Marika Simon – Page 3 – Mrs Simon says . . .

I aim to misbehave

9 September, 2019Marika SimonETL504Leave a comment

Two major issues that are coming to the fore in the case study group work process are communication and participation. I stole my title from the Firefly character Mal Reynolds as my strategy in this particular case study session was to communicate clearly to my group my paticipation parameters – basically informing them “I aim to misbehave.” Due to my commitments in my other subject (assessment due the Monday of the case study session week) and work (Tuesday through Thursday with little room for Uni on those days) I was only able to participate in this session marginally before the Friday on which the response was due. I took the initiative to share my constraints with the group as soon as the case study email was released. This provided a space for another group member to step forward and take the initiative to facilitate the work for this session. Stepping back in this way was a bit difficult for me and shone a light on how much I like to have control over a process in which I am emotionally invested. Continue reading “I aim to misbehave”

The impossible dream?

6 September, 2019Marika SimonETL504 / Role of TLLeave a comment

Finally, an article has admitted it. “The demands of modern principalship are nearly impossible to meet (Danielson, 2007, para 5).” I feel like we have been reading and discussing leadership in this subject with rose-coloured glasses. We’ve looked at the ideal mix of leadership styles and structures to lead a 21st Century school through change. But, until now, none of our readings has acknowledged the unlikelihood of a principal (or, I would argue, a Teacher Librarian) being able to weild that mix of leadership styles, implement that balance of structures, and accomplish the array of tasks that have been set out in these ideals. Yes, there has been lip-service to teamwork and distributing leadership and the like. But, I feel that there is an overwhelming pressure being put on the students in this subject to take on a mantle of leadership that is too heavy to be sustainably carried by them as individuals. When I browsed through module four and read the various bullet-point lists relating to how we can be leaders as teachers and TLs, I nearly had a panic attack – especially thinking “Wait! I am still trying to figure out how to just get myself through the daily basic expectations of my role… how the hell am I supposed to do or show all of THIS?!”

I do want to dream and aspire and aim high. However, I would love to dream a possible dream that I have some chance of acheiving.

References

Danielson, C. (2007). The many faces of leadership. Educational Leadership, 65(1), 14-19. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept07/vol65/num01/The-Many-Faces-of-Leadership.aspx

Mostly Harmless

18 August, 2019Marika SimonETL5041 Comment

Having weathered the first group collaboration for ETL504 case studies, I have come away feeling relatively optimistic. From the posts I have read so far, it is clear that there have been various levels of participation amongst case study groups. I have seen posts crediting between two and five participants and I am assuming that the original groups were assigned with no more than a one student variance between groups (I am guessing either four to five per group or five to six per group based on my group of five).

I feel lucky to have gotten an engaged, competent and participatory group. All group members participated in both organisational and content-based interactions. This contributed to what I feel was a solid, task-fulfilling response delivered on-time and formatted appropriately.

I thought it would be interesting to evaluate the group experience through the lens of the team roles described in Roberts (2012): Continue reading “Mostly Harmless”

Conflict Handling Style Analysis

12 August, 2019Marika SimonETL504Leave a comment

At the end of Module 3.2, we were asked to do a questionnaire (McGraw Hill Global Education Holdings, 2018) to determine our preferred conflict handling style(s) and reflect on the results.

According to the model, my preferences for conflict handling followed the following pattern:
- Minimally strong preference (the bottom score on the “strong preference” range) for:
  - Avoiding: 13/20, and
  - Problem Solving: 17/20
- Moderately strong preferences (one mark below the top of the “moderate preference” range) for the conflicting styles of:
  - Yielding: 12/20, and
  - Forcing: 13/20
- Moderately low preference (the bottom of the “moderate preference” range) for:
  - Compromising: 11/20

This would seem to indicate that I avoid conflict where possible. When I do engage in a conflict situation, however, my goal is to optimise solutions (aim for a win/win where possible) rather than to achieve a 50/50 compromise. I find the similar scores for the opposing styles of yielding and forcing an interesting outcome. I suppose it indicates that I use a situational approach where I yield or stand up for my position as seems most appropriate for solving the problem in an optimal fashion.

Does this match to how you think of yourself?

When I interpret the results as discussed above, I can see myself in the description. If possible, I prefer to avoid confrontation. I endeavour not to lie or mis-represent my position and to stand for my viewpoint with integrity but also make an effort to do so as diplomatically as possible. I definitely see myself as someone who goes into a conflict wanting to understand all sides and bring about a resolution that everyone is happy with, rather than merely a compromise which has demanded equal concessions by each party but left no-one truly satisfied.

What areas do you think you need to develop?

While I am equally likely to sit back in a yielding or avoiding style as to confidently promote my opinion in a forcing style, I am not always 100% sure that I choose the right moment to implement them. I could certainly learn to pick my tactics more carefully. Another area for improvement would be reducing my tendency to avoid conflict so that I can deal with conflicts when they are minor rather than waiting until they cannot be ignored.

References

McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings. (2018). Self-Assessment 11.4: What is your preferred conflict handling style? Retrieved from http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/007040187x/student_view0/chapter11/self-assessment_11_4.html

A New Hope

9 August, 2019Marika SimonETL504Leave a comment

Case study groups were released today at 5pm. I am in Case Study Group 9. After sending an initial group email, I had a quick look at the blogs of my group members and did a forum search to see what they had posted so far in the Discussion forums.

I am optimistic about my group as we seem to be active participants in forums and blogs for the most part. Everyone seems to have a reasonable handle on referencing and synthesis of information as well. I am hoping that we mesh well together and can create a successful and effective team dynamic to fulfill the group case study component of our coursework.

I have created a new link list in the sidebar with links to the blogs of my group members… now for us to come up with a team name and colour scheme ;-).

School Leadership Structure – Brainstorming Session 1

9 August, 2019Marika SimonETL504 / Planning and OrganisationLeave a comment

Inspired by my classmate Liz’s post where she started to get out her ideas for the first ETL504 Assessment, I think I will start some brainstorming of my own.

Icon: Brainstorm by Simon Child from the Noun Project — Brainstorm by Simon Child from the Noun Project

My understanding of our task is:

Using what you have learned in Module 2 and 3 – design the ideal 21st Century Learning change-oriented school leadership structure, including the TL/Library within that structure.
Pick 15 – 20 key concepts to portray that leadership structure visually in a concept map.
Write an argument that critically analyses your leadership structure – referring to your concept map and the literature.

Here are some potential concepts:

Continue reading “School Leadership Structure – Brainstorming Session 1”

Leadership Vision and Strategies for Change

27 July, 2019Marika SimonETL504Leave a comment

At this point in the subject think about strategies to take you from TL, the keeper and stamper of the books and the quiet space (library) (how many of our colleagues perceive TLs), to become something different. Make a set of notes using your new understandings to support your arguments and conclusions:

Many of the readings regarding leadership list vision as a key quality of leadership. In order to develop strategies for moving from the stereotypical keeper-of-the-books-and-quietness to “something different” that has a leadership hue, it is essential to formulate and articulate a clear vision (Gleeson, 2016) of what that “something else” will look like. For my situation, I know that I am not really looking to take on a formal leadership role – at least not anything that has the word “principal” in the title. My projected to pathway to professional development might include pursuit a Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher status, but not an Assistant or Deputy Principal position. Therefore, my vision of my “something else” lies in the distributed leadership, informal leadership or leadership by expertise vein. My vision for the library is as a place that will be the go-to place for resources across the curriculum and for information on teaching and learning. A central school service station rather than just a place for students to go and borrow some books or listen to a story and be kept busy for an hour while their teachers plan for their “real learning activities”.

Moir, Hattie and Jansen’s (2014) viewpoint that to develop leadership capacity you first need to know what qualities the members of the organisation value as evidencing effective leadership really resonated with me. Looking at the five top “effective leadership qualities” that they found in their study (Moir, Hattie, & Jansen, 2014, p 37), I find a framework for my vision and strategy for change: Continue reading “Leadership Vision and Strategies for Change”

Some leadership infographics

19 July, 2019Marika SimonETL5041 Comment

I came across an interesting infographic on leadership on one of my teaching-oriented Facebook groups:

This resonated for me with the concepts of inspirational and instructional leadership models – where the leader is inspiring and motivating workers through more internal “soft” considerations rather than behavioralist target/reward external efficiency methods. It prompted me to reflect on how I provide for these needs with my students and with other teachers and even with the school leadership. I think that I am fairly good at building trust – but thinking about how I can improve on building the self-worth and perceived competence of others is a challenge for me to work on.

As I was searching for this infographic, I came across another post/sketchnote that I quite liked:

Since we are trying to develop ourselves as leaders and thinking of leaders as people who build leaders instead of followers, I found this pertinent. Being someone who can have a hard time seeing myself as a leader, and knowing others who have expressed a similar sentiment, I was especially taken by the notion that other people make the assessment about who is a leader. This was reinforced by reading Tamar Charney’s (n.d.) A Quiet Leader is Still a Real Leader. So many different possibilities and views on leadership… and so little time to absorb them!

References

Charney, T. (n.d.). A quiet leader is still a real leader [Blog post]. In Quiet Revolution’s Field Notes. Retrieved from https://www.quietrev.com/a-quiet-leader-is-still-a-real-leader/

Vora, T. (2015). Four basic human needs for engagement via Randy Conley [Image file]. Retrieved from http://www.qaspire.com/images/sketchnotes/21_HumanNeedsEngagement.jpg

Vora, T. (2018). Peter Senge: On developing leaders [Image file]. Retrieved from http://qaspire.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/94_Leadership_Senge_650px_thumb.jpg

The ethics of personal collecting

18 July, 2019Marika SimonINF520Leave a comment

I found it interesting when reviewing various Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector associations’ Codes of Ethics for my preservation subject that many considered personal collections that were in line with the collections of an employing institution were proscribed as conflicts of interest. On reflection, I can understand that serious collectors often have such a passion and thirst for their collections that could interfere with their ability to make sound judgements in their institutional collecting. On the other hand, a lively interest – manifested by a desire to collect items – in the collection area of your workplace would surely benefit GLAM sector employment. I was impressed with the way that the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) ( 2003) approached this matter in their very succinct Code of Ethics for Special Collections Librarians:

“I. Special collections librarians sometimes collect personally, as well as on behalf of their library. Personal collecting can add to the librarian’s understanding of a collecting area and the marketplace for special collections materials. Consequently, personal collecting should not be discouraged. However, special collections librarians should disclose their personal collecting activity to their employer, especially when their collecting area coincides with that of the institution. When such coincidence occurs, the special collections librarian must not compete with the library, must not build his or her personal collection at the expense of the institution’s collection, and must be diligent in distinguishing items acquired for the institution’s collection from items acquired for the personal collection. In all instances, special collections librarians should conduct their personal collecting in a manner that avoids impropriety and prevents any appearance thereof (ACRL, 2003, para. 13).”

References

Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). (2003, October). Code of ethics for special collections librarians. Retrieved from http://rbms.info/standards/code_of_ethics/

Misgivings (half an hour to Case Study Online Meeting)

Minutes (what happened during the meeting)