Even as a student I was aware of the devide between academic and technicians, so I wasn’t surprised when I started the role as a technician to find myself feeling valued differently within the university setting, be that through students or the way the university distinguishes pay and holiday differences – so after reading How do art and design technicians conceive of their role in higher education? (Sams, 2016) I was notably interested in the views that my colleagues took. I particularly appreciated how the paper challenged the traditional academic hierarchy and advocates for a more inclusive recognition within the educational ecosystem.
What struck me initially was how Sams’s talks about the underrepresentation of technicians within academic literature in an Art and Design context (ibid) – this surprised me, specifically within this sector, as art and design tends to be a vocation that requires practical skills and training and is a vital aspect within the student experience; according to technical managers, within student surveys, often students complain about the lack of access to technical services, showing technicians are in high demand.
I suppose the argument could be generated that technicians fall into the same remit as a factory worker or other skill based trade work and therefore lack the academic esteem required. But what about the times this is just simply not the case? In the case of technical colleagues with postgraduate qualifications, doctorates and supporting teaching qualifications? Could it not be argued that these technicians are more valuable, striking the balance between specialist skills and knowledge alongside the subject based specialist knowledge that comes from an intense program of training?
Or is there something more at play here? Is this instead a representation of archaic academia hierarchy where lecturers bestow upon the students the most valuable of knowledge and therefore deserve the place at the top of the food chain? This being said there is no disagreement that the work undertaken by lecturers and course leaders in particular is burdensome, including hitting measurable outcomes, learning objectives, teaching, marking and maintaining course productivity to name a few – and that certainly should not be devalued.
Another aspect of the paper I found particularly interesting was:
“This trend links to those outlined by the findings a report on Highly skilled technicians in higher education (Smith et al, 2004), which indicates that many technicians move away from the traditional skills-based aspects of their role as they advance in their careers.”(Sams, 2016, p. 63)
I found this particularly interesting as there is an interesting divergence in comparison to academics and technicians here, as Sams’s points out technicians progress through management which in turn pushes them behind the scenes and causes a distancing between themselves and the student experience – although I would argue this is counter productive and leads to systemic internal bureaucracy that forgets the student. On the other hand those within the academic pathway go on to run courses, talks, publish books and papers – in a sense broadcasting achievements for the lucky few, but also widening the student contact – if not direct. To me as a technician, this puts me in a difficult position that already directly effects me, as a grade 4 technician I have already reached the top rung of the ladder without entering management, and leads me to the question of why I would want to pursue a management level job that removes the need for a craft based skill, but also removes me from students. It seems to me through conversation with colleagues is that universities already understand this question, and the simple answer is, there are hundreds of graduates ready to step up and claim the technical roles.
This paper has highlighted to me that technicians within art and design education are more than just the technical assistance, but are instead educators, mentors and artists in their own right (Sams, 2016). I sincerely believe there should be a larger voice for technical staff within the university below the management level in regards to the improvements that could be made to student education; and further question how the encouragement and celebration of our own creative practices would keep technicians feeling equally valued, seeing as only a dismal 40% felt this aspect was valued (Sams, 2016).
Bibliography
Sams, C. (2016) ‘How do art and design technicians conceive of their role in higher education?’, Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal. University of the Arts London, 1(2), pp. 62–69.