With teaching as my background and coming into the TL position I always felt behind the eight ball with the expectations in my new role. Starting this course is a step in the right direction and after some of the readings I feel that I am not on my own.
It is interesting to read information from other countries about the role of the TL and the decline of it in schools due to (largely) a lack of understanding of the role and a lack of utilisation of the person in the role.
Another thing that strikes me is the diversity of the position - yes I am a teacher, yes I manage the library, yes I promote reading, yes I work with technology to ensure it is up to date and related to the work being done, yes I plan with teachers. Yet we still get people thinking we read books all the time! A lot of the issues that are coming up are ones that I have thought about during my time as a TL. And I must admit - as a teacher I did not see the role of the TL as being integral in my teaching - (a lack of education both from the TL and from the school!). I understand that the TL might not feel it is their place to promote their role as all other roles are fairly self explanatory but as they are the specialist in their field just as a LST might take a session during a staff meeting or an ESL teacher so must a TL - there must be someone fighting our fight and if not the only person qualifed to do so then who?
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