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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this teacher is trying to take credit for my work

58 replies

1Raisedeyebrow · 29/04/2023 01:25

AIBU - I work in an SEN school and was asked a year ago to rewrite the whole school art curriculum from EYFS through to post 16 for both students at our SEN school and those registered at our school but attend main stream school . I have had to make sure I follow the national curriculum but adapt it to suit our students, so it is quite personalised.
I have recently been asked to add a section that allows teachers to easily copy and paste targets that they can include in the students reports.

The art teacher from another school in our trust has emailed today asking if we can have a chat and complete the curriculum together as it will be easier for us to do together. This request is perfectly reasonable if they had emailed me a year ago before I did all the hard work. I have near enough finished adding the section now requested and think it’s cheeky for them to now come in and try and get credit for all the work I have done. If they wanted to do this jointly they have had over a year to contact me and work with me to create this. Instead they have waited until the easy bit of adding a few report friendly targets is requested and wants to work together. This request to add targets was over a two months ago and they had plenty of time to approach me to do it together then also.

AIBU to think they can go squat in a cactus patch or should I let them contribute the last sentence required to complete the curriculum and then getting credit for all my hard work.

OP posts:
RichardsGear · 29/04/2023 01:27

Just say thanks for the offer but it's just about done so no need?

Escapefromhell · 29/04/2023 01:52

Contractually you won’t own this document, or anything that you create in the course of your work.

No one will care who created it. That was just a task that needed doing. Just like no one cares who created the other documents, forms and data bases that you use.

Once you have finished creating the curriculum other teacher’s or managers might change it or add to it anyway.

This other teacher won’t give a stuff who created it. You are reading too much in to this.

However, if you have done a good job of creating it, that is a good thing to put on your CV/ mention when seeking promotion etc.

Original poster
1Raisedeyebrow · 29/04/2023 02:23

The curriculum is there as guidance for teachers and I hope they adapt it to suit their needs. This I am not concerned about.

The mentioning when seeking promotion is why I’m a bit annoyed about this.
We have performance management meetings and can move up the pay scale. By me doing all this work and letting them add a sentence they can go into their meeting and take credit for my work.

This I feel lessens my value in my meeting as I worked really hard on it alone.

OP posts:
Silverrocks · 29/04/2023 02:34

Just say no. They can have a copy when it's circulated to adapt like everyone else.

ThinWomansBrain · 29/04/2023 02:41

I mostly agree with @Escapefromhell - but love the phrase 'go squat in a cactus patch'😁

DifficultBloodyWoman · 29/04/2023 03:15

I would have loved to share the work but it has been finished now and will be circulated shortly, you cheeky fucker.

Isthisexpected · 29/04/2023 03:18

Of course you won't own it but I would assume it'll be circulated by the Head with credit to you, so I definitely wouldn't want someone else adding a sentence then getting joint credit.

ShandaLear · 29/04/2023 03:58

Complete the work and then share it amongst a few people including her for feedback.

Murdoch1949 · 29/04/2023 04:01

How do you know the other teacher's intention is to piggyback on your work?

Stemmingthetide · 29/04/2023 04:30

@1Raisedeyebrow as a pp said, just breezily email back. Thanks for the offer all under control.

A good tip is in the footer add version control with the date and your name.

When it’s done email a copy to your HT.

I once interviewed a team of 5 for promotion, all of whom claimed they had developed and implemented the same new process. Fortunately I knew who had actually had the idea and led the team. I completely understand why you don’t want to share the credit.

SurvivingJust1 · 29/04/2023 04:58

This is how the education system works. It si chronically underfunded and how are they to know what your school has just rewritten the curriculum again - many are doing it now, reviewing ready for the 10 year anniversary of this curriculum

Feel your pain though as I feel this happens to me a lot.

But I guess I try and trust the universe that one day a document will fall in my lap that might take minimal tweaks to persobalise to my school

Don't be that person who blocks....words soon gets out which school won't share and your SLT will find out which staff won't share. Be flexible. Maybe invite them for a meeting asking for all the other bits you'd like as (presumably) art lead or similar....eg a sketching curriculum/the intent, implementation plan, art risk assessments, what art budget they've maged to extract from their head for thr past 5 years to help you lobby yours ....think of anything you need to exchange

MRex · 29/04/2023 05:30

It sounds like the person has a tall and is suggesting you work together, not that they have any idea what you've already done. I think you might be being a bit sensitive here. In the time it took to write the thread, you could have just put the targets in, put your school name in properties and footer as "created by". Then send back copying your head and theirs; "Ours is complete, but you're welcome to adapt it. Have a great weekend!"

MRex · 29/04/2023 05:31

*task not tall

DifficultBloodyWoman · 29/04/2023 05:33

Stemmingthetide · 29/04/2023 04:30

@1Raisedeyebrow as a pp said, just breezily email back. Thanks for the offer all under control.

A good tip is in the footer add version control with the date and your name.

When it’s done email a copy to your HT.

I once interviewed a team of 5 for promotion, all of whom claimed they had developed and implemented the same new process. Fortunately I knew who had actually had the idea and led the team. I completely understand why you don’t want to share the credit.

Version Control!

Brilliant idea (and I’m stealing it for something I have recently done but can’t claim in my own name)!

NowZeusHasLainWithLeda · 29/04/2023 05:58

MRex · 29/04/2023 05:30

It sounds like the person has a tall and is suggesting you work together, not that they have any idea what you've already done. I think you might be being a bit sensitive here. In the time it took to write the thread, you could have just put the targets in, put your school name in properties and footer as "created by". Then send back copying your head and theirs; "Ours is complete, but you're welcome to adapt it. Have a great weekend!"

This sounds like a plan. Although obviously as it stands in the OP, nothing the other person has actually said infers they want to pass the OP's work off as their own.
Will it be published on the school website? Google will take anybody looking for something similar there anyway.

Also agree with others. Could be this person has to do the same adapting thing and doesn't know the OP has finished doing theirs so thought 2 heads would be better than one.

pilates · 29/04/2023 06:10

What RichardsGear said; short and sweet and straight to the point

electriclight · 29/04/2023 06:17

This doesn't make sense to me at all. We are all always contacting each other to steal ideas and resources. Why do the work twice or reinvent the wheel? When she presents it at her school she'll say that she got it from you. One day someone will upload it to your website and then schools you've never heard of will be downloading it and changing the name to their own. Your Head knows you created it, how much more credit do you want or need?

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 29/04/2023 06:17

Hi X I’m afraid it’s more or less done, so too late to collaborate on it. Do keep me in mind for any future projects where we might work together, OP.

Dilemma19 · 29/04/2023 06:21

Why the need for such drama?? Clearly just say no and move on? All they did was ask, not steam roll and steal everything.

electriclight · 29/04/2023 07:07

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 29/04/2023 06:17

Hi X I’m afraid it’s more or less done, so too late to collaborate on it. Do keep me in mind for any future projects where we might work together, OP.

This would be so odd in my trust. I'd say it's done actually, I'll send it over now, you're welcome.

And be thrilled next time a colleague was able to do the same for me.

Surely that's how teaching works. People will know op did it. The people who matter anyway.

Whenwilliberich · 29/04/2023 07:09

1Raisedeyebrow · 29/04/2023 02:23

The curriculum is there as guidance for teachers and I hope they adapt it to suit their needs. This I am not concerned about.

The mentioning when seeking promotion is why I’m a bit annoyed about this.
We have performance management meetings and can move up the pay scale. By me doing all this work and letting them add a sentence they can go into their meeting and take credit for my work.

This I feel lessens my value in my meeting as I worked really hard on it alone.

how much better would it look on your CV to be able to say your curriculum is so good it’s been adopted by other schools? They won’t be able to go into a meeting and say they created it - and also equally these are things that you can download or buy. I’m a music teacher and used to be a head of music - used to create my own. My current head of department bought the overviews and schemes of work. Wish I’d been doing that! It’s so much better than what I’d created!

please just share it and let them take it. It makes no sense to not share it!

Srin · 29/04/2023 07:45

This isn’t really how things work in education. There is usually a culture of sharing resources with anyone who might find them useful. If you had come up with an entirely new way of teaching reading, done the research and written a paper on it, then you would want to take the credit but policy docs, schemes of work etc. are just freely shared. You normally get plenty of people offering theirs and I always tell people to take my stuff and use it as their own.

Boughtitdownthemarket · 29/04/2023 07:46

I think you need to get real about what happens in teaching interviews. People claim credit for stuff they haven't done all the time. All that matters is whether the panel like/believe the candidate. About 5 years ago, my department was subject to inspection. We aced it and I did a huge amount of work. Both the other key teacher and I went for a management job afterwards. She got it and I didn't. Of course she would have spun it to look like she did all the work. Nothing I could do about it. It's dog eat dog. You also need to let go of the idea of ownership, as a PP said. Jobs just get done and nobody gives a shit who does them. That's why, after nearly 24 years' teaching, I do as little as possible outside of my classroom job. It's a mug's game and you'll get no thanks.

Zigg · 29/04/2023 07:52

If it’s almost done then there’s no harm in you just letting them have it? They might give you positive feedback on it that you can then use to show that you’ve done a good job. If you tell your head teacher that they’ve contacted you and you’ve shared your curriculum with you then they’ll know you did all the work. Teachers are supposed to share resources because they’re not in competition with each other, it’s a hard job and we should all be trying to make each other’s lives easier.

billy1966 · 29/04/2023 07:57

Absolutely not.

Reply no thanks as it is now nearly completed.

The teacher is a CF.

Do not be a mug.

A firm No.