This article was brilliant in its application to TL's leadership in the school. The clarity of the attributes and that Donham applied them specifically to the TL in the school made relating them to my role easy. I liked the idea that 'leaders act from an internal locus of control' (p. 296) and that we are in control of our actions and outcomes but no one elses and that we should be focusing on others but on ours.
The other aspect I liked was the concept of pursuing what we are passionate about (p. 298) and this will generate enthusiasm and inspiration, which like the circle of life continues to perpetuate the other. I liked Fullan (1996) suggesting there were 3 attributes of sharedness, concreteness and clarity.
There were a few things I thought I could be working on and that included establishing one's expertise and processes for continuous reflection and assessment. I feel that I am one that enjoys the state of constant learning as long as there are opportunities to apply that learning and it is not going to waste (nearly stepping away from the 'can-do' mentality a leader is meant to have!)
I want to help the principal see the benefits of library media in school decision-making groups and really focus on the "leading from the middle" position (p. 301). I suppose the hardest thing I find is finding the time to achieve this, I will find alterative ways around this but it is an issue, between work, family (2 young children) and study there is little time to add in extra things to do but I want to look at my work and see if there are areas that I can refine that will allow better time management so I will have the time to do extra things.
And with reflection we do a reflective cluster day in Term 4 every year that is both looking back and looking forward as the 3 questions state (p. 303). I think I will print these 3 questions out and have them up for me so they remind me what I should be considering. I do think I can be reactive at work but it is very difficult to change that when every week there are different issues to sort out or refine and so forth. BUT I will do it!!
So here is my first journaling effort:
What did I learn today?
I learnt that reflection is as important as doing the job at hand
Whom did I nurture today?
This I feel was my staff (LA), students who were in the library at lunch time and other staff with technology issues.
What challenge did I confront today?
Fitting what I needed to into the time I had available.
How did I make a positive difference today?
I worked with staff, moved further in creating opportunities for me to show my expertise, initiated actions from my conference days and worked towards making my (or the students') library a more inviting place to be and easier to find information.
A short journaling entry today and I am sure they will get longer the more I do it.
Finally, from the article I also what to look at the action strategies more closely and plan towards achieving these in a little more detail for my libraries over this course.
Reference
Dohnam, J. (2005). Leadership. In Enhancing teaching and learning: a leadership guide for school library media specialists (2nd ed.) (pp. 295-305). New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers
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