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School Reform and the School Library Media Specialist

Page history last edited by Lynda Martin 14 years, 1 month ago

 Hughes-Hassell, Sandra and Violet H. Harada.  "Change Agentry: An Essential Role for Library Media Specialists."  School Reform and the School Library Media Specialist.  (Principles and Practice Series #3.) Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

 

Do you have what it takes to be a change agent?  As the title of this chapter suggests, participation in school change is critical for school library media specialists.  Especially in West Virginia our roles are being continually marginalized.  We cannot allow ourselves and our profession to be minimalized while others with different names and qualifications are appointed to inadequately fill our shoes.  With the emphasis on developing 21st Century Schools, a leading effort in our state school system and across the nation, we now have an unparalleled opportunity to step up and be school leaders.  So again the question is, do you have what it takes to be a change agent?

 

According to the authors, "successful change requires every person working in a school to be committed to change and to strive for individual and collective improvement." (3)  It is not enough for the media specialist to be merely accepting of change, but as a change agent to be cognizant about the nature of change and the change process itself.  A successful change agent helps "fill the gaps in expertise and to assist in charting and implementing courses of action." The media specialist is the perfect person to provide individualized support to those who need help in adjusting to change initiatives, as she is accustomed to continually meeting the individualized needs of all of her clients.   The authors further stress the importance of collaboration in the change process, noting that there is a natural ceiling effect to how much any individual can learn or accomplish on his own and noting that none in a school setting are more prepared to be collaborators than the school library media specialist. (4, 9).

 

If school library media specialists are hesitant to take up the yoke of change agentry, it might help to know that among all teachers this is not uncommon.  The authors cite the Concerns Based Adoption Model, which indicates that among any faculty of any given size, only eight percent can be viewed as an innovator.  An unfortunate consequence is that those who are identified as being innovators do not tend to be viewed as the most trusted among the rest of the faculty.  Knowing that one's ideas and contributions to the given cause may dismissed might help the reluctant media specialist accept that this is a natural occurence in a change cycle; it's not personal and may not be a reflection of the opinion that some might have that we are not "real teachers."

 

The next level of change participation according to the Adoption Model is that of the leader.   These people are most likely to be trusted by their colleagues and comprise 17% of any faculty.  Early majority adopters,  29% of the faculty, accept and assimilate change after it has been validated by the leaders.  Another 29%, the late majority adopters,  follow.  Finally, it must be accepted and expected that 17% of any faculty, the resistors, will not adopt the change.

 

No one member of any faculty will always be locked into a role identified by the Adoption Model;  these roles are fluid, and one's participation might depend on any variety of factors. Let's face it: some ideas are unworkable, some ideas are ill-timed, and some ideas are just plain dumb.  People may resist for a variety of personal as well as professional reasons.

 

What should you do if you feel you cannot support a proposed change?  First I suggest you carefully examine the reasons for your resistance. 

 

Is the proposed changed in opposition to an accepted best practice of school library media services?  If so, you owe it to your colleagues, your students, your profession and to yourself to make your concerns known.  Be prepared to offer  scenarios that will achieve the desired goal and not compromise the itegrity of the library program.

 

Perhaps your concern is borne of the uncertainty that comes with doing things differently.  It may help to do some independent research to learn more about a program or process.  Email the K-12 Librarians listserv or LM_NET to see if other library media specialists have confronted similar issues.  We only work in isolation if we choose not to seek the counsel of our colleagues!

 

Not everyone can be a change agent on every initiative, but I maintain that it is far better to be sculpting change than to have someone else's vision of the library media center's role thrust on you.  We may not always like the ideas, but at times we all must "put on our big girl and boy panties" and get with the program.

 

After all, we are all essential to the success of our students.  Right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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