Standard 7:
ENGAGE PROFESSIONALLY WITH COLLEAGUES, PARENTS/CARERS AND THE COMMUNITY
The excellent TL acts responsibly within their professional field. They are aware of current ethical standards, meet these and model to other staff what behaving ethically in the workplace looks like. They are abreast of current legislative, administrative and organisational procedures and support colleagues in the interpretation of this documentation. They demonstrate an open and responsive communication line with parents and carers about their children, and they are active members of professional and community networks to inform quality teaching/learning experiences.
Leadership (professional networks)
The highly accomplished TL is an active member and contributor to professional networks and associations and uses these links to: inform their own PLP's; improve library services; and support the life long learning of the community in which they operate.
The TL at site 2 is a member of Yammer and connects with other TL's using this social networking site. She is an avid observer of interactions and the occasional participator. She is a member and contributor to the local TL collegial group, however these two networks are the full extent of her professional networking. This TL is winding down her involvement with work, she has already opted for a part-time position and is biding her time until retirement. She does occasionally seek out new and upcoming professional development programs or opportunities to inform new OLIVER operations.
As an upcoming TL, aiming to take up the opportunity to lead this library, I am already a member of Yammer, the local collegial group of TL's, two Facebook librarian networks, OZTL and some Google + communities. I follow predominant TL's on twitter and have a LinkedIn profile. At the moment I am primarily an observer of most of these online networking groups, however as my level of participation in the school community increases, I expect to be a more informed member, able to contribute and interact on a more frequent basis.
Leadership (policy development and implementation)
The highly accomplished TL has current knowledge of the policies within the community in which they operate and they can "collaborate in coordinating a whole school approach to developing student literacy and information literacy skills" Phillips and Paatsch (2011:32). This places the highly accomplished teacher in an excellent position to be the driver and overseer of the development and implementation of school policies. General NSW Education Department policies can be found online and there are specific library policies available for the TL to use as is, or use as a starting point to build policies that "reflect the ethos, mission, aims and objectives" IFLA (2015:22) of the school community. The excellent TL is an active member of the school executive, and is proactive in the whole school development and implementation of policies. They must have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of state and school policies to enable implementation, which will then facilitate modelling and mentoring colleagues.
The TL at site 2 was unable to produce any library policy documents. She may not be aware of the library policy documents provided by the NSW Department of Education, and as such would be unable to operate in a leadership position on these matters. Her lack of knowledge and inactivity towards an awareness of policy directives, puts her in a dubious position, potentially making her position as TL (where she is predominantly a Library manager only) redundant Lupton (2016:58).
I would like to see this library lead the school by example through demonstrating how policies can support and direct the smooth and forward focused operation of a department. This would require a major overhaul of current systems. Initially, using standard NSW Department of Education documents, I will make the library staff aware of the directions in which the library should be operating. Then, collegial discussion and re-writing specific library policies enables staff to proactively think about the: future directions of the library; freedom of information; purpose of the collection; objectives of the provision of resources; and, collection management decisions IFLA (2015:34). By collaboratively writing new specific policies, staff will feel validated and empowered to work with forward direction and goals. Throughout this process, I will ensure that the Principal is aware of, and participating in future directions. I will do this out of respect, to work towards a good relationship with her by having open lines of communication, to garner support, and to subtly make her aware of the value of a well run and proactive TL. Lupton (2016:58) By writing the policies with library staff, a comprehensive understanding of documentation by all stakeholders is achieved, and then implementation with frequent referral to the documents should follow. This implementation gives rise to evaluation and editing of the documents, with the intention of annual revisions.
Leadership (professional networks)
The highly accomplished TL is an active member and contributor to professional networks and associations and uses these links to: inform their own PLP's; improve library services; and support the life long learning of the community in which they operate.
The TL at site 2 is a member of Yammer and connects with other TL's using this social networking site. She is an avid observer of interactions and the occasional participator. She is a member and contributor to the local TL collegial group, however these two networks are the full extent of her professional networking. This TL is winding down her involvement with work, she has already opted for a part-time position and is biding her time until retirement. She does occasionally seek out new and upcoming professional development programs or opportunities to inform new OLIVER operations.
As an upcoming TL, aiming to take up the opportunity to lead this library, I am already a member of Yammer, the local collegial group of TL's, two Facebook librarian networks, OZTL and some Google + communities. I follow predominant TL's on twitter and have a LinkedIn profile. At the moment I am primarily an observer of most of these online networking groups, however as my level of participation in the school community increases, I expect to be a more informed member, able to contribute and interact on a more frequent basis.
Leadership (policy development and implementation)
The highly accomplished TL has current knowledge of the policies within the community in which they operate and they can "collaborate in coordinating a whole school approach to developing student literacy and information literacy skills" Phillips and Paatsch (2011:32). This places the highly accomplished teacher in an excellent position to be the driver and overseer of the development and implementation of school policies. General NSW Education Department policies can be found online and there are specific library policies available for the TL to use as is, or use as a starting point to build policies that "reflect the ethos, mission, aims and objectives" IFLA (2015:22) of the school community. The excellent TL is an active member of the school executive, and is proactive in the whole school development and implementation of policies. They must have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of state and school policies to enable implementation, which will then facilitate modelling and mentoring colleagues.
The TL at site 2 was unable to produce any library policy documents. She may not be aware of the library policy documents provided by the NSW Department of Education, and as such would be unable to operate in a leadership position on these matters. Her lack of knowledge and inactivity towards an awareness of policy directives, puts her in a dubious position, potentially making her position as TL (where she is predominantly a Library manager only) redundant Lupton (2016:58).
I would like to see this library lead the school by example through demonstrating how policies can support and direct the smooth and forward focused operation of a department. This would require a major overhaul of current systems. Initially, using standard NSW Department of Education documents, I will make the library staff aware of the directions in which the library should be operating. Then, collegial discussion and re-writing specific library policies enables staff to proactively think about the: future directions of the library; freedom of information; purpose of the collection; objectives of the provision of resources; and, collection management decisions IFLA (2015:34). By collaboratively writing new specific policies, staff will feel validated and empowered to work with forward direction and goals. Throughout this process, I will ensure that the Principal is aware of, and participating in future directions. I will do this out of respect, to work towards a good relationship with her by having open lines of communication, to garner support, and to subtly make her aware of the value of a well run and proactive TL. Lupton (2016:58) By writing the policies with library staff, a comprehensive understanding of documentation by all stakeholders is achieved, and then implementation with frequent referral to the documents should follow. This implementation gives rise to evaluation and editing of the documents, with the intention of annual revisions.
