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Transcript of MSc Leicester Dissertation Josephine v Saliba
THE ROLE OF THE LLRC IN THE CHANGE PROCESSES
OF COLLEGE X: A STUDY
Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of the degree of the MSc in Educational Leadership
School of EducationUniversity of Leicester
Name: Josephine V. SalibaStudent Number: 7147
Date of Submission: July 2008Word Count: 20,719
In acknowledgment of the professionalism, friendship and support of my collaborators.This work is dedicated to all friends, colleagues and close ones
who made this possible.
Abstract
College X is a state-funded further and higher education institution offering
vocational qualifications at various levels. Set up in 2000, the College seeks to
continuously transform all its organisational aspects in order to keep abreast of
unavoidable changes to the national and international scenarios.
As these changes influence the national economy, the government is addressing
the importance of vocational education and training related to current and
emergent national competences and skills, competitiveness and economic
development. The College has thus published its Strategic Plan 2007-2009 and
Master Development Brief documentation outlining how College X is intended
to become an environment where students can study and work in real or
simulated contexts helping individuals explore and develop workplace skills in
an increasingly knowledge-based economy. Autonomous and life-long learning
opportunities for staff and students are being actively promoted as increased
student participation, the development of a high quality teaching and learning
environment, the provision of a holistic education and the promotion of
education and training opportunities.
This study thus deals with the relevance of the Strategic Plans in managing this
envisioned organisational change; the importance of identifying priorities and
the climate; structure and processes which allow or inhibit collegiality; and
partnerships which ultimately need to be established in order to bring plans to
successful fruition. It takes an in-depth look at how the dynamics between the
three major organisational stakeholders, senior management, lecturing and
library staff and students, are in actual fact contributing towards the realisation
of the College vision within a specific body of the organisation, the Library and
Learning Resource Centre (LLRC).
The investigation analyses how some aspects of students’ needs are indeed being
addressed through the LLRC environment and facilities and whether the
envisioned micro-changes to learning/teaching experiences and the specific
learning/teaching environment are realistic and effective within this macro-
vision of change. Specifically, the study examines how the LLRC facilities and
services are supporting the promulgation of independent and life-long learning
and whether this is happening through collaboration with lecturing staff. It also
considers whether concrete changes are utilising Information Literacy skills to
transform students’ abilities and skills to access and use information in our
increasingly information-dependent culture. The study explores how these new
skills and teaching resources are being implemented within existent traditional
and hierarchical management set-ups and procedures and consequently whether
the envisioned change is essentially materialising.
Contents
1: Introduction
1.1 Changes within national vocational education:the experience at College X
1.2 Stakeholders within current College provision1.3 Context of the study
2: Literature Review
2.1 Identifying and managing change2.2 Change management based on theories of change2.3 Theories of change and change agents 2.4 The change process and change agent skills 2.5 Collegiality: an approach to achieving change 2.6 Lecturer-librarian collaboration:
the challenges of evolving roles2.7 Re-designing organisational structures:
The learner-centred institution2.8 Learner-centred teaching:
fostering autonomous, life-long learning2.9 Information literacy as part of a strategy for change2.10 Issues explored in the study 37
3: Research Methodology
3.1 Purpose, focus and relevance of investigation3.2 Concepts determining areas of investigation3.3 Methodologies and ethical issues3.4 Difficulties encountered
4: Analysis
4.1 Changes at College X4.2 The envisioned central role of the LLRC4.3 Processes and agents of change at College X:
putting theory into practice4.4 Change processes within the LLRC4.5 Engendering further lecturer-librarian collaboration
4.6 The role of LLRC facilities in fostering autonomous and life-long learning
5: Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 Reconsiderations by senior management5.2 Attaining effective strategic planning5.3 Staff development and the transformation of
teaching/learning processes5.4 The learner-centred organisation5.5 Developing adaptive learning environments:
redesigning the LLRC
Appendices
Appendix A: College Strategic AimsAppendix B: Library Staff QuestionnaireAppendix C: Lecturers’ QuestionnaireAppendix D: Students’ QuestionnaireAppendix E: Library Administration - QuestionsAppendix F: Institute Administration - QuestionsAppendix G: LSU Administration - QuestionsAppendix H: SWOT Observation SheetAppendix I: Students’ Demographic Information / ChartsAppendix J: Lecturers’ Demographic Information / ChartsAppendix K: Librarians’ Demographic Information / ChartsAppendix L: Additional Interviews with Library StaffAppendix M: Student Satisfaction with Libraries / ChartAppendix N: Overall Student Satisfaction / Chart
References
1. Introduction
1.1 Changes within national vocational education: the experience at
College X
The vision of the government in setting up a leading national vocational college,
College X, mainly resulted from unavoidable changes to the national and international
scenarios. Particularly, the country’s accession to the European Union (EU) continues
to affect the country’s vocational education and training provision as new technologies
and an increasingly competitive market develop globally. As these changes influence
the national economy, the government has identified a need to emphasise the
importance of vocational education and training related to current and emergent national
competences and skills, competitiveness and economic development.
Prior to establishing College X, vocational education was fragmented and often
regarded as of relatively poorer provision compared to other tertiary, specifically
academic, education sectors. Consequently, the inauguration of the College in 2001
signified a commitment towards enhancing the quality of vocational education by
providing
“universally accessible vocational and professional education and training with an
international dimension, responsive to the needs of the individual and the
economy” (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.2, Online)
This mission statement consolidates the government’s commitment to the Lisbon
Agenda and Objectives. The College has thus become one of the protagonists
responsible for national growth within the EU, committing itself to the national effort to
become part of
‘the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by
2010’ (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.8, Online).
Hence, an immediate key national objective is to create sustainable economic growth,
more and better jobs and improved social cohesion. Future development at College X is
considered intrinsic to these aims. The College Strategic Plan for 2007–2009
‘has been designed and developed to ensure synchronisation with the
Government’s drive towards better quality and accountable education and training
whilst ensuring relevance to the economy’ (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.8, Online).
Consequently, much of this document focuses on emphasising links with industrial,
business and commercial communities. The Strategic Plan specifically states that the
College is committing itself to become ‘a Centre of Excellence’ in the technology and
education sectors, focusing much energy and resources on providing
‘a quality experience for all learners’, celebrating their achievements and
‘investing in the ongoing development of its education and training provision’
(Strategic Plan, 2007, p.9, Online).
Accordingly, this necessitates that the College meets the highest standards of quality
and performance according to the Lisbon Agenda and Objectives and to the
Memorandum on Lifelong Learning of the Commission of the European Communities.
A May 2006 European Commission report stated that Malta had already achieved
substantial progress in boosting the number of young people in education and training in
the previous five years, succeeding in reducing the number of early school leavers by
almost 10 per cent. It also registered one of the highest increases in the EU in the
number of 22-year olds who continue studying after compulsory education. An
improvement was also registered in the number of adults attending some kind of
education programme from 4.5% to 5.8% (College Press Release, 2006, Online).
As the leading national vocational institution, the College targets increasing resources
and facilities to be able to accommodate up to 5,800 full-time students and over 8,000
part-time students by the academic year 2008/9. This means a 45% increase in full-time
College students and an increase of over 60% part-timers (College Press Release, 2006,
Online). Thus, during the next few years, the College Campus is to be almost
completely rebuilt, transforming it into a state-of-the-art organisation. An investment of
Lm50 million as well as substantial funding through the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) will enable the
College to improve the quality of its innovative knowledge-based education
programmes (ibid.).
1.2 Stakeholders within current College provision
College X is primarily a state-funded further and higher education institution offering
vocational qualifications at various levels. At the time of research, it comprised nine
institutes employing some 400 staff providing for over 4,000 full-time and 5,000
part-time students. Certification is work-related recognised by national as well as
international vocational education bodies, such as the BTEC accreditation system.
The Strategic Plan describes the College as an environment where students can study
and work in real or simulated contexts helping individuals explore and develop
workplace skills. It envisions a College which vigorously promotes ‘an inclusive
society’ and ‘a knowledge-based economy’ (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.3, Online).
Life-long learning is actively encouraged as students advance through levels of
education and training. Placing students at the heart of its service provision, the College
aims to provide a meaningful, valid and accessible opportunity to study within
‘a clear and coherent vocational education and training framework, offering clear
progression routes from levels one to five with different entry points into the
framework and exit points to the world of work’ (ibid., p.5).
Thus, as the national leading vocational college, it plays a crucial role in ensuring that
the government’s objectives as stated in the National Action Plan for Employment
(NAPE) are achieved (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.8, Online). European membership
stresses the import of a modern knowledge-based economy.
Consequently, the government’s and the College’s senior management team stance is
that the new Strategic Plan should also take every care of the professional development
of its students and staff.
A synthesised analysis of the Strategic Aims listed in this document (Appendix A)
indicates that senior stakeholders are envisioning a ‘flexible and responsive’ innovative
provision presenting ‘no barriers’ and providing ‘tangible and measurable support’ for
all students and workers within the organisation (Strategic Plan, 2007, pp.5,11, Online).
These aims formulate a College education experience that should be ‘meaningful’ and ‘a
credible alternative to university education without the duplication of provision or
wasteful competition’, offering ‘second chances to those who have not realized their full
potential’ (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.5, Online). They emphasise increasing student
participation, developing a high quality teaching and learning environment, providing a
holistic education focusing on entrepreneurial skills and generally promoting education
and training opportunities for students both locally as well as internationally
(ibid., p11). Such intentions are laudable yet essentially put the onus of responsibility
on another major stakeholder; mainstream and learning support educational
professionals as well as librarians.
The document expresses senior management’s indubitable commitment to change. The
measures conceived to increase students’ progress and participation within the economy
acknowledge the need for re-training and re-skilling opportunities vis-à-vis new and
changing employment requirements.
They emphasise effective and efficient resource management to forge local and
international links and collaborations benefiting students. Interestingly, however, only
one of twelve Strategic Aims specifically targets the commitment to continuous staff
professional development.
Another separate aim describes the expansion of College buildings and services ‘to
facilitate the effective delivery of programmes’ (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.11, Online). As
from 2000, the College has grown rapidly in physical size, resources, facilities and
spaces, with significant financial investment budgeted to implement the expected
reforms and raise the status of Maltese vocational education and training. It now aims
to become an authentic Community College, attracting more students and workers and
forging solid partnerships with local and international educational
institutions and industries.
This study attempts to take an in-depth look at how the dynamics between the three
major stakeholders, senior management, lecturing and library staff and students, are in
actual fact contributing towards the realisation of this vision. It investigates particular
student and staff interactions within a defined scenario, that of the Library and Learning
Resource Centre (LLRC). It examines the learning/teaching experience and the specific
learning/teaching environment to see how these are being developed
and supported in actuality.
1.3 Context of the study
Developing countries are changing fast whilst trying to balance the particular
requirements of the economy and its workforce. Their educational entities operate
under especially constant goal-oriented pressure. This study deals with changes that
may occur when one area of an educational organisation, the LLRC, is envisaged as
being part of an organisation-wide drive for change.
The Literature Review departs from the premise that organisational change is
unavoidable and a constant reality. It discusses how various stakeholders and interested
groups may manage change according to their needs or particular stances. The
relevance of strategic plans in managing change; the importance of identifying priorities
and the climate; structure and processes which allow or inhibit collegiality; and
partnerships which ultimately need to be established in order to bring plans to
successful fruition are also discussed.
Competing priorities can influence or modify the set criteria for the kind of change
desired. Actual change is subject to change processes, depending on the stakeholders or
change agents involved. Opportunities for reflection, discussion and envisaged benefits
may be hampered by imposed limitations, pre-formulated decisions or even outright
resistance to change. Financial, technical or human resource availability may also
impinge on the attainability of set goals, whether short- or long-term. This study thus
takes into consideration a number of change theories that might be pertinent
when seeking to bring about change.
The experience of change may be coloured by the expectations, fears and interests of
various participants. Change agents’ skills are crucial when working and dealing with
existing power structures especially under fast changing circumstances. Uncertainty
may result when change is negatively viewed as being removed from the reality of the
teaching/learning environment. Certain members within an organisation might feel
threatened or powerless; others might self-seek rewards or prestige. It is therefore
argued that change agents, whatever their stance, should seek instances of collaboration
and co-operation, opting for managed collegiality models of communication that allow
reflective practice at all organisational levels. Concerns over changing professional
roles could sabotage such efforts towards collaboration. Nevertheless, the creation of a
learning organisation in which stakeholders can understand and support each other
better may facilitate a greater degree of incremental change.
This study explores various issues concerning the evolution of modern learning
organisations. Such organisations are increasingly viewed as having great potential
benefits for students within the system as they tend to promote learner-centred teaching.
Students may learn better through various collaborative approaches but for this to occur
appropriate organisational structures need to be operational. The research investigates
whether there are enough instances of collaboration between different education
professionals; teaching staff, learning support staff and librarians. Since learning
support professionals tend to be in closer contact with students, the main stakeholders
investigated within the study are mainstream as well as support service
lecturing staff together with librarians.
The study examines the culture, environment, values and expectations within which
these members operate. Specifically, it explores the dynamics between these
professionals and students, focusing on how the promotion of autonomous and life-long
learning skills can transform them into the change agents of their students’ learning
experience. The wider background of organisation-wide change that is currently being
advocated and implemented by senior management is also considered. The study seeks
to analyse whether there exist obstacles in members’ efforts towards collaboration such
as lack of technical knowledge, fears about moving away from traditional styles of
teaching and the restrictions of a possibly top-down drive for
change by senior management.
The study thus departs from a document analysis of the recently published Strategic
Plan, focusing on the perceived need for greater collaboration between major
stakeholders required to place students at the heart of the envisioned changes. It also
investigates whether this general aim could be facilitated through the teaching of
pertinent information literacy (IL) skills that would specifically develop the more
general aims of enhancing students’ autonomous and life-long learning skills. To this
end, the study not only seeks to understand the human resource dynamics within the
organisation but also considers the effectiveness of modern technical resources in which
it is investing with the intention of placing the College at the
forefront of education innovation.
In summation, this study investigates how some aspects of students’ needs are indeed
being addressed through the LLRC environment and facilities and whether the entailed
micro-changes to pedagogy and learning styles are effective within this macro-vision of
change. Specifically, the study examines how the LLRC facilities and services are
supporting the promulgation of independent and life-long learning and whether this is
happening through collaboration with lecturing staff. It also considers whether concrete
changes are utilising IL skills to transform students’ abilities and skills to access and use
information in our increasingly information-dependent culture. The study explores how
these new skills and teaching resources are being implemented within existent
traditional and hierarchical management set-ups and procedures and consequently
whether the envisioned change is essentially materialising.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Identifying and managing change
Change is a crucial part of educational management and leadership processes.
Analysing the management of strategic change, Bush and Coleman conclude that these
change processes are ‘unavoidable’ and ‘an ever-present reality’
(Bush and Coleman, 2000, p.77).
‘The obligation to change originates from multiple sources, including new
legislation, inspection, pressures from staff, parents and students, new technology
developments, all in the context of the need to survive in an increasingly
competitive environment’ (Lumby, 1998, in Middlewood and
Lumby, 1998, p.191).
Bush and Coleman (2000) comprehensively describe how the increased pace of
legislative change in many countries is leading governments to harness education
institutions in a drive for further economic growth. Strategic plans hence risk being
formulated on assumptions that all stakeholders possess shared values, cultures and
understanding of the proposed changes and that outcomes are guaranteed and
unproblematic since the plan states how these should come about through what the
authors term ‘clear, sequential logic, each element being contingent on the one
preceding it’ (Bush and Coleman, 2000, p.76).
Managing change, however, involves more than formulating a plan as ‘…having a plan
is no guarantee of successfully managing educational change’ (Hutchinson, 1993, p.7).
Planning is often regarded as a ‘panacea’ (Bush and Coleman, 2000, p.76) but indeed
for many institutions the experience of change has been often harsh.
‘The experience of change has accrued negative connotations for many, who
recognise that it is often played out symbolically, with micro-factors indicating
macro-failure’ (Middlewood and Lumby, 1998, p.191).
The interplay between externally imposed and/or internally generated innovations may
create resistance as different stakeholders take their individual stances. Such political
mechanisms may in their own turn be counter-productive to the establishment of
genuine collegial processes. Therefore,
‘Leaders need to establish the climate, the structures and the processes to enable
new ideas to be forged, tested and implemented for the benefit of pupils and
students. They also need to be able to adjudicate between competing priorities
and to determine whether and how to resource new initiatives’
(Bush and Coleman, 2000, p.77).
Successful changes in education ‘take time’, require effective management and should
also be ‘consistent with the priorities identified through strategic planning’
(Bush and Coleman, 2000, p.77).
Defining success criteria for change is thus imperative if somewhat complex. Strategic
plans often reflect how practitioners believe individual, intergroup, and organisational
change should happen and, specifically, how their actions will produce positive results.
Accordingly, to achieve successful ends, theories and concepts of programme evaluation
may prove to be of help and guidance.
2.2 Change management based on theories of change
Differing philosophies, concepts and assumptions try defining theories of change.
Although change management is not an exact science, various theories contend that
change is a real phenomenon that can be observed and analysed through various steps
and phases (Kritsonis, 2005).
‘Most theories of change refer to the causal processes through which change
comes about as a result of planned strategies and action’ (Shapiro, 2005, Online).
Successful change may not be dependent on or exclusive to one type of theory.
Different change theories may be used concurrently, providing a comparative analysis
of the situation. Shapiro states that theories should ideally stimulate reflection and
discussion about different priorities, validating and valuing the potential benefits of
diverse approaches (Shapiro, 2005, Online). Rigid approaches or theories limiting plans
or supporting pre-formulated decisions or blocking alternative ideas are
counter-productive (ibid.).
Change theories should instead serve as guidelines, helping identify specific problems
to be addressed, the desired short, intermediate and long term goals and the processes
through which change is planned to occur. Acting as the means and not the ends,
theories should prioritise the specific needs and desires of concerned stakeholders in an
effort to link individual, intergroup, structural and organisational requirements. Long-
term success and management plans ought to be encouraged and facilitated with change
strategies being continually reviewed to provide fresh insights
into organisational processes.
‘Theories of change can be applied both prospectively as part of planning and
retrospectively as part of evaluative processes’ (Shapiro, 2005, Online).
Therefore, any plan for change must delineate concrete desired outcomes basing itself
on realistic financial, technical, political, institutional and human resources. Any
progress should be applicable to the situation and able to be measured. Shapiro
concludes that successful change management based on change theories needs to be
plausible, practical and testable and whatever the change strategy adopted, original
theories should not limit the freedom of decision-making and experimentation but
reflect an integrated approach towards research, theory and practice
(Shapiro, 2005, Online).
2.3 Theories of change and change agents
Some theories consulted during this study include Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory,
Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theory, Prochaska and DiClemente’s Cyclical Model, social
learning / social cognitive theories and The Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned
Behaviour. Essentially, these theories describe how changing individual players
can inhibit or encourage change.
Lewin (in Kritsonis, 2005) states that the first necessary step towards change is
overcoming the strains of individual resistance and group conformity. Later, employees
should be persuaded that the status quo is insufficient to their needs and desires and that
working from a fresh perspective in a collaborative team led by competent and powerful
leaders could effectively bring about and support change and regeneration
(Kritsonis, 2005; Schein, 2006, Online).
This theory emphasises effective leadership. When interpreting and applying this
theory within hierarchical organisational set-ups the processes of consultation and
collaboration are visualised as one force overcoming opposing set of forces. Schein
(2006) subsequently developed this theory, describing how to teach people to manage
planned change whilst respecting culture, values and tradition so that employees
actively participate in the envisioned change (Schein, 2006, Online). Quoting
Hirschhorn (1988), Argyris (1990) and Isaacs (1993), Schein states that active
involvement, dialogue, collaboration and reflection are essential. When practised
through the parameters of Lewin’s model, change is thus better defined as learning.
Participants in a democratic organisational set-up still require effective leaders to
manage change effectively. Lippitt, Watson, and Westley (1958, pp.58-59, quoted in
Kritsonis, 2005, pp.2-3) focused on the role and responsibility of individuals facilitating
change. Emphasising that information is continuously exchanged throughout the
process of change, the authors describe how ‘change agents’ should be highly
committed to change, having the power and stamina to diagnose problems and assess
the motivation and capacity for change in their teams.
These abilities crucially depend on change agents’ skills. Change agents should be
selected and clearly understood by all parties so that expectations are clear, facilitating
communication, feedback and group coordination and avoiding the promulgation of
hierarchical processes. Lippitt’s theory also presumes that change agents should
gradually withdraw from their role as change becomes part of the organisational culture
(Lippitt, Watson, Westley, 1958, Online). Owned decisions lead to more successful
subsequent changes as staff react to change better if they realise it affects other
departments and not just their own. (ibid.).
Lippitt’s theory can transform higher education institutions should management thus
root successful change within the organisation, facilitating the spread of change all over
the various departments. Prochaska and DiClemente’s cyclical model refines this
‘rooting’ concept by developing Schein’s theory that people learn through active
involvement, dialogue, collaboration and reflection, changing behaviour in stages.
‘This theory takes relapses or failures to convert to the desired behaviour the first
time into account’ (Kritsonis 2005, p.6).
Change agents thus need to take into consideration that individuals can contemplate
change but have the ability and freedom to choose not to change. However, the model
presumes this choice is part of the learning process, and that most people learn from and
act on their experiences. Ajzen and Fishbein’s Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned
Behaviour, which discusses deliberate and planned behaviour, also proposes that
individuals have perceived control over the opportunities, resources, and skills
necessary to perform the desired behaviour (Kritsonis 2005 and Ajzen and Fishbein,
1980, Online). Bandura (1989) describes how a person is further motivated to change
beliefs and attitudes through the interplay of self-belief and self-efficacy with perceived
incentives and consequences in the immediate and long-term future. Social learning or
social cognitive theories also advocate that individuals learn by direct experiences,
human dialogue and interaction, and observation (Kritsonis 2005, p.4).
Thus, in contemplating action for effective change, change agents need to take such
factors governing individual behaviour into consideration if their team leadership is lead
to effective strategic organisational change. Moreover, change managers should provide
clear instructions, provide the opportunity for skill development or training, and model
the desired behaviour so that expected outcomes are better defined (Kritsonis, ibid.).
Observations can produce both negative and positive results so effective modelling that
evokes trust, admiration and respect and that teaches general rules and strategies for
dealing with different situations is essential (Bandura, 1988
and Kritsonis, 2005).
2.4 The change process and change agent skills
A change agent is someone who deliberately tries to bring about changes or innovations
(Havelock and Zlotolow, 1995). Although this is not easy, Sullivan and Decker (1997,
Online) identified several practices which successful change agents need to master. In
summary, they stated that a change agent should be able to merge various ideas from
different sources. The ability to energise and motivate others through effective people
skills and interpersonal communications is paramount. Group management and
problem-solving skills as well as ‘the ability to retain a big-picture focus while dealing
with each part of the system’ is also important as is a flexible approach and a
willingness to adapt approaches. An effective change agent will also resist change for
change’s sake which will not produce tangible results. The role requires:
‘confidence and the tendency not to be easily discouraged; realistic thinking;
trustworthiness and a track record of integrity and success with other changes; and
ability to handle resistance’ (Sullivan & Decker, 1997, Online).
Change agents can operate within different change scenarios. Hohn (1998, Online)
identifies four: change by exception, incremental change, pendulum change, and
paradigm change. Change by exception occurs when an individual makes an exception
to an existing belief system. When change happens so gradually that an individual is
not aware of it, it is incremental. Changes that result in extreme exchanges of points of
view are considered pendulum changes. Paradigm change is when individuals or
organisations have a fundamental rethinking of premises and suppositions leading to
altered assumptions, beliefs, and values (Imel, 2000, Online).
Imel (2000, ibid.) states that ‘in facilitating change, a key element is understanding the
existing power structure’ and that
‘this facet of the change process includes understanding the social, organisational,
and political identities and interests of those involved; focusing on what really
matters instead of getting caught up in peripheral issues; assessing the agendas of
all concerned; and planning for action’ (Imel, 2000, Online).
The author adds that a change agent needs to take all this into consideration to ‘decide
on the prudence or wisdom of taking action’ (Imel, 2000, ibid.).
This is especially pertinent to educational strategic change management. Lumby says
‘the nature of teaching impacts on both the individual teachers and their engagement
with change’ because they ‘face genuine difficulties in summoning the time and energy
to think and plan long term’ (Lumby in Middlewood and Lumby, 1998, p.193). In
today’s goal-oriented educational institutions, especially in fast changing developing
countries, this applies to all people working in an educationalist capacity.
Marris (1993) states that educators
‘have little part in the decisions which determine the policy of the organisation;
but collectively, they have great power to subvert, constrain or ignore changes
they do not accept, because after all, they do the work’ (Marris, 1993, p.220
quoted in Middlewood and Lumby, 1998, p.193).
Wallace (1991) identified other obstacles to the process of strategic change, observing
that professionals in educational fields were being faced with fast-changing
environments. These present them with ever-changing priorities, goals and issues that
are difficult to deal with in short time-spans. External innovations or demands from
other stakeholders create uncertainty and crises making proposed innovations less clear
and valid. Moreover, increased pressure to perform is countered with difficulty in
securing the necessary resources. The degree of control by senior management, lack of
time for maintaining existing programmes whilst introducing new changes as well as
limited evaluation of progress have often hindered
effective planning of strategic change.
This process is typical of a top-down structural re-organisation that is however often
favoured by educational institutions. To an extent,
‘a top-down, speedy process of planning and implementation appears to have
brought the required changes, though no evidence is presented as to their long-
term stability’ (Lumby 1998, p.195).
Lumby stresses that this appears more so when changes are instigated by leaders
wielding significant power backed by staff that stand to benefit within this new
structure. Yet, if the changes are not embraced by the majority of their colleagues and if
they are seen to be far-removed from the reality of the classroom,
such plans will be resisted all the more.
Making people feel threatened, powerless, incompetent and uncertain as to how changes
will affect them and their perceived rewards, reputation or prestige usually leads to
understandable, albeit sometimes seemingly illogical, resistance (Lumby 1998, Ansoff
and McDonnell, 1990).
2.5 Collegiality: an approach to achieving change
Collegiality is considered the converse of hierarchical, bureaucratic systems allowing
professionals to ‘confer’ and ‘collaborate’ (Smyth, 1991, in Brundrett, 1998, p.305).
Collegiality can be summarised as a common set of values developed from training and
professional socialising leading to shared aims based on the authority of expertise
possessed by teachers both as subject specialists and competent educational
professionals enabling discussion leading to consensus (Bush, 2002).
Research indicates that collegiality is increasingly perceived as the most effective way
of achieving strategic change since it is based on principles of increased ownership,
participation, accountability and a shift of power. Collegial organisational systems
allow for democratic participation and lateral relationships, factors which are deemed
crucial to effective strategic change.
Bezzina (1999) describes the national Maltese educational system as still highly
centralised, operating through bureaucratic and hierarchical systems of management.
He terms this ‘a dependency culture’ necessitating the re-definition of leadership,
organisational structures, culture and management practice.
“Organisations …face adaptive changes. Changes require that we clarify our
values, develop new strategies, new ways of thinking and learning.”
(Bezzina, 1999, p.54).
Saeed (1996) believes that collegial systems in developing countries need to beware
systems that ‘fuel bureaucratisation’ and that suppress ‘professional autonomy,
innovativeness and self-actualisation behaviour’ (Saeed, 1996, p.75). His system
dynamics method suggests various points of intervention by a referent power into an
organisation’s decision processes which would maintain ‘professional health’ in
collegial systems (ibid.)
Cardno (1998) describes ‘managed collaboration’ as a balanced approach between the
extremes of ‘pure collegiality’ and ‘restricted collegiality’. Here
‘the leader is required to make several decisions about managing the collaborative
process itself before engaging others in the partnership’ (Cardno in Middlewood
and Lumby, 1998, p.106).
Cardno emphasises that this eventual partnership would accordingly need to be based
on ‘jurisdiction, relevance and expertise’ (ibid., p.112). This consequently necessitates
professional growth and development.
Smyth (1996) however believes popular phrases like ‘collaboration’, ‘continuous
learning cultures’, ‘teachers-as-learners’ may simply be
‘more subtle systems of control over the new democratic models of evaluation,
making way to more palatable managerial systems disguised as participative
models’ (Smyth, 1996, p.187).
Quoting Haughey et. al (1993), Smyth asserts
‘teachers are more favourably disposed… towards models that respect them as
competent professionals, that allow them to identify professional goals, that are
based on trusting relationships, and that make provision to construct a continuous
learning culture in their school’ (Smyth, 1996, p.185).
The author thus advocates the ‘labour process theory’ espoused by Sayer (1986) and
Conti and Warner (1993) as a possibly alternative systems policy promoting an
environment where team members feel free to question basic assumptions about the
processes governing their organisation and their socio-cultural environment thus
collaborating and engaging more actively in decision-making and management;
an environment where
‘the reflective practitioner can harness the principles of practicality, collegiality
and reflection as a basis for professional development’ (Hargreaves and Dawe,
1990, pp.229- 30).
The ‘learning organisation’ may plan with greater efficiency and success its existing
programme of development and change, making changes actually work (Hargreaves and
Hopkins, 1991, p.26, in Hopkins et. al., 1994, p.186). Consequently, daily open
communication should be prioritised to strengthen partnerships, set long-term vision
and manageable short-term goals, co-ordinate and control the pace of change and
development and promote innovation to create a quality-based professional
development based on collegial approaches (Hargreaves and Hopkins, 1991; Hopkins et
al, 1994). Departing from the belief that partial success is indeed better than no change
at all, Lumby declares that that in view of the impossibility of total consensus, having a
‘proportion of staff’ supporting each other will reduce resistance to change by
‘incremental steps’ (Lumby, 1998, p.200).
‘The adaptive approach to strategic change achieves the major by minor
adjustments, indirect approaches and political intelligence’ (Lumby, 1998, p.200).
2.6 Lecturer-librarian collaboration: the challenges of evolving roles
Academic librarians are increasingly infiltrating the teaching arena, integrating IL and
usership skills into the curriculum and finding themselves in a leadership role on
campus. Layzell Ward (1999) argues that changes should not only target the growth of
hybrid libraries where a mix of traditional print material such as books and magazines,
as well as electronic based material such as downloadable audio books, electronic
journals and e-books can be found. More importantly, academic libraries now require
hybrid librarians to adapt swiftly to the new learning environment.
Pinfield (2001) states that developing hybrid libraries requires staff to work in
partnership with academic colleagues and that partnerships with other support services
are crucial. Librarians are increasingly having a vital role to play in working with
academics in promoting learning. Librarians should thus ensure their input into
learning, teaching and research strategies. Nevertheless, the involvement of librarians
in learning and teaching issues requires strong communication and liaison mechanisms
as such professional collaboration may produce anxieties and problems.
Concurrent changes to established practices and cultural traditions also affect academic
staff. Brown and Currier (2001) declare that resistance to change in teaching methods is
a reaction to change, although support staff are usually more alert to developments. The
authors state that often many academics appear unhappy with the involvement of
librarians, information and other support staff in the provision of course materials, and
that their status is often viewed as inferior. Concerns over the changing roles and
dynamics between academic, IT, library and support staff could sabotage efforts towards
collaboration and communication at all professional levels. Adequate training and staff
development may counter such concerns. Issues pertaining greater acceptance of the
key role of library and support staff, their increased involvement in institutional
structures and the development of their para-academic role in user education and
training may also need to be considered.
Brown and Currier (2001) additionally consider librarians’ need for further training and
development in technological skills, uses of IT based resources and people-skills such
as customer care, communications, team working as well as pedagogy. Library staff
may feel confused or threatened as learner skills develop exhibiting new demands in the
search for quality learning materials as this effectively increases demands on them.
Training is relevant in view of librarians’ increased responsibilities within
metamorphosing technologically based environments to which younger generations are
more comfortable and accustomed.
The authors adjoin that resistance may usually be broadly identified across all
spectrums of teaching faculties wherever there is a lack of technical knowledge,
recognition, incentives and clear IT policies at institutional level, as well as negative
perceptions of moving away from traditional styles of teaching. To enhance the
learning experience, the approach to new pedagogies must not be imposed on teaching
staff, nor must established teaching methods be influenced by the perceived superiority
of new technologies. Staff should be allowed to identify their preferred methodology as
any learning technology that is not properly integrated into course work is unlikely to be
well received by learners (Brown and Currier, 2001).
2.7 Re-designing organisational structures: the learner-centred institution
Brown and Currier (2001) declare that within the higher education sector, the
environment most prone to technology dictating change is in fact library and
information services. Yet, little has been specifically written about the integration of
library resources and services related to institutional changes within higher education,
particularly in the areas of technology and learning. Nonetheless, in the UK, a number
of JISC eLib Programme funded hybrid library centred projects focusing on designing
and implementing more learner-centred, technologically advanced educational
situations highlighted certain change issues: re-designing physical spaces; investing in
new technology; and, retraining senior management whilst offering staff development
opportunities in order to create a more collaborative environment where various
pedagogies and learner needs are suitably addressed (JISC, 2001, Online).
Dimmock (2000) states that learning-centred schools make their facilities, including
libraries and computers, as easily accessible as possible. Library and learning centre
facilities housing virtual learning environments, from managed learning environments
to computer-controlled simulations, may also help students understand real workplace
situations. Conjoining learner needs and support for the learning process with
computer-aided learning environments and resources can also be effective. Although
tutor-directed control may vary, teacher-learner and learner-learner
interactions can be facilitated.
Essentially, learner-centred schools design appropriate organisational structures that
offer an effective delivery integrating the configuration of core technology with
informed curriculum, teaching and learning practice (Dimmock, 2000). Murphy (1991,
in Dimmock, 2000) suggests which conceptual and ideological principles of core
technology ought to guide the design of structural characteristics in a re-designed school
as opposed to a traditionally bureaucratic school. These principles include outcome-
based learning, developmentally-paced learning and the individualisation and
personalisation of learning (Murphy, 1991, ibid.).
Murphy (1991, ibid.) also states that quality schools realise that flexible structures need
to be created, accepted, workable and regularly reviewed in order to create effective
quality teaching and student learning. The author adds that increasingly, such new
conceptions of learning and teaching involving higher-order thinking skills, render the
standard lesson set-up obsolete and inadequate. Martinez and Munday (1998, in Briggs
and Sommefeldt, 2002, p.56) propose that students work better in contexts of purposeful
socialisation and of collaborative approaches to learning matched with stimulating and
interesting learning opportunities. According to Dimmock (2000), implementing new
conceptions of curriculum, teaching and learning can also be aided or hindered by the
architectural design of school facilities. Consequently, learning and change theories
should play an important role when adopting particular teaching methodologies, in
designing learning environments and in ascertaining the range of available and desired
resources, even when re-defining library services.
2.8 Learner-centred teaching: fostering autonomous, life-long learning
Various literature describes the effects of change on the process of learning. Mezirow
(1991, Online) refers to transformative learning. This allows questioning and self-
reflection to assess beliefs, goals and the results of changing approaches to work
(Richardson 1998). Other theories mentioned here, such as Lippitt’s and Schon’s, are
often referred to within theories of adaptive education when discussing how the
modification of learning environments may effectively address student
differences enhancing learning abilities through such environments.
Teaching professionals acting as change agents have a responsibility to help learners
‘become critically reflective and to think of themselves as individuals who are
capable of taking action and changing the world’ (Brookfield, 1995, Online).
Yet not all educators are comfortable acting as change agents (Tisdell, Hanley, and
Taylor, 2000, Online). Nevertheless,
‘helping students to learn how to learn is increasingly being prioritised in higher
and adult education institutions’ (Temple, 1991 in Lumby, 2001, p.122).
Thus, concepts of autonomous learning seem to be increasingly gaining ground in
educational organisations.
‘As the means of studying have augmented through new technology, and as the
speed of change in business and industry and society generally has increased, staff
have recognised the imperative to help students respond by becoming effective
autonomous learners who can use a range of resources throughout their lives to
continue to increase their knowledge, understanding and skills’
(Lumby, 2001, p.122).
For the education professional, to meet the learning needs of every student is an
unattainable ideal. However, encouraging access to different learning resources and
encouraging investigative and reference skills, amongst other initiatives, can foster
autonomous and life-long learning.
‘One role of the educator is to create a culture which harnesses the positive
elements and removes or lessens the effect of those which inhibit’
(Middlewood and Burton, 2001, pp.175-6).
The learner-centred approach is thus now widely understood to be part of a balanced
programme. Thomas (1995, p.1 in Lumby, 2001, p.123) describes how educators
adopting such an approach view the learning process in context; identify learners’ needs
within that context; respond to learners’ capabilities, expectations and uncertainties;
take into account a number of learning variables that address the purpose of learning,
such as available technology, sources of expertise, funding; and, have the ability and
willingness to perpetuate this course of action.
Lumby (2001) states that although this process is perceived as more demanding and
time-consuming, the partnership between educator and student is considered to benefit
albeit issues of costs and funding remain contentious. Flexible learning is seen to be a
workable compromise of how learning can be managed as ‘new ideas, new procedures
and new media appear’ (Gillham, 1995, p.54, in Lumby, 2001, p.125). Lumby (2001)
declares that educators can thus encourage autonomous/independent learning without
neglecting their professional responsibilities or losing the personal contact
with their students.
Race (1994) identified independent learning as a process in which a person wants to
learn, learns by doing, learns from feedback, and digests what has been learnt.
‘Through this process, students can develop into individuals with self-respect,
self-direction and self-determination, and be better able to effectively participate
in society and interact reflectively with rapid social change’
(Kesten, 1987 quoted Online).
For independent learning to take place, learners must learn at their own pace, at times
and places of their own choosing and in collaboration with others while feeling in
control of their learning.
In synthesis, educators can foster independent learning by:
‘using a variety of ways to gain understanding of their students' abilities, needs
and interests; making education relevant to students' needs and interests; teaching
and modelling independent learning skills; providing students with choice in
assignments and topics within a range of choices; increasing students'
responsibility for decision making in the independent learning process; and,
utilising collaborative instructional techniques’ (Kesten, 1987 quoted Online).
Learning to learn autonomously is increasingly being considered as essential for life-
long motivation and growth. Jarvis (1995) defines lifelong education as
‘any planned series of incidents, having a humanistic basis, directed towards the
participant’s learning and understanding that may occur at any stage in the
lifespan’ (Jarvis, 1995, p.25).
The author states that while lifelong learning has only recently been espoused by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it is not a
new concept, having been advocated by educators such as Dewey (1916), Smith (1919)
and Yeaxlee (1929) (Jarvis, 1995, pp.23-4). The Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) has also commissioned studies
and reports in the field.
Independent and lifelong learning are two concepts based on and categorised within
wider learning theory frameworks, such as those of behaviourism, cognitivism,
constructivism and informal and post-modern theories. Jarvis (1995), quoting various
theories, identifies the conditions of adult learning and specifically highlights reflection
and experiential learning. Lumby (2001) agrees that this is especially relevant in
vocational education. Both authors concur that as scientific and technical progress in
our information-dependent society prioritise the acquisition of flexible knowledge and
skills, it is imperative that learners obtain essential information literacy skills necessary
to facilitate their autonomous and lifelong learning potential.
2.9 Information literacy as part of a strategy for change
Research shows that more student involvement and greater understanding of the
perceptual worlds of students bring about pedagogical implications that would be
greatly facilitated by the introduction of IL within the curriculum. In arguing for
changes to traditional educational systems, Breivik (1998) emphasises the need to move
away from pre-packaged information for learners and the relevance in adopting IL skills
to facilitate active learning. The author states that the ideal learner-centred curriculum
should include three critical elements of learning to be information literate:
experiencing IL through learning; reflection on experience thus being aware of learning;
and application of experience to novel contexts, the transfer of learning (Breivik, 1998).
IL is emerging as an essential literacy skill, especially in vocational and lifelong
education. Bruce and Candy (2000) highlight the nature and relevance of IL in the
modern world and in the ever-changing workplace.
‘It enables learners to achieve both personal empowerment and economic
development’ (Bruce, 2002, p.1).
At all levels, strategic changes involving IL initiatives can contribute towards advancing
critical enquiry and self directed learning as well as establishing a basis for broader
lifelong learning processes. Successful IL programmes do not only focus on teaching
information and communication technology (ICT) skills; they focus on designing
learning experiences that require the use of information skills. Summarising Bruce’s
suggestions, an IL programme should include:
i. a resource base that facilitates and supports necessary IL skills, e.g. Web-based
information skills enhancement packages and other point of need, or self paced
instruction;
ii. curriculum integration that provides the opportunity to learn specific skills,
either early in a course or at point of need, (from self-paced packages, peers,
lecturers and librarians);
iii. a curriculum that requires engagement in learning activities that need ongoing
interaction with the information environment thus embedding IL within the
curriculum;
iv. a curriculum that provides embedded opportunities for reflection and
documentation of learning about effective information practices (Bruce, 2002).
Bruce (2002) insists staff training should be prominent when establishing IL
programmes on an organisational basis. Access to IT expertise as well as familiarity
with learning theory and broader curriculum issues should develop concurrently.
Partnerships between key personnel are crucial for the implementation of an IL
education. Staff development ought to forge a most fundamental partnership;
collaboration between teachers, librarians/information specialists and students based on
the changing roles of both librarians and teachers into facilitators of learning. A
strongly endorsed partnership policy is the creation of teacher-librarians in educational
establishments as this role has been shown to be very important for building IL into
curriculum in both developed and underdeveloped regions.
Green and Bowser (2003) outline how the collaborations between academic faculty
members and librarians can be divided into two categories.
i. The collegial model formed by teaching faculty and library staff.
Responsibilities such as library collection development, bibliographic
instruction, initiatives promoting IL, and academic curricula development are
shared by teaching faculty and librarians to ensure academic quality. Bruce
(2002) identified several additional dimensions to faculty-librarian
collaborations, such as partnerships in policy development, research projects,
higher degree supervision, and academic development.
ii. The team approach to course instruction. In this model, a member of the
teaching faculty and an instruction librarian collaborate to teach a significant
portion or all of an academic course. This creates a teaching format that allows
repetitive introduction of research concepts and facilitates the advancement of
student skills to a more sophisticated level thus improving the quality
of student projects.
Hence, the inclusion of IL into a strategic plan for institutional change may lend itself to
partnership approaches, not only benefiting the learner, but also the reflective
practitioner. Nevertheless, as Silcock and Brundrett (2001) explain, practising
partnership policies involves an amount of negotiation in seeking to establish
democratic courses of action.
‘Discussion, debate, co-operation and collaboration, compromise, and the
pragmatic resolving of disagreements arising between individual students and
groups, and between students and those more formally responsible for making
managerial decisions, are cornerstones of partnership activities’ (Silcock and
Brundrett, 2001, in Middlewood and Burton, 2001, p. 44).
Including IL within strategic curricular planning highlights issues of effective strategic
planning for change as discussed in this chapter. At the institutional level, policies
would need to support IL education in order to support or facilitate a flow into staff
development and curriculum initiatives.
In choosing the right approach to meet user needs, more forward thinking leadership
from senior management is required, particularly in implementing the correct standards
to suit institutional needs and providing motivation and encouragement for staff.
Strong leadership, long term strategic planning and support from educational leaders
such as principals and directors would thus be required. However, responsibilities
should be shared within strategic partnerships operating at various levels, including
curriculum design, policy development, staff development, and research and classroom
teaching. Sensitivity to issues of collegiality, dialogue, ownership and shared visions
and culture become paramount. The inclusion of IL thus not only addresses certain
objectives listed in the College’s Strategic Plan, but is also enmeshed with current issues
of micro and macro organisational changes.
2.10 Issues explored in the study
The College’s Strategic Plan details that, as part of the effort towards achieving a
learning organisation, technologically-based programmes should prepare students to
face a knowledge-based economy. Endorsing Eskola’s (1998) ‘dynamic conception of
knowledge’, the advocated pedagogies emphasise skills and values deemed necessary to
modify attitudes and behaviours through study and experience. The acquisition of life-
long and independent learning is thus stressed.
These aims require support and reinforcement, highlighting the role of College lecturing
staff. Innovative teaching methodologies that shift teaching and learning beyond the
traditional direct-imparted knowledge methods should also acknowledge the pivotal role
of the library services. Significantly, the Strategic Plan pledges continuous professional
development to better facilitate teaching/learning methodologies. Apart from human
resources, other significant investments are intended to consolidate existing facilities
and services as well as expand and develop the physical infrastructure to house more
students and necessary ancillary equipment.
This study investigates aspects of this changing environment, namely senior
management’s (i) commitment to provide a safe, welcoming, friendly, client focused
and high quality teaching and learning environment and (ii) its intention to expand and
build the College’s infrastructure and services to facilitate the effective delivery of
programmes. In particular, it focuses on a pivotal infrastructural development and a
major capital investment project for the academic year 2003-2004, the new Library and
Learning Resource Centre (LLRC) and its subsidiary services.
The College’s belief in libraries as promoters of independent and lifelong learning is the
premise of this study. Indeed, heavy investments are being poured into the physical
resources of the LLRC facilities on main Campus and at its satellite libraries. This
visibly emphasises the apparent importance assigned to the library services’ function. It
is also envisaged that the LLRC, its librarians and the support staff of the attached
Learning Support Unit (LSU) will have a prominent part in the envisaged pedagogical
changes.
This study thus attempts to identify and investigate the changes occurring within the
LLRC taking into consideration the LSU, a separate entity housed within. In
investigating the proposed changes, the research analyses the implications of the
Strategic Plan: how new policies will affect the wider organisational and curricular
frameworks within which the LLRC/LSU operate thus impacting on information
management policies and strategies; how new policies will affect the dynamics between
the LLRC/LSU and the wider organisation; and, how this could subsequently impact
information management and teaching/learning polices and strategies.
The impact of re-designing and redefining the LLRC/LSU is studied in an attempt to
identify whether the proposed changes will actually lead to greater learner-centred
pedagogies. Change processes are observed and the evolving roles of librarians,
lecturers and learning support educators as change agents are considered. Various
theories of change management and collegiality are referred to in an attempt to identify
who is instigating the changes and who is actually in charge of
implementing the innovations.
The research thus investigates whether current LLRC strategies support various
teaching programmes according to conventional models or whether the emphasis on
innovative teaching/learning methodologies, such as aspects of IL skills through various
media, is changing conventional class room based teaching. It considers if changing
resource management and accessibility actually impinges on new teaching/learning
methodologies. Moreover, it seeks to identify whether the wider lecturing population is
not only adopting these pedagogical innovations but also whether this ripple effect is
reciprocally transforming the LLRC services.
Ultimately, the research seeks to understand whether the observed changes are leading
to greater ownership of the learning process.
The key educational management themes explored thus cover concepts related to the
management of the context of learning. The role of libraries and learning resource and
support centres in teaching and learning; faculty-librarian partnerships; the management
of learning environments; the influence of prevailing organisational cultures; evolving
values in teaching and learning styles and how these affect the imparting, processing
and management of information are issues discussed. International research as well as
national stakeholders’ policies are also consulted in attempt to formulate relevant
and conclusive recommendations.
3. Research Methodology
3.1 Purpose, focus and relevance of investigation
This study was undertaken at a time when College X is undergoing a period of intense
organisational change. Its education provision is being transformed in view of the
continuous developments taking place within the national and international scenario.
The management of the context of learning is thus a topical issue as the College is
expanding its infrastructural and human resources with the intention to provide broader
and better vocational educational programmes to larger intakes of students. This
research therefore departs from a broad analysis of the general change processes
occurring at the College to focus on three identified areas of investigation.
i. The evolving role of the Library and Learning Resource Centre and the
development of its infrastructural and physical resources and facilities.
The physical transformation of the College is highly visible as investment is
being poured into radical restructuring. The College currently comprises nine
distinct institutes offering specialised vocational training courses. The study
targets library services at six out of those nine institutes, focusing on three main
campus and three other satellite institutes. These were not chosen randomly.
Prior to the investigation, a College-wide survey analysis on student satisfaction
with College resources published by the Student Council was consulted.
In-depth fieldwork also assessed the study-specific suitability of each centre.
The selection criteria were: the phase of library restructuring; suitability of
library premises; availability of library services, opening hours and staffing;
institute location and course specialisation requiring specific resources beyond
current library service parameters; and frequency of library usage
and service satisfaction.
These criteria found three satellite institutes to be unsuitable for the purposes of
this investigation. The other six institutes fitted these criteria; three main
campus institutes offering business and commerce, mechanical engineering and
electrical and electronic engineering programmes serviced by the main campus
LLRC and three satellite institutes offering courses in art and design, building
and construction engineering and care services each with a
satellite library of the LLRC.
ii. The LLRC’s contribution to teaching/learning methodologies emphasising
autonomous and life-long learning through new technologies and information
literacy initiatives.
The Strategic Plan aims to transform the College into a learner-centred
organisation, emphasising autonomous and life-long-learning skills.
Accordingly, the LLRC page on the College website states that library services
shall support traditional and non-traditional methods of learning
and information acquisition.
Thus, the LLRC provides on and off Campus institutes with state-of-the-art
services and resources. Although integrated learning support facilities and some
highly specialised technological audio-video resources are only available at the
on Campus LLRC, all services remain at the disposal of all institutes through an
inter-library structure that allows for the free flow of information.
iii. The evolving roles of librarians, academic and support staff, actual and potential
collaborations affecting learning processes and the possible transformation of
traditional teaching/learning dynamics within prevailing hierarchical structures.
This study is based on an investigation of ‘change’ on various levels;
institutional, human resources, pedagogical and technological innovations, and
evolving learning processes. The research revolves around the interactions of
three distinct stakeholders: full-time students, teaching staff and library
personnel. Random samples of 10% of each population were selected and their
dynamics within the parameters of the LLRC and its ancillary services were
observed. Inferences about the populations, the broader context of their
dynamics and the actions resulting due to college policies, administrative
decisions and poured investment was based on the analysis of the sampled data.
The premise of this quantitative research is that current investment in the
College’s LLRC and library facilities has the potential of facilitating institutional
change and transforming staff dynamics through greater opportunities for
pedagogical collaborations.
Consequently, these opportunities may develop teaching/learning processes
benefiting students’ skill and knowledge acquisition not only within their course
work but also during their apprenticeships and future working lives.
3.2 Concepts determining areas of investigation
Change is an immediate experience and an everyday reality at College X. Preliminary
observations helped identify the general areas of investigation outlined above.
Consulted literature better defined subsequent research questions, delineating the focus
of the study along the following concepts.
i. Identifying and managing change
The study departs by considering the implications of the Strategic Plan’s vision
on current LLRC operations, examining College cultural, administrative and
environmental macro-factors and the stances and priorities of the specific
stakeholders influencing this environment’s micro-factors. The research focuses
on the envisaged transformation of LLRC services, investigating how senior
management proposes to implement such changes and whether provisions for
planning, consultation, reflection, discussion and reviewing are being made. It
also examines whether the envisioned goals are based on realistic financial,
technical, political, institutional and human resources, trying to identify any set
success criteria set by administration.
ii. Theories of Change, Change Processes and Change Agent Skills
Theories of change seek to contextualise changes occurring to the College’s and
the LLRC’s status quo. The study tries to identify whether the new role of the
LLRC and the libraries is actually transforming teaching/learning methodologies
through increased opportunities for consultation and collaboration. The LLRC’s
experience of change is compared and contrasted with such theories to ascertain
whether continuous exchange of information and confidence in the benefits of
changes exist and how participants are experiencing occurring changes.
The influence of this change scenario on those change agents directly or
indirectly contributing to the changing role of the LLRC through existing power
structures and dynamics is examined as are the processes aiding or hindering the
setting up of a long term vision, manageable short-term goals and the co-
ordination and control of the pace of change within the LLRC.
iii. Creating learner-centred organisations through collegiality and lecturer-librarian
co-operation
The study seeks evidence of any collaborative and collegial processes based on
faculty-librarian partnerships, investigating whether these dynamics are
complementing and supporting conventional class room based teaching. The
study also seeks any evidence of managed collaboration in an effort to identify
instances of professional autonomy, innovativeness, self-actualisation and
reflective practice whilst trying to identify processes that
aid or hinder such developments.
Consequently, concerns over changing professional roles and the relevance of
staff training and team-building processes to counter resistance to change are
also addressed.
The aim of creating hybrid LLRC services to help develop innovative
teaching/learning methodologies is also examined. The study considers whether
the re-designed LLRC infrastructural facilities are flexible enough to promote
the teaching of higher-order thinking skills in contexts of purposeful
socialisation and whether it is encouraging outcome and developmentally paced
learning and the individualisation and personalisation of learning through inter-
professional collaborative approaches and stimulating and interesting learning
opportunities. Consequently, further opportunities for collaborative staff
development are suggested. The study also examines whether senior
management’s vision for the transformation of the College into a learner-centred
institution translates into concrete support and investment.
iv. Learner-centred strategies for change: fostering autonomous and lifelong
learning through IL skills
The study attempts to present the LLRC as an example of how the modification
of the learning environment helps lecturers respond effectively to student
differences enhancing their ability to succeed through transformative learning
processes. To this aim, it examines whether librarians and lecturers are acting as
change agents in students’ learning processes utilising LLRC resources,
collaborative instructional techniques and appropriate teaching and modelling
skills to help students become critically reflective,
helping students learn how to learn. The study investigates whether effective
information literacy skills instruction exists in conjunction with technical skills
instruction and whether this is allowing students the creative freedom to
individualise their learning by making the learning process relevant to students.
This work explores whether the variety of available LLRC facilities is
encouraging lecturing staff and students to transform conventional
teaching/learning methodologies through appropriate IL skills that encourage
critical enquiry, self-directed learning and lifelong learning skills. Issues of
curriculum integration, the possibility of cross-curricular and flexible learning
through coupling modern technologies with effective embedded IL instruction is
discussed and IL is investigated as being one vehicle through which staff
partnership curricular projects can be launched.
The research finally attempts to link the areas of investigation by returning to the central
issue of change and how it is being addressed College-wide. Although, the focus of the
study centres around the change process occurring within the LLRC and its facilities,
specifically on how information literacy can support changes to teaching/learning
methodologies, the LLRC experience is intended as an example of a micro-situation
example of institutional change.
The study addresses issues of relevance and validity regarding actual institutional
policies, senior management action and planning, staff development and training and
classroom practice against concepts of collegiality, dialogue and ownership of change.
It examines how the dynamics of negotiation, discussion, debate, co-operation,
collaboration, compromise and pragmatism within this micro-environment can be
observed and commented upon in an effort to identify the general trend of change
within the wider College environment compared to the vision of the Strategic Plan.
3.3 Methodologies and ethical issues
After careful consideration of issues discussed in Coleman and Briggs (2002) and
Middlewood et al. (1999), four research methodologies were selected; observations,
questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. Observations formulated the initial
questions of this positivistic research and were then referenced against document
analysis of the Strategic Plan and other organisational communications. As the focus of
the research was identified, questionnaires were devised and administered to the three
population samples. Information obtained was supplemented by other data gathered
during informal interviews with participants and compared and contrasted with
observations noted during departmental meetings as well as from resultant minutes.
The key quantitative research techniques used were the questionnaires since an
objective, impersonal and statistic analysis of collected data was necessary.
Questionnaires were favoured to produce descriptive and inferential results since they
are economical, standardised and specific, guaranteeing anonymity and one of the most
reliable and valid methods during fact-finding research. The questionnaires used mostly
included close-ended categorical and numerical random variables. Balancing this
limitation, ‘fixed-alternative’ questions, as described by Zikmund (2003), were included
enabling respondents to qualify their responses through additional open ended questions
where appropriate (Appendices B, C and D).
Pilot study questionnaires distributed to immediate lecturing and library colleagues and
students within a relatively smaller group than the actual sample populations ensured
tools were relevant and that questions were clear, concise and non-ambiguous. These
respondents were excluded from the main research to avoid prospective participants
from becoming sensitised to the questions.
All questionnaires carried an explanatory introduction ensuring respondents’ anonymity.
In such a relatively small College community, concerns regarding confidentiality
naturally arose, especially within the smaller sample lecturing and library staff
populations. The pilot study introduced the research informally explaining its purpose
and objectives thus reassuring respondents. Questions were devised in as sensitive but
direct way as possible.
Demographic information was included to facilitate the classification of responses
during analyses. Other questions were directly linked to the areas of the investigation.
Most questions were common or similar for all three questionnaires to increase the
reliability and validity of the results through triangulation and addressed:
i. type of information accessed daily for personal use, knowledge of ICT for
accessing information and accessibility to computers and the internet,
preferred information sources for leisure/study purposes;
ii. library resources used for different research and study purposes and their
frequency of use, learning context of assigned work, type and presentation
required (individual/group work, written/oral presentations, printed/e-based);
iii. usage and satisfaction with LLRC/library services, familiarity with library
facilities, facility and knowledge of appropriate use;
iv. willingness to ask librarians’/lecturers’ help to acquire information, library-
lecturing staff collaboration, the role of LSU staff within the LLRC;
v. suggested possible future collaborations to implement a curriculum based on
traditional and IT information resources supporting independent and life-
long learning skills.
Lecturing colleagues and library staff distributed and collected questionnaires. Their
collaboration offered valuable insight and suggestions. Having discussed the research
aims beforehand, they administered the tools with specific aims in mind clarifying
questions without jeopardising the validity of the response thus minimising direct
contact between the researcher and the sample populations. Anonymity and unbiased
analysis of the responses were hence assured.
This guarantee for anonymity was somewhat problematic during interviews with line
managers and library staff due to the small number of participants. Interviews were
planned and conducted at the convenience of interviewees. Questions were semi-
structured and encouraged open responses to issues raised by the questionnaires in order
to gather further insight and investigate expectations and attitudes. Piloting the
interviews was difficult. Questions were however presented to interviewees prior to
interviews (Appendices E, F and G). Although this could have limited response
spontaneity, it yielded more in-depth information. Also, whilst assuring anonymity
within the research write-up, the transcribed text could be personally verified with
respondents there and then prior to the inclusion of the information within the study.
Observational research as described by Coleman and Briggs (2002) and Opie (2004)
was not conducted. However, visits to library facilities further validated and
triangulated gathered data and a SWOT observation sheet was designed and used for
corroboration purposes (Appendix H). Further validation was obtained from various
College documents and its website, from the Strategic Plan, official reports and minutes
of meetings as well as from statistical information provided by library administrators.
Ethical issues were considered throughout the research and participation was voluntary.
Prior to data gathering, participants were clearly informed of the research aims without
prejudging outcomes. The aims, relevance and methodology of the investigation were
explained. The researcher’s position was justified without covert manipulation to
acquire desired data. Participants were anonymously referred to
in all tools and transcribed texts.
Considerable attention was given to the wording used in the investigative tools, the
language being adapted to vernacular English, especially
wording and sentence structure.
Tools were devised in English rather than Maltese to facilitate understanding of
academic terminology. The pilot study also revealed that respondents preferred the
questions to be in English, with further elaboration in Maltese if necessary, viewing this
as more professional. The presence of non-Maltese speakers was also considered.
The investigative tools restricted themselves to the areas of research. Opinions were
clearly stated as being such and every effort was made to ensure data protection.
Besides the assurance for anonymity, it was emphasised that real life parties would be
referred to through pseudonyms. Finally, participants were informed of research
outcomes and eventual dissemination of the study.
3.4 Difficulties encountered
The development and refinement of the LLRC and its library facilities affects the
context of the management of learning and the various stakeholders within. Thus, the
research took great care to respect respondents’ stances and to be sensitive yet objective
to their feedback. Issues of management and learning methodologies were somewhat
delicate topics of discussion with the organisation’s administrators, lecturers and library
personnel due to financing, staff competencies and personal concerns.
Issues pertaining to the curriculum and innovative teaching/learning methodologies
including information literacy instruction were also sometimes controversial. At the
time of research, the College had still not appointed a Director of Curriculum and
curriculum policies were neither common to nor consistent within all institutes. The
issue of investment in educational resources, allocation of funds and resources and the
emphasis on the introduction of innovative and IT based resources and teaching
methods also proved to be a politically sensitive issue.
Compounding these strains, not all lecturing staff were similarly qualified and so
diverse training and pedagogical experience led to differing stances and opinions upon
curriculum and vocational issues. Some institute managers and lecturing staff might
have felt that their work was being criticised. In fact, getting a response from these two
stakeholders proved rather difficult. Issues of anonymity and confidentiality were
evident amongst staff and employees. Some respondents specifically asked for
reassurance that names would be omitted when findings would be made available
at the conclusion of the study.
Although every care was made to motivate respondents to give honest, unbiased views,
the research encountered potential problems concerned with response. Time also
influenced the rate of response since the study depended on different academic
schedules. It was best to administer the tools in May and June since more students and
lecturing staff were likely to be available and on campus during these months as the
academic year drew to a close and course work was being concluded.
Foundation and first-year students, those most likely to be on campus and not serving
apprenticeships, would also have had an academic year’s experience. Reliance on this
category of participants was considerable due to their greater availability and exposure
to library services through familiarisation visits and general course work. Furthermore,
most lecturing staff rounding up the academic year could afford more immediate and
relevant responses. Nevertheless, this choice of timing was less conducive to an
encouraging response from senior academic and administrative managers since the end
of the academic year is notoriously busy and so it proved quite difficult to obtain
appointments, still less information and interviews.
Professional duties, students’ attendance and work schedules thus affected the available
time-frame. Logistically, the study could only be conducted with full-time students
during standard working hours with data-gathering help from colleagues. Management
could not be expected to concede unlimited time for research. Furthermore, a few
individuals were unwilling to participate or impossible to contact, as sometimes
happens in survey sampling. Differences between the willing and unwilling hence
risked biased conclusions.
At the time of research, the full-time student population approximated 4,000 whilst that
of lecturing staff was around 400. Numerous attempts to obtain the exact data from
central administration were unsuccessful. Hence the accurate percentage test
populations for individual institutes remained approximate. A sample population was
chosen based on general statistics available through official College
press releases and documentation.
Thus the research carried out amongst the six institutes was based on an estimated
student population of 2400, targeting a sample population of 10% or 240 students.
From the 240 questionnaires distributed amongst the students, an encouraging response
of 211 or 87.9% was received, which augurs well for the reliability of the study
(Appendix I, Students’ Demographics).
A 10% sample population of 40 lecturing staff was also selected to represent as wide
variety of subjects as possible. The assistance of colleagues was crucial in reaching the
targeted response rate. Nevertheless, a number of staff were unwilling to respond either
through lack of interest or the perceived sensitivity of the topic. A small number of
lecturing staff also declined, stating that since they taught technical subjects they
deemed the study irrelevant (Appendix J, Lecturers’ Demographics).
Personal follow up was sometimes necessary to ensure maximum possible response.
All efforts were made to ensure the validity of the research. This risk was obviously
much less when administering the questionnaires to library staff since the number of
respondents was very small (Appendix K, Librarians’ Demographics). Library
administration fully co-operated and endorsed the research. This support not only
ensured maximum response but follow up interviews with all five library staff members
were granted and facilitated (Appendix L). One out of two library clerks also
participated in this research. Full support and co-operation were additionally granted by
all support staff and their administration.
However, contacting other academic line managers proved more difficult and only the
response of one institute could be obtained. This was a written response to the
questions posed prior to the actual interview. No other response from similar sources
was available, the most commonly cited reason being the lack of time due to
administrative duties. This significantly poor response decreases the reliability and
validity of the findings cited for this category of participants. Nevertheless,
documentation analysis and the encouraging response from the
other participants countered this risk.
It may be thus concluded with a degree of confidence that despite difficulties the data
gathered is reliable and the methodology used valid. The findings that emerged from
the research investigation and their relevance to the issues discussed within this study
are hence discussed with the aim of identifying benefits to staff, students
and the whole College organisation.
4. Analysis
4.1 Changes at College X
The recently launched Strategic Plan is part of an organisational strategy that targets the
needs of individuals as well as of the economy. Legislative changes have created a
College pivotal to national development within a larger competitive international
scenario in which innovative technological changes put continuous pressure on the
outputs of educational institutions. This is the unavoidable reality quoted by Bush and
Coleman (2000) that is pushing for the implementation of the changes
outlined in this document.
The Strategic Plan broadly describes the desired macro changes. An analysis of the
document selected the identified changes related to this study, observing and studying
their relevance to the micro environment of the LLRC and library services. The
analysis sought identifiable criteria that would help identify how College-wide macro
changes are intended to be implemented. These identified macro-changes applicable to
the LLRC scenario are the following.
i. Teaching young and adult learners : The document aims for successful
‘participation’, ‘retention’, ‘achievement’ and ‘progression’ to improve the
learning experience through inclusive, motivating, challenging and inspirational
teaching methodologies. Self-directed learning that sets targets and monitors
performance of individual students against established benchmarks is espoused.
New methodologies such as e-learning and technology based learning should
support and enhance the curriculum, continuously upgrading knowledge and
skills while ensuring clarity and accessibility of instruction through various
available resources hence promoting lifelong learning concepts. To this end a
supportive learning environment and specific teaching and learning programmes
should adopt strategies that maximise these opportunities
(Strategic Plan, 2007, pp.12, 13 Online).
ii. Enhancing the learner experience and environment : The document commits
itself to ‘develop, monitor, review and improve the quality of our teaching’.
Learners opinions are to be gathered through ‘sophisticated and effective ways’
so that staff and administration may reflect and act upon this feedback ensuring
‘effective and attractive teaching and learning’, clarification of individual
students’ goals and constant support. Adequate resources are thus crucial in
providing students with ‘supportive, attractive, friendly and stimulating’ learning
environments through ‘high quality buildings’ and ‘equipment, materials and
services’ including ‘networked ICT facilities’. Investment in continuing
professional staff development and quality assurance initiatives are planned to
be integral to continuous improvement (Strategic Plan,
2007, pp.14, 15 Online).
iii. Staff and partnerships: Staff monitoring and appraisal are to provide quality
education and training services. This requires that ‘all teaching staff are
appropriately qualified’ benefiting from continuous professional development
that conforms to ‘set aims and objectives’ and ‘an effective appraisal system’.
Such a system necessitates that ‘organisation and management structure
underpin’ said aims and objectives whilst ‘promoting constructive employee
relations and communication’. Staff also need to be informed about economic
forces in order to contribute towards the creation of ‘partnerships and
collaborative arrangements’ with external stakeholders
(Strategic Plan, 2007, pp.18, 19 Online).
iv. Consolidating a cohesive and collaborative College: The above targets are
devised towards achieving College restructuring. Organisation and management
structures aim to empower individuals by developing human resource and
student policies and procedures thus providing learner-centred quality education.
At all micro levels, management aims to implement effective communications
strategies facilitating information flow to ‘energise our staff and learners’. It is
committed to ‘a strategy for core information systems’, ‘developing the
College’s infrastructure’ and ‘harmonising (…) all our support services’. This is
planned to occur through ‘activities, initiatives, projects and programmes that
bring together the various elements of the College as well as the members of
staff’ (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.25 Online).
The document analysis suggests that at first glance the priorities of the Strategic Plan
are in accordance to what the literature consulted for this investigation suggests as being
crucial for effective change to take place. Nevertheless, as various literature sources
also indicate, formulating a plan is not enough.
Although this document certainly sets out the macro factors that would indicate a
successful implementation of desired changes, closer inspection reveals that micro-
benchmarks towards achieving success, specifically those related to teaching and
learning and the role of the LLRC, are absent from the document.
This omission is partly due to the nature of the plan which aims to be generally
descriptive rather than a detailed working plan. However, in the course of the research,
it was discovered that such detailed plans are still in progress of being formulated.
Administrative sources could not give clearer information since at the time of research a
Department for the Curriculum was still in the process of being set up and no staff nor
Director had been as yet appointed. This fragmentation and division within various
organisational bodies, most significantly between administrative and lecturing
departments was also observable at all other organisational levels as it became evident
from the progression of the study.
Nevertheless, communication and information are the embedded concepts within the
Strategic Plan. The embodiment of these concepts and the environment in which these
dynamics are meeting and amalgamating is the LLRC, the micro-environment selected
for this study’s purpose. Hence, this investigation focuses on the common meeting
ground between the College macro changes outlined in the Strategic Plan and the issues
investigated within the micro-environment of the LLRC and its facilities. The main
areas of research of this investigation are thus change, collegiality, autonomous and
lifelong learning and the provision of information literacy towards understanding the
technological challenges of our information-dependent economy.
4.2 The envisioned central role of the LLRC
In support of the Strategic Plan’s foremost aim to place students at the heart of the
College, one of the first decisions taken by the Board of Governors and the Principal
was to create a LLRC and complementary library services which would be pivotal to
student development. By building the LLRC at the very centre of the College Campus,
senior administration intended to emphasise in a ‘clear and visible way’ the importance
of library services within College life and hence within the curriculum and
teaching/learning processes (College Library Service
General Information, 2007, Online).
As a ‘major capital investment’, the LLRC administration emphasises that its services
include state of the art facilities, broad literacy support including information literacy
services as well as individual and group assistance in a bid to develop independent and
life-long learning skills of students and even lecturing staff (ibid.). Indeed, it seems that
students are certainly satisfied with the provision made by the LLRC and library
services (Charts1 to 5, Appendices M, N).
Chart 1
Satisfaction with Resources of LLRC
25%
56%
14% 5% 0%
Strongly Agree Agree Agree with Doubts Disagree Strongly Disagree
Satisfaction w ith Library Staff Service
14%
45%24%
12% 5%
Strongly Agree Agree Agree with Doubts
Disagree Strongly Disagree
Satisfaction with Resources of Subsidiary College Libraries
6%
44%28%
12%10%
Strongly Agree Agree Agree with Doubts Disagree Strongly Disagree
Chart 2
Chart 3
Satisfaction w ith Learning Support Section Resources
6%
49%
42%
3%
0%
Strongly Agree Agree Agree with Doubts Disagree Strongly Disagree
Chart 4
0
20
40
yes no
Familiarity w ith institute library
Chart 5
Overall Satisfaction
21%
36%24%
8%11%
Strongly Agree Agree Agree with Doubts Disagree Strongly Disagree
Lecturers also showed their appreciation for the range and quality of services offered.
Not only are they satisfied with the ease of use of the LLRC and its satellite libraries
(Charts 6 and 7), but the majority also make regular use of services, especially for
lesson preparation (Charts 8 and 9).
Chart 6 Chart 7
0
10
20
30
yes no
Familiarity w ith LLRC
Chart 8
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
daily
1/w
eek
1/m
onth
1/ye
ar
neve
r
othe
r
Library Visits
Chart 9
0
20
40
yes no
Use of library materials for teaching preparation
Consequently, it appears that the LLRC, its services and its physical set up fulfil what
Dimmock (2000) stated as necessary in learning-centred schools. The LLRC and its
satellite libraries certainly make their facilities as accessible as possible. It also seems
that it is on the right track towards fulfilling part of the requirements that delineate
modern learning-centred hybrid libraries in that its re-designed physical space and its
investment in new technologies is making learning environments and physical resources
more appealing and accessible to all its users. Therefore it seems that the physical
structure of the LLRC has the potential to support new conceptions of curriculum and of
teaching and learning as described by Dimmock (2000).
However, as literature by Murphy (1991) and Martinez and Munday (1998) amongst
others reveals, appealing structures, computer aided learning environments and
resources, while being an invaluable part of the physical set-up, should not become the
ends in themselves. Meaningful learning experiences supporting independent and life-
long learning also depend on human interactions and purposeful use of resources.
Hence, although the LLRC is certainly a big step in the right direction, the study
investigates the human processes beyond the façade in an attempt to assess whether
library services are indeed contributing towards a more collaborative environment
where various pedagogies and learner needs are suitably addressed within the greater
College culture and the envisioned changes proposed for the transformation
of its curricular processes.
4.3 Processes and agents of change at College X: putting theory into practice
The Strategic Plan states that its vision is in line with the ‘bold and clearly articulated
vision’ of the government’s inception of what the College should be and how it should
change, with the onus for change placed upon the College Board of Governors and
Executive Management (Strategic Plan, 2007, p.3 Online). The implications of this are
that planned priorities and changes implemented within the College, and for the purpose
of the study, within the LLRC micro environment, are generated to serve wider College
needs as envisaged by the most powerful but numerically minor stakeholder, the senior
administration and management bodies.
The research, focusing on the envisaged transformation of LLRC services, investigated
how senior management is proposing to implement such changes and whether
provisions for planning, consultation, reflection, discussion and reviewing were and
continue to be made. It also examined whether envisioned goals are being based on
realistic financial, technical, political, institutional and human resources. From the
outset of the study, a dichotomy of purposes emerged. On the one hand there was a
document from senior administrative authorities proposing changes for a cohesive and
collaborative College; on the other, fragmented organisational bodies dependent on
central administration adapting central directions according to
their various interpretations.
With such observable conflicting dynamics, the investigation set out to discover to what
extent the proposed changes were being imposed through top-down politically backed
management strategies and whether there were aspects of change that were owned or
even perhaps internally generated by other subordinate stakeholders. Observations
concerning the dynamics between administrative and lecturing/library staff emerged
from a series of interviews and periodic staff meetings as well as
the perusal of subsequent minutes.
Theories of change were consulted in an effort to contextualise the changes occurring to
the College’s and the LLRC’s status quo. From the observations and feedback obtained
during staff meetings and minutes made available for research purposes, it may be
concluded with a degree of certainty that the proposed changes at College X seem to
mostly exhibit traits as described by Lewin’s Three-Step Change Theory.
Change as envisaged by senior management infiltrates to the lower organisational strata
through traditional channels of middle management sectors such as directors and
assistant directors of institutes and certain co-ordinators. Lecturing and library staff are
informed of what is going to happen and any feedback must return through the
appropriate channels. As it is, middle management is responsible for passing on the
message and often subordinate staff must rely on the established relationship between
these two stakeholders to ascertain whether their feedback gets heard
let alone considered.
These observations were ascertained during informal and formal interviews and staff
meetings. They also clarify why, given the nature of these dynamics, the response rate
from directors and other middle management personnel was so poor. The immediate
agents directly influencing change thus initially seem to be senior management
personnel acting through middle management. This would seemingly render a culture
of opposing forces, a situation described in Lewin’s Theory. It also engenders ideal
conditions for resistance even if as Lumby (1998) states top-down changes might
initially appear to bring about necessary changes. Although all stakeholders might be in
agreement and excited about the prospect of change to the status quo, the nature of the
hierarchical power structures impinges on the long-term vision. Staff also seemingly
perceive this as hindering rather than aiding the management of short-term goals and the
co-ordination and control of the pace of change.
Within the LLRC scenario, this general feeling could be more concretely observed.
LLRC and LSU administration have the responsibility of communicating to their staff
any changes envisaged within their respective departments in a way that points out the
benefits of such changes to their staff. They also have the role of reporting back to
senior management how proposed changes were received. The research revealed that
administration often takes on the role of leaders by default of their position and that
compliance with perceived orders from senior management is often hesitant if not
openly resisted by the subordinate staff. Senior management is often regarded as a
distant despot who must be obeyed to ward off unpleasant consequences.
Although research could not truly ascertain whether this perception was always valid
and whether at times senior management was invoked to justify unpopular decisions on
a departmental level, investigations and observations did identify those instances when
middle management seemed to be effective change agents, allowing collaborative and
consultative dynamics to bring about small-scale everyday changes to their respective
departments. On such a smaller departmental scale, opportunities for active
involvement, dialogue, collaboration and reflection as described by Schein are easier to
manage and often, whenever possible, both LLRC and LSU administration advocate
such approaches. However, in instances of far-reaching changes as advocated by senior
management, this is not always possible and so feelings or resistance re-surface.
One reason behind this resistance may be that pedagogical issues and administrative
issues are often confused. Senior management is advocating change in both areas;
however, the College organisation does not as yet possess all the necessary decision-
making and executive organs to combine the two. The lack of a Department for the
Curriculum at the time of research certainly seems to hinder more harmonious change
processes. Both LLRC and LSU administrations concur that issues of administration
and curriculum management often adversely affect the smooth running
of their respective departments.
The two staff also agree that most resistance occurs when senior management directives
concerning administration impinges on their professional areas since they consider
themselves the frontline experts, maintaining that although their immediate superiors do
consult them and consider their opinions, senior management seems to be oblivious to
the reality of their situation.
Thus the role of LLRC and LSU administration as effective change agents as envisaged
by Lippitt is hampered and not all changes proposed can be ultimately
owned by their teams.
Such difficulties are echoed throughout the different institutes as the lack of a more
refined and democratic organisational College structure lends instances of cross-
institutional and departmental collaboration most difficult beyond the day-to-day
collaboration between individual staff members on pedagogical matters. Change of a
more individual and personal empowering nature as described by Prochaska and
DiClemente is more difficult to achieve within the current environment.
Ajzen and Fishbein’s theories are also difficult to apply as College lecturing and library
staff do not have perceived control over the opportunities, resources, and skills
necessary to bring about radical changes to the College. This in turn hinders staff from
perceiving incentives and consequences in the immediate and long-term future as
described by Bandura (1989). This sense of dissatisfaction also hinders staff from
perceiving some proposed changes as being based on realistic financial, technical,
political, institutional and human resources, not only because their views are coloured
by their particular interests and stances, but also because the organisational structure
does not always facilitate the flow of open communication necessary
for democratic dialogue and information.
Thus, it may be hazarded that whilst the reality at College X shares similarities with
conditions described by Lewin’s observations, there exist cultural and environmental
difficulties which hinder the establishment of successful change within the organisation,
facilitating the spread of change in the various departments as described by Lippitt and
Schein. Consequently, it may be inferred that the LLRC is suitable ground for
competing priorities where the other internal stakeholders consulted during this research
meet and engage their various initiatives each vying for resources, time and
prominence. However, this does not exclude other indirect change processes from
taking place especially those processes described by Bandura and other social learning
and cognitive theories advocating change through direct experiences, human dialogue
and interaction, and observation.
These indirect processes were investigated through other more objective research tools,
namely the questionnaires and structured interviews with lecturing and library staff as
well as students. These tools were devised in attempt to identify other informal change
processes taking place within the various teaching departments illustrating how study
participants are experiencing occurring changes. The LLRC/LSU environment was
investigated in depth in an effort to ascertain whether resistance to top-down attitudes
are hindering or engendering transformative grass-root consultation and collaboration.
In trying to establish this, the research investigated whether imposed changes are
transforming teaching/learning methodologies.
This research thus observes the implications of the wider vision of the Strategic Plan on
the different stances of the study participants, investigating the climate, structures and
processes that are allowing or inhibiting new initiatives, namely collegiality,
autonomous and lifelong learning and the provision of information literacy. It seeks to
extrapolate how this is in its own right not only affecting stakeholders’ experiences but
ultimately effectively transforming the College itself. The study attempts to view
whether these transformations are in line with the overall vision of the Strategic Plan or
whether this vision is being adapted and mutated along entirely new situations.
4.4 Change processes within the LLRC
Launched during the academic year 2003-2004, the LLRC is still in its initial changes
and thus its management processes are relatively new. This would augur that its
dynamics would seek to be innovative and collaborative along the aims of the Strategic
Plan devised for all its bodies. However, from the library staff’s questionnaires, it is
evident that the LLRC administration, whilst adopting open door policies, is nonetheless
propagating the top-down approaches which dominate the management of the College.
The LLRC staff maintain that although general consultation processes are evident, there
are less collaborative and involvement practices which lead to a lesser sense of
ownership within their ranks (Chart 10). This fragmentation and division of ranks is
further exacerbated by the insufficient human resources especially when it comes to
manning satellite libraries at off-Campus institutes as well as at
deputy managerial levels.
Chart 10
0
0.51
1.52
2.53
3.54
4.55
yes no yes no yes no
Consultation Collaboration Involvement
Staff Relations
As a result, library staff maintain that there are limited opportunities for reflection and
discussion especially in view of identifying different priorities as envisaged by different
librarians. This in turn affects the service that can be provided to students, leading to a
certain amount of dissatisfaction amongst library staff (Chart 11).
Chart 11
0
2
4
yes no
General management system's limitations hinder communication with
library users
0
2
4
yes no
Aspects of administrative management wished to change
Although most library staff are not duly bothered with a status quo that offers the safety
of familiarity, during interviews the phrase ‘crisis management’ prevailed although it
was mostly qualified by the clarification that the LLRC and library services are facing a
chronic shortage of staff. It emerged that individual library staff shared LLRC
administrators’ opinion that although the current system was functioning to its best
within the circumstances, the limited manpower and financial resources are creating a
great burden on the current system.
The majority of junior librarians observed that the LLRC replicates the current top-
down College hierarchical management system in which prospects of promotion,
changes in job descriptions and review of remuneration seem unlikely at the moment
despite all librarians possessing sufficient training and qualifications. This system’s
hierarchical limitations often block the implementation of alternative ideas through the
frequent imposition of senior College administrators’ pre-formulated decisions. Thus
while most consider the top-down approach adequate for the running of the service, the
majority feel that this approach is hindering human resource developments and
restricting perceived benefits and rewards to personnel. Nevertheless, whilst the
majority would like this situation to change, a minority feel that they would not wish
this ‘safe’ situation to alter (Chart 12).
Chart 12
LLRC administrators added that this is a fault in the College system as is the lack of
deputy library manager/s who should ideally be engaged to alleviate the current
administrative burdens, assign jobs better according to areas of specialisation and help
launch pending College-wide projects that would see greater collaboration between the
LLRC and other College bodies. This greater collaboration is a long-term goal of
LLRC administrators. However, the attainment of such a goal would seem to be
hindered by short and intermediate-term planning limitations caused by realistic human
and financial resource limitations.
Currently, middle management is having periodical meetings with senior management
to plan the change strategies pertinent to their department that will aid the
implementation of the Strategic Plan. Library staff voiced their concerns that although
they are asked for their opinions on the changes desired, they do not receive much
feedback but only receive the filtered reports of the LLRC administration. This is
leading to unease as the staff is not aware of any revision of plans according to their
considerations. Proposed changes are being grudgingly received as the bits of
information do not portray proposed changes as plausible or practical. These comments
were echoed by LSU staff who currently face an anomalous situation being
housed within the LLRC.
In principle and along the spirit of the envisaged changes to College culture, LLRC staff
and administrators are in favour of housing LSU facilities within their organisational
structure (Charts 13, 14).
Chart 13
0
2
4
6
yes no
Learning Support Material in Library
Chart 14
yes no
0
1
2
3
4
Teaching Support Space in Library
However, in practice, tensions regarding spatial, technical and other resource allocations
often make formal collaborations between the two bodies within the same building
contentious. These sentiments are confirmed by LSU staff and their administrators who
voiced their concerns that future LLRC transformations do not seem to be realistic
especially vis-à-vis human and financial resource allocation. These support staff
highlighted how in their case political and institutional pressures impinge on their
situation especially when it comes to collaborating with LLRC staff.
Short-term collaborative goals are thus being hindered through daily struggles for
resources. Intermediate goals are also continuously being side tracked as senior
administrators are seen as unwilling to tackle short term priorities. Future
infrastructural plans as well as intermediate plans for the development of human and
infrastructural resources are also viewed by both parties as not being sufficiently
focused on their respective priorities. Such concerns were voiced both during research
interviews as well as recorded in various LSU minutes during staff meetings.
The prevalent hierarchical College culture would seem to be thus hindering efforts at
collaboration between the LLRC, the LSU and other College bodies. However, the
research revealed that such transformational potential exists within both the LLRC and
the LSU. In effect, most LLRC staff are already aware of the need to transform
collaborative relationship aspects with both LSU and other lecturing staff (Chart 15)
even though individual members already collaborate with these members
daily on a personal basis.
Chart 15
0
2
4
yes no
Aspects of collaboration with Staff wished to change
0
10
20
30
yes no
Collaboration w ith library staff during orientation visits
LSU staff also accept this necessity for more collaboration. Research observations
revealed that efforts at closer collaboration with LLRC staff are strained due to the
limitations explained, but individual collaborations do spring up with LLRC staff and
other lecturers in the course of informal collaborative relationships necessary due to the
nature of their supporting role to both. Literature sources within this study state that
support and library staff, however, are often seen as having less prestigious and
qualified positions by other lecturing staff. The research questionnaires to lecturers
reveal that in actual fact this view is indeed prevalent within certain departments.
Although all academic respondents acknowledged the importance of having LLRC and
LSU facilities, the majority do not explain their purpose and services to their students
(Chart 16). Neither do they seek active collaboration with either bodies either through
personal contact or use of facilities (Charts 17-20).
Chart 16
0
10
20
30
yes no
LLRC / LSU usership - instruction of students by lecturer
Chart 17 Chart 18
0
10
20
30
yes no
Initial library orientation visit
0
10
20
30
yes no
Use of Support Material
Chart 19 Chart 20
0
10
20
30
yes no
Collaboration with Support Staff
Further investigation from the questionnaires revealed that timetabling constraints often
limit actual contact and collaboration with library and support staff, with lack of
opportunity to visit respective facilities significantly quoted as a major obstacle towards
increased familiarisation and collaboration. Indeed, those who did seek active
collaboration did so either on request by their directors or on their voluntary initiative.
The majority of such lecturers teach mostly arts, languages or humanities to freshmen,
stating that they feel new students should be exposed to such orientation experiences.
This is significantly meaningful when considering the identities of potential change
agents who could bring about further concrete collaboration between the LLRC,
the LSU and their respective institutes.
In fact, irrespective of faculty, the majority of such respondents were receptive to the
idea of such future collaborations (Chart 21). An immediate positive step in this
direction is seen as the inclusion of formal library hours within timetables that would
effectively allocate time for students and lecturers to make use of LLRC and
library facilities (Chart 22).
0
20
40
yes no
Formal library hours should be included in timetables
This would indicate that it is the competitive hierarchical environment which puts off
some staff members from collaborative initiatives with library and support staff. It also
shows that perhaps due to previous experience, a number of potential change agents are
already aware of the benefits of such collaborations.
Chart 21 Chart 22
0
5
10
15
20
25
yes no
Future Collaboration with LLRC / LSU
Such dynamics could possibly lead towards more concrete future partnership initiatives.
Such plans would ideally be based on current good practice that can already be
observed as occurring in certain described instances. The replication of existent
processes could further facilitate the transformation of LLRC and LSU services
into more collaborative approaches.
4.5 Engendering further lecturer-librarian collaboration
The research thus reveals that although formal curricular processes fostering increased
co-operative teaching are still not in evidence, informally such initiatives do occur.
However, the degree of support and collaboration between librarians, academic and
support staff varies depending on subject matter, opportunity for collaboration and time
to establish firm working relationships. Aspects of the organisational set-up that hinder
the further development of such situations remain.
Most notably, as previously discussed, is the cultural unawareness of the changing roles
of librarians and lecturing staff. The majority of both librarians and lecturers seem
happy with the status quo of their traditional roles. Lecturers leave most aspects of
library induction and information literacy instruction up to librarians whilst the majority
of these latter members of staff do not think that there are aspects of their relationship
with students that need to change (Charts 23 and 24).
Chart 23
0
10
20
30
yes no
Library usership - instruction of students by lecturer
Chart 24
0
2
4
yes no
Aspects of communication by Librarians with Students wished to
change
This resistance to changing roles is most likely due to the propagation of the national
educational system which is still bound to a highly hierarchical and bureaucratic culture
as described by Bezzina (1999). This system inhibits most professionals from
conferring and collaborating on curricular matters unless ironically, such a system is
imposed from senior management. Again, while this reflects how much of Lewin’s
theory may be applicable to the local situation, it thus highlights once more that despite
ingrained cultural traditional modes of working, the potential for changes
does exist within the College itself.
Literature reviewed shows that effective hybrid libraries are led by retrained senior
management who are open to the idea of offering staff development opportunities to
create more collaborative environments where various pedagogies and learner needs are
suitably addressed. Training and professional socialising may lead to the creation and
development of a common set of rooted professional values which would make it easier
for the various organisational organs and departments to work towards common goals
based on consensus rather than defeating resistances from the various stances.
In this respect, staff development and training would depart from what Lewin described
as a defeat of opposing forces. Rather, it would move along more current educational
philosophies as advocated by Cardno (1998) promoting managed collaboration. Thus,
while senior management would still be taking the executive decisions on the kind of
change necessary to the whole organisation, better informed and professionally trained
staff would allow for an increased feeling of ownership, democratic participation and
accountability. This shift of power from the hierarchical to the lateral would also take
into better account existent expertise and generate further collaboration and professional
training. This would also reduce the influence of the current referent powers and
encourage more professional autonomy, innovativeness and self-reflection as described
by Hargreaves and Dawe (1990) without the need for an outside referent power
as described by Saeed (1996).
The relatively young age of library and lecturing staff as well as the high number of
qualified professionals working within the College would indicate that most staff would
be quite responsive to such initiatives. However, resistance to traditional roles may still
be strong enough to result in anxieties and problems in establishing such change.
Nevertheless, as Lumby (1998) observed, having a proportion of staff supporting each
other can bring about partial change and reduce resistance by incremental steps as
described by Hohn (1998). The investigation revealed that such dynamics are already
informally occurring within the LLRC between some librarians, learning support staff
and mainstream language academic lecturers.
The majority of respondents from the lecturing staff sample teach Foundation/First Year
Communication and Technical English or Maltese. These lecturers were more
approachable and open to participation within the study since they are often the ones
who are either informally or formally required or else volunteer to take on inductive
sessions involving library familiarisation and IL skills. As yet, despite the introduction
of innovative physical technologies aimed towards transforming traditional teaching
methods, there are still no set College-wide curriculum guidelines promoting innovative
teaching methodologies. However, prompted by professional expertise, personal
interest and pressing requirements increasingly made on students through set
coursework, these staff members are already informally seeking out ways, means and
opportunities to collaborate and adopt innovative teaching strategies along the lines
advocated by the Strategic Plan.
Nevertheless, other faculties and staff members continue to operate within a mainly
fragmented organisational set-up. Student council representatives are aware of this and
have coined a college motto, ‘nine Institutes, one College’, which they propagate when
trying to raise awareness of how different departments should seek to collaborate for the
benefit of students. All academic language respondents commented that the current
curriculum renders the teaching of innovative information gathering, analysis and
presentation skills difficult within a system that is still dependant on content-overloaded
subjects. Few respondents teaching technical subjects informally collaborate with their
institute’s English language teachers to combine elements of both syllabi into partially
integrated programmes of study, despite English being mostly used for technical
language and assessment modes. Thus, this feeling of fragmentation
continues to prevail.
As previously stated, only a minority of lecturing staff are aware of the benefits of
collaboration with library and support staff (Charts 18 to 20). Yet most staff
acknowledge the need to introduce students to the various facilities of the LLRC and its
libraries (Chart 17). Therefore, the research shows that there is the potential for willing
staff members who are already collaborating with librarians and support staff to act as
change agents within a larger scenario of change as being proposed by senior
administration. Training such potential change agents, involving them in democratic
discussions and allowing them to devise and gradually introduce innovative teaching
programmes with the help of library staff and support lecturers could thus contribute to
greater flow of communications and College-wide collaborative processes.
However, such a radical approach needs such potential change agents to be backed by
Cardno’s call for ‘jurisdiction, relevance and expertise’ (1998, p.112). As Brown and
Currier (2001) state, resistance to changes in teaching methods is often a reaction to
greater organisational changes. Whilst these potential change agents might be open to
informal collaborations, the reaction by most academics who would be unhappy with
greater involvement of librarian and support staff would possibly create divisions and
friction. Hence, the necessity for staff training and professional growth
and development is reasserted.
Academics and other lecturing staff may be resistant to change if they have negative
perceptions of the change agents who might be viewed as getting above themselves in
order to get promoted or gain other benefits. Resistance might also occur if innovative
teaching methods were viewed as replacing traditional teaching methods
rather than complementing them.
Thus, when addressing issues pertaining to the acquisition of pertinent professional and
technical skills, recognition, incentives and clear pedagogical policies
should be of paramount importance.
Greater acceptance of the professional expertise and acknowledgement of the
involvement of support lecturing staff is also necessary as is that of library staff whose
evolving para-academic role should be increasingly promoted. Equally and to this
effect, librarians themselves must be more open to their changing roles. Encouragingly,
the majority of respondents from this group expressed willingness to receive further
training in customer care and communications as well as in new media and IT teaching
and learning methodologies, thus confirming Brown and Currier’s (2001)
recommendations for the greater involvement of library and information
professionals within learning programmes.
Staff development and innovative teaching methodologies, however, must not be
imposed or regarded as having greater value than existing traditional practices. Staff
must be free to choose, although obviously, the benefits of change must be advocated by
change agents. Team work and team leadership as advocated by Bandura (1998)
depends on providing clear instructions, provide the opportunity for skill development
or training, and model the desired behaviour so that expected outcomes are better
defined and change agents better respected and trusted to bring about necessary changes
to teaching methodologies. As the LLRC administration insist, such changes should
inevitably include more formal instruction of IL skills since this can potentially
contribute towards the greater transformation of teaching and learning methods thus
addressing possible lacunae in students’ learning.
4.6 The role of LLRC facilities in fostering autonomous and life-long learning
The management of the LLRC states their facilities aim to provide ‘as broad and deep a
range of information in all its formats and from all sources’ and to ‘make this
information readily available’. IL services coupled with individual and group assistance
provided by LLRC and LSU staff provide necessary support. Through the facilities and
staff, LLRC management seek to practice and emphasise ‘the twin concepts of life-long
learning and ownership of the learning process’
(College Library Service General Information, 2007, Online).
Collaborative and collegial faculty–librarian partnerships can complement and support
conventional classroom based teaching. In face of the absence of formal managed
collaborative initiatives between these participants, the research set out to assess the
impact of these dynamics on students and their learning.
Initial responses from students were disheartening. Although nearly all students
confirmed that they were required to carry out research work by their teachers (Chart
25), less than half of the students asked for librarians’ help and only those students
attending learning support sessions consulted the LSU resources
and staff (Charts 26, 26). Nevertheless, more than half of student respondents used their
LLRC or institute library at least once a month (Chart 28).
Chart 25
Assigned Research Work
99%
1%
Y es No
Chart 26
Assistance requested from Library Staff
6%22%
46%
26%
Often Sometimes Rarely Never
Chart 27
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Yes No Yes No
Consulted Resources Consulted Staff
Learning Support Assistance
Chart 28
Frequency of Library Visits
15%
24%
30%
10%
21%
Daily Week Month Year Never
This response was puzzling in view of lecturing staff’s response when asked whether
they assigned research work and if so whether students were asked to carry out such
work on a regular basis. Lecturers’ response clearly confirmed the veracity of both
enquiries (Charts 29, 30).
Chart 29
0
10
20
30
40
yes No
Assignation of Research Work
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Type of Research requested by Lecturers from Students
Chart 30
0
5
10
15
20
often sometimes rarely never
Frequency of Research Work
Further analysis of responses was thus required to ascertain the cause of this
incongruity, especially since both groups of participants confirmed that most research
work assigned involves individual written reports (Charts 31, 32). This would not only
imply that students would be requested to carry out a certain amount of work at the
library but also that the work assigned and expected was very much in line with
traditional methods of teaching and learning.
Chart 31
Chart 32
0
20
40
60
80
Repor ts Final P r oj P r esentations Gr p Wor k Onl ine f or a
Type of Research carried out by Students
The investigation revealed that IL practices are still considered peripheral to the actual
delivery of content and of results. Course programmes at Foundation level are mostly
academic, book-bound and information-laden whilst more technical and vocational
skills-based teaching are more present at the higher stages. The two are interdependent
but only combine informally when established personal relations make collaboration
between lecturers easier. Consequently, conservative teaching practices are harder to
change as are those related to conventional library use since students become
entrenched within the traditional system during their induction year to the College.
Although acknowledging the potential of the LLRC and libraries especially for lesson
preparation, it emerged that lecturers still view information acquisition as being more
reliable and exact when obtained from traditional sources. This is reflected in their
choice of material for lesson preparation (Chart 33).
Chart 33
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
audi
o/vi
deo
ref.
book
s
jour
nals
/mag
s
new
spap
ers
fictio
n
inte
rnet
othe
r
none
Preferred Materials for Preparation
Nevertheless, the immediacy of knowledge acquisition from electronic sources is also
increasingly being exploited as data retrieval is faster and can be more easily translated
into word processed formats, a requirement that is also progressively being introduced
within most vocational courses (Chart 34).
Chart 34
0
10
20
30
yes no
Wordprocessed presentation
Interestingly, the study revealed that as cultural trends are changing to integrate new and
varied sources of information within the curriculum, lecturers who hold printed
information in higher esteem are increasingly advocating the use of electronic sources
(Chart 35).
Chart 35
05
10152025303540
audi
o/vi
deo
jour
nals
/mag
s
fictio
n
ref.
book
s
new
spap
ers
inte
rnet
field
wor
k
n/a
to s
ubje
ct
Media Preference Indicated to Students
This change in culture may be partly due to the relatively young average age of staff
members. It could also be the result of exposure to new technologies especially in some
more technical vocational courses. Nevertheless, the culture of the higher value of
printed word is still very strong within the national hierarchical system. Even as both
lecturers and students are increasingly being exposed to new teaching and learning
technologies, both groups concurrently hold these two different means
in high esteem (Chart 36).
23
63 61
0
20
40
60
80
News paper M ag R ef B ooks A u/ v i d Fi c t i on I nter net
Information Acquisition Habits
Chart 36
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
au
dio
/vid
eo
jou
rna
ls
fictio
nre
fere
nce
ne
wsp
ap
ers
inte
rne
to
the
r
au
dio
/vid
eo
jou
rna
ls
fictio
n
refe
ren
ce
ne
wsp
ap
ers
inte
rne
t
oth
er
Media Preferredby Students
Media Preferredby Staff
Information Media Preference by Students / Staff
Clearly, a fast changing knowledge-based culture has firmly established itself within the
younger generations. Students are further increasingly being exposed and changing
their information usership habits according to a strong audio-video reliant knowledge-
based society in which information changes all the time and so its acquisition must be
fast and immediate (Chart 37).
Chart 37
18
19
20
21
yes no
Research from College libraries
This information reveals that lecturing staff seem to be moving away from traditional
sources of information in a bid to allow students to choose their preferred sources.
However, reliance on more traditional sources and methods persists
(Charts 38, 39, 40).
Chart 38
20
49
2
57
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Newspaper J ournals/Mag Ref Books Au/ vid Fiction Internet
Preferred Media for Research
Chart 39 Chart 40
0
20
40
yes no
Preference of Sources
This observable trend may in itself be positive evidence that lecturing staff are taking
the learner-centred approach to teaching by taking into account the learning variables
that may effectively address the purpose of learning, different learning styles and
varying student requirements.
0
50
100
150
P aper J our nals Ref Books Au/ vid Fiction Inter net
Library Material Used
However, in view of lecturers’ response indicating their restricted time for teaching
individual skills beyond a stretched curriculum and given that learner-centred
approaches, as Lumby (1998) states, are usually demanding and time-consuming, this
assertion needed to be explored in greater depth. The investigation thus explored the
background information usership of the sampled group of students in an effort to assess
whether students might be enrolling in College already possessing the necessary IL
skills or whether the College was in fact not addressing such a
possible lacunae effectively.
The study revealed that the majority of students enter post-secondary College education
in possession of the basic information literacy skills and are able to work with both
printed and electronic forms of data, handling both media concurrently according to
their needs (Charts 40, 41, 42), albeit tending to use more traditional sources as
requested by their lecturers.
Chart 40 Chart 41
Familiarity w ith Finding Books
81%
19%
Yes No
Library Familiarisation
56%
44%
Y es No
Chart 42
Frequency of use of Library Computers
12% 3%
6%
16%
35%
28%0%
Daily 5 to 6 3 to 4 1 to 2 < 1/wk Never No pc
The majority have also been previously exposed to computer and internet usage and so
also have some degree of computer literacy skills (Chart 43). Interestingly however,
especially in view of findings previously discussed, it emerged that students mainly use
the libraries to look up information in traditional sources through traditional means
rather than to use technological facilities (Charts 44, 45). This was discovered to be a
result of assigned reading lists and indicated material prescribed by lecturers who often
direct students to use particular sources. Such practices are dangerously stifling to
learner-centred pedagogies and reconfirm the hold of traditional teaching/learning
methodologies within the local culture.
Chart 43
0
50
100
150
200
250
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Computer Usersat Home
Knowledge ofComputer
Computer atHome
Internet at Home Use of Internet
Access to Computer/Internet
Chart 44
Chart 45
Frequency of Library Computer Use to find books
16%
24%
33%
27%
Of ten Sometimes Rar ely Never
Yet another predominant reason given by respondents was that LLRC and library
facilities do not possess technology as advanced as is available at the homes of the
respondents. Another reason cited is that libraries restrict access to various internet sites
and so students prefer to work on their home computers. It also emerged that most
students, although using the LLRC and libraries for studying, also prefer to use the
premises for interacting with other students both for studying as well as for socialising.
These reasons indicate an emerging culture opposite to that of lecturers, librarians and
administrative staff. Although it could potentially contribute to students breaking the
mould of traditional methods, the importance of IL in allowing them to do so in an
informed manner is critical.
The implications of these findings and resultant processes on student learning
acquisition and levels of literacy, including IL, must be noted. Although students seem
to possess the necessary information usage skills, it does not necessarily follow that
they are being trained and instructed on how to apply these skills to their studies.
Limited timetables, overloaded curricula and seemingly less advanced technology than
is personally available to students seem to have contrived a situation in which students
are requested to do most of their learning on their own rather than in groups.
Occasions for purposeful collaborative learning are thus limited and so students end up
doing most of their research and work at home using their preferred source of
information, the internet, to later check this information with assigned printed texts
found at the library. The great use of reference books and printed sources by lecturers
in lesson preparation seems to confirm this. The role of librarians within this scenario
remains a traditional one as students tend to ask for their help in reproducing
information rather than use it for autonomous learning purposes. Thus, to competent
students, the role of librarians remains peripheral to their studying experience. This
observation was confirmed during interviews with library staff.
Reproduction of information is worrying as it does not allow for what Mezirow (1991)
described as transformative learning processes where students can question information
and reflect on their learning processes. Although technological innovations and
resources available at the LLRC and the libraries are contributing to a degree of
adaptive education, the modification of the learning environment is not always
translating into a better response to student differences. Although certainly, the learning
environment is geared towards preparing students to pass their vocational exams, it is
questionable as to what degree of autonomous and life-long learning skills are being
imparted in the process.
Lecturing staff, librarians and students all remarked that the present hierarchical system
of education is restrictive; that syllabi are too packed, that exams are predominantly
important and that the fragmentation of the organisational system is frustrating.
Their potential role as change agents within the organisation as well as their capabilities
as reflective practitioners is hindered by the hierarchical and traditional system that
seems to introduce technological innovations as additional burdens onto an already
overloaded system. The investigation results also point in this direction as it was
discovered that access to different learning resources is not necessarily being put to use
to develop students’ investigative and reference skills and so autonomous and life-long
learning skills are stunted. Since the organisation is mainly as yet fragmented, few
lecturers and to a lesser extent librarians, have the ability and willingness to establish
and perpetuate learner-centred approaches. Human and financial resource limitations
render this more difficult especially in view of the increasing stress of greater yearly
student intakes on infrastructure and resources that cannot always be
considered in terms of finances and time.
Flexible learning could prove to be a viable compromise for education professionals,
librarians, students and senior administration alike. This however, is greatly dependent
on a more lateral and democratic approach to interactions, increased communications
and greater collaborative and collegial environments. Jarvis (1995) and Lumby (2001)
agree that investment in information technology is the way forward as IT not only has
the potential to develop students’ experiential and reflective learning but through its
technical nature it can also possibly be used by students to acquire flexible knowledge
and skills that will improve lifelong learning abilities. Nevertheless, IT without a sound
information literacy basis will only propagate current deficiencies
in the College education system.
According to Bruce (2002), it is sound to remodel the current curriculum and lighten the
content to include more information literacy skills since IL gives personal
empowerment and this leads to greater development of economic potential. Breivnik
(1998) also emphasises moving away from pre-packaged information and applying IL to
promote more effective transfer of learning. Following these arguments, it may be
concluded that since the technological investment at the College is already being made,
more effort should be made for curriculum integration that allows the teaching and
learning of specific skills whilst interacting with the information environment available.
The re-designed LLRC and library infrastructural facilities are flexible enough to
promote the teaching of higher-order thinking skills in contexts of purposeful
socialisation. Now, concrete support and investment in human resources and staff
development are becoming paramount as they are the resource that most lacks the
opportunity and the ability to facilitate and support the IL skills necessary for the
transformation of teaching and learning within the College. Yet, while it is easy to
blame the organisational set-up and senior management for the lack of clarity in
curriculum issues, all factors must be taken into consideration when promoting IL as a
solution to teaching/learning process deficiencies brought about by
insufficient effective strategic planning.
IL programmes used as part of a strategy for change require staff training and
partnerships between key members. It requires staff to have IT and pedagogical
expertise and familiarity with learning theory. It is also essential to develop broader
curriculum issues and it specifically necessitates collaboration between lecturers,
librarians/information specialists and students.
Crucially, collegial models need to be based on negotiation, discussion, debate, co-
operation, collaboration, compromise and pragmatism from all parties. Nevertheless,
teaching through inter-professional collaborative approaches and stimulating and
interesting learning opportunities encourages outcome and developmentally paced
learning and the individualisation and personalisation of learning making the learning
process relevant to students whilst allowing them the creative freedom to individualise
their learning throughout their life. It can also transform key organisational
members into effective change agents
Thus, encouraging lecturing staff and students to move away from conventional
teaching/learning methodologies and applying IL skills to propagate critical enquiry,
self-directed learning and lifelong learning skills, concurrent with resource and
infrastructural investments, has the potential to actualise senior management’s vision for
the transformation of the College into a learner-centred institution.
5. Conclusions and recommendations
The College’s Strategic Plan is the initial step within the transformational processes of
the organisation’s educational system. It acknowledges that institutional change is an
inevitable reality and that the transformation of the College into a learning organisation
must come about through the development of staff, student and physical resources. It
also recognises that in today’s fast growing information society students must possess
those skills that enable them to become independent life-long learners capable of
working in the current training and employment scenario. The LLRC thus plays a
crucial role within these organisational transformations as suggested below.
5.1 Reconsiderations by senior management
For the Strategic Plan to become an effective working document, particular changes to
the organisation, specifically to decision–making processes, need to occur. More
forward and lateral thinking from senior management is necessary, yet within the
current hierarchical structure, change must be sensitively approached. Therefore, there
should not be an immediate rejection of traditional tried and tested management styles.
Rather, senior management should seek more democratic styles and if necessary retrain
to incorporate more collegial methods such as those proposed by Cardno (1998). Since
collegial models entail sensitive issues of dialogue, ownership and shared vision and
culture, models of managed collaboration should be implemented to achieve
more effective strategic planning.
The setting up a Curriculum Department would be central to such a collegial system and
should ideally place library services at the heart of syllabi in the role of active
collaborators. Naturally, the particular needs of different institutes and technical natures
of the various programmes should be considered. However, this should not greatly
distract from the necessity to refine and the streamline the current fragmented and non-
standardised management. The College could adopt a quality management system
creating common policies and procedures for using LLRC facilities thus saving human
resources, time and money.
5.2 Attaining effective strategic planning
Curriculum initiatives such as the introduction of IL programmes can actualise the long
term vision of turning the College into a learning organisation but require
implementation according to correct standards through collaborative measures. Strong
leadership and long-term goal-specific planning therefore need to be carried out through
strategic partnerships operating at various levels including at curriculum design, policy
development and staff development. One avenue to explore could be identifying key
change agents to engage others in partnerships based on jurisdiction,
relevance and expertise.
Senior management need to decide how to manage collegial working practices, practical
short term goals and the co-ordination and control of the pace of change, allowing time
to develop and evaluate progress especially with the introduction of new technologies
and IL. Change must not be seen as removed from the classroom reality otherwise
people will feel threatened, powerless, incompetent and uncertain, thus resisting rather
than understanding, accepting and embracing change. There must also be perceived
physical rewards or enhanced prestige or reputation. Staff must be motivated to change,
feeling they can achieve results whilst having a degree of control (Bandura, 1988).
5.3 Staff development and the transformation of teaching/learning processes
Lecturing and library staff must be allowed to evolve into reflective practitioners
allowed to harness the principles of practicality, collegiality and reflection as described
by Hargreaves and Dawe (1990). Staff must also be allowed to feel free to question
basic assumptions about the organisation and their teaching as advocated by the labour
process theory of Sayer (1986) and Conti and Warner (1993). Therefore staff
development that provides motivation and encouragement is a crucial part
of the transformation process.
Engaging more professionally trained library staff would enable the re-organisation of
library human resources along more modern organigraphs rather than hierarchical
models in which chains or hubs are created through which people,
resources and information move.
Thus collaboration through a web structure would allow open-ended communication in
which staff would have graded responsibilities to allocate, control, co-ordinate, link and
energise various collaborations with each other and with other lecturing staff.
This new collaborative style of management would also influence the relationship with
learning support staff. The two entities could work better together rather than
independently, amalgamating time and resources whilst maintaining separate identities.
Uniting forces through collaborative management systems and educational programmes
would slowly but effectively transform the learning and teaching cultures as well as
their perceived roles within the College thus transforming them into effective change
agents when collaborating with other academic staff, bringing about incremental
changes to prevalent traditional pedagogies.
Motivated staff supported by research and reflective classroom teaching can create
learning environments in which the learner wants to learn and learns by doing.
Reflective practice also encourages students to learn from feedback and digest what has
been learnt. This would fulfil the main criteria for independent learning to take place as
suggested by Race (1994). More collaborative teaching would in turn be able to
promote more collaborative learning through which students can learn at their own pace
at times and places of their own choosing and where they can feel in control of their
development whether learning alone or through purposeful socialisation.
5.4 The learner-centred organisation
With support from educational leaders, flexible learning as described by Gillham (1995)
can become a workable compromise as lecturers maintain professional responsibilities
and personal contact with students. Murphy (1991) insists on flexible structures that
teaches higher order thinking skills. Therefore the inclusion of IL initiatives integrated
within the curriculum may be especially beneficial.
Such initiatives would ideally first identify learners’ needs and view the learning
process in context of the national culture and vocational education scenario. It should
be used to respond to learners’ capabilities and address their expectations and
uncertainties within the global context. Thus, when transforming the College into a
learner-centred organisation, appropriate organisational structures need to have been
already designed and established so that effective delivery is based on informed practice
that can perpetuate new initiatives and continue to develop them from strength to
strength. Such transformative schemes should take into account a number of variables
such as sources of expertise, funding and available technology. Within the current
situation, there are two main imperatives issues to be addressed, namely, increased
human resources and their development as well as securing enough funding to ascertain
that current state of the art LLRC/LSU resources are maintained and regularly updated.
5.5 Developing adaptive learning environments: redesigning the LLRC
The way forward for the LLRC is its development into a fully fledged hybrid library
and resource centre. This will be more realistically attainable once all institutes relocate
to the main Campus as envisaged within the Strategic Plan. As the LLRC continues to
be developed, redesigning the physical space should continue along current ideas but
allow for more space for collaborative research and studying through purposeful
socialisation. Investing in new technology should not be an end in itself but a way of
providing stimulating, interesting and relevant learning environments. This in
conjunction with staff development opportunities for lecturers and librarians could
potentially transform the teaching and learning processes in which collaborative
initiatives and pedagogies suitably address learner needs.
Expanding the concept of an LLRC which incorporates a more prominent and effective
LSU could reorganise human and financial resources better thus yielding better
performance and results. The incorporation of a better designed LSU would make
better use of existing space as well as facilitate collaboration and strengthen positive
dynamics between librarians, support and other lecturing staff.
One way in which this can be actualised is the adaptation of the current learning
environment. This would entail maintaining a central LLRC/LSU hub as a visible
physical structure at the heart of the campus while additional subsidiary research and
learning support labs (RLSLs) could be set up in the different institutes.
Retaining the central LLRC/LSU building on main campus would serve as an iconic
reminder to all staff and students of its role and purpose while its role as a hub for
information would ease the pressures off its main human and infrastructural resources.
Diagram 1 graphically displays this envisaged management system of
information and learning support services.
Diagram 1
This system could lead to better use of resources and increased yields from current and
future IT investments. Technologies such as email and video-conferencing sessions
could save time and human resources as well as enabling collaboration between the
different staff members. Institute lecturers would share the responsibility of teaching
their students the necessary information literacy skills with learning support lecturers
having the resources and space of RLSLs to support all students and lecturers
with their information requirements.
LLRC LSU
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
InstituteRLSL
These, combined with library services, could lead to librarians and support staff taking a
central role in institute educational management and curriculum development.
These suggestions could potentially transform vocational teaching and learning
processes. Brown and Currier (2001) suggest that information professionals and
learning support staff are usually more alert to pedagogical development, therefore
initiating organisational change through the LLRC and LSU along the suggestions
within this study seems to be a feasible way forward for change
to occur at grassroot level.
Consequently, the evolution of the role of the LLRC and its library, learning support and
technological facilities, the use of new technologies, sound information literacy
instruction, and supporting organisational transformation through the implementation of
collaborative systems at all levels could be the key towards unlocking the potential for
more independent and life-long learning of students thus bringing the Strategic Plan to
fruition and transforming the College into a true learning community.
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