupils enrolled in a school will communicate his beliefs far more eloquently than any written or oral statement that he may provide concerning his belief in the dignity and worth of the individual. As a matter of fact, many persons express the conviction that effective human relationships improve communication far more than communication improves relationships. (Savage, 1989, p. 109)

I’m thinking this means then that a leader’s moral purpose is communicated through his actions far better than through speeches, articles or documents. It is of ultimate importance to ‘walk the talk’ and to constantly monitor one’s behaviour for consistency in communication.

The second important message within that quote is that of effective relationships building communication not the other way around. This may go a long way to answering why so many communication strategies (including a very detailed one developed at our school) never get off the ground. Without the relationships, it just can’t happen. So the question then is how to develop the relationships with school stakeholders — obviously it will involve some self-reflection on current behaviours on the part of the leaders (principal, TL, teachers).

I want to stop and think about my moral purpose and my relationship-building behaviours right now. I blogged about my moral purpose here — and looking back, strangely enough, I said I didn’t communicate this directly but hoped it would show through my actions. I was on the right track without knowing it, but conscious effort will, obviously, be more effective.

At this point my relationship-building behaviours are:

• I consciously stop and speak to parents I pass at school. I try to make a positive comment about their child’s use of the library or their reading habits. I want the parents to know that their child’s reading and use of information is important and important to me.
• I sometimes go out to the car-park and speak to parents about upcoming events or pass on information I think they might appreciate
• I quickly follow through on any requests for information/books from parents and also follow through on anything I say I will do in the school newsletter. I want to be seen as highly reliable.
• author events that invite and include parents

Are there other opportunities for the TL to build effective relationships with the parents?

• some computer tutoring sessions showing  parents how to use and access ICT’s the children are using
• sessions involving the children showing the parents how to use the ICTs!
• Reading challenges that involve adults as well as children
• attending some of the home group class meetings especially the lower primary groups

Parents do not habitually seek out school leaders (teachers, principals, TLs) to communicate with them unless they are dissatisfied. It is up to us to go beyond half-way, to get in amongst the parents, demonstrate our concerns and moral purpose and build some better relationships.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/micahe/2563154869/

Savage, W. (1989). Communication: Process and problems. In C. Riches & C. Morgan (Eds.), Human resource management in education (pp. 103-119). Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

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A pause to reflect on the decision-making process our school working party has embarked on. Meeting on a weekly basis means it is easy for the week to slip by and not get any thoughts down.

Our first meeting involved only Step One – Mind-Setting (which needs to occur before the situation can be properly defined). It was very enlightening to get everyone’s perception of the problem/situation on to the table. Like the story of the blind men describing the elephant, it was important for everyone to see what everyone else assumed they were talking about. There was recognition of the complexity of the issue and that many were only considering one aspect of it. There was recognition that perhaps only symptoms of the actual situation had been dealt with in the past and so the actions were not successful. The picture became clearer as each member spoke around the circle and the the situation gained a seriousness it hadn’t had before; it became obvious that quick answers would not ‘fix it’ but that good decisions were possible.

The idea of information under-girding each step is one that I will have to further reinforce. We have talked about our feelings but now will need facts to base decisions on.

The most difficult aspect of the first meeting was for members to keep solutions out of the conversation when talking of their perceptions. I must be more strict about them not being verbalised at this point. I don’t want shortcuts to bias any definitions or criteria.

Just an interesting observation, but one I will address at the next meeting, is that of eye contact. I was surprised to see each member of the group when sharing their perceptions did not look at the group but spent the majority of the time making eye contact with me, the facilitator. I wonder if this is a hangover from ‘old school days’ when the student always addressed the teacher not the class’. Even the teachers in the working party did it. I tried to non-verbally encourage people to address the group by looking round at the group myself as each spoke, but that didn’t work. I’ll have to say directly.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/super_g/1671855523/

As our group works its way through the collaborative project and we delve deeper and deeper into the leadership role of the Teacher Librarian, it is becoming clear to me what a dangerously misunderstood concept “leading from the middle’ can be.

The word that gets the most focus in this term is ‘leading’. While many, many articles are written outlining how TLs can lead and mention facilitation, building influence, collaboration and partnerships, I wonder if the message is getting drowned out in the desperation of our profession to be recognized, and legitimized and ultimately retained as important contributors to the school. So is the part of the message that is most agressively promoted and received ‘Lead’? It is very easy to fall into the trap of trying to get out in front and organize people in an attempt to raise the visibility of the TL. This can be stepping into the area of the least effective types of leadership style — Coercive and Pacesetting leadership.

TLs need to be mindful of the fact that they are in a partnership with teachers and that teachers are leaders too. In the end, teachers are the ones in the classrooms and at this stage, are the main delivery agents and biggest influence on students’ learning.

Fullan states that:

Although you cannot direct outcomes, you can set up conditions that help to guide the process. ‘The challenge is to disturb them in a manner that approximates the desired outcomes’ (Pascale, Millemann and Gioja, 2000) (Fullan, 2005, p. 57)

I am coming to appreciate and believe in the more positive power of ‘influencing’ – and see it as an art worth cultivating.

In a presentation to the School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) in 2005, Ross put forward a question that needed to be asked.

What constitutes effective shared teacher & librarian-teacher pedagogy and leading of learning through partnerships?

In his talk he called for a shift in the focus to a more cohesive view of learning and onto the library as a key learning environment. He suggests:

Stop talking about collaboration

Stop talking about information literacy

Stop talking about research projects

Stop talking about roles of teacher librarians

Start talking about guided inquiry through information resources

Start talking knowledge outcomes, not information literacy outcomes

Start talking about intellectual quality of learning

Start taking about libraries as quality teaching environments, not resource environments

Start talking the leading of learning through the library

You are the information-learning specialist, working with partner-leaders to lead learning through complex and diverse resources, enabling your students to develop deep understanding of their curriculum topics.

I think this more mature view reflects an acceptance on the part of TLs that they are an integral part of the learning team and can focus their attention on the task at hand rather than on their role in it. And self acceptance is always going to gain the respect of others.

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Fullan, M. (2004). Understanding change. In Leading in a culture of change: Personal action guide and workbook (pp. 39-77). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Todd, R. (2005, August). School libraries, productive pedagogy and the leading of learning [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved August 21, 2008, from School Library Association of Victoria Web site: http://www.slav.schools.net.au/pastp.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suteki/475093875/

On to the next chapter of Michael Fullan’s text/workbook Leading in a Culture of Change.

Everyone quickly learns when they enter the workforce that some bosses/principals are easier to get along with than others. We also quickly figure out that the ones easiest to get along with aren’t necessarily the best bosses/principals to work for. Leadership styles of course are what make the difference.

What I appreciated from Fullan was the idea a good leader doesn’t have ‘a style’; that different styles are needed for different situations.

The six styles of leadership as identfied by Golemen (cited by Fullan, 2004, p.43) are:

• Coercive — demands compliance (”Do as I say”)
• Authoritative — mobilizes people towards a vision or goal (”Come on, follow me, let’s go”) (How strange, I’ve just realized the root of that word is ‘author’ like a creator or maker)
• Affiliative — harmonizer and relationship builder (”People are most important”)
• Democratic — works for consensus through participation (”What are your thoughts on … “)
• Pacesetting — sets high standards for self then expects others to follow (”Do as I do, now”)
• Coaching — develops people for the future well-being of the organisation (”Try this”)

Fullan goes on to point out that two of those styles will negatively impact on school climate which of course impacts everything else: coercive and pace-setting.

The point to ponder in this section is –

Can you think of a real life example of a pacesetter leader? What is or was the effect of this leader on organizational performance and morale.

Well now I have to confess that I made a lame effort at being a pacesetter last year at the school. I was feeling frustrated with the lack of interest on the part of the teachers in learning to use web 2.0 technologies to motivate and engage students. I began to set up all kinds of things for the teachers and students to use beyond their email (used by teachers only). I spoke about them at staff meetings, I attempted to set up tutoring sessions to show them how, I even went into classes to show the students how to use some of the tools. I somehow thought that if they saw all these wonderful things the teachers would feel 1) that they were missing out on something, 2) that they’d better do something about it because the students were missing out on something.

Effect on organisational performance and morale? None.

Personal result? Exhausted from getting no where and the realization that you are only a leader if someone comes with you. =)

I think there is a lesson here about collaboration too. Professional articles say we should be working in collaboration with teachers but most TLs do not experience collaboration. Many TLs are not even seen as leaders or equals in the teaching profession.

We are also told to lead from the middle. Will leading from the middle accomplish collaboration? I wonder what style or combination of styles are necessary to lead from the middle?

I’m leaning at the moment towards affiliative leadership being pretty important in making progress towards collaboration. We perhaps need to work on building relationships first, to bond with teachers. Teachers are particularily autonomous and many academics have pointed out that educational change is slow because of this autonomous culture (Joyce, 2004; Little, 1990; Cooper, 1988; Horton, n.d). Teacher librarians are in a unique position – we are teachers (as well as librarians). My last two questions are: is this unique position really an advantage? If so how best to take advantage of this unique position?

Cooper, M. (1988). Whose culture is it, anyway? In A. Lieberman (Ed.), Building a professional culture in schools (pp. 45-54). New York: Teachers College Press.

Horton, R. (n.d.). Teacher librarians: What are we? What should we be? Professional development from the inside. In Alia. Retrieved August 7, 2008, from http://alia.org.au/~rhorton/education/role.html

Joyce, B. (2004, September). How are professional learning communities created? History has a few messages. Phi Delta Kappan, 76-83. Retrieved July 25, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database.

Little, J. W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. Teacher College Record, 91(4), 509-536. Retrieved August 7, 2008, from Blackwell Synergy database.