I love the physical open space
of libraries and I love books. Not e-books. Not i-books. Actual books. Made of
paper. Even though I can’t actually see you, I can tell you are frowning. TLs of the future are supposed to embrace
e-books but I can’t say I love them yet. I have my reasons.
Because I love books, I
often go to where books live: bookshops and libraries. As a student, I often go
to the university library to get actual copies of books and journals on the ETL
reading list. I like seeing their shape and feeling their weight. I wonder about the design
of the front cover and what it’s meant to convey. You can also tell a lot about
a book’s integrity by how damaged it is: the more dog-eared and well-thumbed its pages,
the better the content is sure to be. Well, that's my theory anyway; real books demonstrate a remarkably vivid and accurate tactile history that e-books just don't (beware the book in perfect condition!). I also enjoy
the academic environment of the library. I like traversing isles, fingering shelves, mentally mapping dewy decimal numbers to find the book I’m
after. When I find it, it feels like I've just won at orienteering.
But greatest thing about physically being in the library is that you’re bound to find interesting things
you weren’t looking for. Relevant things.
After all, they’re usually sitting along-side the things you were looking for because libraries are so orderly, so purposefully arranged. Anyway, it was exactly in this way that I came
across a book called The Challenge of
School Change edited by Michael Fullan. I admit it’s a little dated, but
there’s an interesting section in it comparing today’s
leadership values (in 1997) with those of the future (where we are now).
How fascinating to read about what others’ have envisaged about the future, in the
future.
Here are some of his key
ideas on leading change in schools (paraphrased):
Value 1: openness to participation
Today’s value - employees
do what the leader tells them
Tomorrow’s value - actively
include participants in decisions which affect them
Value 2: Openness to diversity
Today’s value – employees
fall into line with organisational direction
Tomorrow’s value - diversity
of perspectives result in deep understanding and enriched decision making
Value 2: Openness to conflict
Today’s value - employees
valued only when communicating in harmony with group
Tomorrow’s value - resolving
healthy conflict results in a stronger organisation
Value 2: Openness to Reflection
Today’s value – decisions
are made without looking back
Tomorrow’s value – organisations value reflecting on own and others’ thinking
Value 2: Openness to mistakes
Today’s value – don’t make
them
Tomorrow’s value - learn
from them
I’m glad we have moved
past 1997 but can really we say we have successfully achieved that culture of
openness?
Fast forward to 2012. According
to Don Tapscott, the world is opening up despite us, and the internet is
driving it. We can either jump on board, or we can sink. As students of ETL504, we
have all seen Tapscott’s powerful TED Talk on ‘The Four Principles of the Open
World’ but I have included it here for you anyway. The last part of the video featuring the murmuration of the starlings is mesmerising.
For Tapscott, openness is about endless possibility. For Fullan, it is a force for positive change. Both believe that collaboration is key to successfully executing change. I suppose if Fullan could have foreseen the power of social media, he probably would have agreed with Tapscott that it is a critical means of intellectual production. I agree. In an open market of qualified minds, ‘every person is a change agent’ p.103
Please see April 5 post for further reflections on leadership
J
References
Fullan, M. (1997). Leadership for Change. In M. Fullan (Ed.),
The Challenge of School Change (pp. 97-114). Australia: Hawker Brownlow
Education.
Tapscott, D. (2012,
June). Four principles for the open world. Edinburgh, Scotland: TED. Retrieved
from http://www.ted.com/talks/don_tapscott_four_principles_for_the_open_world_1.html?awesm=on.ted.com_Tapscott&utm_campaign=&utm_content=awesm-publisher&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_source=direct-on.ted.com
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