Focus Quote:
"Leaders focus on horizon goals, not local crises or imminent deadlines. Many of these authors are hardcore dreamers; they have been thinking about the role of school library media specialists in teaching and learning throughout their professional careers. So, too, you have a life's work ahead." (Abilock, 2002)
The second article I selected to read this week focused on collaborative leadership. In Debbie Abilock's article "Ten attributes of collaborative leaders," she shares the collaborative attributes she has seen in the various school library leaders she has worked with on various task forces and projects. The very first attribute she highlights caught my attention right away. It is "Collaborative leaders envision the ideal and work backwards." (Abilock, 2002) She then goes on to explain this attribute by stating, "Leaders focus on horizon goals, not local crises or imminent deadlines. Many of these authors are hardcore dreamers; they have been thinking about the role of school library media specialists in teaching and learning throughout their professional careers. So, too, you have a life's work ahead." (Abilock, 2002)
This quote reminded me of two things. First, I just recently read the book Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan about the poet Pablo Neruda as a child. It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes poetry. (Plus, it recently won the Pura Belpré Author Award for 2011!) But, what I loved most about this book was how it championed the qualities of a dreamer. In the book, Neftalí (Pablo's childhood name) views the world through a lens different from that of his family and, as he grows older, learns to stand up for himself and his dreams. This ability to dream, to think outside the box, and to stand up for our dreams is an important attribute according to Abilock and I couldn't agree more. School libraries today are in a state of change and we need to be dreamers that can envision the goals we want, communicate them to others, and fight to make them reality.
The second thing that this quote reminded me of was Dr. Nancy Larsen's interview that was recently posted to our class Blackboard site. In the interview, Nancy responded to a question about how to best manage one's time by saying that when she worked in a school she focused her time on two things: teaching and learning. Like Abilocks's first attribute, Nancy advocated spending the bulk of one's time on big picture goals and then using any remaining time for other tasks. I think this is great advice especially now that the role of the school librarian is changing to become more focused on instructional support. Additionally, I believe this attribute will help administrators understand the value of employing a school librarian in the school.
I'm looking forward to being a "dreamer" and to focusing my time on teaching and learning. I know it won't always be easy, but like Abilock says I have my "life's work ahead" to achieve it.
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