What do people think of the Lecturers' industrial action?

[LordChaverly 10]

I realise that the teaching timetable is only part of the job, but it's still an indicator of how much preparation, admin, etc needs doing as it shows how many tutor groups they have. Also, lecturers and teachers can, and do, use the same course material for several consecutive years. June to September is relaxation time. I don't resent them though - lucky them, I'd love to have 3 - 4 months off every year.

 

All of this is complete fantasy and shows how little knowledge you have of lecturers' workloads. The idyllic portrait you attempt to paint of recycled lecture notes and long vacations bears no relation at all to the reality of life for lecturers today. I am sure lecturers would love to have 3 or 4 months off a year as well - but the truth is that it is that academic life is becoming virtually an all-year round job - not least (although no means solely) because of the extremely time consuming nature of research which lecturers have to find time for on top of their many other duties

[t020 11]

All of this is complete fantasy and shows how little knowledge you have of lecturers' workloads. The idyllic portrait you attempt to paint of recycled lecture notes and long vacations bears no relation at all to the reality of life for lecturers today.

 

 

Really? I know students with the same lecture notes that I had 4 years ago.

[LordChaverly 10]

Really? I know students with the same lecture notes that I had 4 years ago.

 

Yes, really - and I know many lecturers who are constantly racing against the clock to up-date and revise their material, having to fit this in with the many other duties I have already mentioned. It is abundantly clear that you have at best a flimsy and superficial knoweldge of what lecturers do.

[Twiglet 10]

Really? I know students with the same lecture notes that I had 4 years ago.

 

Again, completely irrelevant. Summer is the only time lecturers have to conduct research and we spend most of it running short courses and CPD for external companies because this brings in money for the university. Factor in postgraduate research students that don't go home over the summer and need supervision, award boards which require a lot of preparation, extra duties which most members of staff have (e.g. boards which they sit on, head of research, people who organise visits etc.). Summer is a particularly heavy time for administration. We deal with many of the admissions ourselves and then sort out clearing. We also have resits which require the setting of further exams (for the third time in the year for each unit as students are also allowed an in-course retrieval before they have to do a resit in summer).

 

Check out the time I'm at work, I've been here half an hour, and I won't be leaving until gone 6.

[Phanerothyme 12]

And lecturers musn't forget the RAE - publish or be sacked. So on top of the workload, and a salary that has hardly changed in 7 years, they have to do make original contributions to knowledge and publish them in order to boost the universities research rating and subsequently funding.

 

Of course a lot of their time is spent teaching undergraduates grammar, spelling and how to put an argument together. Sometimes, it just doesn't work, no matter how 'gifted' the pupil. QED above.

[hannahdlz 10]

Hmmm it's a difficult one this... I think the majority of lecturers work extremely long hours and, like someone said earlier, their salary does not reflect the years of self-funded study they have had to do to get where they are. Also, I only recently became aware of the immense pressure lecturers are under from universities to publish original work regularly - with this in mind you can see why many have no choice about working ridiculously long hours. And since we need lecturers to keep the higher education system rolling, it only seems right to pay them fairly for what they do.

 

But as with school teachers, while the majority go above and beyond the call of duty, working every evening, every weekend and all through the 'holidays' (my Mum's a headteacher - trust me I know about this!), there are always some who don't put the effort in and take a lot more time off than someone in a more regimented 9-5 job. In my experience though, these are very much in the minority.

 

However, regardless of all that, I think that taking it out on the students is totally and utterly unfair. It's all very well to say that students should understand that the lecturers wouldn't do this unless absolutely necessary but try telling that to someone who has just spent their final year slogging their guts out with exams, coursework, dissertation etc. I graduated last year after 4 years at uni, the last two of which were incredibly difficult and absolutely exhausting. If someone had turned round at the end of that and told me that my work wouldn't be marked and that I wouldn't be able to graduate and get on with my life, it would have destroyed me.

 

I haven't voted on the poll because I genuinely don't know. I think their complaints are definitely justified but I think their action is not. Students are being used as the bait in this dispute which simply isn't fair.

[LordChaverly 10]

And lecturers musn't forget the RAE - publish or be sacked. So on top of the workload, and a salary that has hardly changed in 7 years, they have to do make original contributions to knowledge and publish them in order to boost the universities research rating and subsequently funding.

 

Of course a lot of their time is spent teaching undergraduates grammar, spelling and how to put an argument together. Sometimes, it just doesn't work, no matter how 'gifted' the pupil. QED above.

 

Well said Phan - in fact there are several other dimensions to this issue which have hardly been touched upon so far. Increasingly, the RAE is a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of lecturers, particularly new ones on non-permanent contracts. Publish or be damned has been replaced by publish or be sacked (i.e. not have your contract renewed). Anyone who has ever done any original research will be well aware of how time consuming it is. You are also right about the additional work lecturers now have to put in to bring students up to the required standard with regard to the techniques you mention. It ain't easy.

[Twiglet 10]

Of course a lot of their time is spent teaching undergraduates grammar, spelling and how to put an argument together. Sometimes, it just doesn't work, no matter how 'gifted' the pupil. QED above.

 

Don't even get me started on the fact that overseas students' English is far better than the native speakers

[Outraged 10]

Lecturing is surely a vocation chosen by a those with a desire to teach and research. Most lecturers I know greatly enjoy their jobs as they are essentially doing what they love and getting paid for it. Some of them are as disgusted as I am at this current action.

 

There are plenty of better paid jobs out there and there always have been. If you're not getting paid enough in any job, you surely find a job that pays the money that you think that you're worth.

 

This isn't the case for lecturers: They won't leave because they enjoy their jobs, but want to get paid more for it. They've been guaranteed an above inflation rise for the next 2 years, most private sector workers would be thrilled with this.

 

We sneer and joke every time the French go on strike. Why should the lecturers expect anything but public disapproval when they resort to the same, dated way of trying to resolve things.

[Twiglet 10]

 

This isn't the case for lecturers: They won't leave because they enjoy their jobs, but want to get paid more for it. They've been guaranteed an above inflation rise for the next 2 years, most private sector workers would be thrilled with this.

 

 

Private sector workers haven't been suffering a effective continual decline in their pay for the last decade. They also weren't promised a certain percentage pay rise to blackmail them into supporting the bill for higher tuition fees, then had it revoked after the fees were implemented.

[AtticusFinch 10]

The cost for this is far too high. We're talking about students' education here, and striking at exam-marking time to maximise impact is just pure spite. This has nothing to do with the students, so they shouldn't be punished for it.

 

I'm now a university postdoctoral researcher who'll probably be a lecturer one day. During my undergraduate degree this exact same thing happened, where my tutor delayed marking our exam papers because he was taking industrial action. I can still remember clearly how frustrated this made me feel, and it's not right that so many students should suffer in the same way.

 

The cynical choice by the union of such an important time for this action makes them look very bad IMO.

 

[rad 10]

Ah, here comes the problem with vocational jobs, though. Nurses, teachers, vicars, youth workers, lecturers, many charity workers etc etc are all underpaid because they love their jobs. The answer seems to be lump bad pay or succumb to the 'evil capitalist' world. Of course, aprt of the reason for low pay in 'vocations' is due to lack of funding, but this is not actually the case with the lecturers right now, because of money they were promised, hence the industrial action.