My teachers loved throwing blackboard dusters at students who weren’t concentrating. As a professional daydreamer, I was frequently met by a stray duster. I always wondered whether duster throwing was a compulsory unit in teacher training courses.
It seems like my teachers weren’t the only ones plying their duster throwing trade:
A HIGH school teacher has been banned for dishing out more than seven years of abuse to students – including swearing at them, calling them names and throwing a chalkboard duster.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal recently ordered the suspension of David Geoffrey Mears’ teacher’s registration, saying his teaching “fell well below the standard of behaviour generally expected”.
QCAT presiding member Paul Kanowski, in a just-published nine page decision, said Mears offensive behaviour toward students occurred between July 2003 and March 31 last year.
Mears, who has been banned for 15 months, first slapped a Year 8 student on the head in March 2003 and continued to either swear at or make “physical contact” with pupils up until he “threw a duster in the direction of a male Year 10 student last year.”
“Mr Mears has sworn at students on a number of occasions,” Mr Kanowski said.
“He also made physical contact, such as pushing students without a valid educational purpose.”
The tribunal was told Mears swore at numerous students, telling them to “piss off,” “(expletive) off,” calling them everything from an “(expletive) idiot” and dickheads and threatening them that “if anyone (expletive) up their job, they will get a kick up the arse.”
Mr Kanowski cited 11 instances in which Mears swore or made physical contact with one or more students during his 11-year career.
“On 10 May 2010, Mr Mears swore in a Year 9 class … (and) said to a female student: Get your a*** over here,” he said.
“On a date … (in) February 2011, Mr Mears called a male Year 10 student a (expletive) idiot … and told the student to (expletive) listen and pushed him into a whiteboard.
“On or about 22 February 20001 Mr Mears … said to one male student: You need a kick up the arse. You’re a dickhead and you (expletive) up, didn’t you?”
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Topical Teaching 
Can a Teacher Be Forgiven for a Bad Joke?
August 17, 2012I love to make my students laugh. It releases some of their anxiety and makes them more comfortable with whatever activity we are are working on. I am very aware that although humour can be effective teaching tool, it can also be fraught with danger. It is so easy to unintentionally say something that will offend others.
The New York professor facing dismissal for making a joke about the Colorado movie theatre shooter made a terrible mistake. A mistake that was made infinitely worse with the fact that a student’s father was among the victims.
Whilst I don’t excuse his dreadful judgement call, I can’t help but feel that firing him would be a bit unfair. He is probably feeling sick about what he did and I am sure he never intended to offend.
Surely a genuine apology would suffice:
A United States Merchant Marine Academy professor faces dismissal for joking about the Colorado movie theater shootings in front of his students.
A student’s father was among the victims.
The New York Times says Gregory F. Sullivan has been suspended from his tenured position as humanities instructor.
The newspaper says the academy on Kings Point, Long Island, informed Sullivan on Aug. 10 that he had 10 days to contest his dismissal.
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