5 February 2010

Glenda McNamara, 63, has taught at Rocklea State Primary School for 29 years.

23 January 2010

The four teachers have collectively spent several years on paid leave, accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in WorkCover payments.

A former Werribee SC teacher, who has not taken legal action but left the college "out of exasperation" several years ago, said WorkCover payments were an easy get-out clause for schools whose staff complained about bullying and favouritism.

"Who cares? They don't. It's a drop in the ocean and (the school) doesn't have to pay," she said.

A recent WorkSafe study shows two in every five Victorian teachers report being victims of occupation bullying - double the state average.

27 November, 2009

Two students at St Laurence's Catholic College, in South Brisbane, were slashed with a meat cleaver on 28 July 2008.

Judge John Newton said it appeared it was only through the bravery of teachers who came to the boys' rescue that no other students were injured.

Crown prosecutor Glen Cash said one male teacher put himself in ``harm's way'' by stepping between the boy wielding the meat clever and the two injured students.

Other teachers then came rushing to his aid.

``It is made clear ... (the teacher) and other teachers at the school ... acted with bravery ... and must be commended,'' Mr Cash said.

A hooded and bandana-wearing vigilante gang had entered the school grounds during a lunch break.

One of the Catholic College students was left with a seven centimetre-long gash to his left cheek which required 60 stitches.

Another student required nine stitches after he was slashed across his back as he tried to run away.

All eight gang members fled when confronted by teachers.

The attack was sparked by an allegation a number of Year 10 boys at the college had raped the sister of one of the vigilante gang members.

But the two victims were not those the girl had accused.

They were "wholly innocent victims in the matter", Glen Cash told the court today.

• Jail after horrific cleaver attack at school, Tony Keim, The Courier-Mail, 27 November 2009.

• Gasps as school meat cleaver attacker faces court, Amelia Bentley, The Brisbane Times, 27 November, 2009.

 

4  December, 2002

A Gladstone teacher was falsely accused of raping a male student.

There was a police and Criminal Justice Commission investigation.

The male teacher was cleared.

He returned to teaching.

But he suffered a breakdown in 1999.

And he left work with Education Queensland in 2002.

The Member for Gladstone, Liz Cunningham, told the House about this teacher's case on December 3, 2002.

She told the House that Queensland teachers who were the subject of false allegations needed better support.

They needed counselling.

They needed advisers to give them some sort of emotional support during the period of the investigation.

• Inadequate support for teacher falsely accused of rape : MP, ABC news : Wednesday, 4 December, 2002

 

Anna Bligh was Minister of Education from 22 February 2001 - 12 February 2004.

And then Minister for Education and the Arts 12 February 2004 - 28 July 2005.

 

On 3 December, 2002 Anna Bligh was told by Liz Cunningham about the suffering of Queensland classroom teachers who are the subject of false allegations.

What has Anna Bligh done since 3 December, 2002 to protect and support teachers who are the subject of false / malicious / "joke" allegations?

Will your Local Member support you if you are the subject of false / malicious / "joke" allegations?

Will your Local Member speak in parliament about your suffering?

What has your Local Member actually done to support Queensland classroom teachers who are the subject of false allegations?

 

13 October, 2009

Margaretta Slingsby, 58, was a teacher at Lismore Heights Public School in northern NSW.

In about March 2005 a nine-year-old student called her "f***ing Slingsby slut".

Margaretta took time off from work to recover from the shock of the student's abuse.

The child was involved in several other violent incidents at the school.

In May 2005 the same student kicked and scratched Margaretta and then ripped her hair out.

Margaretta was depressed after the student's second attack.

She couldn't sleep.

She is now unable to teach and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

She is suing the NSW Education Department for negligence.

Andrew Lidden, SC, is Margaretta Slingsby's barrister.

Margaretta claims that the NSW Education Department was negligent in  -

• failing to ascertain the student's history of violence and abuse,
• failing to suspend him after the March incident,
• and enrolling him in the school when it is not safe for his teachers or for the other students.

 

• Teacher 'depressed' after student attack, AAP

A 49-year-old female Queensland teacher is suing the Queensland Department of Education.

The teacher alleges that she has suffered years of bullying by the female head of special education services at a special needs school in south-eastern Queensland.

And a 44 year old female teacher's aide at the same special school has made similar allegations.

Trilby Misso Lawyers have issued a statement concerning verbal abuse, violent behaviour, etc.

The teacher and the teacher's aide had both complained to the school principal and to Education Queensland.

But the principal and Education Queensland both seemed to "turn a blind eye" to the situation.

Lawyer Gillian Klanke said that, after years of verbal abuse and intimidation, the teacher finally suffered a completed breakdown.

Trilby Misso Lawyers are preparing a notice of claim against WorkCover.

• Teacher sues alleging years of bullying, Angela Harper, 9NEWS, Monday 7 September, 2009.

A 45-year-old mother allegedly punched a Beverley District High School teacher repeatedly in the head.

The school is east of Perth in Western Australia.

The teacher was in her classroom just after 8am, preparing her lessons for the day.

She tried to protect herself from the mother's punches.

She tried to shield her head with her arms.

But the mother punched the teacher on her nose.

Her nose began to bleed.

It was broken.

Police have charged the mother with assault.

• Mum charged with assaulting schoolteacher, AAP, The Courier-Mail, 8 September, 2009.
• Avon Advocate

Jane Watts, a 30-year veteran teacher from Chorley in Lancashire, England, has established a website to support teachers who are falsely accused of child assault -

http://teacherallegation.blogspot.com/

"Over the coming weeks, months and maybe years, I will provide a diarized account of my story that ultimately led not only to my dismissal but the utter destruction of my career and my life.

No one should have to endure my experience and I will continue to fight for a review of existing legislation."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbmTRxBMi4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fteacherallegation%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded#t=124

 

Don't you just love the way that Pommie teachers refuse to "accept the things you cannot change"?

Pommie women grew up singing "Fight the good fight with all your might!"

And that is what they do.

 

Their fathers did not fight, suffer and die in World War Two "for freedom" so that their daughters could be driven out of work by the gossip of silly dim twits, incompetents and psychopaths.

English women do not "accept the things you cannot change".

It's a cultural thing.

Friday 7 August, 2009

Last year Dr Robert Bartholomew publicly aired his concerns about the asbestos risks and the third-world conditions at Alekarenge School, which sits on the edge of the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory, Australia.

Robert Bartholomew claims that he and his wife were black-listed after blowing the whistle.

The Northern Territory Department of Education insisted that the "asbestos status" of the school was safe.

Then Dr Bartholomew and his wife say that the Department used a secret file to paint them as incompetent.

Now Robert Bartholomew is teaching on a short-term contract in New Zealand.

He has started a website http://teacherswithintegrity.com/ , warning other teachers not to go to the Northern Territory of Australia.

"By launching this website I may not have my contract renewed but it's worth the risk," Dr Bartholomew said.

 

Northern Territory Education Department spokeswoman Zoe Malone yesterday denied the department "blacklisted" teachers.

Zoe Malone said Dr Bartholomew's complaints had been investigated - but he continued to "agitate" the same issues!

 

Australian Education Union NT head Adam Lampe said departmental procedure did not appear to be followed in Robert Bartholomew's case.

So what did the Australian Education Union do to support Robert Bartholomew, Mr Lampe?

•  Stay away, says ex-NT teacher, Alyssa Betts, Northern Territory News.

Whistleblower Imre Bokor, a University of New England (UNE) mathematician, reported that some Masters theses were plagiarised.

He was told by the university that he could face charges of academic misconduct.

It was alleged that he had failed to raise the alert "immediately and directly" after he had detected suspect theses.

More than 100 overseas students seem to have graduated from the University of New England with copied masters theses.

Dr Bokor said that he had made himself unpopular with superiors for opposing the program as unsound from the outset.

1 July , 2009

On 17 December 2007 NSW teacher Lesley Warren received a letter from the NSW Department of Education and Training to advise her that she had been appointed Assistant Principal at Byron Bay Public School.

Lesley Warren was 53 years old and had an outstanding employment history.

But shortly afterwards a Departmental officer telephoned Lesley and directed her not to return to work.

And Lesley received a letter of dismissal from the NSW Department of Education and Training.

In brief, the Department claimed that they could not reasonably accommodate Lesley's health concerns:

• a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to a resin found in some adhesives, paints, cleaning products, etc.
• balance problems that made it difficult for Lesley to engage in activities requiring quick movement.
• a slight right side hearing loss.

Lesley was supported by the NSW Teachers' Federation in challenging the NSW Department of Education and Training's decision.

The Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales found that the dismissal was unfair because:

• Lesley was not allowed to speak to the person who made the decision to dismiss her. This was a denial of Natural Justice.
• problems with the process by which it was decided that Byron Bay State School could not accommodate Lesley's medical restrictions.
• the Department's letter of dismissal contained at least one crucial factual error.
• etc.

Congratulations to Lesley Warren and to the NSW Teachers' Federation for supporting Lesley Warren so effectively.

• http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/ircjudgments/2009nswircomm.nsf/f46424fdb9855ca7ca2570e60014702a/3405f1827df3ce02ca2575d3002113a8?OpenDocument

Tuesday 5 May, 2009

Humanities teacher Paul Unsworth will receive up to $140,000 after a magistrate yesterday accepted that his depression and stress were aggravated during a performance review at Werribee Secondary College. 

Werribee principal Steve Butyn told the court that the troubles were caused by Mr Unsworth.

But deputy chief magistrate Peter Lauritsen yesterday found in Mr Unsworth's favour.

Mr Unsworth's barrister, Malcolm Gray, said Mr Unsworth could expect to get up to $140,000 over 130 weeks period if his medical status remained the same.

Any payments after that would depend on further medical assessments.

Mr Lauritsen also ordered the department to pay Mr Unsworth's costs.

• Paul Unsworth wins compensation case, John Masanauskas, The Herald Sun.

 

Tuesday 28 April, 2009

Humanities teacher Paul Unsworth claims he was bullied and harassed by the principal and other senior staff at Werribee Secondary College over a period of three years.

He is suing the Education Department over the alleged culture of punishment and retribution at the school.

Two other teachers also had WorkCover claims against Werribee Secondary College over similar issues, Mr Unsworth told Melbourne Magistrates' Court yesterday

An email from western region director Brett New that was accidentally sent to Mr Unsworth and the two other teachers offered full support for Werribee principal Steve Butyn's disciplinary actions.

"My perception was that I had no chance of getting a fair hearing," Mr Unsworth said.

• Teacher sues over bullying claims, John Masanauskas, Herald Sun.

 

Tuesday 7 April, 2009

I have just been directed to this good result in a NSW teachers' case.

My congratulations to the teacher concerned, I am so glad that things worked out well :

 

The teacher had been dismissed after enduring her principal's TIP (Teacher Intervention Program) for several months.

The principal had placed the teacher on a TIP because of the large number of disciplinary issues that the teacher had been referring to the school executive.

 

It is so much quicker and easier for incompetent principals to blame the teacher than for them to make the effort to deal with poorly behaved children!

 

The decision to dismiss the teacher was based on recent amendments to the NSW Teaching Service Act 1980 which allow NSW teachers to be dismissed to protect children from teachers who are incompetent or ineffective.

 

Does it allow principals to be dismissed to protect NSW teachers from principals who are incompetent and ineffective?

I bet that it doesn't.

 

The teacher had been working at the school for 14 years.

A child with Tourette's Syndrome was moved into her class.

Another student in her class had also been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome and ADHD.

The teacher had no training in dealing with such problems so she followed the school disciplinary code.

She referred the disruptive students to the school executive.

The principal told the teacher that she was to be placed on a TIP.

The principal said that teachers must manage all forms of behaviour, no matter how bad.

12 weeks later the class teacher was removed to a non-teaching role.

She was later dismissed.

The behaviour of the students worsened and one student was suspended.

The commissioner said that the principal's focus on the teacher alone was misdirected and unfair.

The principal had disregarded the teacher's long, unblemished record of teaching.

The dismissal was found to be harsh and unreasonable.

The teacher was reinstated with back-pay.

Congratulations to the New South Wales Teachers' Federation for supporting this NSW teacher.

This is how unions are supposed to support abused classroom teachers.

• http://ww5.cch.com.au/zsch/zsch2.html

 

Tuesday 31 March, 2009

Today in the Courier-Mail there is a story about a teacher at Everton Park State School who has been nominated by her principal, Judy Scotney, for a Pride of Australia Medal.

I won't name this teacher because she is obviously a wonderful teacher and I don't want to spoil her enjoyment of her nomination.

But the photograph of this teacher is significant.

She is surrounded by her class and she is holding the hand of one child.

She has her hand around the neck of another child.

And a third child is leaning back against her chest.

If this lovely teacher were working at Lynch-Mob State College, any one of those three children and any one of their six parents and any one of the thousands of readers of the Courier-Mail could make a complaint that would trigger - not a Pride of Australia Medal, but the destruction of this teacher's health and of her career.

You see Lynch-Mob State College is a "no-touch" school.

 

Nobody told me that it was a "no-touch" school.

I had never heard of such a thing.

I learned the hard way.

 

A couple of weeks after I arrived at the school, Lynch-Mob State College acting principal Mrs GR called me into her office.

I found two Grade 6 girls already sitting in her room.

Mrs GR told me that the girls had made a complaint concerning me.

 

A few moments earlier I had walked past a group of about six Grade 6 girls standing under one of the outdoor walkways.

I had stopped and said a few friendly words to the girls and then walked on.

Apparently, as walked away, I had put my hand on the arm of one of the girls!

The two girls had gone directly to Mrs GR to report my behaviour.

 

I could not actually remember touching the girl's arm, but I accepted her word that this was what I had done.

 

Mrs GR asked the girl if she had felt unsafe when I touched her arm.

I waited while the girl thought the situation over.

My whole professional reputation depended on her answer.

Finally she said that no, she had not felt unsafe.

 

I said that I regretted upsetting her and that I would certainly be very careful not to touch a child at Lynch-Mob State College again.

Later her Grade 6 class teacher told me that the girl and her friend often played "touching" games in the class together.

And I myself watched the two girls taking turns to touch each other on the leg and saying "You touched me! - No, you touched me! - No, You touched me!" during my Indonesian lessons.

 

This was a really horrible experience that made it difficult for me to feel at ease with the children at Lynch-Mob State College.

The children seemed to have been trained to complain about their classroom teachers for really stupid, trivial reasons.

And this culture of encouraging trivial complaints against classroom teachers seemed to have created an unsafe working environment at the school.

 

It is interesting that the sort of teacher behaviour that is rewarded with a Pride of Australia Medal at one school can trigger a workplace attack at another school.

So much depends on the principal's "spin" on the situation.

• Teacher for long term, Rodney Chester, Headstart, p.39, The Courier-Mail.

 

Thursday 26 March, 2009

Terrified teachers have resigned from a Gold Coast school in the wake of a bandido attack on a defenceless mother.

It is understood that teachers have complained to the Education Department and have simply been told the issue will 'blow over' in time.

The Bulletin understands at least five staff members have resigned so far with other staff members fearing for their safety.

 

Parent Ross Kouimanis said the Parents and Citizens Association had confirmed that five staff had resigned, all blaming the Bandido incident as the reason for their resignation.

"People are worried. Why wouldn't they be?" he said.

 

"Education Queensland can confirm that no employees of the school have raised concerns about their safety or security as a result of this incident," an Education Queensland spokesman said.

"The safety and wellbeing of students and staff is Education Queensland's highest priority at all times.

There are provisions in the Education (General Provisions) Act (s340) which allow principals to deal with a hostile person on a school site."

 

When I took a violent and abusive parent to the principal because of her behaviour, the principal allowed the mother to abuse me in front of her son for twenty minutes.

"I don't give a sh*t about Indonesian."

"I don't give a sh*t whether he passes Indonesian or not."

My safety and wellbeing was not a priority.

Passively allowing the mother to abuse me till she was satisfied was the priority.

• Mums fear bikie dad, Robyn Wuth, Gold Coast News.

 

Thursday 12 March, 2009

A man attacked a group of Mackay North State High School Year 9 students and pulled a knife during a PE lesson at the Gooseponds.

Two students and their teacher were punched, slapped and threatened with a knife during the assault which took place about 10am on Wednesday.

Senior Detective Tony Lee from Mackay Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) said the man had been riding a mountain bike past the group of students when he took offence to something they were doing.

“He jumped off his bike and punched and slapped two students and their teacher - who had stepped in to defend the students,” Snr Det Lee said.

“The attacker then allegedly pulled out a knife and made threats before taking off on his bike.”

Snr Det Lee said the two students and their teacher received only minor injuries.

• Man punches students, teacher and wields knife, Bianca Clare, Mackay Daily Mercury.

 

Friday 20 February, 2009

Students at Sunshine Beach State High school were “unofficially” locked down in their classrooms yesterday after a male student allegedly smashed a staff room window with what was believed to have been an extension cord.

Police were called to the high school about 11am.

Officers arrived to find one of the staff room windows smashed and a highly agitated teenage boy.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, said he looked out his window and saw a boy, wearing the school’s senior uniform, being chased by police.

A police spokeswoman said officers had been forced to use capsicum spray to subdue the teenager.

• Students locked down in class, Amy Remeikis, Sunshine Coast Daily On Line.

 

Wednesday January 7, 2009

Donna Goodacre of Narangba wrote to the Editor of The Courier-Mail.

Short-term teaching contracts have a negative effect on teachers and students.

"I have been teaching for about 30 years and have a masters degree in Aboriginal literature.

For 23 of those years I was permanently employed in high schools in New Zealand, New South Wales and the ACT.

During that time I felt valued by the various employing authorities ...

Since arriving in Queensland, however, I have not been able to secure a permanent position, despite my qualifications and experience and a nomination for a NEITA (National Excellence in Teaching Award) from students at one school.

While I have never been without a teaching contract, it is not the same as having your "own" school.

At the end of each school year, being terminated from your position, only to be reinstated often in the same job, is extemely belittling.

As a result, I am now teaching English in a correctional centre, where for the first time in seven years, I feel valued and supported by the people who employ me.

It is sad though that I had to leave the school system, where I believe I still had much to offer, to achieve this."

• Letters to The Editor, Page 20, The Courier-Mail.

 

Sunday 21 December, 2008

A Queensland teacher wrote to The Sunday Mail:

I can empathise with those teachers unable to get full-time work.

I had to move to the "bush" to obtain a full-time position after I graduated as a mature-aged teacher.

Then I was hounded out of the profession by small-minded people whose image of the profession I did not fit.

This calculated bullying lost me the profession I had long worked for, and at the same time ruined my health.

I thank providence for the real world outside this sort of workplace.

•  GOOD POINT, YOUR SAY, name and address aupplied, Page 72, The Sunday Mail.

 

Wednesday 10 December, 2008

"Dan of Australia" emailed The Courier-Mail today:

"Schools are often unpleasant places.

I am a teacher in a state school and I see this.

Schools are often dominated by aggressive students who are not kicked out.

Teachers are swamped with special plans for low level kids and special Ed kids that take up HUGE amounts of time.

High level kids are left to teach themselves.

Many teachers are sick of the curriculum rubbish and jargon that wastes their time.

They are sick of whinging parents who don't do their own job at home but want the school to do it for them.

They are sick of the excuse-making for badly behaved kids who are allowed to destroy schools.

 

I'm personally thinking of home schooling my kids for a few years because of the terrible state our schools are in.

• Anna Bligh seeks help for Queensland's ailing education system, James O'Loan, The Courier-Mail.

 

Wednesday 3 December 2008

"WSH" - a mature male graduate teacher - made the following comment by email:

He graduated at the end of 2007 with an S1 rating.

He thought that his four years of hard work at UNI were now going to "pay off".

He had trained as a teacher because there was supposed to be a shortage of good teachers.

But he and many other S1 teachers are not receiving offers of full time employment.

Why?

He is prepared to work in Logan schools.

He did all of his practice teaching in Logan schools.

How are teaching jobs allocated?

Where are teaching jobs advertised?

THEY ARE NOT!

Why can't teachers see the vacancies in schools?

Why can't teachers apply for them and be assessed on merit by the individual schools?

 

When Education Queensland made him no offer of work, he approached schools directly.

He was told that a school did have a vacancy in his teaching area.

He had nominated the district as a desired area in which to teach.

But he was not considered for the position.

 

How are these decisions made?

No other government department would get away with not advertising vacant positions and considering each applicnt on merit.

So why does "one of the strongest unions" allow this to continue?

 

Is this a case of "jobs for the boys"?

Student teachers need to be made aware that even if you are a first class teacher, it doesn’t mean you will get a job with Education Queensland.

 

Sunday 30 November, 2008

"AJ" emailed The Sunday Mail:

"I resigned after teaching for 6 years and have now been a police officer for 10 years.

As nice as it is to be all warm and fuzzy about what a rewarding job teaching is, the fact is that a lot of the time it is just plain thankless.

Poor pay, increasingly atrocious behaviour from both students and parents, soft discipline guidelines that favour problem children at the expense of the teacher and other students, countless unseen hours of unpaid work in your own time, a revolving door of curriculum & policy changes with every change of government, etc etc.

I have never had a second of regret about my decision to leave teaching & it would take more than just decent pay to ever coax me back.

Teachers are largely overworked, stressed, underpaid & underappreciated.

No thanks."

• The Sunday Mail

 

Saturday 29 November, 2008

A NSW parent thought that Queensland teachers might be interested in reading about the experience of Joshua Kaplowitz of the Teach for America program:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_1_how_i_joined.html

 

Thursday 20 November 2008

The Bad Apple Bullies webmaster has been asked to post this message:

You can win over bullies - I did!

You CAN be successful in exposing the bullies within your school's management unit and then be awarded the resources to recover and move on.

I know because I HAVE ... through the WorkCover system (pushed along by some lawyers).

If I had known at the beginning of the process what was ahead, I wouldn't have gone there.

But at no time throughout the hideous exposure battle did I ever regret taking it on.

- I owed the final outcome to both myself and those talented colleagues who had collapsed ahead of me.

Finally, while much of this site points the accusing finger at Education Queensland, bullying of teachers is equally rife in our independent schools.

So (names a professional body) also needs to step in and protect its teachers from the power of those bully leaders who are too often covered-up for with the money and social influence of their independent school boards and their old boy / old girl networks.

Remember:

I won ... so you can too!

 

Tuesday 11 November, 2008

A teacher at The Kings School, one of Australia's most exclusive private schools, has allegedly been seriously harassed by three students.

The Daily Telegraph revealed that the male teacher was targeted by aggressive behaviour that "went beyond verbal harassment" over a period of time earlier this year.

Headmaster Timothy Hawkes refused to comment on the condition of the teacher, saying it was an "internal matter".

• Teacher bullies booted from elite school, Bruce McDougall and David Barrett, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian

 

Monday 10 November, 2008

Teachers at Colyton High School in western Sydney were allegedly threatened two armed teenage intruders this morning.

The boys, aged 14 and 15, allegedly entered the school grounds just before 9am (AEDT), the NSW Education Department said.

Police were called to the school after reports of two people making "numerous threats" to stab others.

"Staff removed the two intruders from the school grounds, outside the school gates, which were then locked," an Education Department spokeswoman said.

No one was injured.

 

Can the gates of your school be locked?

• Armed teens allegedly threaten teachers at Sydney high school, The Courier-Mail.

 

Tuesday September 16, 2008

Maths teacher Natalie Dove was being hailed a hero today.

A gang of five youths, two of them carrying knives, invaded the grounds of Marymount College on the Gold Coast during the busy lunch hour.

Natalie Dove stepped in to protect the students after a male student had been punched to the ground.

A 25cm kitchen knife was held to her head.

Construction worker Justin Gibson, who was building a new basketball court on the oval, grabbed a star picket to chase the gang away while a colleague brandished a shovel.

They chased the gang away.

Mr Gibson said he could not believe the how brazen the gang members were.

"They kept coming," he said.

"When I grabbed the star picket, one of the kids with the knife said 'you can't do anything, you'll get fired'.

"I said to him, 'mate, I'm not a teacher, I'll hit you if you pull a knife'."

 

Teachers are expected to step in to stop fights.

They can be de-registered if they fail to step in.

In 2002 a male teacher was on yard duty at Langwarrin Secondary College when a group of girls aged around 16 started yelling at each other.

A brawl developed, the teacher sent for help but did not try to separate the brawling girls.

The Education Department sacked the teacher.

Their decision was backed by the Industrial Relations Commission.

And the Victorian Institute of Teaching cancelled his registration (see details of this case below).

But,

as this student with the knife clearly knew, teachers can also be sacked for dealing violently with children.

So this student knew he could safely attack a teacher, male or female, because teachers are vulnerable.

But, as soon as he realised that the construction worker was not a teacher, the student with the knife became afraid and ran away.

• Teacher a hero as armed teens invade school, Greg Stolz, The Courier-Mail.

• Armed youths invade school, Greg Stolz, The Courier-Mail.

 

Wednesday 23 July, 2008

Leah Upson topped her year at Edith Cowan University.

She was hailed by the department's then boss, Paul Albert, in 2005 after winning an industry award for her efforts at Tom Price Primary School.

She moved to Melville Primary School two years ago.

Leah Upson has been one of the faces of a WA campaign to lure teachers back into the profession.

As late as yesterday Leah featured on an internet page in which WA Education Minister Mark McGowan proclaims plans to attract and retain teachers.

But Leah Upson quit teaching this year.

She said that she had enjoyed the classroom but found her nights and weekends were filled with reporting and preparation requirements.

She had also been refused leave without pay.

Leah Upson is now an office administrator with a minerals exploration company.

She is working a lot fewer hours for more money.

• Department fails to keep brighter faces of teaching , Inside Cover (page 2), The West Australian
  

 

Friday 11 July, 2008

Jessica Jackman of Bayswater had taught in schools all over Western Australia for ten years.

In the past three years she had worked her way up to a permanent, level three position in a Perth school.

In 12 months she would have been due for her long service.

But she has just handed in her resignation.

It was one of the hardest decisions that she had ever had to make, but she felt that it was her only option.

"I have no energy left to fight a battle that is unwinnable."

Her peers have spent their twenties making extraordinary amounts of money, buying property and travelling the world.

She has spent her twenties being abused by parents, assaulted by students, treated with contempt by the Government and DET and forced to endure working conditions that no private employee would even consider.

There is a staffing crisis in WA schools.

Five other teachers from her school have resigned this term.

• Why I had to abandon my teaching career, Jessica Jackman, Letter to the Editor, page 22, The West Australian, The PLATOWA website news.

 

Sunday July 6, 2008

A Canadian teacher who recently started work at Mandurah High School, WA, posted comments on a Yahoo7 message board .

He said he thought it was important for the public to know what is going on at the school.

"I have only been at Mandurah High School for a short time but already I have experienced a number of very violent incidents," he said.

"It simply cannot continue and there are certain policies that must be changed to protect teachers and students."

"I cannot believe how bad it is here," the teacher said.

"I've been hit and punched, sworn at 20 times a day for trying to do my job - it's shocking."

"Nothing can really be done. It's hard to expel a student and after a few days away, they're allowed to come back to the school to do it all over again."

The teacher also claimed that the level of illiteracy and maths ability was appalling.

The Mandurah High School Principal refused to make any comment in relation to the issue.

"I am more interested in raising the public profile of the school in a positive manner," the Principal said.

 

The Bad Apple Bullies webmaster comments:

The similarities between this Canadian teacher's story and the April 19 2008 story about Robert Bartholomew, the American sociology professor working in the Northern Territory, suggest that this is may be a cultural clash. 

The Canadian teacher and the American sociology professor tried to deal with problems at their schools.

They did not realise that in Aussie culture dealing with problems is not valued.

Not talking about problems is valued.

I suspect this is related to the convict roots of Aussie culture.

Every early Aussie convict had to work in silent obedience for seven years in order to gain his or her 'ticket of leave'.

And Aussie teachers are treated like convicts - sent out to remote areas, far away from their families, to work fearfully till they have earned their 'ticket of leave' - the right to return home.

The Aussie culture still values silent obedience.

And teaching problems are allowed to fester for years, because teachers who try to deal with problems are attacked and denigrated as 'arrogant troublemakers' in Australia.

• http://au.messages.yahoo.com/news/localnews-wa/16297?p=1

• details of a related article Little Monsters Rule , Phil Hickey, The Mandurah Coastal Times,  can be found on the PLATOWA website news page.

 

Tuesday July 1, 2008

Retired teacher Lynda Beck of Rozelle wrote a Letter to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

She retired one year ago.

The Sydney Morning Herald had reported that parents did not generally perceive that their children had serious conduct problems.

But teachers do.

In  Lynda Beck's experience, children are now more disruptive and violent than they were a generation ago.

But modern parents do not acknowledge this, due to the cult of preciousness and encouragement of egocentricity that has evolved.

If a child was disobedient or violent in the 1970's and 80's, generally a discussion with the parents would result in a workable solution.

Now the parents frequently inform the teacher that the child's misbehaviour is someone else's fault.

Or that the teacher is picking on them.

 

The Bad Apple Bullies webmaster comments:

I taught in Sydney primary schools during the 70's and 80's.

Children simply were not disruptive and violent in those days.

 

I began teaching in Queensland at about the time that the cane was banned in schools.

And the children's behaviour rapidly deteriorated.

Every year there seemed to be more and more children in each class with significant behavioural problems.

 

I observed that Queensland school principals were often reluctant to contact parents and tell them the truth about their children.

The principals seemed to be afraid that the parents would complain about them.

• Letters to the Editor, Sydney Morning Herald

 

Thursday June 19, 2008

Russel Riley, Thornlie, describes some of the major incidents during the past few years at his Perth primary school.

His school was one of the first in Western Australia to experience a police lock-down and search of the grounds by armed TRG with dogs.

The lock-down lasted from 9am to 12.30pm.

During that three and a half hours, teachers, staff and students were all locked in the classrooms together with no access to toilets.

 

Two armed parents began fighting over a carpark space at the end of a school day, while students were trying to get home safely.

 

Three staff were held hostage in the principal's office by a recently released prisoner who was armed.

 

A parent was not happy because their child had been stopped from fighting with another student.

So the parent went to a staff member's house at the weekend and began making threats and throwing stones and gum nuts. 

• Try a stint at my school, Russel Riley, Letters to the Editor, p.22, The West Australian, quoted on the PLATOWA website 

 

Dwight Lemke, Lecturer in management, School of Business, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, wrote a letter to the editor of The Australian.

... A large proportion, if not a majority, of my students canot write a clear, concise and grammatically correct paragraph to save their lives. Those of us who care about the quality of the students we send out into the world are therefore compelled to correct their English so that they have a last chance to learn to communicate well.

This is not something we should be doing at university. Students are supposed to graduate from high school with a basic knowledge of maths, English, science and social studies.

Why isn't it happening?

• Letters to the Editor, Opinion, p. 15, The Australian.

 

Friday June 6, 2008

Bob Wilkinson of Lions Street, Malanda, wrote to The Cairns Post.

He said that the system fails to support teachers.

Teachers teach their students "good manners" and they expect good manners, respect and obedience from their students.

But they are not allowed to enforce this teaching.

Anytime they try to enforce their expectations, there is some bureaucracy to thwart their efforts.

In any school, there are phone numbers for students to ring if they feel wronged by some adult.

But there are no phone numbers for teachers (or parents, etc.) to ring for help in dealing with unruly, recalcitrant children.

In fact, most of the students using these help phone numbers are the ones causing the trouble, who ring with invented stories and are believed.

Nor is there any help from the authorities "in charge".

They either don't want to know or their hands are tied.

Bob said that when he taught in the ghettos of industrial England in the 1970-80's, it was more pleasant than teaching in many Queensland schools today.

• System fails to support teachers, Bob Wilkinson, Your Say, p.13, The Cairns Post, Friday June 6, 2008.

 

The Webmaster of Bad Apple Bullies comments:

I also taught in the heartland of industrial England during 1969-1973.

I agree with Bob.

But when I commented to an inexperienced acting deputy principal that behaviour was far, far better in the early days of my teaching career, she decided that I had to be put into a Diminished Workplace Performance Program because "we want to change the way that Annie is thinking".

So I hope that Bob has retired, or he will almost certainly be put into a punishment program for telling the truth about the lack of support for teachers in Queensland schools.

It is so much easier to punish the teachers for talking about the behaviour problems than to deal with the children's behaviour.

 

Friday 30 May 2008

A former South Australian teacher has been awarded a $390,000 damages payout for excessive workload and bullying.

The South Australia Supreme Court found that the teacher had been overworked and was the victim of bullying and victimisation.

The male teacher had been asked to take on extra, unpaid duties whilst working as a teacher at Mt Barker High School and Brighton Secondary School.

He had gone on sick leave in 2001.

He was eventually dismissed.

Justice Tim Anderson found that the South Australia Education Department should have foreseen that the extra workload, even undertaken willingly, would have caused stress.

He awarded $392,850 in damages for loss of past and future earnings as well as loss of reputation and dignity.

Workplace OHS

• Issue 149 - Safety net Journal 140, OHS REPS SafetyNetJournal

 

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

06:03pm

This morning a teacher working at the Umbakumba School on Groote Island was threatened by a man wielding an axe, spears and a bow and 12 arrows.

Groote Island is a remote Aboriginal community in the Gulf of Carpentaria (Northern Territory),

The man was allegedly looking for a relative at the Umbakumba School on Groote Eylandt, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, at about 8am (CST) today.

Police said the man threatened the teacher with the axe when he was asked to leave the school.

The man then damaged a school building with an axe.

Community members seized the weapons and disarmed the man.

He ran off into the bush before police arrived.

He remains at large despite police efforts to locate him.

 

Earlier this month, two teachers at Umbakumba School were threatened by a young man wielding a lump of concrete and a wooden log.

The 18-year-old had an altercation with his wife inside the school grounds before he allegedly became agitated and approached a classroom full of students.

• Teacher threatened with axe, spears, AAP, The Courier-Mail

 

Monday April 28, 2008

Toni Sharkey , principal of Newcomb Secondary College in Geelong, had worked as a teacher for 38 years.

For most of that time she had worked at "difficult" schools.

A parent at the school was known to have a short fuse and to indulge in angry rants.

Ms Sharkey had managed to calm her down before.

But in 2006 the mother was out of control.

Ms Sharkey had suspended her son because he had arrived at school one day with baseball bats,

Two other boys were with him, neither of whom were pupils at the school.

They were planning to settle a score with another student.

"After screaming and carrying on at me, she (the mother) grabbed me by the top of the arm and around my neck with the other hand and threw me on the ground," Ms Sharkey recalls. "I didn't know what was happening,"

Fortunately the assistant principal, who was working in his nearby office, heard the escalation of the swearing and abuse.

He was able to intervene.

The physical injuries that Ms Sharkey suffered during the assault, and the mental and emotional effects of the assault, have affected Ms Sharkey's health.

She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and she is unlikely to return to work.

She is shocked by the situation in which she now finds herself.

She had never thought about retiring or resigning from her work.

 

Ms Sharkey says that schools are too exposed.

She wants to see security procedures developed to protect staff and students.

"Schools are very much open slather to anybody who wants to create a fuss," she says.

" ... I am so tired of hearing about teachers being under the scrutiny of bullying in schools. For goodness sake, let's put the other side of the story out there."

 

Brian Burgess, president of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, described an incident at Eumemmerring College which prompted an emergency lockdown at the school.

A male parent was rampaging through the school yard, trying to find a teacher.

The parent thought the teacher had abused his son.

The teacher concerned was pregnant.

The student concerned was a difficult year 9 student who had told his father a pack of lies.

The father had over-reacted.

 

Mary Bluett, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, described a recent incident.

A father walked into a classroom and abused a teacher in front of 27 grade 2 students.

He then turned to the students and told them that their teacher was a cr*p teacher and that they should tell their parents.

Then he stormed out.

• The parent trap, Elisabeth Tarica, The Age.

 

Saturday 19 April 2008

Robert Bartholomew , an American sociology professor, has lived in Australia for 13 years.

He has spent several years working as a teacher in remote schools.

He was working as a teacher in Ali Curong (also called Alekarenge), 170km south of Tennant Creek and on the edge of the Tanami desert in the Northern Territory.

He "blew the whistle" on the Northern Territory's crumbling education system.

He said that walking into the Alekarenge School was like entering the third world.

Conditions at the Alekarenge school are so bad that only one of the six teachers who statrted work at the school in January 2008 have made it through to Term 2.

A spokesman for the Northern Territory Education Department said four teachers, not five, had left the school: two had taken up promotional positions, one was on maternity leave and one was following her partner to his new job in a different community.

In 2005 a report had identified an asbestos risk to children and staff both inside the school and in the playground.

The report alarmed the community.

Dr Bartholomew claims that the Education Department ignored the asbestos report.

The Education Department claim that this is untrue, and that all of the recommendations of the report had been implemented.

Dr Bartholomew said that he raised his concern about education and safety standards within the school for weeks.

"I was told my standards were too high," he said.

Then the department told him he was going be transferred to a different school.

But, despite having successful interviews at other schools, he has not been able to get another job as a teacher.

Dr Bartholomew believes that he has been "blackballed" by the department.

He is now technically an illegal immigrant.

Former colleagues of Dr Bartholomew, including school principals, spoke of him as a model teacher.

The Australian Education Union's Northern Territory branch secretary, Adam Lampe, said that Dr Bartholomew had been treated with contempt.

This week, Northern Territory Education Minister Marion Scrymgour admitted that remote schools were in crisis.

•  Whistleblower loses job, Natasha Robinson,  The Australian

• Community rallies for teacher, Natasha Robinson, P.10, The Nation, The Weekend Australian.

 

17 April, 2008

Andrew Massey, a teacher in England, has been paid "substantial" compensation because his job ruined his health.

Mr Massey, 54, was teaching design and technology at New College in Leicester in 2004.

He has been unable to work since he became sick from stress.

He took legal action against Leicester City Council and was offered an undisclosed but substantial out-of-court settlement.

Leicester City Council declined to comment to the BBC on the case.

Mr Massey told the BBC; "It was grim. I was late for lessons because I was dealing with fights and other incidents in corridors."

Mr Massey said that balconies in the school building were dangerous places because teachers and students could be spat on, or they could have books dropped on them from the balcony.

Students would set fire to another child's hair.

One morning there were 13 false fire alarms at the school.

"We were told steps would be taken, but nothing effective ever happened." Mr Massey said.

Mr Massey said that he felt angry because he had been "reduced to what I am, that I should have lost so many of the good qualities that I had."

"I can't do rapid speech, my whole body hurts with the determination to get words out. I have become so much more difficult to live with."

 

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) supported Mr Massey.

When did you last read about the Queensland Teachers' Union supporting a bullied teacher?

 

Peter Flack is assistant secretary of the NUT's Leicester branch.

He said: "This problem is certainly getting worse. The pressures are far greater."

Leicestershire city council does not know exactly how many of its teachers are affected by stress.

The BBC has obtained figures under the Freedom of Information Act that show that in Leicester more than 2,500 teaching days were lost last year because of stress among 65 staff members.

But the NUT believes that these figures do not show the full extent of the problem, because many teachers do not like to admit that they are sufering from stress.

• Payout deal for stressed teacher, BBC News

 

Monday April 7, 2008

A male teacher was hit over the head as he tried to stop five teenagers armed with baseball bats and a machete rampaging through Merrylands High School at 8.50am (AEST) today, police said.

The teacher was taken to hospital with bruising to the back of his head while trying to restrain one of the youths, the Ambulance Service of NSW said.

18 students were injured in the attack, most with cuts and abrasions from broken glass, although one girl was taken to hospital with a swollen cheek after allegedly being assaulted by one of the teenagers.

One student was taken to Westmead Children's Hospital with a facial injury.

Police said five youths stormed an assembly in an outdoor quadrangle, brandishing baseball bats and a machete, prompting teachers to "lock down" the school.

Students were locked inside their classrooms for safety.

Det-Insp Stewart said he was stunned by the brazenness of the incident.

"It beggars belief ... ," he said.

 

The unnamed mother of a Year 12 student praised the actions of teachers who put their lives on the line to protect students at Merrylands High School during the attack.

"The children were told to go into "lockdown procedure" and so they went to whatever lockdown classroom they're meant to be in and they go through the roll call to make sure their groups are there at which point these people started to smash windows."

The students were told to get under tables while the youths were smashing windows.

"The teachers were actually (barricading) the door for these guys which is really way above the call of duty, which is really good," the parent said.

"They showed the parents that they put their life on the line for the kids."

• School attack may have been revenge, Simon Kirby, Karen Davis and Danny Rose, AAP, The Courier-Mail.

• Teachers 'put lives on the line', AAP, The Courier-Mail.

 

Friday April 4, 2008

Maree Anne McCormack, aged 54, was employed as a textiles, health and art teacher at Patterson River Secondary College, at Carrum in Melbourne, from February 1994.

Ms McCormack became anxious and stressed after a number of confrontations with students.

Ms McCormack was abused "in a particularly nasty fashion" in mid-2005 by a male student.

Ms McCormack told her doctor about the difficulties she faced in her job and about a lack of support from her employer.

In March 2006 she was working in a portable classroom with no way of contacting the office.

A female student accused Ms McCormack of kicking her.

Then the student withdrew the allegation.

But the principal made a remark that seemed to indicate a lack of support for MsMcCormack.

The situation affected Ms McCormack's health.

Workcover rejected her claim for compensation.

But Melbourne County Court Judge Bowman ruled that there was overwhelming evidence that Ms McCormack had suffered an injury at work and that she should receive compensation.

• Harassed teacher wins compo, Michelle Draper, AAP: The Courier-Mail.

 

Friday 21 March, 2008

A female teacher, who did not want to be named, came forward to highlight serious safety issues facing teachers who are working in the Torres Strait Islands.

She said that her department accommodation in the Torres Straits was not secure.

An alleged attacker easily broke through a door, threatening to sexually assault her.

She fought him off and screamed, causing him to flee.

Wanting to call her parents but without a reliable phone in her house, the teacher ran to the school principal's house.

The principal advised her to wait until she settled down the next day before calling.

She was also told not to leave the island on the next barge in three days because she might not get another teaching job.

Police came three days later but did not arrest and charge the man until six weeks after the alleged assault, she said.

On the night the man was arrested, his friends allegedly harassed the teacher, banging on her window and doors.

After this incident she began sleeping with a knife under her bed and a mallet next to her pillow.

She left the island soon after.

She asked the Education Department's regional office if they were aware of the incident.

A spokesman said the department was aware but did not call the teacher unless it was a life and death situation.

• Teacher slept beside knife, Michael Wray, The Courier-Mail.

 

Thursday 20 March 2008

 Nurses, teachers and other public servants are placed in remote North Queensland left to fend for themselves.

Working in these areas is a dangerous affair.

When I was in NQ recently I caught up with a family friend I hadn't seen for ages.

After he graduated from teacher training, he put his hand up to teach in a certain remote area.

As time went on, break-ins to his place of residence became more and more frequent and then started occuring at night when he was out.

It got to the point he was worried for his safety, especially at night when he might be asleep.

He asked for a transfer but, guess what, no one else wants to work in the area - I wonder why?

His only way out was to quit.

The damage has been done though, as the young man has suffered close to a nervous breakdown and, of course, there is no assistance coming from his former employer. ...

• Under-fire minister visits Strait, Vince, Comment 49 of 129, Michael Wray and AAP, The Courier-Mail.

 

Tuesday 18 March 2008

Dance teacher Despina Rosales claims she was "punched, kicked, spat at and hit repeatedly" by up to seven female students while trying to drive out of the carpark of Randwick Girls High School in Sydney's east.

One of the students accused Ms Rosales, 35, of driving over her foot.

But it was Ms Rosales who required medical treatment at Prince of Wales Hospital for a "serious blow to the right side of her head".

 

One lunchtime at a western Sydney high school a male Year 7 student was playing tackle football in the playground with his friends.

The female teacher on duty asked the boys to stop tackling because it was against school rules.

They ignored her so she confiscated their football.

After negotiations the students agreed to stop tackling and the teacher handed the ball back to them.

But the Year 7 boy confronted the teacher and held a replica automatic pistol to her head for "about one minute".

 

At a regional high school in southwest NSW a Year 9 male student left his seat and creept up on the teacher.

He placed a toy gun against her head and pulled the trigger.

Then he ran into other classes, hurling abuse and waving the gun around.

A teacher's aide also had the weapon placed against her head and the trigger pulled.

 

The father of a disturbed Year 7 boy became aggressive during a meeting at a secondary school on the NSW Central Coast.

He pulled out a "mini replica pistol" and pointed it at the school counsellor's face.

 

At a special school on the North Coast of NSW a 14-year-old student threw 15 punches at the teacher trying to restrain him.

Three or four punches connected with the teacher's face and head.

 

"Special needs" teachers seem to be particularly vulnerable to being attacked at work, injured and driven into an impoverished early retirement.

You need to consider this possibilty very, very carefully if you feel 'called' to work with 'special needs' children.

 

In southwest Sydney a Year 9 boy sprayed a can of deodorant into a teacher's mouth with such force that it caused his nose to bleed.

 

A man reports that his teacher partner was hit with a lump of concrete that was thrown at her while she was writing on the blackboard.

 

A NSW primary school teacher was threatened with assault by an intoxicated mother.

Her husband, a police officer,  forced the reluctant principal to ban the parent.

"At least I can protect myself when dealing with violent persons, however these teachers cannot," he says.

"It is disgraceful situation and is getting out of hand and the Education Department should hang its head in shame.

"The slap on the wrist approach has not worked in the past 15 years and it is about time some changes were made to make children and their parents accountable for their crimes."

 

• Teachers forced to bite bullet, Bruce McDougall, The Daily Telegraph.

 

Monday 17 March 2008

Former NSW Central Coast teacher Richard Neville is one of many who has left the profession out of fear for their safety.

He ended his 12-year career as a high school teacher after two students attacked him with scissors and a lump of wood.

Now a fireman, Mt Neville said he found the job "safer than teaching".

"The boy who came at me with the pair of scissors and the one who took the swing at me with a lump of wood were 13 year olds," Mr Neville said.

Department of Education and Training incident reports show teachers are regularly threatened with firearms or other weapons - from broken bottles to knives - by students, parents or intruders.

The issue tops the list of teachers' concerns in secondary schools (more than 65 per cent).

• Teachers flee schools as attacks rise, AAP and the Daily Telegraph,   http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23387305-1242,00.html?from=public_rss

 

Friday February 22, 2008

P. McGowan of Thornlie wrote a Letter to the Editor of The West Australian (The letter was also quoted on the PLATOWA website) -

"I am in my 50s and have been a teacher for more than half my life.

I have always had a sense of pride in my chosen profession and my ability to do a good job.

I feel that I have been a positive influence in the lives of the many children I have taught.

"I still enjoy the craft of teaching but now I find myself feeling that I would like to pull the pin on my career.

I am unable to do this because of my personal circumstances; in fact, I will need to continue working for a significant number of years.

I will continue to do my utmost to do the best job that I am capable of. The (job) is too important to do otherwise.

"I now find myself heading into the last phase of my career feeling undervalued, overworked, frustrated and depressed.

Sadly, I suspect that I may be voicing the feelings of many of my mature-age peers. ...

"The workload has more than doubled in the course of my career, actual teaching seeming to have become secondary to the continually increasing demands on teachers to produce data, evidence and assessment facts and figures.

These massive and growing demands for documentation, although having a place, rob teachers of time which could be better spent devising effective, interesting and even innovative ways by which they could be optimising the learning opportunities of the children in their classrooms.

"Those who know and live with teachers bemoan widely-held negative attitudes about our "short" working days, long holidays and "high" salaries; they are often our only advocates.

 

Tuesday, February 5 2008

NSW Kindergarten teacher (discussed in a series of emails) -

 

I was a Kindergarten Teacher in NSW and I had been offered a full year's contract.

But I was pregnant.

The principal told me that I could no longer remain on the class because I was pregnant.

She was worried that I would need time off for medical appointments and that I might become ill during the pregnancy.

So I lost the job.

 

I contacted the union.

They told me that it was discrimination and they promised me help.

But I heard nothing.

I called again and there was no record of my phone call.

This happened on a number of occasions.

 

The principal gave me a job for half a day, every day, sharing with the reading recovery teacher.

 

She asked me if I would return in Term 4, after my baby was born, to teach in the mornings only every day.

I could not guarantee this as it is difficult to get child care for half a day.

She told me that if I didn't come back in term 4 that I would not get a job the next year.

So I arranged care for half a day every day through family and friends.

 

But then the reading recovery teacher decided to have the class full time, so I lost that job as well.

 

I ran the bookclub for the school.

I sought some help on how to set it up from one of the admin ladies.

This admin lady suggested that the bookclub be run a certain way so that cash was not taken out of the school grounds.

I followed her suggestion.

Later the admin lady seems to have complained about how the bookclub was being run in the hearing of the principal.

 

I felt very disadvantaged on a part-time contract.

For example, I was not allowed to attend a professional development course because I was only contracted for half a day.

 

I was only a first year teacher, and I can honestly say that I don't think I could return to teaching.

 

I could not hand in a resume to another school and have then call the school I previously worked as for a reference, as I know that I would not get good comments.

 

I am unable to work casually as I can not afford to put my baby into childcare in the hope that I will get a phone call each day.

 

I have worked so hard to get where I am.

I had a baby at 16 but struggled my way through fulltime school and uni, all to become a teacher.

And this is where I am today.

Its very sad and such a waste of time and effort.

I just wish there was some help for teachers out there, especially temp teachers that get walked over.

 

The system is against us.

 

Monday, February 4 2008

John Daicopoulos, a four-year honours (physics) graduate with a second degree specialising in physics education, wrote an On Line Opinion Article:

Having happily taught physics for 17 years in two countries he has recently opted to leave the profession because -

 A physics graduate with hopes of becoming a teacher has no ability to adjust or amend the collective teacher working conditions that govern education.

This lack of negotiating power (or even permission) is perpetuated by union collective agreements (negotiated in good-faith by all stake-holders).

What is the motivation to gaining a full honours degree in physics then learning to teach, when you can simply enter a teacher training program learning some physics along the way?

And Western Australia is toying with the idea of allowing lower than normal TEE scores for acceptance into teacher training programs and the dilution of academic skills and qualifications continues.

What value should we place on a full honours degree qualification?

Great value.

Assuming one decides to give-it-a-go entering the profession fully qualified with a contract negotiated in good faith, what are the conditions that will affect the physics-teacher’s level of work satisfaction?

Outside of the same demands placed on all teachers, it will most likely be the physics (and science) curriculum.

Today’s physics curriculum (or syllabus if you prefer) has become entrenched with an emphasis overly based on teaching engineering, or on entertaining students with so-called hands-on activities.

With an incessant compulsion for making physics practical, hands-on or worse yet, fun, the educational establishment has watered down physics to the point that it is of little interest to the physicists who teach it.

Although physics can (and should) be applied, it is a fundamental science that must be taught promoting scientific ideals.

Building bridges of spaghetti is not enough.

If the very calibre of teacher we desire to teach difficult and technical subjects like physics and mathematics is choosing not to teach, then many features of education need to change before they choose otherwise. The compulsion to change ought to rest within the system.

 

This is an interesting article that raises quite a few new issues.

It is written by an intelligent teacher - a species that may soon become extinct.

John also writes about the endless paperwork necessary to gain teacher registration in Queensland.

What John may not realise is how easily his qualifications, his career and his health can be destroyed in Queensland with malicious gossip and a few scribbles on sticky-notes.

A full copy of the article can be found at -

• Building bridges of spaghetti is not enough, John Diacopoulos, On Line Opinion:  http://www.onlineopinion.com.au:80/view.asp?article=6932

 

Tuesday, January 15 2008

Louise Boyle of Toowoomba, Queensland, wrote a letter to the Editor of The Australian.

She recently retrained as a mature-age student in primary education.

But she has discovered that there are many obstacles to gaining permanent employment in the state system.

There is a strict requirement that new teachers do country service for a number of years.

Louise can't leave her family.

So she can only do supply and contract work.

It is soul-destroying to always be teaching someone else's class.

Louise has been advised by the local QTU representative that there are approximately 5000 teachers without a permanent position.

In the 90's, older teachers were persuaded to change to a new superannuation system.

So now these older teachers need to work for longer.

They worry that they have not got enough money for their retirement.

Louise has recently been advised that Education Queensland plans to base permanent teachers in primary schools.

Presumably these are teachers who have completed their country service and who have requested a transfer to a "better" area.

These permanent teachers will be given the supply and contract work.

So Louise has decided to seek employment elsewhere.

She has no job and a $15,000 HECS bill to pay.

She agrees with Kevin Donnelly that her teaching qualifications are inadequate, in particular for the teaching of literacy.

So she is an unsatisfied customer of the university system.

And a casualty of a dysfunctional state education system.

• A casualty of a dysfunctional state education system, The Australian   http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/theaustralian/comments/a_casualty_of_a_dysfunctional_state_education_system

 

Friday 21 December, 2007

Ray Chambers, 52, teacher in western Queensland, claims that short-term teaching contracts are cynically designed to save money.

Ray claims that the contracts are designed to avoid paying teachers holiday entitlements.

Ray said that he recently returned to teaching after a 17-year break.

But he is now looking for other work because he has become disillusioned with the Queensland government's treatment of teachers.

Ray has taken a series of teaching contracts in western Queensland since 2005.

He hoped that his service in rural communities would eventully be recognised with a permanent position.

But he has noticed that all of the contracts that teachers are on end before the school year finishes.

Nobody gets a contract right up to the end of the year.

And that this saves the Queensland government from paying eight or ten weeks wages.

Ray says that this is not a fair system.

• Teacher leaves industry over AWAs, Sunshine Coast Daily, thedaily.com.au

 

Wednesday December 12, 2007

Zakarie Sloan of East Brunswick wrote a letter to the Editor of the Age.

His wife is a teacher.

He is angered and disgusted by the way that his wife has been treated.

She has worked hard for three years.

Her pay has been poor, but they put up with that.

But now she has been effectively sacked.

She will have no holiday pay and she will have no maternity leave (she is pregnant).

She was not sacked because she was performing poorly.

She has worked hard and performed beyond the expected level of commitment.

She was sacked because she was on a contract. 

How many people have to re-apply for their jobs every two or three years?

• Contracts "a kick", Letters to the editor, The Age :  http://www.quattro.com/id258.htm

 

Wednesday December 5, 2007

Michael Griggs of Lidcombe, NSW wrote a letter to the editor of The Australian:

He has taught high school for more than 30 years.

During that time his salary has been eroded, his conditions of work undermined, and his time wasted by "one idiotic panacea after another" emanating from politicians, university academics, journalists, greasy-pole-climbing principals and well-meaning parents, all of whom knew "diddly-squat" about teaching and learning.

Syllabuses changed almost as often as he changed his shirt.

Nobody ever checked to see if any of these "idiotic panaceas" were actually doing any good.

• PLATOWA

 

Monday December 3, 2007

Ex-teacher R.J. Burns emailed The Courier-Mail :

"I walked away from a 20-year teaching career that I loved due to undisciplined students who have no respect, are openly arrogant and receive no serious consequences for their behaviour.

I became tired of explaining to parents that their child behaves like a brat at school.

When you try to convince them that their son / daughter really is a little monster in the classroom, you then have to defend your own teaching style, classroom management and even your personality.

Parents - wake up and start teaching your children what respect really means.

And show some yourself when dealing with teachers.

I will never return to secondary teaching as I can only see this problem getting worse."

• The Courier-Mail

 

Friday November 30, 2007

"NSW Ex-teacher" emailed The ABC:

He got out of the NSW system the day he turned 55.

He doesn't get much in the way of superannuation but he is a lot healthier and a lot happier.

At his last school, the principal would quite openly come to work and tell her Deputy that she was there to "kick arse" amongst the staff.

Which she would do.

This particular school was considered to be the most difficult in the region, if not the state.

The result was a toxic environment where there were high levels of staff sick leave and stress leave.

How did this person get to be a principal?

Why was nothing done about this person?

The problem is the spineless bureaucrats in the Education Department.

But teachers are not only being bullied by other employees.

When teachers' cars are vandalised, their houses damaged, their personal safety threatened by violent teengaers and parents on a daily basis in NSW, then there is something very, very wrong.

The sad thing is that teachers are now so used to the bullying from all quarters, the threats, the intimidation and the high stress levels that it all seems "normal".

Baby boomer teachers like him are leaving in droves.

"We could have stayed on, but why bother? It's not worth your health or your sanity. Most of us came into the job with the best of intentions, but most of us leave with a bitter taste in our mouths."

Every day is a good day now that he doesn't have to go to school.

• ABC News

 

Saturday 6 October, 2007

Judith Szalontai of Wendouree wrote a letter to the editor of The Melbourne Age.

Judith had decided to go to uni at the age of 40, to train to be a teacher.

She gained a Dip Ed with high distinctions.

She spent five years doing casual teaching and short teaching contracts.

She had no stability, no security, no holiday pay.

She was threatened with violence by students and teachers.

She was unemployed for five months and finally decided to take a non-teaching job.

What a waste of effort.

• The Age

 

Friday 21 September, 2007

• False complaints fallout, comments, Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph

 

Her experience has led her to believe that the Federation do not "see" the size of the problem of false allegations against teachers.

They are distracted by their own agendas.

They are unresponsive to the needs of members who are the subject of false allegations.

The Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate process for dealing with allegations is frightening.

• False complaints fallout, comments, Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph

 

Thursday 20 September, 2007

A male teacher working in Beresfield / Newcastle contacted the Maralyn Parker blog in The Daily Telegraph.

About twelve months ago he was directly affected by false allegations.

The situation is ongoing.

He can't get anybody to deal with the problem.

• Teacher turmoil false complaints fallout, comments, Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph

She had reported that a teacher was assaulting and verbally abusing a child.

She was "paid back" - the same kind of allegations were made against her.

She was sent to HealthQuest for a psychiatric examination.

They found that she had a "personality disorder".

She was stood down and went on the dole.

She lost her home.

She went to court.

The newspapers published comments that made her appear to be mad and abusive.

Her life has never been the same.

The shame is unbearable.

She will take the experience to the grave.

• Teacher turmoil false complaints fallout, comments, Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph

 

Wednesday 19 September 2007

A Principal from Shoalhaven contacted the Maralyn Parker blog in The Daily Telegraph.

She had been maliciously attacked by parents.

For five years the principal tried various strategies to satisfy the parents.

There was an investigation.

Some complaints were dismissed, the rest found unproven.

But the principal was not declared innocent.

She can never be declared innocent. It will always be on her official record.

The principal feels that the investigation process rewards the behaviour of the parents.

They do not have to explain their behaviour or to apologise.

The principal does not want to return to the school as she feels unable to trust the parents.

She feels that "the system" has let her down.

• Teacher turmoil false complaints fallout, comments, Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph.

 

Wednesday 19 September 2007

A female teacher from the Bankstown area in NSW contacted the Maralyn Parker blog in the Daily Telegraph.

She is currently being investigated because of an allegation that she hit a year four girl on the arm.

Three girls had stolen lollies from her desk.

She spoke to them calmly.

One girl told her father that the teacher had hit her.

The other two girls have given written statements that this did not happen.

But there still has to be an investigation.

Both the teacher and the principal are stressed by the injustice of the situation.

There should be consequences for children who make false allegations.

• False complaints fallout, comments, Maralyn Parker, The Daily Telegraph.

Under the Teacher Assessment and Review Scheme my annual reports never had a problem, then I was asked what the problems were.

I answered like any honest teacher of upper primary grades that some kids were off task and calling out.

Half a term later I was told I was going on an Improvement Program the following week.

As an older teacher I did not have medical problems interfering with my performance and took no sick leave.

I did extra duties and was popular with teachers, students and parents.

I did blow the whistle on an AP's bullying a year before my victimisation.

The union are supportive, but underfunded with these matters.

Future action is being taken and in the meantime I tutor and hope to work casually in private schools.

Depression, insomnia and weight gain are symptoms of bullying in this case.

The union is funding me $11 000+ for arbitration court.

I having been reading other NSW cases on:  http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/caselaw

My chances of success are low.

 

30 January, 2007.

An academic in Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland, has changed to a new career

He moved to Queensland with his family to pursue an academic career.

He "stuck it out" for several unhappy years.

His work supervisor isolated him from his co-workers.

Then made huge demands on his time and undermined him.

He had spent twelve years establishing his career.

But in academia your progress depends on your direct supervisor.

His career was destroyed by one person.

He urges anyone with a psychopathic boss to "get out quickly".

 

This story is so similar to many stories told on the Bullied Academics Yahoo Group.

 

17 November, 2003.

A male teacher in Queensland had more than 20 years of experience and was well-liked.

Two former students accused him of sexual abuse in 2001.

He spent months going through an emotionally and financially trying "adjudication process".

He was shunned by many of his colleagues and friends.

He was eventually acquitted and cleared of any wrongdoing.

But the incident left an indelible mark on his reputation.

He was too afraid to return to teaching.

He became a tree-lopper.

• Teachers fear abuse witch-hunt, Dylan Welch, The Australian.

2002

... A male teacher was on yard duty at Langwarrin Secondary College when a group of girls aged around 16 started yelling at each other.

Students surrounded the girls, and a few looked at the teacher - who watched on from behind them - to see why he wasn't trying to calm things down.

One said he heard him say of the girls being attacked: "B's a smart chick, and she knows what she's going to get herself into."

He probably meant that he believed that she was too smart a girl to get involved in a fight.

Another said he was smiling as if enjoying the show, although the judge and the VCAT colleague decided he was probably just smiling because he was nervous.

Teachers are instructed / required to smile in all circumstances.

For three minutes - as measured by surveillance cameras - the teacher hung back, behind the circle of watching students.

He would have been observing what was going on.

He probably thought that it would inflame the situation if he got involved.

The shouting then suddenly turned into a brawl between eight girls, which lasted for 30 violent seconds.

Suddenly - you see - suddenly. It turned into a brawl suddenly.

And then the brawl lasted for thirty seconds.

It was "vicious", the judge said, even though no weapons were wielded, bones broken or blood drawn.

One girl had tufts of her hair pulled out and her head pushed into an iron railing and was later taken to hospital.

The judge and colleague said although the girl hadn't been badly hurt, the fight could have been "potentially very serious".

So, what did the teacher do during this?

He claims he waved his arms and yelled at the girls to stop. He claims he sent two year 8 boys to run for reinforcements from the staff.

But no witness heard him shout, saw him wave or send for help.

They weren't looking in his direction. They were looking towards the fight.

And as the cameras showed, he certainly didn't step forward and try to separate the fighting girls. Nor did he later check the injured girl or offer to help her. It was her friends who took her to the sick bay.

Who was watching the security cameras when the girls were brawling?

What was the point in having security cameras installed if there was nobody watching them, ready to call the alarm?

My understanding is that the security cameras were introduced because the school had a history of playground violence.

My understanding is that the security cameras were switched off because they "distracted people".

Is this correct?

Who decided to turn the cameras off?

If you have security cameras because the school has a history of playground violence, isn't it negligent to turn the cameras off?

None of the teacher's excuses - that he was waiting for help and that stepping in could have inflamed things - impressed those who should matter most here.

As the judgment noted: "(T)here was significant ill-feeling between the (teacher) and other members of staff as a result of this incident."

What was the evidence to support this statement?

Where were the other teachers who were supposed to be on duty?

School parents were furious, a community meeting had to be held and even students abused the teacher.

Of course they did.

Parents often blame the teacher when their child behaves badly.

And students always blame the teacher when they behave badly.

"He should have stopped me brawling, after all, I'm only 16!"

The principal, a man with 40 years in schools, was also appalled - his vast experience no doubt telling him a reasonably tall and experienced male teacher could and should have broken up a fight between eight girls, none of whom was known to have ever fought before.

If they had never been know to fight before, how was the teacher expected to know that they would actually start fighting on this occasion?

And would the principal have expected his women teachers to have involved themselves in the brawl?

Had the staff of the school been trained to break up vicious brawls between 16-year-old girls?

As he said: "Most teachers would . . . get in there or would start raising their voices, you know, pointing fingers and that sort of thing, where there was nothing like that."

The brawl lasted thirty seconds. There wasn't a lot of time to do very much.

That was the verdict of experience, and one shared by others who'd spent decades teaching children and running schools.

Does this principal do playground duty on a regular basis?

Or does he just sit in his office, well away from the children?

A lot of administrators keep well away from children nowadays and they do not (want to) "know" that behaviour problems are increasing.

That's why the Education Department sacked the teacher - a decision backed by the Industrial Relations Commission - and the Victorian Institute of Teaching cancelled his registration.

Only the judge and her VCAT colleague, of all the authorities asked to rule on the teacher's dereliction of duty, thought he was fit to teach, and should be free to.

But the judge and colleague were, arguably, also the least qualified of all those authorities to say how the teacher should have acted and whether he should be trusted with students.

No, they aren't. They are used to dealing with violent fights among teenagers and they have plain common sense.

How can you say that this teacher should not be trusted with students?

It was the students who were brawling, not the teacher.

These authorities want to punish this teacher to distract attention away from the behaviour problems of the students.

Again, I am not saying the judge made the wrong call at all. But in some ways the decision was exactly one a lawyer, more than a school principal or good teacher, would make.

How many classroom teachers did you ask before you came to that decision?

How many vicious brawls between 16-year-old girls have you tried to break up?

The judge said the sacked man hadn't been given guidelines on whether or how to break up such a fight, and wasn't at all incompetent for having failed to do so. After all, he shouldn't be "required to risk his physical safety" by stepping in every time.

To which there are two obvious answers.

The first is, if guidelines really are needed to get teachers to break up cat-fights, the judge had a chance to set some by insisting the teacher should have done what many senior colleagues agreed was his duty.

What about this male teacher's duty not to touch his female students?

What about a pregnant woman teacher? A frail old teacher? Are they all supposed to be responsible for breaking up vicious brawls among 16-year-old students?

These administrators are trying to distract attention from their own responsibility to provide a safe working environment for the teacher.

Had the school provided teachers on duty with the means to call for assistance - for example, had this teacher been provided with a mobile phone? A personal alarm?

Had the teacher been given any training in security duties?

Schools have a responsibility to employ trained security staff to protect children against these sorts of violent attacks during their lunchbreaks.

... The second problem is this: which book of guidelines could substitute for the judgment of experience? How could guidelines even tell a teacher when it was safe to step in and break up a fight and when it was better to hang back?

Put on the spot in the 30 seconds of a fight, a teacher consults his gut, not a handbook, and veteran teachers and principals say a male teacher who won't separate a few brawling girls hasn't the instincts to be trusted.

That's the call of people with years behind them of keeping order in schools.

No, it isn't and they haven't.

These administrators probably have years of hiding in air-conditioned offices, well away from children.

It is disgraceful that this teacher's career has been ruined by 30 seconds of poor student behaviour.

It is easier for administrators to blame classroom teachers than to deal with the student's behaviour problems, their parents, the media, etc.

Stand these administrators in the hot sun on playground duty for thirty minutes of their lunch break, listening to the endless arguments and complaints of the students.

Let them try breaking up a few vicious brawls between groups of 16-year-old girls.

Then send them back into the classroom to try to teach 30 hot, junk-food-filled and over-excited attention-seeking students.

No wonder recent research suggests that teachers work with a feeling of profound sadness.

• The Herald Sun.

 

Monday, February 23, 2004

A former Cairns school teacher claims teachers are bullied by school administrators and then threatened by when they complain about the bullying.

In breaking her silence about the system, Robina Cosser said teachers were led to despair by the bullying and threats.

Ms Cosser, a teacher for 30 years, said the Education Queensland complaint process was inadequate.

"Teachers are being punished for making complaints about workplace abuse. There's no hope of justice," she said.

"Bullied teachers are isolated, threatened and subject to impulsive and irrational punishment by school administrators."

"Teachers are being driven into ill health by the bullying."

Ms Cosser said that, although teachers trapped in the system were silenced, retired teachers should speak out.

Ms Cosser plans to establish an organisation that will try to protect Queensland teachers, especially teachers dealing with workplace bullying, harassment, mobbing, discrimination and victimisation or "payback".

• Ex-teacher says bully tactics rife, Regina Titelius, Chief Reporter, p. 3, The Cairns Post, 23/02/2004