I feel as if I am on a steep learning curve as far as all this new interactive technology is concerned! As part of the group assignment,we initially used the wiki, group email and announcements to communicate, however the chat line was too slow and frustrating. Then we chose to use skype to chat to one another and goole docs to view and edit the outline that I created as a starting point.
At first I felt it difficult to get my head around the topic and unsure about how we could exchange and clarify our ideas to formulate a unified response. I was also worrying that I was spending too much time learning these new programs,and getting behind with all those readings! It reminded me of Tuckman's team development model
(1965 p.75)-formimg, storming,norming,performing,adjourning.
To relieve my "storming" emotions,I chose to just write down my ideas and send them to the others for discussion at our skype conference. This worked well, Tareena is a speed typist so she was happy to type our responses and edit as we worked through the draft and the conversation seemed to flow naturally from there. We were able to formulate some structure and headings for the article that we could all add to as we read and gathered information independently(mid week).
This experience of working collaboratively correlates well with the readings regarding 'groups' and 'teams' which Law and Glover refer to as 'terms...to describe individuals cooperating to achieve a given task." They state a "team is predominantly used when a group is deliberatly constructed and there is a clear focus on its processes and level of performance". This article stimulates reflection on leading teams and the tables 5.1 -5.4 could provide self evaluation criteria.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Quality management ,Library leadership
I felt the "Myron Tribus article re Quality Management in Education" had a some good points that are applicable to library leadership: -best definition to my mind
" Quality management is a different way to organize the efforts of people. The objective is to harmonize their efforts in such a way that not only do people approach their assigned tasks with enthusiasm, but they also participate in the improvement of how the work gets done.Quality management introduces a significant change in the relationship between those who manage and those who actually do the work." These points are taken from Ed Baker's comparison:-
'exercise managerial leadership through participative management in carrying out their roles as mentors, facilitators,innovators,etc.'
"people are active contributors, valued for their creativity and intelligence"."
' problems will be prevented and improvement will be promoted when people understand where they fit in and have the knowledge to maximize the contribution to the whole...create the environment that nurtures a team oriented culture that can prevent problems and continually improve"
This definition is more applicable to resource management - "quality is defined in a positive sense as products and services beyond present needs and expectations of customers. Innovation is required.External change is inevitable ,but a favorable future can be shaped"
Deming provides more specific links to education: - "Quality in education is what makes learning a pleasure and a joy ... It takes quality experience to create am independent learner" in relation to teachers he writes under quality management the objective is to seek to find a better way .... everyone in the system is expected, invited and trained to participate in the improvement process." S. Covey expresses this as "the teachers are not only responsible for continuous improvement, they are helped to become response -able"
"Students definition of a quality experience has to be found through discussion and negotiation.' - David Langford reports 'once the students understand and accept what it means to do quality work, they learn with such speed and effectiveness, that they more than make up for the time spent in defining a quality experience."
Like Fullan,Deming suggests a manager needs to establish a constancy of purpose -it means to establish a sense of purpose which appeals to all members ...and which provides them with a basis for decision making and taking actions." i.e asks students "what are you trying to do? 'What does it mean to you to do it well? What does the teacher have to do so you can do it well? How will we know if we re doing it well together?
He also advocates that a leader of change needs to understand some of the dynamics involved in changing people's paradigms and that the leader needs to devise a strategy which includes: -
1. develop awareness why it is necessary to change.
2.establishment of goals and objectives for change
3.share broad understanding of what the change entails
4. set of first steps
Finally the article shows some figures and tools that could be used to facilitate staff discussions and st/teacher evaluations.
" Quality management is a different way to organize the efforts of people. The objective is to harmonize their efforts in such a way that not only do people approach their assigned tasks with enthusiasm, but they also participate in the improvement of how the work gets done.Quality management introduces a significant change in the relationship between those who manage and those who actually do the work." These points are taken from Ed Baker's comparison:-
'exercise managerial leadership through participative management in carrying out their roles as mentors, facilitators,innovators,etc.'
"people are active contributors, valued for their creativity and intelligence"."
' problems will be prevented and improvement will be promoted when people understand where they fit in and have the knowledge to maximize the contribution to the whole...create the environment that nurtures a team oriented culture that can prevent problems and continually improve"
This definition is more applicable to resource management - "quality is defined in a positive sense as products and services beyond present needs and expectations of customers. Innovation is required.External change is inevitable ,but a favorable future can be shaped"
Deming provides more specific links to education: - "Quality in education is what makes learning a pleasure and a joy ... It takes quality experience to create am independent learner" in relation to teachers he writes under quality management the objective is to seek to find a better way .... everyone in the system is expected, invited and trained to participate in the improvement process." S. Covey expresses this as "the teachers are not only responsible for continuous improvement, they are helped to become response -able"
"Students definition of a quality experience has to be found through discussion and negotiation.' - David Langford reports 'once the students understand and accept what it means to do quality work, they learn with such speed and effectiveness, that they more than make up for the time spent in defining a quality experience."
Like Fullan,Deming suggests a manager needs to establish a constancy of purpose -it means to establish a sense of purpose which appeals to all members ...and which provides them with a basis for decision making and taking actions." i.e asks students "what are you trying to do? 'What does it mean to you to do it well? What does the teacher have to do so you can do it well? How will we know if we re doing it well together?
He also advocates that a leader of change needs to understand some of the dynamics involved in changing people's paradigms and that the leader needs to devise a strategy which includes: -
1. develop awareness why it is necessary to change.
2.establishment of goals and objectives for change
3.share broad understanding of what the change entails
4. set of first steps
Finally the article shows some figures and tools that could be used to facilitate staff discussions and st/teacher evaluations.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Fullan / Donham and Leadership
The five components Fullan associates with effective leaders are moral purpose, understanding the change process,developing positive relationships, foster knowledge building and sharing, and to strive for coherence. Whilst I can appreciate the value of all of these components, I see the task of creating coherence as the most challenging aspect and look forward to investigating more ideas about how to develop coherence and to mobilize people's commitment to a collective goal.'The litmus test of all leadership is whether it mobilizes people's commitment to putting their energy into actions designed to achieve improvements.'Whilst I think this is true, it is also a daunting task! However I agree that a desired outcome "of effective leadership is that more good things happen and fewer bad things happen"
In relation to a T/L, Donham makes a similar comment in his article re Leadership when he states " They ( Library Media Specialists(LMS))embrace the responsibilty to make good things happen in their schools" He goes on to describe leadership attributes of library media specialists as technical competence, pro-activity and passion.
At this point I am very relieved to see that he urges us to "understand what you can do best.. the challenge is to pursue to the maximum what one has aptitude for and strive for acceptable performance in the other aspects of the field" and he acknowledges "Rare is the LMS who is a true expert in all dimensions of the field".
Phew! I was beginning to feel so inadequate and overwhelmed by the task ahead of me!
This article resonated well with me and gave sound suggestions on how to lead from the middle and exert influence in a school community to gain the respect of colleagues. "Having influence requires establishing one's own expertise, working collegially with others, articulating one's ideas clearly, maintining a good 'say -do' ratio...and establishing processes for reflection and assessment."
Another way to gain respect is to "articulate a disposition of continuously seeking to get better" that is to improve the resources,lesson content and the library environment. He also gave some good reasons to advocate the T/L's inclusion on curriculum or leadership commitees and urges us to make the most of opportunities
to promote and use T/L expertise and information services within our school community. This article outlines key steps and critical attributes of strategic leadership for LMSs. He advocates regular reflection on progress, mentoring within the profession and some action strategies for learning and teaching, information and access delivery and program administration that could be effective in current school library settings. This article gave me a great introduction to the topic and many points to reflect on throughout this semester.
In relation to a T/L, Donham makes a similar comment in his article re Leadership when he states " They ( Library Media Specialists(LMS))embrace the responsibilty to make good things happen in their schools" He goes on to describe leadership attributes of library media specialists as technical competence, pro-activity and passion.
At this point I am very relieved to see that he urges us to "understand what you can do best.. the challenge is to pursue to the maximum what one has aptitude for and strive for acceptable performance in the other aspects of the field" and he acknowledges "Rare is the LMS who is a true expert in all dimensions of the field".
Phew! I was beginning to feel so inadequate and overwhelmed by the task ahead of me!
This article resonated well with me and gave sound suggestions on how to lead from the middle and exert influence in a school community to gain the respect of colleagues. "Having influence requires establishing one's own expertise, working collegially with others, articulating one's ideas clearly, maintining a good 'say -do' ratio...and establishing processes for reflection and assessment."
Another way to gain respect is to "articulate a disposition of continuously seeking to get better" that is to improve the resources,lesson content and the library environment. He also gave some good reasons to advocate the T/L's inclusion on curriculum or leadership commitees and urges us to make the most of opportunities
to promote and use T/L expertise and information services within our school community. This article outlines key steps and critical attributes of strategic leadership for LMSs. He advocates regular reflection on progress, mentoring within the profession and some action strategies for learning and teaching, information and access delivery and program administration that could be effective in current school library settings. This article gave me a great introduction to the topic and many points to reflect on throughout this semester.
Reflections on Fullan
Fullan's comprehensive overview of the characteristics of effective leaders of change provides insight into the attributes that leaders need to model and strategies that they could use to create a vision for a school library,to motivate a team of staff and to work collaboratively with teachers and adminstration to implement it.
When I consider my own work experiences,I can relate them to Fullan's closing statement in chapter one...
'The conclusion is that leaders will increase their effectiveness if they continually work on the five components of leadership with energy, enthusiasm, and hope:" These are the attributes that I have seen demonstrated by some of the most influential people that I have worked with and admired in schools.
When I consider my own work experiences,I can relate them to Fullan's closing statement in chapter one...
'The conclusion is that leaders will increase their effectiveness if they continually work on the five components of leadership with energy, enthusiasm, and hope:" These are the attributes that I have seen demonstrated by some of the most influential people that I have worked with and admired in schools.
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