Reflections from a time log diary: towards an analysis of the labour process within further education

Abstract

This article explores the use of a time log diary to examine the labour process for lecturers in further education (FE). In this preliminary small-scale study, a time log diary was used as a research tool to investigate the day-to-day teaching of FE lecturers accessed through an INSET course. This examination is placed within the socio-economic and political context within which lecturers are placed. The data collected from the diaries reflected the variability of labour processes within FE. Despite individual differences in the way in which people laboured, there is evidence to support the intensification of labour with lecturers consistently working over hours. This was a feature of the cameos we examined and across the diaries as a whole, where we gained a sense of an over-burdened profession.