When we have our termly technician meeting with the Head of Science, chem tech is always full of ideas about what 'we' or 'they' should do to improve the science department. One such idea, which he has brought up periodically over the past few years, is that all 3 technicians should become Higher level Teaching Assistants (HLTA) The idea is that this should (in theory) get us more money and might also get us recognised as academic staff, rather than support staff.
The previous HoS used to listen politely and then completely ignore 95% of everything said at these meetings, but things are changing. Our new HoS is also my HoD and he listens to technicians! At the last meeting he seemed quite interested in chem tech's suggestion, made a lot of notes, and then went to speak to HR.
Unbelievably HR are really keen on the concept and we have been asked to put together a cost/benefit analysis so they can decide whether it's worth pursuing. I thought they'd lose interest the minute pay was mentioned, but apparently not. They have said that they would only want to go forward with one technician initially but then include the others over time and the one technician they want to trial the idea with is me! Apparently I've been selected because I'm the youngest tech here so I guess they think they'll get more back long term if they invest in me.
The thing is, I'm not sure if I want to be a HLTA.
I'm a technician. It's what I've been doing for the past 12 years. My prep room is my comfort zone and the idea of having to teach even small groups of students terrifies me. Quite apart from the fear factor I'm also concerned about what this could mean for technicians in general. Is being a technician not good enough? We are skilled people with specialist knowledge and I would never want that role to be seen as second rate and for teaching to be viewed as the only viable career option. After all that was surely the point of RSciTech - to get people to view technicians as professionals.
I need the money though. At this school there are no support staff pay scales and no additional money for taking on extra responsibilities so I am stuck on my current salary for ever. The only way I can earn more may be to go down this path, but I am really conflicted about what is the right thing to do.
It may be that HR decide the costs are too great for the potential benefits, in which case I am worrying unnessecarily. Watch this space!
Just a thought - do you really have time to be teaching as well as doing techie stuff? Who will cover for you and do your prep / clearing up while you are in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteWould your school not consider a proper pay scale structure for support staff - surely that would be a preferable route to go down?
It will be interesting to hear how this progresses!
I trained as a Sience specialist HLTA several years ago when there was a government pilot scheme. In practice I do not teach but go into classes as an assistant to help with small groups or individuals - can be special needs, gifted & talented or anyone who could do with help and means that I can do something slightly different with them to suit their ability. I arrange it around my own timetable and find it a very interesting part of the job.
DeleteI was awarded a £4000 increase in salary and managed to persuade the school that I should not be used as a cover teacher - we were told in the training to fight for this as many general HLTAs are expected to be cover teachers. I find it very rewarding and it enables me to have a good insight into what goes on in the lesson which means I can often then improve what I supply for lessons. One warning though - doing the training is quite arduous in terms of time as there is a lot of evidence which needs to be collected to achieve all the standards, however you are taken through every step by the trainers. I don't think is something you should be forced into doing if you don't want to though and worth campaigning with your school for a proper pay progression structure.