Week Two Reading

The reading this week focused on the importance of articulating shared goals throughout an educational community.  The first step is creating a mission statement that accurately depicts what educators want their students to be like and how they want to accomplish it.  Our first reading warned of the ambiguous nature of poorly worded mission statements.  When people don't have a realistic and specific goal to rally around, that leaves too much up to interpretation.

Our second reading heralded the importance of mission statements in facilitating collaboration in schools, particularly in regards to the role that a library can play in making those goals a reality.  In this day and age, librarians are not usually seen as movers and shakers in their schools-- whether due to antiquated practices or due to fear of losing staff support.  However, I agree with Zmuda when she writes that a mission statement can become the point from which school librarians can encourage the implementation of new and exciting techniques.  She writes, "The authority and leadership for this type of collegial coaching does not come from the job title or hierarchy of employees but rather from the systems internal accountability to accomplish the mission of the organization. The good news is that library media centers are increasingly being looked to as an untapped source of potential learning, a place where students can engage in work that is purposeful, powerful, and personalized."  I couldn't agree more!