I had the opportunity to be a late registration for the
Sunday of this conference.
I really find Cheryl Doig to be a great conference
facilitator, having encountered her before in her extensive facilitation of
leadership training at AIS in 2011.
Cheryl facilitated the first workshop of the day on
collaboration and networking. She highlighted strategies for enhancing the
collaborative environment in schools, and referenced her experience in
Christchurch.
In my roles as Head of Libraries, Upper Secondary
Teacher Librarian, and Teacher of Global
Perspectives, I am a leader and member of several teams. Collaboration is
central to success in all of these. As a TL, my roles in collection development
and sequential development of information fluency in students in the Secondary
School are very dependent on input and collaboration with teaching colleagues.
Experience has taught me that successful collaboration is built on strong
relationships. This was a point Cheryl emphasized.
In reflecting on this, I can see that my failed attempts to
collaborate, to promote new library initiatives with faculties, could be the
result of not developing strong professional relationships with those
colleagues. I can see that stronger pathways to success in these initiatives
could have been built by strategies to build relationships. Eg. Attending
faculty/team meetings to establish connections; offering opportunity for input
into initiative planning; requesting feedback during the planning stage;
communicating strongly with the HOD to ensure they become co-drivers of the
initiative.
As leader of the library team, collaboration and
interpersonal skills are also crucial. Team members need to feel valued and heard.
Good communication is important and this is facilitated through regular
meetings that allow sharing of information, consultation, inviting opinions and
shared decision-making. This helps build teams, along with personal
relationship-building – making the time for informal visits and encounters,
touching base informally with all staff, acknowledging and engaging with each
personally. Seeking opportunities to collaborate with staff 1-1 on particular
library initiatives/ideas, even small things, is another successful strategy.
These are skills I continue to develop.
Cheryl’s closing session looked forward to the future of
education. She provoked us to confront the ever-changing dynamic of education,
from ICT innovation to broader possibilities.
In order to thrive in an environment of rapid and uncertain
change, we need to be adaptive, innovative, flexible. This, I try to be.
One takeaway was mention of the software program Trello.
This is a collaborative project planning tool. It would be
great to use for the Year 10 GP Project teams. I intend to trial it with Year 9
next year. Set them a mini-project that will also prepare them for the major
project in Year 10.
Appreciative inquiry was mentioned – nurture the positive;
what you nurture grows; focus on the good things.
I personally reflected on this. There are challenges I face
regarding the physical library space and the limitations this imposes on
library services and my role. I have been employing strategies to remain
positive about this and it was really good to hear this reiterated. I am not
unique in my profession in facing challenges of this kind. We all face
obstacles of one kind or another. Focus on what you CAN achieve, the good
things about your role and circumstance. That’s what I’m trying to do.
The conference also provided lots of suggestions for our
professional library (Teacher Reference) and I have ordered several titles
mentioned. The day after the conference I created a display of those titles
that were already in our collection. That was a good look! And well-received by
staff who attended. It is in a prominent position in the library – on the way
to the washrooms, so it got lots of attention!
Books we had:
The transforming leader: new approaches to leadership for the twenty-first century. C.Pearson ed.
Mindful leadership. M. Dickman
The speed of trust. S.Covey
Difficult conversations. D.Stone
Organisational Change: development and transformation. D.Waddell
Dancing on a shifting carpet: reinventing traditional schooling for the 21st century. L.Degenhardt
Good to great. Jim Collins
Good to great. Jim Collins
Books on order:
Appreciative inquiry:a positive revolution in change. D.Cooperrider.
Beyond measure: the big impact of small changes. M.Heffernan
Managing oneself. P.Drucker
How remarkable women lead. Barsh and Cranson
Through the labyrinth: the truth about how women become leaders. Eagly and Carli
How remarkable women lead. Barsh and Cranson
Through the labyrinth: the truth about how women become leaders. Eagly and Carli
