My line manger runs the IT deptYes it is weird, but what's also weird is having someone being your line manager who has 0 experience and actual day-to-day knowledge of what you do....
I have always been of the view that a teacher should not be line managing a technician just like a technician should not be line managing a teacher (even though we know we all do)
Staff who expect us to give them preferential treatment.
- Thread starter Mollytwodips
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I have two line managers which makes it easier...You work somewhere you can tell your line manager that they're not allowed to tell you what to do?
Bizarro world much?
The people that say "Just say no" are very lucky because they have not had the misfortune to be in your position. Foot stomping is only as effective as the teacher choosing to yield and whether you have support from above.
When you have no support from above and your union rep is about as useful as a soluble condom, you feel very trapped/frustrated and sadly you can either adapt and bear it or just find another school. Obviously neither are ideal options, but not much you can do other that stir the boat which is very risky and can lead to more stress and potential bullying from the powers above...
So true most HOD/Faculty leader (whatever title they have) are not supportive and think we are here to serve at any cost to our mental or physical health. Our HOD is not supportive, some teachers are so I just speak to them direct to sort any issues, no senior here to fight our corner either.
Part of the problem is the segregation of "support staff" and "teaching staff" that is present. Maybe it's just me but I hate this distinction because it creates divide and cements the false point that we are there to support the teachers (as I have been told when raising health and safety issues). We are ALL here to support the students regardless of what our job title is and should be treated with the same respect and consideration as a teacher should. Teachers' job being more stressful is not an excuse for discrimination in terms of treatment, the higher salary already accounts for this...
It's not that she can't tell me what to do but she doesn't know what happens in the prep room on a daily basis. In order to tell me what to do she would have to know my role/workload etc. I don't need managing - I don't think any technician does by the HOD. We're capable of managing our own workload. The HOD's role is to support ( in my opinion) and if a tech sets a req deadline then the HOD should respect their decision, support it and then tell the rest of the department. Idealistic I know.We still have that week cushion but only for things that need us to go shopping
We also ask for two weeks for A-Levels so we can check chemical stock and conditions and reorder if they've gone - we only use the stuff once a year for a lot of it is the fairly reasonable explanation we use
Lucky if we get three full days usually
You work somewhere you can tell your line manager that they're not allowed to tell you what to do?
Bizarro world much?
Reminds me of a time (a good number of years ago now that I think of it) - I had a (rather childish, I admit
) strop at the HoD we had at the time, when he came in over the holidays, specifically while I was away, and rearranged part of the prep room to suit him. I put everything back (noisily, while muttering loudly about time wasters) and in the middle of it he came in and had a go about moving things from "his system". Had a row about it being my work space not his, and I don't go around rearranging his office, blah blah.... He stormed out , I finished my putting stuff back.... Later that day, I was summoned by one of the deputy heads, and received a long speech about how my (and his, he was at pains to point out) only purpose was to support teachers, and we must all do all we can to help them in any way we can..... I quietly responded that I was under the impression that we were all there - all teachers, SLT, support staff, everyone - exclusively to support the pupils, and surely everything we do should be geared up to provide the best possible education we could, including personal workspaces.......? You should have seen the expression on his face..... revelation, enlightenment... he went a funny shade of white/grey, went very quiet, and I stood up and left.... I never heard another thing about it.... His attitude seemed to change after that too.... We seemed to get on well from then on until he retired a few years later, so no lasting damage done.....! This formed part of my argument in a previous role when they were downgrading me from Senior tech. Their argument was that I was no longer managing anyone, therefore could not claim the Senior role. My argument was that was one line in the job description and if they downgraded me I also wouldn't be carrying out any of the other things that were different from the Technician job description. Things including organising my workload, ordering resources and anything health and safety wise.It's not that she can't tell me what to do but she doesn't know what happens in the prep room on a daily basis. In order to tell me what to do she would have to know my role/workload etc. I don't need managing - I don't think any technician does by the HOD. We're capable of managing our own workload. The HOD's role is to support ( in my opinion) and if a tech sets a req deadline then the HOD should respect their decision, support it and then tell the rest of the department. Idealistic I know.
As has been mentioned multiple times in this thread and across this forum, it is rare that anyone realises what we techs do on a day to day basis, often even within the science department. Therefore we should be allowed to have a say in how our workload is distributed, for the safety of ourselves and for the safe and harmonious running of departments.
Sounds like one of mine is moonlighting at your school
I love this answer.
Having been in a toxic environment, I left feeling I was pretty much un-employable.
I immediately got another job, as a temp measure then worked for 2 years in industry, and am back as a senior technician and I couldn't feel more supported. Just remember its not you, it's them xx
I worked somewhere like that and left but it hardened me up for where I am now. I pretty much set the ground work within my first term and they had the choice of keeping me or not passing me through my probation. But then I am a stubborn sod.
Same here, it took me a good 5+ years of hard lessons being learned. Definitely set the rules early on, but even today there are some teachers I just try not to pick a battle with. You can't win them all, but I'll take some victories over none.
I have teachers like that, I call them physics teachers. I am slowly chipping away the head of physics because he wants more tech support but I have said if he isn't following the rules of the department then I cant allocate tech support to help
I have always found chemists to be the most difficult, biology the easiest and physics a mixed bag...
I have always found physics teachers to be the worst with that cant touch me vibe because they know they cannot be replaced easily.
Only been in x2 schools and in tech role for ca 2 years but so far, Physics comes out top because they're weirdos, chemistry a close second (although more demanding/resource heavy) and Biology a distant 3rd (they have chips on shoulder as their chosen subject is considered "easy")
All ours have their good eggs and bad apples. We’re having a bit of a shake up so could be interesting next year.
That's quite bad, very bad. I am sorry you have to work with such morons.
Things are not that bad here anymore. Thankfully, I don't have to say to my teachers anymore: 'you can have 20 sets of no' etc etc. Sci teachers here don't take the micheal with req's at the moment...if there is something last min they come and see me, and its usually for a quick demo and doesn't require me setting up a chem sol or whatever. If they are asking for something last min, I also tell them they can have whatever they want if they can find it; carry it and bring it back to the prep room.
Your HOD should be understanding of a first come first serve basis, so that if that prac situation happens..the late people get whatever is left and have to deal with it.
I find Chem worst, Biology second ( spoilt princesses) except they do fewer practicals, physics more laid back ( with the odd exception)