A strange title for a blog about library studies I know, but I was quite excited when I discovered the reason during my reading today.....According to Principle 8 of 'The 12 quality principles' from Streeton Primary School 2000 there needs to be effective use of facts, data and knowledge as it leads to improved decisions. Apparently someone needs to tell Brad Fittler that he should take more notice of the data that should be obtained about health, muscle tone, agility, stamina and speed, because such data is useless unless it leads to improvement. Clearly this has not happened this season. The Roosters board is at fault in its leadership as it is making decisions that are event driven rather than working to an overall plan. This is also seen in their choices of players and new coach for next year. Instead of looking at the big picture and focusing on the root causes they are choosing to focus on the symptons, that is the loss of many games. This example is seen in principle 2 as suggested by Streeton Public School.
How good was that reading by Streeton Public School I am now much better informed on leadership issues and can apply it to all areas of my life, not just in the library.
It was also emphasised in this article that learning improves when we have time to reflect, because we are often to busy to stop, stand back, look, listen and think.
I got through quite a lot of reading today while I waited for my number 2 son to ride his scooter at the skate park, and actually enjoyed what I was reading.
I also read the Harvey, Bearly and Corkrum reading titled 'Core Steps in Decision making'. How eye opening was that. It was interesting to see the elements that were common in the problem solving. These were * Problem identification
* Developing possible solutions
* Choosing a course of action
They also suggested that implementing a decision can often generate resistance, causing more problems instead of fixing the ones that are already there.
A 6 step approach was suggested when decision making.
1. Mind Set
How will you think about the problem, not how you will deal with the problem.
2. Problem Definition
There are 4 categories of problems
1) Short-Fall- Corrective action is required to reestablish a previous condition.
2) Opportunity- Usually occurs because of some change in the external or internal environment.
3) Improvement- Proactive approach to getting better and staying ahead.
4) New Venture- Takes us places we have never been before.
3. Solution Criteria
This defines parameters so that the decision is more analytic, rather than emotional.
4. Possible Solutions
Be Creative!
Once possible solutions have been generated you need to clarify, combine, and document them.
This is an idea-generating step so don't allow judgement or analysis.
Adapt, don't adopt.
5. Solution Choice
Don't vote for a solution, work at it until you have a consensus, which means that everyone substantially agrees.
6. Implementation
Implementation has 3 distinct sub-steps. Planning, Doing and inspecting.
Evaluation, Revision and Renewal
Evaluate the solution to see if it solves the problem then evaluate the problem-solving process followed by revision to find a better fit to the organization.
I feel like I really used my time well while watching my son ride his scooter, and with my new found knowledge the Sydney City Roosters should employ me to solve their problems and help them win another premiership.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Reading has begun in earnest
Well this weekend I started the daunting task of beginning to read the readings that we have been assigned. It has proved to take longer than I thought. sure wish I could speed read like Kath Day- Knight in Kath and Kim.....Sure would make it quicker. Oh well thank goodness I had to sit and wait for my middle child at cricket trials today(never thought I would hear myself utter those words). anyway I put my time to good use and read.
Reading 1: Donham, J, 'Leadership'
This reading was interesting as I realised that I knew nothing about the previous topics I had written about on this blog.
Leadership Attributes
* Technical competence
* Conceptual skill
* People skills
* Judgement
* Character
Above all Leaders know and respect the limits of their circles of influence.
Leaders are can do people who look to themselves to make programs great and inspire others to join in the enterprise.
Donham also tells us the Hatzell suggests that proactive people look for change opportunities, they anticipate and prevent problems, they take action and tend to persevere.
I loved what Jim Collins said were required to make a good program great.
* Understand what you can and cannot be best at. a leader knows what areas they are best at and strive to be as good as possible in the other areas.
* Pursue what you are deeply passionate about because the passion for one aspect of the field will generate the intense enthusiasm to invigorate and inspire students so that you will also stay energized.
Fullan suggested 3 attributes for a sound vision: 1. Concreteness
2. Sharedness
3. Clarity
Lao Tzu said "When the best leader's work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves'"
In order to lead from the middle, librararians need to put themselves into influential positions by volunteering to serve on curriculum committees or leadership teams.
Clear and articulate communication is a key element in asserting leadership among colleagues.
Strategic Leadership
You need to have a vision. A vision is a clear mental picture of the future result that is clearly communicated and easily perceived.
You need to set standards for performance and measure performance against those standards.
Seize opportunities as they arise.
Reflection
Reflect periodically on progress made and goals to be met.
Journal regularly.
Mentoring
Mentor students by sharing enthusiasm.
Action Strategies
Learning and Teaching
Information access and delivery
Program administration
Never be self-serving. and always project a professional image.
This was a really good reading and cleared things up. It was also good to mentally picture leaders that exhibited the qualities talked about in the article to make it make a bit more sense. Clearly I have a long way to go to become a good leader if the points listed above are anything to go by.
Oh well on to my next reading from section 1 on Organisational theory. Maybe I will give an update on that tomorrow.
Reading 1: Donham, J, 'Leadership'
This reading was interesting as I realised that I knew nothing about the previous topics I had written about on this blog.
Leadership Attributes
* Technical competence
* Conceptual skill
* People skills
* Judgement
* Character
Above all Leaders know and respect the limits of their circles of influence.
Leaders are can do people who look to themselves to make programs great and inspire others to join in the enterprise.
Donham also tells us the Hatzell suggests that proactive people look for change opportunities, they anticipate and prevent problems, they take action and tend to persevere.
I loved what Jim Collins said were required to make a good program great.
* Understand what you can and cannot be best at. a leader knows what areas they are best at and strive to be as good as possible in the other areas.
* Pursue what you are deeply passionate about because the passion for one aspect of the field will generate the intense enthusiasm to invigorate and inspire students so that you will also stay energized.
Fullan suggested 3 attributes for a sound vision: 1. Concreteness
2. Sharedness
3. Clarity
Lao Tzu said "When the best leader's work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves'"
In order to lead from the middle, librararians need to put themselves into influential positions by volunteering to serve on curriculum committees or leadership teams.
Clear and articulate communication is a key element in asserting leadership among colleagues.
Strategic Leadership
You need to have a vision. A vision is a clear mental picture of the future result that is clearly communicated and easily perceived.
You need to set standards for performance and measure performance against those standards.
Seize opportunities as they arise.
Reflection
Reflect periodically on progress made and goals to be met.
Journal regularly.
Mentoring
Mentor students by sharing enthusiasm.
Action Strategies
Learning and Teaching
Information access and delivery
Program administration
Never be self-serving. and always project a professional image.
This was a really good reading and cleared things up. It was also good to mentally picture leaders that exhibited the qualities talked about in the article to make it make a bit more sense. Clearly I have a long way to go to become a good leader if the points listed above are anything to go by.
Oh well on to my next reading from section 1 on Organisational theory. Maybe I will give an update on that tomorrow.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Things that I know.....or don't know!
Well here I am doing my second post and as they say on reality television I am on an amazing journey of discovery.
As part of ETL504 I have been asked to write down the things that I already know about a number of subjects. As my knowledge is fairly limited this shouldn't take long, and as 'Master Chef' is now over I can devote myself totally to the study of this subject as I appear to have suddenly gained extra time in my day!
So far in this course I have managed to learn how to request books and photocopies successfully from the CSU library. However, in my haste to get myself organised I obtained copies of all of our compulsary readings, an exercise that took me 2 hours and 3 phone calls to the library only to discover the next day that the college actually posted out a book with all of the readings in it...How dumb did I feel. Oh well I now know how the library works.
Also in an effort to be organised I also printed off the subject outlines and put them into my nice new folders that I purchased (colour coded for each subject) only to also discover that the uni sent me out a hard copy of that as well. Oh well if I get through this semester I will know for next time.
I have also learnt how to contribute to forums. How cool are they? I usually spend lots of time on the telephone, these are a much quicker way of communicating. I love it. Roy gave us some headings to write under so here are mine.
Leadership of Teacher Librarians and their place in the school organisation
My knowledge of this is very limited, but I think that in the school organisation the teacher librarian is way down the pecking order of the school leadership. Demands are made from higher up in regards to purchasing and accessioning books as well as demands from classroom teachers to help them complete the classroom curriculum. The library can also be a bit of a dumping ground for kids that haven't completed their bookwork in the class time to do so in their lunch hour.
Communication
As the librarian in the school there is a need for you to be a good communicater with both staff and children as you appear to be an integral part of the learning cycle in a school. Hopefully clear communication lines are open to ensure collaborative planning with the other staff members.
Organisational Theory
I hope this means the different theories involved in getting a library organised complete with ideas for putting systems into place. Admittedly I know nothing about this, but I really am eager to learn more.
Strategic Planning
I'm fairly sure this means the planning of the library program so that you know ahead of time how you can program in the library to ensure that quality learning takes place.
Well as you can see I know nothing about any of these topics. Actually even less than I thought. I will now go and start on my readings to hopefully improve my knowledge in this area.
As part of ETL504 I have been asked to write down the things that I already know about a number of subjects. As my knowledge is fairly limited this shouldn't take long, and as 'Master Chef' is now over I can devote myself totally to the study of this subject as I appear to have suddenly gained extra time in my day!
So far in this course I have managed to learn how to request books and photocopies successfully from the CSU library. However, in my haste to get myself organised I obtained copies of all of our compulsary readings, an exercise that took me 2 hours and 3 phone calls to the library only to discover the next day that the college actually posted out a book with all of the readings in it...How dumb did I feel. Oh well I now know how the library works.
Also in an effort to be organised I also printed off the subject outlines and put them into my nice new folders that I purchased (colour coded for each subject) only to also discover that the uni sent me out a hard copy of that as well. Oh well if I get through this semester I will know for next time.
I have also learnt how to contribute to forums. How cool are they? I usually spend lots of time on the telephone, these are a much quicker way of communicating. I love it. Roy gave us some headings to write under so here are mine.
Leadership of Teacher Librarians and their place in the school organisation
My knowledge of this is very limited, but I think that in the school organisation the teacher librarian is way down the pecking order of the school leadership. Demands are made from higher up in regards to purchasing and accessioning books as well as demands from classroom teachers to help them complete the classroom curriculum. The library can also be a bit of a dumping ground for kids that haven't completed their bookwork in the class time to do so in their lunch hour.
Communication
As the librarian in the school there is a need for you to be a good communicater with both staff and children as you appear to be an integral part of the learning cycle in a school. Hopefully clear communication lines are open to ensure collaborative planning with the other staff members.
Organisational Theory
I hope this means the different theories involved in getting a library organised complete with ideas for putting systems into place. Admittedly I know nothing about this, but I really am eager to learn more.
Strategic Planning
I'm fairly sure this means the planning of the library program so that you know ahead of time how you can program in the library to ensure that quality learning takes place.
Well as you can see I know nothing about any of these topics. Actually even less than I thought. I will now go and start on my readings to hopefully improve my knowledge in this area.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
First ever post
Well apparently I have to set up a blog to document my journey while I am doing my Masters of Education in Library teaching. So here it is..................
I am a bit nervous about starting this course as I haven't studied for over 20years. Hope I don't blow it as I really need this piece of paper to get a job in a school library. I just love teaching library and really want to further my career in this area.
I am a bit nervous about starting this course as I haven't studied for over 20years. Hope I don't blow it as I really need this piece of paper to get a job in a school library. I just love teaching library and really want to further my career in this area.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)