Imagine that a teacher has been employed by an education facility to work part-time, covering around 20 hours a week. Of these 20 hours, there will be time to teach but also time for marking work, creating resources and professional development. This is known as non-required time (NRT).
Making Use of Non-Required Time
NRT is a great way to keep one’s knowledge current, improve qualifications and skills whilst getting paid. Because industries are ever evolving, the teacher for a particular industry needs to be consistently improving their skills as well as keeping qualifications current.
An example of this could be a teacher in the equine industry at tertiary level. There are many industry related events that will be of general interest that can also be attended as part of non-required time as they will increase the teacher’s knowledge in this field, assisting in their role as an educator. Examples of such events may include:
- Equestrian events such as Equitana or other horse festivals
- Kentucky Equine Research events focused on equine nutrition
- Other horse seminars
- Education-based industry events
Whatever the event, it will need to be proven to be beneficial to the teacher’s job as an educator in a particular field. Once this has been approved by someone higher up, the horse studies teacher may find that there are particular events they attend out of their own time and cost that can become part of their NRT, which they are paid for.
Gaining a Higher Qualification
It may be possible while teaching, to undertake further study to gain a higher qualification in the field that one teaches. If this qualification is to improve one’s knowledge for teaching, some study time may be able to be claimed as NRT. This can be especially helpful if the NRT hours are flexible and can be utilised around exam times or when it’s necessary to attend practical training and assessment sessions.
This can help to ensure earning an income, even over these periods where teaching isn’t being carried out. If time permits whilst one is teaching – this may be easier if doing so part-time – it may be possible to up skill and gain higher qualifications while receiving support from the workplace in the form of time to do so and a wage over this period. The added benefit to this is that gaining a higher qualification can in some instances result in a pay rise.
Gaining Qualifications Through Work
It may also be possible to take advantage of working in an education facility and gain necessary qualification updates through work hours and funding. A common example of this is the workplace that pays for a worker to stay up to date on their first aid.
Others may include a bus licence for transporting students on excursions, continual industry exposure through workshops or other industry specific events. Non-required time and education facilities can greatly assist the teacher in staying relevant within their particular industry without affecting the hours they work or the amount they are paid.
Chris Thomas - C. Thomas has studied and worked with horses since 2001. She teaches horse studies part time and is undertaking an Equine Science ...
Join the Conversation