How am I Doing? School Librarian Self-Efficacy and Gauging Relationships with Other School Stakeholders Anthony Chow, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Dept. of Library and Information Studies The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

 Introduction  Literature  Method  Results  Discussion and Conclusions Overview 2 of 28

 A case study of four school libraries introduced strategic planning as a way to build consensus and increase communication among school stakeholders.  How do we measure the impact on the school librarian?  I created the School Librarian Self-Efficacy and Social Information Processing Scale Introduction 3 of 28

 Self-efficacy is defined as, “beliefs in one’s capabilities to mobilize the motivation, cognitive resources, and courses of action needed to meet given situational demands” (Wood & Bandura, 1989, p. 408)  GSE or General Self-Efficacy is defined as “one’s belief in one’s overall competence to effect requisite performances across a wide variety of achievement situations” (Eden, in press) or as “individuals’ perception of their ability to perform across a variety of different situations” (Judge, Erez, et al., 1998, p. 170)  New Generation Self-Efficacy Scale (Chen, Gully, & Eden, 2001)  8-item scale that measures self-efficacy Literature 4 of 28

 Social Information Processing Theory (Colucci & Rice, 2009)  Social Information Processing Theory (SIP) (Rice, 1993; Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978) holds that  Individual evaluations of Job Characteristics and Job Satisfaction are a reflection of social influence factors, such as information, modeling, and cues regarding social consensus from three factors: 1.Communication behavior with others 2.Social cues regarding job satisfaction attitudes 3.Social cues regarding job characteristics attitudes Literature (2) 5 of 28

How am I Doing? School Librarian Self-Efficacy and Social Information Processing Scale Communi cation with Others Social Cues Regarding Job Satisfacti on Attitudes Social Cues Regarding Job Characteri stics Attitudes Self- Efficacy 6 of 28

 RQ1: What is the current self-efficacy and “social reality” of school librarians?  RQ2: Would introducing strategic planning positively impact school librarian self-efficacy and the three factors comprising one’s “social reality”?  RQ3: What is the impact of one’s social relationships with general self-efficacy? Research Questions 7 of 28

 Case studies of four school librarians  Two elementary, one middle, and one high school  Pretest of all four using SESIPS  Teacher survey (n=58)  Parent survey (n=6) Method 8 of 28

Results – Pretest of all four 9 of 28

Results (2) – Pretest of all four 10 of 28

Results (3) – Pretest summary of all four 11 of 28

The Tale of Two School Librarians 12 of 28

Librarian 1 – Pretty Confident! SE Factor Average Rating 1. I will be able to achieve most of the goals that I have set for myself When facing difficult tasks, I am certain that I will accomplish them In general, I think that I can obtain outcomes that are important to me I believe I can succeed at most any endeavor to which I set my mind I will be able to successfully overcome many challenges I am confident that I can perform effectively on many different tasks Compared to other people, I can do most tasks very well Even when things are tough, I can perform quite well of 28

Social cues suggest stakeholders are more satisfied…. 14

Pre-teacher ratings (5.3 average; n=8) 15

 I have begun to make a very positive impact on the staff, in general, as they have come to understand my role as a provider for quality, instructional technology resources. It has only been in the last month that I have been able to lead a professional development workshop. Two of my administrators were present for it and both expressed that they thought the session was well done. I believe it was the first time they really recognized my potential as an untapped resource. A few of the teachers were surprised that I invited the entire faculty to collaborate on lessons. They did not know that I would be willing to "teach". Seeing an improvement with two groups, not so much for a third… 16 of 28

A second librarian – great things are happening 17 of 28

Satisfaction is improving… ah that’s what she does! 18 of 28

Relationships are also improving…. 19 of 28

Pre-teacher Ratings (5.2 average; n=11) 20 of 28

Self-efficacy and confidence is flowering! 21 of 28

Scale Composite Scores SL1 PrePostPrePost SESIS Teacher Satisfaction Questions 22 of 28

 Building a school library strategic plan  Empowers librarians to establish an ideal vision  Encourages collaboration  Active, assertive steps towards building a collective vision for the future  School Librarian Self-Efficacy and Social Information Processing Scale provides a way of measuring impact and current social “reality” Discussion and Conclusions 23 of 28

 RQ1: What is the current self-efficacy and “social reality” of school librarians?  Too early to tell – One continues to do well, the other is doing really well  Relationships with parents, leaders, and teachers continue to lowest rated  Need to increase sample size Research Questions 24 of 28

 RQ2: Would introducing strategic planning positively impact school librarian self-efficacy and “social reality”?  Preliminary data suggests “yes”  Both responding librarians have experienced growth and improvement in the areas of communication and attitudes towards job satisfaction and job characteristics.  Again need to increase sample size Research Questions 25 of 28

 Just getting started  My new book, Library Technology and User Services, details the strategic planning process explicitly within the context of technology and user services.  I’m a systems designer and live by the motto, “Make your own luck”  Create an ideal vision of what you want to become  Work backwards securing the resources and means necessary to accomplish your goals  Work hard and you will be a lot closer to achieving that vision then you are today ! Final Thoughts 26 of 28

 I would be happy to:  Provide you with our online strategic planning instrument  support if needed  Provide you access to the self-efficacy and social information diagnostic scale  Just leave me your name and address and we will be in touch with you  I just want your data (completely anonymous and confidential) to help refine and validate the instruments so they are truly effective and worthwhile….  The slides will be available at anthonyschow.wordpress.com Are you interested? 27 of 28

Colucci & Rice, 2009 Chen, G., Gully, S., & Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a New General Self-Efficacy Scale. Organizational Research Methods 2001; 4; 62 Eden, D. (in press). Means efficacy: External sources of general and specific subjective efficacy. In M. Erez, U. Kleinbeck,&H. Thierry (Eds.),Work motivation in the context of a globalizing economy. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Judge, T. A., Erez, A.,&Bono, J. A. (1998). The power of being positive: The relation between positive self-concept and job performance. Human Performance, 11, Rice, 1993 Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978 Wood, R. & Bandura, A. (1989). Social Theory of Organizational Management. Academy of Management Review, 1989, Vol. 14, No. 3, References 28 of 28

 Anthony Chow, Ph.D.   anthonyschow.wordpress.com 29 of 28 Contact Me