ETL504 - Module 3

Module 3 was concerned with leadership and change within organisations as well as what it means to work in a team - as we inherently do within a school environment.

Change tends to stay within the realms of technology and management on a year-to-year basis; outside of that, there can be some structural change to adapt to as well. With technology, there is very little engagement with the use of it. This could be due to the aging teaching population who dislike the rise of technology use within students lives and in the classroom. It can be argued that younger teachers don’t wish to ostracise themselves from their older colleagues so they don’t ‘rock the boat’ when it comes to the use of technology within the classroom. Downsizing can play a part in terms of change within a workplace and this could be a major part of change within a smaller school or site. This could especially be true if student numbers are dwindling.

Stress can be a factor when coping with change as if we are under a lot of personal or professional stress; we could respond differently to what we normally would. While attitude change can be a normal part of change, a difference in attitude that is beyond what you would normally expect from a disgruntled co-worker; could be a reason for investigating further and establishing what could be wrong.

We all work in teams, and we all need to be able to work in them efficiently. This means dealing with a lot of opinions, personalities and much, much more in order to get the task or job done. Setting boundaries early on can help ensure that the process is fairly smooth. However, conflict and communication (and/or lack thereof) can really hinder the progress of a team so being able to effectively and with compassion deal with them when they arise.
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Ultimately, as Teacher Librarians and classroom teachers, we need to be able to adapt to change, stress and being able to deal with the complexities that come with working in teams. We need to be able to be flexible when it comes to our environment and those that we work with; both on a day-to-day basis and on an ad-hoc basis.