Last Thursday we were fortunate to have Dr Hilary Greenebaum come visit us in the north to present her conference workshop "Do you swim with sharks or dolphins?" Hillary has much experience and wisdom to share, and I was delighted to hear her talk about effective library management, development and communication in such a practical way.
The message that resonated most strongly for me was that I need to understand senior management better and find ways to promote a positive partnership rather than just expecting it to happen. I have to plan, do, reflect, evaluate, learn and share in a focused way that supports student learning and achievement.
As often is with workshops there was some new learning and some reinforcing of prior knowledge. It's always good to be reminded that you are on the right track, even if sometimes you are running and sometimes stopping for a chat.
Thank you Hilary for taking the time to come and talk to us, we appreciate your visit.
Thanks Lisa for doing this post, and to everyone who came along to the meeting, including Jan travelling all the way from Mangonui and Trudy from Tangowahine... good on you!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Lisa, Hilary's "mantra" of Plan, Do, Reflect, Evaluate, Learn, Share, Focus on students, Advocate, Strategise is a fantastic guide to effective practice.
And remember this finding from the Softlink Australian 2011 School Library Survey :
In general, low performing schools allocate 30% less to the school library budget than average schools.
High performing schools allocate twice as much to the school library budget as average schools.