ISIS
They need no introduction, they claim to be fighting for their "prophet" and for a purpose. The truth is they are made up of people who have serious issues, have lost the plot and couldn't care less about human life.
We've heard the excuses why they do it, Irag, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and then there is history which dates back to 1000 years ago. If we all looked back at our history we would all have so called excuses to murder innocent people.
What's happening in the middle east is being condemned by every person who cares about human life. We should not be randomly bombing targets instead we should be sending in the troops who can target those armed.
Fact of the matter is ISIS, are no different to the Nazis full of natural hate. Any excuse to kill random people.
Why France?
The fact they are targeting France says it all, they are not the worst nation by far who impact the middle east. In fact the French are a much more peaceful race compared to many of the EU/World nations. This to any sane person shows that they really don't care about fighting for any freedoms or to save their own loved ones.
False Promises/Religion
When you look at history, you see religion being one of the biggest strengths and the worst kind of faith. It can create martyrs, murderers, people without fear yet can bring people away from darkness.
One day they will realise they have no real goal and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel for psychopathic murderers.
Hypocrites
They are beyond the worst when it comes to hypocrisy, they claim to be loyal to their own faith yet they rape, murder and eat western foods. They drive western cars, they wear western clothes, use tools made by western society. - Hypocrisy -
No matter which way you look at it, they will continue to murder unarmed and innocent people. They won't waste their time targeting military installations that actual freedom fighters would do. Cowards.
They claim it's because of bombings, the fact is if the west targeted a School by accident you can hell bent that people will be torn apart over it. If they purposely targeted Schools - you can hell fire on those responsible. ISIS have are purposely targeting innocents.
They really are scum on this earth. They are not following Islam which in fact doesn't allow murder let alone randomly killing people who believe differently. They apparently follow their faith but the truth is they don't. If a man is caught cheating, we know what the punishment is. Yet ISIS are allowed to choose rape..
A true Muslim, doesn't harm another who believes differently. True Islam wouldn't harm another for revenge.
They will not bring the end of the world, there will be no Muslim war. They will not bring fire.
One day they will be the same as the Nazis, forgotten page of our embarrassing history. A page to be missed, a sickening and disgusting part of humanity. Soon they will no longer be a military threat but continue to randomly murder for what? for their future? for their prophet? No - for nothing.
I'm not far off from being 40. What's changed? Nothing. ISIS have done nothing to change the world in all this bloodshed they have committed. All they have done is make people think, talk and then move on with their lives. I for one, will carry on going to work. Carry on eating and drinking.
Nothing has changed ISIS. You are murdering scum, you are not a faith, not a religion, not a nation and not a people. You are a group of sicko's and nothing more. You will be a forgotten page. You have no plan, you are nothing, you brainwash idiots, uneducated and clueless people. You are nothing.
Friday 15 July 2016
Tuesday 12 July 2016
Twitter: Getting the best out of it
Follow me on Twitter
I've been a long time twitter user, came on and off like a yoyo going up and down.
So now I have this blog, I use twitter to advertise it.
Let's get to the it-:
Using the Hashtags
Every tweet you do, add the # in to certain words.
#Education
#IT
#ITSupport
#Schools
#Students
#TeachingAndLearning7
#EduTech
These are popular tags and when you search a tag, it shows you the history of that tag (for hours or days, depends on popularity). This is incredibly useful, the more likes and retweets you get the more viewers you get.
Reply to Hot Topics
Reply to as many topics as possible, spam if you have to, don't forget the # in front of useful words.
Follow a lot of People
The more you follow, the more you can reply, the more you get your own view out there. Sooner or later people will follow you and do the same to you.
Don't be afraid to Advertise
Constantly use links to your website, for me I am constantly advertising my blog. As a result - my visit counter has sky rocketed. Revisit old topics and add your website link, retweet and like anything and everything.
Don't hold back and use it to your advantage, follow as many people as possible - you can mute those you are not interested in.
Create posts and link to those twitter sites
I recently created a post which were about a few tweets and linked sites. This helps increase viewers, tweets, retweets, likes and what you want - advertisement.
It's a full time job but in no time you can gain a lot of followers which in turn is what you want. Don't be afraid to be annoying, don't be afraid to follow those you shouldn't. If you keep your twitter account void of any personal data then nothing can fall over.
I've been a long time twitter user, came on and off like a yoyo going up and down.
So now I have this blog, I use twitter to advertise it.
Let's get to the it-:
Using the Hashtags
Every tweet you do, add the # in to certain words.
#Education
#IT
#ITSupport
#Schools
#Students
#TeachingAndLearning7
#EduTech
These are popular tags and when you search a tag, it shows you the history of that tag (for hours or days, depends on popularity). This is incredibly useful, the more likes and retweets you get the more viewers you get.
Reply to Hot Topics
Reply to as many topics as possible, spam if you have to, don't forget the # in front of useful words.
Follow a lot of People
The more you follow, the more you can reply, the more you get your own view out there. Sooner or later people will follow you and do the same to you.
Don't be afraid to Advertise
Constantly use links to your website, for me I am constantly advertising my blog. As a result - my visit counter has sky rocketed. Revisit old topics and add your website link, retweet and like anything and everything.
Don't hold back and use it to your advantage, follow as many people as possible - you can mute those you are not interested in.
Create posts and link to those twitter sites
I recently created a post which were about a few tweets and linked sites. This helps increase viewers, tweets, retweets, likes and what you want - advertisement.
It's a full time job but in no time you can gain a lot of followers which in turn is what you want. Don't be afraid to be annoying, don't be afraid to follow those you shouldn't. If you keep your twitter account void of any personal data then nothing can fall over.
Why BYOD/Mobile Technology is damaging Teaching and Leaning
I've been reading a lot of articles lately in regards to mobile technology and BYOD in education.
The not so Technical capable
A lot of the time unless you work in IT full time, you generally will not have the knowledge of terminology nor understanding. After all if you are a teacher you will spend every day educating students and not learning to understand technology.
VLE
Five myths about classroom technology
I chose these two as prime examples, both are completed by some one who has a speciality field and it's certainly not the technical.
The first one talked about Virtual Classrooms but this all boils down to one thing - Any Where Access. This term is referred to when you want something created at work but you can access it on holiday, while at home and all you need is a device with signal (4G/Wi-Fi or cable).
There is a no physical hardware for virtualised systems.. wrong - there is a physical device for everything on the internet. The term Cloud is a bit like Wi-Fi where the "Fi" doesn't actually mean anything, it's a simple non techie designation for the every day user.
Everything you save will be saved to a physical server with a physical disc. It could be stored any where in the world. As a result there is a lack of actual education towards the students, we are creating in their minds that technology is simple every day. It's easy to maintain, use and pay for which sadly in the real world it's not.
The second one talked about internet filtering shouldn't be so strict, wrong. We have a duty of care to protect Students at School. They can be bullied at School which is why we have to hammer that hard, so what if they get bullied at home? that's not the attitude to have. If a student can get bullied at home you don't ignore bullying on site. If a student is racist at School you don't ignore that because the student can be racist at home. They are real life issues that require tackling.
Teaching a student that there is "a reason why filtering exists", educates them in to realising that's how systems are setup every where. Even service providers are now by default blocking inappropriate materials which requires the parent to "opt out" why? for safety of children.
I once dealt with a case where a student was being bullied on Facebook, that student refused to delete that person because she wanted to know "what was being said". Instead of reporting it asap and blocking that person, it escalated to a much severe incident.
Educating the students doesn't always work which is why you have a plan B - Internet Filtering. And in the day and age of extremism we have even more responsibility to protect children - they are after all children.
The people who vote against filtering are rarely those who deal directly with student behaviour - coincidence?
5 Reasons Organizations Embrace BYOD
This one, doesn't exactly show what the 5 reasons actually are but there is one. AnyWhereAccess which I have mentioned before, if you are able to access all your work anywhere this is the biggest benefit. BUT what has this got to do with BYOD?
Nothing actually. Most people have access to IT in some kind of way, but why BYOD? I can't produce professional work on my latest iPhone. I can't spend hours and hours typing up reports or going through budget spreadsheets so why would I just have a phone?
This is where it makes no sense, the article writer has not actually spent time doing BYOD instead he has simply pointed out that more and more people have mobile technology. I use my mobile for email, internet and Apps. I have a calendar on it for meetings and of course instant messaging plus phone calls. I can't exactly do my job on it, I can't use it to remote on to systems to do maintenance with it's small screen. I can't restore any work, alter data drive sizes, reset the endless amount of passwords and generally perform 90% of my work.
I can do some of it but again with it's small screen does it make it a "productive" method? No.
This is why again it goes back to my original assessment that a lot of people reviewing technology actually have minimal experience of actually using it. Spending time with kids, less tech savvy adults and the general public. People want things to "work" and work fast, to have everything they need at a click of a button which is why BYOD schemes are failing. When they fail - they are costing tens of thousands...
Fit For Purpose
It should always be this title, if you go on holiday and don't plan on producing work. Having access to your emails is great on the phone. If you plan on being productive does it make sense in just using the phone?
As an artist creating a painting you would always have the correct tools, likewise for any job out there. So I say to you - use the right tool for the right job.
iPad Apps
Again, looking through the above. You see a lot of wonderful Apps and some of them I have personal experience with. Not all of them are the full versions of the product when compared to software versions installed on Windows/Macs. What's also not mentioned is the fact where is the Office replacement? Productivity is very important for Ofsted and results, if you don't get them right the School suffers and so does educating students.
There is a severe lack of "fit for purpose" on technology and it creates that blindness because people protect their jobs and don't necessarily want the truth out there. It's very easy for anyone to claim "this is great and works" but to put it through every day life with students is a very different subject.
I take one look at the first paragraph - "In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m quite a fan of the iPad (the Lollipop Nexus 9’s not too bad either). Not because of its design or because its by Apple or any of that, but because of its keen heritage in the learning arena"
Unfortunately what is not mentioned is the fact that iPads have not long actually caught up with education. When they were first invented, every School wanted one and realised there was no management controls - nothing. Only lately could you actually manage them simply and easily.
BUT that's not what this is about, it's the learning side of things which again - The iTunes store only has around 10% better quality apps and availability. With the GooglePlay store fast catching up, after all the iTunes store is older than Google's. Yet according to this article writer, it's keen heritage in the learning area. Even though Apple has only made learning a priority in the last 3 years - not really a heritage to learning and certainly not "keen". Microsoft have been a major part much more than Apple in education plus business's (that includes learning) yet even M$ have been far behind what education is about. Likewise for the iPad, Microsoft have had to fast catchup to what learning is about with Office 365, email, tools and even the new "Whiteboard".
So again, this assumption that Apple/iPad have has that keen heritage to learning is sadly a lie. It would be similar to claiming a brand new football team has a lot of history after a few seasons.. which wouldn't be the case for a new team, new board, new stadium etc.
The simply fact is this is about being that pro "Apple" and "iPad". Which I have talked about plenty of times before, don't hide the fact you are pro Apple and don't pretend it's not the main reason why.
Simply state facts so people don't get the wrong information.
The Salesman
I've already covered quite a bit about the salesman, he or she will not care in any way about you. They don't care about the impact on teaching and learning nor budget issues for the School, their main purpose is to sell you what they have.
Having met many salesman over the years and proved that even the most friendly ones can con/over charge you I can only say they always have their own intentions. Even consultants will have their own preference and will want to prove their own opinion as fact.
In my job I have no choice but to prove best value, fit for purpose and what I know will give the least amount of issues and least amount of work required for teachers.
Always keep an open mind, avoid looking at what seems 'pretty' and make sure you have a problem that requires solving. People simply have a habit of buying something then deciding how they can use it instead of thinking how to use technology before the purchase.
The not so Technical capable
A lot of the time unless you work in IT full time, you generally will not have the knowledge of terminology nor understanding. After all if you are a teacher you will spend every day educating students and not learning to understand technology.
VLE
Five myths about classroom technology
I chose these two as prime examples, both are completed by some one who has a speciality field and it's certainly not the technical.
The first one talked about Virtual Classrooms but this all boils down to one thing - Any Where Access. This term is referred to when you want something created at work but you can access it on holiday, while at home and all you need is a device with signal (4G/Wi-Fi or cable).
There is a no physical hardware for virtualised systems.. wrong - there is a physical device for everything on the internet. The term Cloud is a bit like Wi-Fi where the "Fi" doesn't actually mean anything, it's a simple non techie designation for the every day user.
Everything you save will be saved to a physical server with a physical disc. It could be stored any where in the world. As a result there is a lack of actual education towards the students, we are creating in their minds that technology is simple every day. It's easy to maintain, use and pay for which sadly in the real world it's not.
The second one talked about internet filtering shouldn't be so strict, wrong. We have a duty of care to protect Students at School. They can be bullied at School which is why we have to hammer that hard, so what if they get bullied at home? that's not the attitude to have. If a student can get bullied at home you don't ignore bullying on site. If a student is racist at School you don't ignore that because the student can be racist at home. They are real life issues that require tackling.
Teaching a student that there is "a reason why filtering exists", educates them in to realising that's how systems are setup every where. Even service providers are now by default blocking inappropriate materials which requires the parent to "opt out" why? for safety of children.
I once dealt with a case where a student was being bullied on Facebook, that student refused to delete that person because she wanted to know "what was being said". Instead of reporting it asap and blocking that person, it escalated to a much severe incident.
Educating the students doesn't always work which is why you have a plan B - Internet Filtering. And in the day and age of extremism we have even more responsibility to protect children - they are after all children.
The people who vote against filtering are rarely those who deal directly with student behaviour - coincidence?
5 Reasons Organizations Embrace BYOD
This one, doesn't exactly show what the 5 reasons actually are but there is one. AnyWhereAccess which I have mentioned before, if you are able to access all your work anywhere this is the biggest benefit. BUT what has this got to do with BYOD?
Nothing actually. Most people have access to IT in some kind of way, but why BYOD? I can't produce professional work on my latest iPhone. I can't spend hours and hours typing up reports or going through budget spreadsheets so why would I just have a phone?
This is where it makes no sense, the article writer has not actually spent time doing BYOD instead he has simply pointed out that more and more people have mobile technology. I use my mobile for email, internet and Apps. I have a calendar on it for meetings and of course instant messaging plus phone calls. I can't exactly do my job on it, I can't use it to remote on to systems to do maintenance with it's small screen. I can't restore any work, alter data drive sizes, reset the endless amount of passwords and generally perform 90% of my work.
I can do some of it but again with it's small screen does it make it a "productive" method? No.
This is why again it goes back to my original assessment that a lot of people reviewing technology actually have minimal experience of actually using it. Spending time with kids, less tech savvy adults and the general public. People want things to "work" and work fast, to have everything they need at a click of a button which is why BYOD schemes are failing. When they fail - they are costing tens of thousands...
Fit For Purpose
It should always be this title, if you go on holiday and don't plan on producing work. Having access to your emails is great on the phone. If you plan on being productive does it make sense in just using the phone?
As an artist creating a painting you would always have the correct tools, likewise for any job out there. So I say to you - use the right tool for the right job.
iPad Apps
Again, looking through the above. You see a lot of wonderful Apps and some of them I have personal experience with. Not all of them are the full versions of the product when compared to software versions installed on Windows/Macs. What's also not mentioned is the fact where is the Office replacement? Productivity is very important for Ofsted and results, if you don't get them right the School suffers and so does educating students.
There is a severe lack of "fit for purpose" on technology and it creates that blindness because people protect their jobs and don't necessarily want the truth out there. It's very easy for anyone to claim "this is great and works" but to put it through every day life with students is a very different subject.
I take one look at the first paragraph - "In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m quite a fan of the iPad (the Lollipop Nexus 9’s not too bad either). Not because of its design or because its by Apple or any of that, but because of its keen heritage in the learning arena"
Unfortunately what is not mentioned is the fact that iPads have not long actually caught up with education. When they were first invented, every School wanted one and realised there was no management controls - nothing. Only lately could you actually manage them simply and easily.
BUT that's not what this is about, it's the learning side of things which again - The iTunes store only has around 10% better quality apps and availability. With the GooglePlay store fast catching up, after all the iTunes store is older than Google's. Yet according to this article writer, it's keen heritage in the learning area. Even though Apple has only made learning a priority in the last 3 years - not really a heritage to learning and certainly not "keen". Microsoft have been a major part much more than Apple in education plus business's (that includes learning) yet even M$ have been far behind what education is about. Likewise for the iPad, Microsoft have had to fast catchup to what learning is about with Office 365, email, tools and even the new "Whiteboard".
So again, this assumption that Apple/iPad have has that keen heritage to learning is sadly a lie. It would be similar to claiming a brand new football team has a lot of history after a few seasons.. which wouldn't be the case for a new team, new board, new stadium etc.
The simply fact is this is about being that pro "Apple" and "iPad". Which I have talked about plenty of times before, don't hide the fact you are pro Apple and don't pretend it's not the main reason why.
Simply state facts so people don't get the wrong information.
The Salesman
I've already covered quite a bit about the salesman, he or she will not care in any way about you. They don't care about the impact on teaching and learning nor budget issues for the School, their main purpose is to sell you what they have.
Having met many salesman over the years and proved that even the most friendly ones can con/over charge you I can only say they always have their own intentions. Even consultants will have their own preference and will want to prove their own opinion as fact.
In my job I have no choice but to prove best value, fit for purpose and what I know will give the least amount of issues and least amount of work required for teachers.
Always keep an open mind, avoid looking at what seems 'pretty' and make sure you have a problem that requires solving. People simply have a habit of buying something then deciding how they can use it instead of thinking how to use technology before the purchase.
Wednesday 6 July 2016
There you go, I am on Twitter!!!
https://twitter.com/HarryHarryshud
Go ahead and follow me.
I follow back but you may have to wait 24 hours!
https://twitter.com/HarryHarryshud
Go ahead and follow me.
I follow back but you may have to wait 24 hours!
Tuesday 5 July 2016
Personal: #Nutstrike
Follow me on Twitter
We all know what this is, the strike by Teachers.
I will jump straight in to what they are striking about?
Budget Cuts
I actually agree with the Government on this one, Schools have had their budget cuts or shall we say increase Student/Classrooms with no extra budgets. Although they have lost access to "extra" funding from disability benefits and grants.
Having worked in IT for many years in Education, I've personally witnessed endless amount of waste. Not by support staff or by Students but instead by Teachers.
Does a School need a Mac costing £800-£1000 instead of a PC which costing £200-£300?
Does a School need to subscribe to an online service costing £5000 a year just to be forgotten and not used?
Does a School need to print endlessly costing £40,000-£50,000 a year?
Waste.
This is why Schools are having "budgets cut", it's because Schools have never held back on spending money. They have never evaluated cost value. There is a reason why Schools are forced to do the 3 quotations to Governors - because it forces them to prove they are getting good value.
It's why the general public are angry when they strike over budgets being cut.
I managed to work out that in a few years a School has wasted £400K on "IT" that wasn't needed but it looked "pretty" and all of it was scrapped.
Pay
An NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) fresh out of Education and has no life experience other then School > College > University will have a starting salary of £19,000 to £23,000. This is considered to be poor pay.
The average performance management review pay increases are around £1200 a year. When a promotion occurs to say Head of Department, that can go up by roughly £7,000 > £9,000 a year. An Assistant Head will earn roughly the same more and likewise for a Deputy Head. So a Deputy Head would earn roughly around £45,000 a year.
The Head Teacher can earn anything up to and beyond what the Prime Minister is on. The average of a HT seems to be around £75,000.
According to the Teachers, they are under paid.
Having worked in my job for a long time, I've learnt how to do things in my own free time with little support. I've been expected to do what professionals do in the private sector for double my pay yet do teachers care about that? course not.
Working Conditions
This part, is the straw that niggles me. The assumption they are the only professionals that work long hours for no extra pay.
I am currently on 37 hours a week and have been for a long time. I've never been paid for "overtime", I have never earned more for working from 8AM till 10PM at night for an event. I have never been paid for server maintenance on site nor at home till late. I remember once doing an urgent email server defrag and being up at midnight to make sure it ran smoothly on a Friday.
Did anyone care about? Did the very teachers who complain about this say thank you? Did they have sympathy for this? NO. So these teachers who accuse others of being uneducated because they don't fully understand are just as oblivious to other professionals that work long hours.
I access my email at home, my time off I am on my emails, when I am on holiday if there is Wi-Fi that's right - I am on my emails. Making sure the team are working, nothing urgent is occurring and generally helping out.
I remember once when a major server had failed and we had to order a part. This server was critical and I stayed till 9PM on three nights (starting at 8am). I did this for the HT because we got along very well and he understood it was out of my power. I advised the School to spend money on something and they ignored me (being the IT pro) so that cheap server failed.
One night I went home at 5PM when there was nothing I could do but wait for everything to restore. I would work from home keeping an eye on it. I found out the next day s Head of Science had criticised me for leaving ON TIME when I should have stayed. So a teacher who should know better had no clue about the hard work I had faced and long hours of no extra pay. Was I at the time on a good salary? NO I was on less than an NQT would be on today. Then again - I am grateful for what I have in life.
We are expected to do MORE
So teachers clean, do caretaker work and perform admin tasks for the School.
Well, so have I. I've been asked to be a cleaner, photographer, PA, TA and supervisor by teachers. They don't even ask "nicely" instead you will see my name on a list, that expectancy, that "You should be grateful for a job" attitude in my face.
Do you think the teachers really care? course not. They have a job that is beyond what anyone else does professionally. It's why I can't have too much sympathy for them.
Why the Teacher Unions need to go
I believe the Unions are responsible for the majority of the issues. Teachers know they are protected, they have legal advice on their contracts and pull out every stop to protect their fellow kind - teachers.
They are the ones who want "strikes" and "protests", they are the ones who push to protect teachers and NOT for the better life of our children. I know a lot of people that choose this profession just because of the summer holiday - not because they want to teach.
The teacher unions prevent Head Teachers from removing poor teachers, if I was poor at my job I can promise you I would be shown the door and treated very poorly.
Scrap the teacher unions and concentrate what you are paid to do - TEACH. I would tell that to the Government and to YOU.
The Holidays
These are actually not holidays for teachers, they are expected to get the standard 24+ days off a year which doesn't include bank holidays during that 24.
So what are they expected to do during those periods? Lesson plan, assessments, marking and data tracking. They are not for teachers to take off to Spain every chance they get. I would like to add I have been fully aware of some teachers that DO NOT come in during the holidays and DO NOT work either. How do I know this? because I've been openly told by teachers.
Today I've been watching the Twitter feed and the entire thing echo's Brexit.
You are uneducated - walk in our shoes - you are clueless. Insults aimed at criticising teachers.
The truth is, teachers can't take criticism. They do not like being told no. They hate not getting their own way.
I've worked with them for a long time and I'm fully aware of what they are like. This isn't just an IT person stating this, this is from every one that has ever worked with teachers in or out Schools.
Teachers, need a dosage of reality after all again they have only ever done > School > College > University > Teaching. They have never left education.
Final Note
On a last mention, I got told once "You chose your profession, it's occupational hazard to deal with people moaning at you all day. You should be grateful you have a job and you are here to do what I tell you to do regardless if it's IT or not". This was a very line that I got thrown in my face by - A TEACHER.
I've heard this line a lot through my career aimed at Support Staff with no care.
So why should I, the:
Voter
Parent
Tax Payer
Professional Worker
Support Staff
Done jobs OUTSIDE of Education
I will not have sympathy for Teachers when they will not have sympathy for others and automatically accuse "everyone" of not understanding. I am a professional and I am fully aware that people work long hours for NOTHING and everything can be out of their POWER.
If you read my other post regarding the difficulty of Teaching, you will see that I understand much more than they will ever understand about my job.
We all know what this is, the strike by Teachers.
I will jump straight in to what they are striking about?
Budget Cuts
I actually agree with the Government on this one, Schools have had their budget cuts or shall we say increase Student/Classrooms with no extra budgets. Although they have lost access to "extra" funding from disability benefits and grants.
Having worked in IT for many years in Education, I've personally witnessed endless amount of waste. Not by support staff or by Students but instead by Teachers.
Does a School need a Mac costing £800-£1000 instead of a PC which costing £200-£300?
Does a School need to subscribe to an online service costing £5000 a year just to be forgotten and not used?
Does a School need to print endlessly costing £40,000-£50,000 a year?
Waste.
This is why Schools are having "budgets cut", it's because Schools have never held back on spending money. They have never evaluated cost value. There is a reason why Schools are forced to do the 3 quotations to Governors - because it forces them to prove they are getting good value.
It's why the general public are angry when they strike over budgets being cut.
I managed to work out that in a few years a School has wasted £400K on "IT" that wasn't needed but it looked "pretty" and all of it was scrapped.
Pay
An NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) fresh out of Education and has no life experience other then School > College > University will have a starting salary of £19,000 to £23,000. This is considered to be poor pay.
The average performance management review pay increases are around £1200 a year. When a promotion occurs to say Head of Department, that can go up by roughly £7,000 > £9,000 a year. An Assistant Head will earn roughly the same more and likewise for a Deputy Head. So a Deputy Head would earn roughly around £45,000 a year.
The Head Teacher can earn anything up to and beyond what the Prime Minister is on. The average of a HT seems to be around £75,000.
According to the Teachers, they are under paid.
Having worked in my job for a long time, I've learnt how to do things in my own free time with little support. I've been expected to do what professionals do in the private sector for double my pay yet do teachers care about that? course not.
Working Conditions
This part, is the straw that niggles me. The assumption they are the only professionals that work long hours for no extra pay.
I am currently on 37 hours a week and have been for a long time. I've never been paid for "overtime", I have never earned more for working from 8AM till 10PM at night for an event. I have never been paid for server maintenance on site nor at home till late. I remember once doing an urgent email server defrag and being up at midnight to make sure it ran smoothly on a Friday.
Did anyone care about? Did the very teachers who complain about this say thank you? Did they have sympathy for this? NO. So these teachers who accuse others of being uneducated because they don't fully understand are just as oblivious to other professionals that work long hours.
I access my email at home, my time off I am on my emails, when I am on holiday if there is Wi-Fi that's right - I am on my emails. Making sure the team are working, nothing urgent is occurring and generally helping out.
I remember once when a major server had failed and we had to order a part. This server was critical and I stayed till 9PM on three nights (starting at 8am). I did this for the HT because we got along very well and he understood it was out of my power. I advised the School to spend money on something and they ignored me (being the IT pro) so that cheap server failed.
One night I went home at 5PM when there was nothing I could do but wait for everything to restore. I would work from home keeping an eye on it. I found out the next day s Head of Science had criticised me for leaving ON TIME when I should have stayed. So a teacher who should know better had no clue about the hard work I had faced and long hours of no extra pay. Was I at the time on a good salary? NO I was on less than an NQT would be on today. Then again - I am grateful for what I have in life.
We are expected to do MORE
So teachers clean, do caretaker work and perform admin tasks for the School.
Well, so have I. I've been asked to be a cleaner, photographer, PA, TA and supervisor by teachers. They don't even ask "nicely" instead you will see my name on a list, that expectancy, that "You should be grateful for a job" attitude in my face.
Do you think the teachers really care? course not. They have a job that is beyond what anyone else does professionally. It's why I can't have too much sympathy for them.
Why the Teacher Unions need to go
I believe the Unions are responsible for the majority of the issues. Teachers know they are protected, they have legal advice on their contracts and pull out every stop to protect their fellow kind - teachers.
They are the ones who want "strikes" and "protests", they are the ones who push to protect teachers and NOT for the better life of our children. I know a lot of people that choose this profession just because of the summer holiday - not because they want to teach.
The teacher unions prevent Head Teachers from removing poor teachers, if I was poor at my job I can promise you I would be shown the door and treated very poorly.
Scrap the teacher unions and concentrate what you are paid to do - TEACH. I would tell that to the Government and to YOU.
The Holidays
These are actually not holidays for teachers, they are expected to get the standard 24+ days off a year which doesn't include bank holidays during that 24.
So what are they expected to do during those periods? Lesson plan, assessments, marking and data tracking. They are not for teachers to take off to Spain every chance they get. I would like to add I have been fully aware of some teachers that DO NOT come in during the holidays and DO NOT work either. How do I know this? because I've been openly told by teachers.
Today I've been watching the Twitter feed and the entire thing echo's Brexit.
You are uneducated - walk in our shoes - you are clueless. Insults aimed at criticising teachers.
The truth is, teachers can't take criticism. They do not like being told no. They hate not getting their own way.
I've worked with them for a long time and I'm fully aware of what they are like. This isn't just an IT person stating this, this is from every one that has ever worked with teachers in or out Schools.
Teachers, need a dosage of reality after all again they have only ever done > School > College > University > Teaching. They have never left education.
Final Note
On a last mention, I got told once "You chose your profession, it's occupational hazard to deal with people moaning at you all day. You should be grateful you have a job and you are here to do what I tell you to do regardless if it's IT or not". This was a very line that I got thrown in my face by - A TEACHER.
I've heard this line a lot through my career aimed at Support Staff with no care.
So why should I, the:
Voter
Parent
Tax Payer
Professional Worker
Support Staff
Done jobs OUTSIDE of Education
I will not have sympathy for Teachers when they will not have sympathy for others and automatically accuse "everyone" of not understanding. I am a professional and I am fully aware that people work long hours for NOTHING and everything can be out of their POWER.
If you read my other post regarding the difficulty of Teaching, you will see that I understand much more than they will ever understand about my job.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)