Comments on: to what end…?

By: prisca

prisca — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:45:51 +0000

Monica :) thanks for your comment, that is so nice ;)
Well, this all happened 2 years ago by now – and sadly things are just getting worse now. I feel very lucky to have such a nice class in all of you this year :) so yes, fingers crossed that I get lucky again ;)

Thanks again, Monica, for your lovely comment :)

By: monica

monica — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:03:52 +0000

Hi,

I had by accident came accross with this article and I have to say it is very sad and annoying to hear that this is what you and your colleagues have been through. I think the department of creative arts is great and from what you said you and your colleagues made a perfect team together. I think that you are a treasure for the college:) and they should fight more for keeping the courses and protest for this cause.
But don’t worry, it is always a way to get where you want,especially that we learn this in web design.
I always advertise the course wherever I go and people are amazed of what and how much you can create in only 1 year. I am confident that next year you will have the class full again and maybe the same chemistry as we all have this year:) hehe
When I will be successful I will take you on my side and we will teach the world web design :)

By: prisca

prisca — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:49:58 +0000

to those thinking I initiated the TES article – just to clarify:

I did not “launch an attack”, I was contacted by one of the TES editors and asked to submit a condensed version of this blog post, as a personal opinion piece. At the time – there was no end to the strike in sight. Shunned by a number of union members for disagreeing – I chose to submit the article.

(I am posting this on my own blog as I have been told in no uncertain terms that my views and comments are not welcome on the UCU THC googlegroup)

By: prisca

prisca — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:12:20 +0000

Wavid,
I can see your points and do agree with a lot of the reasons for action – but as you said – we seem to disagree on certain principles.
But I would like to thank you for your thoughts and comments – I do both welcome and appreciate an open debate, to reconsider my own opinion as well as think about the different opinions of others like yourself.

By: Wavid

Wavid — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:13:25 +0000

I will not take up anymore space with what is essentially a difference of principal between us. On the one hand I joined the vast majority of UCU members who supported collective action to stop compulsory redundancies as I was not prepared to leave so many members of staff isolated, or so many course places cut without a fight. You believe that the action, which ultimately reduced the number of staff redundancies, saved course places, amazingly found other sources of funding and save courses and jobs that we were told were not possible was done at the wrong time over the wrong issue. One observation is that over the last five years, the time we as a college have gone from being outstanding to satisfactory the only part of THC that has changed is senior anagement. Five principals in five years. On the eve of bad news and the inspired ‘Securing the Future’ document sent out by our principal, a wave of senior managers hand in their notices! I dont have to be too clever to see that what has affected the college is the revolving door that we have in SMT. I would expect a principal to have many years experience of teaching to understand the issues involved here. When MF was asked by young mayors and studnet representatives if he had a teaching qualification he became very aggressive, thunbing the table repeatedly and the young people who went to see him to put the students point of view found themselves feeling threatened. If I had been told I was not a good enough teacher after 10 years of service with good pass rates and no other indication that there was issues with my teaching other than a poor manager who used inaccurate information to score my performance and place me at the bottom of the pile and therefore lined up for redundancy, somehow I think I may want the person responsible for that to be sacked.

By: prisca

prisca — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:52:00 +0000

Wavid,
you confirm my points quite clearly. On the one hand – the action seemed only concerned with THC specific issues and came across like a personal attack against our principal (chants on the YouTube videos asking for him to resign emphasized that). It was quite clear that those were the only terms under which a decision to return to work was to be decided.
On the other hand there were banner statements against education cuts which surely are a national issue affecting many other colleges as well as THC.
I would have thought this action should have been called by the UCU, nation-wide. Redundancies are not only happening at THC but everywhere – so the support you received from other work places only highlights this. Keeping this action solely focused on our college while at the same time pointing towards the root of the problem, the funding cuts affecting so many others, was what I felt was wrong. This action will mainly affect us and our students, while the very same situation is happening elsewhere as well.
I’m not saying management should not be challenged. In the case of unfair proceedings and the ‘bullying’ you refer to – of course, the union should step in and action is needed. But did this need to be done during such a vital time for recruitment and even affecting the beginning of teaching? And is such a personal and aggressive angle really needed or even appropriate?

About enrolment – I am not suggesting that the strike alone is to blame for low numbers, merely that I know it did have an effect on our adult courses especially. Whether the marketing campaigns are successful or not is something which needs constant reassessment and improvement as times and the personal aims of our students change. So it might be that the latest marketing angle was not as successful as planned, I would not know for sure.
And though numbers overall might look ok – I know that for our department this is not the case. Quite a few of our courses are low in numbers so far (adult courses might be affected differently to the 6th form courses overall) and unless recruitment over the next few weeks picks up we stand to lose courses and jobs. Please don’t think I blame the strike alone for this state of affairs, not at all – I am merely saying the action at such a vital time in the academic year did not improve the situation but rather make it worse.

By: Wavid

Wavid — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:42:04 +0000

The localised fight was for those members who were being bullied into accpeting ‘voluntary’ redundancy or the humiliation of the scoring process, appeals and ‘interviews’ for redeployment. For those of us on the picket line, the debate for the fight against cuts in education was not just about THC but for colleges up and down the country. The support received by those members who visited other work places, schools, colleges and other places like the fire stations and postal workers shows how important it was to generalise the debate away from just issues being faced within THC. In terms of enrolment – across the college it is up by over 5% on last year. The AIRTHC campaign, from feedback I received around the borough, was not generally welcomed – so was it really the strike that stopped students enrolling? Besides, the money saved by management in not paying those members of staff on strike could easily pay for ‘cost saving measures’ next year.

By: prisca

prisca — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:17:28 +0000

Wavid,
of course, I did not expect anything else but a mixed reaction. I am by no means dismissing the job losses as minor and I am glad this action ensured a more positive outcome for those affected. I also appreciate that those on strike have lost income.

My point remains that due to low recruitment now more jobs are in jeopardy and what will happen then? More courses cut, students losing out and a number of people will lose their jobs as a consequence – another strike? Despite yet more funding cuts which we already know will come from the political powers responsible for this situation…?
Why was this action against our management? Why was it not against the root of the problem – the government deciding on these funding cuts? This is what I would see as the ‘wider issue of defending education’ – in which case I would not have disagreed with this action but instead would have actively supported it.

By: Wavid

Wavid — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:52:35 +0000

I think you should in deed receive mixed reactions to your article in TES. Considering that your view is in an extreme minority and the vast majority of UCU members stood shoulder to shoulder to defend jobs, student places – ESOL? and education in one of the poorest boroughs in the country. I have found that those who corssed the line struggled to seperate the ‘personal’ from the wider issue of defending education. One personal issue that affected the extreme minority of staff was that of losing income striking indefinately. Wonder how those who have been bullied into ‘voluntarily’ redundancy feel about their income levels now? When will they feel that their lives will get back to ‘normal’?

By: prisca

prisca — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:14:04 +0000

UPDATE 25/9/09

the strike is now finally over ~ and today the strikers were back at work. A calm if tense day with strange feelings (and mixed reactions to my article in TES)…

I’m glad it’s over and we can finally get back to normal. I was lucky enough to have most of my teaching team on my side during this stressful time and now we’re a full team again :) and can focus on our lovely students, crossing our fingers to recruit for the final places and hoping for a survival of our courses. Wish us luck :)