The Rookie Lecturer
In my first few years as an F.E. lecturer I soon learnt – that I was the rookie and expected to do what I was told.
I turned up on my first day – can’t forget it – Monday 4th January1978 at about 8.30 a.m. – knew where the head of department’s (H.O.D.) office was on ‘C Floor’ i.e. second floor of the main five storey block on the Central Campus – bang in the middle of what are actually the twin cities of Manchester and Salford -Separated by the River Irwell. Which the college buildings overlooked
A brief briefing – I already knew my way around the college -having studied as a part-time student on the International Trade courses over the last two years – that I was now to become a full-time lecturer on part of. He allocated me a desk and chair in a large staff room, on ‘C’ Floor and I was presented with my timetable.
Just time for a quick look – started with Monday and Tuesday – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. i.e ten hours lecturing / ‘class contact’ and four hours 1 – 5 p.m. Wednesday – making up my weekly class contact requirement of 24 hours.
I already knew that I would be covering two of the four subjects in each year – September to June – of a two-year course in international trade – first year -Advanced Certificate – second year Diploma – some of which had more than one group of students – so there were at least two first year classes and sometimes two second year groups both with four externally set written examinations at the end of each year
Starting the week with two 9a.m. to 9 p.m. days – was a bit of a shock, but no time for more discussion or questions – my first class was starting at 9 a.m.!
He hands me the registers for my classes – at the time manually completed on paper with ticks and crosses – but at least a full list of student names and employer’s – and that was it.
Not what I would call an induction – or even a welcome.
I did eventually learn – that as the head of, what was quite a large, Business Studies Department – he was actually a joke, just waiting for retirement.
Immediate proof. He escorted me to a familiar location –Lecture room C.1 just fifty metres down the Corridor – where my first class was waiting for me.
He opened the door for me – I stepped in and – he shut the door behind me! and -apparently went back to his office,
So – really dropped in the deep end!
In retrospect – most stuff after that was relatively easier.
I am now faced with eighteen adults – just getting their first looks at the new lecturer and aware that there first one had abandoned them and done a runner halfway through the course.
I have mentioned elsewhere that the minimum entry age for the courses was 18 – so the average age of a typical class, ( I discovered – was in the mid to late twenties but, over the years to come I had a number of over fifties – some funded by a government re-training initiative.
I was 27 at the time – from memory, I would guess that at least a third of the students were older than me.
I believe that I managed to avoid the ‘rabbit caught in the headlights’ impression -and I had actually prepared for the worst i.e. ‘thrown in the deep end’.
So the register took a while and I emphasised that first names, including mine, were my preference and it allowed me – a few informed comments regarding their employers.
In the last few days of my employment in Preston, I had – with the agreement of the M.D. produced photocopies of all the printed syllabuses of the subjects I was covering.
So the three hours of each of my early sessions were constructively covered by a look at those – discovering that a lot of students had never seen the a full syllabus before – which dictated the range of examination question topics they could face – and allowed an update on, what they thought they had already covered and what were still outstanding. – though there was some confusion about that. Though I did have an idea, from what the resigned lecturer had done with my class the previous year.
In later years, I did come across other lecturers who avoided giving their students a full course syllabus – because, ‘they would know what topics, hadn’t been covered.’
I had decided to avoid any direct reference to the fact that I had sat where they were just last year – but did mention a few times – in passing, that I had passed all the exams the – at some point in the past.
I even asked Jenny – Law lecturer – who was now a colleague – to perhaps drop it in the conversation – that I had got a credit in the Law exam -which was apparently quite uncommon.
Monday and Tuesday – total of 20 hours class contact?
It was over two months later – when I signed up as a member of my NATFHE Union Branch- (National Association for Teachers in Further and Higher in Education – and got a copy of my Terms and Conditions of Employment ‘– which I had not seen before. It specified, among other things – that any lecturer could not be required to deliver a 9 am class, the day after a 9 p.m. finish. – earliest first class was 13.00.
I had a real think, before I acted – and accused my H.O.D. of conning / taking advantage of me.
I did, however, choose to go along with it, until the end of my first year. Mainly because – I had become aware of the practical advantages of getting twenty hours of my weekly class contact time, out of the way – in the first two days of the week – leaving me, three days – less four hours lecturing – to prepare materials, like lesson plans and student notes/handouts for the following week. For my first year I was only ever about twenty-four hours in front of my next class and working about 18 hours every day.
I did have all my student notes/handouts for from the previous two years – but I wasn’t impressed by them – or surprised that he had resigned.
I should add here, that the main reason I went ahead and applied for the job – was not that Jenny, the Law lecturer – had persuaded me – but mainly because, I really thought that I could do a better job than the chap I would replace.
Also – I was attracted by the chance of getting out of Preston – ‘put your watch back – forty years’ – and Manchester appeared to be far more cosmopolitan – as, indeed, it proved to be.
In case you were worried that I was planning a class by class description over what became a twenty-year career – stop worrying.
Over that time – my best guess as to the number of lectures delivered – gets to over 5,000 and I have, of course, forgotten most of them.
There is one exception – which was a scheduled two-hour session with a class of about 16 in which I actually spoke a total of twelve words.
Which is why, my next post is titled – ‘The Silent Lecture’ – well – when I write, it will –
Watch this space,
So, I survived and went on to twenty years of what I eventually thought, was the best job in the world – in the middle of a Manchester – making waves both in contemporary music and youth culture – in the 80’s.
A few icons –
- the Hacienda Club and factory Records – created and owned by Tony Wilson (later to become Antony Wilson)
- and the nursery for –
- The happy Mondays
- The Stone Roses
- James
- Joy Division & New Order
Etc. etc.
N.B
One end of term – immediately after the exams – I am in a pub close to the college – commonly known as ‘Jim’s office’ – with maybe 15+ students – now completed their exams and still talking to me.
After a few rounds of drinks – a contingent – including a lad – who I learnt was one of the stage dancers for a Hacienda resident band – (I’m sorry – I can’t remember which one – but he wasn’t Bez.)
Maybe 12 of them going – with free entrance with him – and I am asked to join them.
This was towards the mature stages of my F.E. career – I guess I was then in my mid-forties.
So – despite assurances – that I wouldn’t ‘stand out like a sore thumb’ – I didn’t go!
We will never know whether I missed out on a career – stage dancing with The Stone Roses – or got shot by drug dealers.