Teacher deregistered after pushing a student…

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has censured and de-registered a teacher who forced a student to stand up by pulling the chair out from underneath the student and then pushing the student in the back.  This was followed by a loss of composure when the teacher yelled at the student.

The teacher did not take part in the disciplinary hearing having advised the Council that he had retired.  The Disciplinary Tribunal considered that the behaviour amounted to serious misconduct due to the distress caused to the student and the negative effect on the other students in the class.  The teacher’s behaviour brought the teaching profession into disrepute. 

The Disciplinary Tribunal decided that cancellation was necessary because the teacher showed a lack of insight. This meant that it was not realistic to allow the teacher to continue teaching, because of the failure to ensure a safe learning environment for students.  The teacher did not seem to understand that the use of force for the purposes of correction or punishment is totally prohibited.  He attempted early on in the process to justify his behaviour by saying that it was not excessive force and therefore reasonable.

Alan Knowsley

Education Lawyer
Wellington