pshuttle Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 Odd really as there are plenty of us working in this type of capacity - you would think some organisation would "properly" cater for us? Pete
OverWorked Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 I'm in Unison. They seemed the obvious choice, as all the other technical (science, A/V) and admin staff were in it.
MkII Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 Unison Steward here. All our county council IT folk are Unison too.
russdev Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 sying that i am in unison because of my last job but heer eevrybody elese just about are in gmb so might cross over... "speaker of house i am to cross over"... Russ
Dos_Box Posted July 20, 2005 Author Posted July 20, 2005 I've just got the new PCPro. My letter is there, albeit heavily edited and without crediting my name. I seems to have lost some of it's ooomph. Ah well, so long as it make the needy aware of us
ChrisH Posted July 20, 2005 Posted July 20, 2005 Good stuff shame about the edits but I'm sure the bulk of the message is there.
MkII Posted July 20, 2005 Posted July 20, 2005 i am to cross over"... OoOer!!! 'tis good to have a broad representation from several unions. I'd like to say: a union is for getting involved in, not for sitting back and expecting someone else to do it for you. It's a big thing of course that you get legal protection and pay negotiations as part of the package [almost with pay negotiations anyway - volunteers do that too]. We have no GMB stewards in Powys at all, and a few staff here that crossed over have no intention of doing anything for themselves. Great to have the diversity but not if they're not prepared to join in on school meetings.
MrLudwig Posted July 21, 2005 Posted July 21, 2005 Hi all from yet another newbie. I've just found my way here via the letter in PC Pro. Next time you should try for the Star Letter, they'll give you a 17" TFT for that! This place is fantastic, I've only been here an hour and already I've come across exactly the same situations and experiences that I've gone through. We are most defiantly considered an "under-class" (as pshuttle put it a few posts earlier) by many teachers and SLT members. I've been referred to as "just a technician" (although not to my face) despite holding an honours degree and MBCS status. I've been shouted at by a teacher in front of a classroom full of students because she messed up her own room bookings. A colleague was told how teachers are "uniquely professional" as opposed to other staff, by a Food Tech teacher who only a year earlier had failed OFSTED, and yet they still expected us to jump whenever they shout! With these sorts of attitudes among the people we work with, and who benefit from the facilities and services we provide, what hope is there of achieving proper recognition, let alone fair pay? Sorry for ranting like that, it just sort of flooded out! I'll try to restrain myself in future. Mr Ludwig ICT Technician
ninjabeaver Posted July 21, 2005 Posted July 21, 2005 @ MrLudwig As I've said many times before. Don't let the staff trample over you. If they shout tell them to lower their voice or you will walk away and put in an official complaint. Tell them to stop being un-professional in front of their impressionable students, make sure they know they are meant to be an example of professionalism, not a yob. You will be suprised how much power you have over staff. As also mentioned before, if they annoy you put all their requests to the bottom of the pile. We all understand you here and all will offer any support or encouragement you need. Sympathy's a bit sparse though because I've already used it in the school budget discussion. And by the way. Welcome.
Dos_Box Posted July 21, 2005 Author Posted July 21, 2005 This could be a good time to start another topic 'Attitudes of staff to ICT', as most of the teddy throwing is caused by a lack of understanding of IT which in turn leads to what can only be described as 'Professional Panic Attacks' which is whenb someone is expected to do something with a class involving computers and cannot do so for varying reasons.
Edie Posted July 23, 2005 Posted July 23, 2005 You'll have to let us know if they print the letter! Stewart Knight Network Manager Appleby Grammar School Great stuff. Just read your letter in PC Pro today and until then, I thought I was the only person suffering the ICT Coordinator 'dabbler'. Thank God we've broken up for summer holidays and the 'dabbler' has no intention of going into school during holidays. He'll not be under my feet and I can get some serious work done on our recently upgraded network that isn't working!! He took one of his mates in on a Saturday to 'fix' the W 2003 server and locked the lot up. The blokes really a math teacher who plays with Linux and tries to impress its use in school. Command line only! BFN
russdev Posted July 23, 2005 Posted July 23, 2005 hi welcome remember 'in schools no one can hear you scream' Russ
techiebloke Posted July 23, 2005 Posted July 23, 2005 Great stuff. Just read your letter in PC Pro today and until then, I thought I was the only person suffering the ICT Coordinator 'dabbler'. Thank God we've broken up for summer holidays and the 'dabbler' has no intention of going into school during holidays. He'll not be under my feet and I can get some serious work done on our recently upgraded network that isn't working!! He took one of his mates in on a Saturday to 'fix' the W 2003 server and locked the lot up. The blokes really a math teacher who plays with Linux and tries to impress its use in school. Command line only! BFN There are many of these sorts of people around! In my experience the best you can do is get them to work with you, under your careful direction, let them put forward the ideas to the management team/leadership team (the ideas that would be knocked back if a techie put it forward), let them spend the time running round after staff so you can on with the important things. If they don't work with you then there are lots of ways of giving them enough rope to hang themselves; the easiest is to have them "demand" the administrator account details. And then show that they have used it to bugger stuff up, showing that they are about as trustworthy with any form responsibility on the network. You could start by giving him his own Linux network no look after, make or break. You could even get him to use Karoshi if you are *really* worried that he'll cock things up badly. Failing that, plant an etherkiller in his desk draw and show that he wanted to take out the school network.
russdev Posted July 23, 2005 Posted July 23, 2005 yes i agree sometimes you have to just get on with it and giving him a linux box to 'break' would be a good idea as long as you say i will not support or look at it... Russ
Edie Posted July 24, 2005 Posted July 24, 2005 yes i agree sometimes you have to just get on with it and giving him a linux box to 'break' would be a good idea as long as you say i will not support or look at it... Russ I wish it was that easy. B 4 we broke up he demanded all systems disks and MS Office etc from me. I have a good idea why. He's just been on building his own computer at home! Oh, well, six weeks away from it.
Inox Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 Hi guys, another newbie from the PC Pro article. though i'd write in while i'm @ work waiting for Ghost to build me a software package *snore* Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said.... been in education as IT support for almost 5 years now, have had and still am having similar experiences to all of you with regards to stupid teachers/crappy pay/naf working conditions etc. Teachers and Seniour staff can be a real pain sometimes (not ALL teachers, some r really nice ppl), had an experience once where all staff were invited by the head to the staff room for a lunch that he had put on (nice of him), there was a team of 3 of us at that point. We went down there n knocked on the staff room door as we could see someone standing up against it. One of the Seniour staff opened it and told us that we would have to wait till AFTER the "teachers" had finished before we could go in and go through what was left (which wasn't a lot). So we said stuff this and went down the road to Mc Donalds instead. Felt like kicking the door down n telling them exactly how I felt! Was so degrading. Needless to say that the teacher that said that was ALWAYS put to the bottom of the pile from then on! /end rant Must say these forums r genious. They have a wealth of information about various issues/hardware/software/working conditions etc that any IT techie would welcome. I get the feeling i'm gonna really settle in here. Anyways, been browsing since the PC Pro article and finally decided to say hi :-)
russdev Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 well hello and welcome makes me wonder how lucky i have been... i think first impressions and those opening months in a job really set the tone and how people work with you... I always make a point of when start a job once in and got a feel for place to 'take on' an smt person over an issue maybe it is you must do this now etc... and politly put them in there place as word goes around and no one else tries it... Then it is a case of being nice and profestional and rest fulls into place.. Russ
Inox Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 well hello and welcome makes me wonder how lucky i have been... i think first impressions and those opening months in a job really set the tone and how people work with you... I always make a point of when start a job once in and got a feel for place to 'take on' an smt person over an issue maybe it is you must do this now etc... and politly put them in there place as word goes around and no one else tries it... Then it is a case of being nice and profestional and rest fulls into place.. RussYep, I always try to stay professional in any circumstance (although sometimes you do get pushed to the limits). Some good advice there m8, but I have changed jobs since then and have been wrking in new job for almost 2 years now. But thanks all the same :-)
russdev Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 no problem more just a comment not aimed at you russ
jcs808 Posted August 30, 2005 Posted August 30, 2005 I’m afraid that I’ve heard stories like this far too often, and not just from people working in schools. It seems that unless you work for an “IT companyâ€, then as a member of the IT support team you’ll always get a bum deal. Lets face it, the reason your job exists is because the rest of the staff are clueless. I know for a fact that none of the so-called IT whizzes at our place could make up a 2m length of cat 5, even with help. We we’re having some new switches and cables installed for a couple of new ICT suites, when a science teacher comes bursting out of his room demanding that the contractors stop working immediately because he wanted wireless. I tried my hardest to explain that you need a wired network to plug your AP into, I even drew a diagram. He went away after I told him the cost of the wireless kit. It wasn’t much in the real world but it was beyond our budget. It’s human nature to … No, it’s a teacher’s nature to interfere with what’s going on around them, and after all it’s what they are trained to do. If they didn’t then all hell would break loose in every classroom. I just wish that some of them would concentrate on their own jobs and let us get on with ours. It’s not all teachers and I’d bet that those who give the ICT support staff grief and agro are also horrible to the cleaning staff, cooks, caretaker, admin staff and so on. I’m lucky in that I am part of a group who meet with the ICT support staff from other schools on a regular basis, we get a chance to share ideas and it’s good to see a familiar face when you attend any local authority seminar on why the MIS needs another upgrade etc. I was at one of these and a couple of BECTA representatives gave a talk. The gist of which was that attitudes to IT in education are at the same stage as in industry 10-15 years ago, and it was going to be a hard slog dragging them kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Therefore schools need experienced and knowledgeable ICT staff to accomplish that. In my opinion I’m not sure it’s worth the damage to your sanity or your health. If however, you can go home shattered but happy that your efforts are helping the students to achieve something, whether directly or indirectly, then I’m OK with that. Sorry about gas-bagging on my first post, but it's not just the teachers who care about the kids.
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