Teacher disciplined for shouting at students and name calling…

The NZ Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has found a teacher guilty of misconduct following an incident where she called a student a cry baby and yelled at students during a class. Some students arrived late at class and others were being disruptive. A student went outside upset at the teacher’s behaviour and the teacher called him a “cry baby” in front of other students.

Students reported the matter to the Deputy Principal and she attended the class room and found the teacher still yelling at the students. The teacher continued to yell at the students despite the DP attempting to calm her down.

The DP then dismissed the class to get the students away from the teacher and her continued yelling. The teacher then expressed anger at the DP for dismissing the class and making her look stupid in front of the students. The teacher then started raising her voice again at the DP and had to again be calmed down.

The teacher resigned her position and decided to give up teaching. Despite those steps the Complaints Assessment Committee brought a case of serious misconduct against the teacher. The Tribunal found that is was not serious misconduct but misconduct as it was not of such a nature to be at the most serious level.

The Tribunal ordered that should the teacher ever try to return to teaching she is to undergo a course of behaviour management and inform any prospective employers of the Tribunal decision.