Archive for the ‘Professional Conduct’ Category

An Example of Teacher Sanctioned Torture at its Worst

January 6, 2014

 

eye

When the price of a completed piece of homework is worth more than the dignity and welfare of a student you get a true indication that the teacher responsible doesn’t belong in the classroom.

This teacher doesn’t belong out of the classroom, but off the streets altogether:

A CHINESE boy has undergone eye surgery after he was slapped in the face around 40 times by his classmates, under the direction of his teacher.

The 12-year-old from Henan, Dou, was punished by the teacher for not finishing his homework, the Shanghaiist reports. “Whoever’s slapping is loudest will get a prize,” the teacher reportedly told students.

“After being slapped, the teacher then made me do push-ups, and did not allow me to eat lunch. Later that night, I found out that I couldn’t see properly from my left eye,” Dou said.

Dou’s mother Wang contacted the boy’s school principal when learned what had taken place. “The principal told me he would take care of it,” she said. “I didn’t know the damage was so severe. The doctor had told me my child’s eye might not be cured.”

Deng Baozhen, Dou’s teacher who commanded the slapping, claimed that punishing the children helped them to progress in class, according to reports.

“The school has given us 30,000 [yuan] ($5489) as compensation, but after one surgery had to be done, we’ve already spent it all,” Wang said.

The school’s principal said the teacher has been detained by police.

 

 

Click on the link to read What if she were a Man?

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Published the Grades of her Students by Writing on their Foreheads

Click on the link to read You Can’t Foster Tolerance With Racist Teachers

Click on the link to read The Teacher that Defended Hitler and Child Abuse and Advocated Porn

Click on the link to read The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

What if she were a Man?

December 10, 2013

 

eppie

 

Barred from teaching for just two years for sexual activity with a 17 year old student? Are you serious? Surely, she should never be allowed to teach again. Lucky for her she isn’t a male teacher:

A teacher who was found half-naked in a layby with one of her teenage pupils has been struck off for two years.

Eppie Sprung Dawson, 27, was found ‘unfit to teach’ by a disciplinary hearing in Edinburgh yesterday.

She was not present at the hearing, but in a statement read to the General Teaching Council for Scotland panel, she agreed to being struck off and admitted having sex with Matthew Robinson last December, when he was 17 years old.

She said: ‘On the 9th of February I was convicted at Dumfries Sheriff Court.

‘I engaged in sexual intercourse with him; Contrary to Section 42 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.

‘I was sentenced on 18 September 2013 and sentenced to a Community Payback Order and made subject to the sex offenders register.

‘I readily and willingly consent to being removed and understand that I will be prohibited from teaching for a period of two years.’

 

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Published the Grades of her Students by Writing on their Foreheads

Click on the link to read You Can’t Foster Tolerance With Racist Teachers

Click on the link to read The Teacher that Defended Hitler and Child Abuse and Advocated Porn

Click on the link to read The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

Click on the link to read A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

Teacher Accused of Stealing Food from her Students

December 3, 2013

OK, I admit it.  On one or two occasions I have asked for and received a potato chip from my students’ lunch.

But there is no way I would ever deprive my students of their packed lunch:


A Waikato kindy teacher was caught stealing food from children’s lunchboxes before either eating it, hiding it or putting it in her pocket.

The case is one of more than a dozen of serious misconduct at Waikato education providers in the past five years.

The 16 cases include sexual relations between teachers and students, sexual violation, possessing child pornography, and convictions for drugs and threatening to kill.

It is the first time that disciplinary decisions specific to Waikato teachers can been revealed as, until now, the Teachers Council has kept all location and identifying details secret.

The council initially refused to provide the information and it has taken more than five months for the Times to obtain it via the Official Information Act.

Why Isn’t There Tougher Penalties for Teachers who Abuse their Students?

November 27, 2013

 

mad

Every day whilst looking for topical news stories in education I am forced to sift through the myriad of articles relating to teachers who have sexually groomed and assaulted their students. To say this is a heinous crime is a gross understatement.

But how are we as a society supposed to adequately safeguard our precious children when many of these convicted criminals are spared any jail time at all!

Take this case for example:

A St. Charles County teacher accused of molesting students four different times will not spend time in prison.

Joseph Maddock, 34, is out on the streets, free to walk, but he is now a registered sex offender, has lost his teaching license and will be monitored for the next five years. Also, the victim’s mother is okay with all of this.

Prosecutors say Joseph Maddock has a pattern of “grooming” young boys that he teaches, not fully sexually abusing them, but getting too close to them and touching them.

Maddock has taught in 11 different schools mostly in the St. Louis area, but most recently at Andrews Academy and Dynamic Pathways both of Lake St. Louis.

Prosecutors say the “grooming” has happened four times, once in Florida, twice in the St. Louis area, but most recently in St. Charles County, where he has been charged and convicted of the sexual act. On Monday, he was sentenced to five years probation and no jail time.

“He needs to be in jail because children are very susceptible to grown ups and what they think is right and wrong and this was definitely wrong,” said Brian Voss, a St. Charles resident.

“I hate to say it, but it sounds fair to me because nothing really happened,” said Patti Bussgude, another resident.

St. Charles County assistant prosecutor Jillian Anderson says they had to make a decision.

“Perhaps we do not file it at all because we don’t have the full commission of sexual abuse or perhaps we decide that the community is best served by intervening early and doing something,” said Anderson.

She says no, this sentence is not as severe as it would be if the assault had been worse. If Maddock had fully sexually assaulted the child, jail time would have most likely been given. For this prosecuting attorney’s office, doing nothing is not an option.

“We certainly don’t want to be in a position and are not going to be in a position in our office where we wait, we sit back and we don’t file charges until this defendant or any other defendant actually fully commits the crime of sexual abuse,” said Anderson.

 

Monitored for the next five years? Come on! After four separate offenses? He should be monitored to his dying breath!

 

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Published the Grades of her Students by Writing on their Foreheads

Click on the link to read You Can’t Foster Tolerance With Racist Teachers

Click on the link to read The Teacher that Defended Hitler and Child Abuse and Advocated Porn

Click on the link to read The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

Click on the link to read A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

Click on the link to read Teacher Strip Searches Students in a Bid to Catch them Cheating

Teacher Allegedly Published the Grades of her Students by Writing on their Foreheads

November 13, 2013

bonhead

Since when did public humiliation become beneficial for children? I can’t believe that the best administrators could do is warn the teacher to stop. Perhaps what they should have done is write “You’re Fired” on her forehead:

A Houston elementary school teacher has been told by administrators to stop writing on students as criticism or reminders.

KPRC-TV (http://bit.ly/HRBywi ) reports the teacher allegedly used a marker to put the letter “B’’ on a student’s forehead when he apparently didn’t do his homework.

A statement Monday from the Houston Independent School District says administrators met with the teacher, whose name hasn’t been released, and he confirmed the allegations. HISD says the situation is being handled as a personnel matter and the teacher has been told to cease the practice.

One parent, Victor Jimenez, says his 8-year-old son’s face was written on and the educator should not be allowed to continue teaching.

N.B. I am of course not really advocating writing on her forehead.

Click on the link to read You Can’t Foster Tolerance With Racist Teachers

Click on the link to read The Teacher that Defended Hitler and Child Abuse and Advocated Porn

Click on the link to read The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

Click on the link to read A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

Click on the link to read Teacher Strip Searches Students in a Bid to Catch them Cheating

Click on the link to read Students Asked to Submit an Assignment Arguing that ‘Jews are Evil’

You Can’t Foster Tolerance With Racist Teachers

October 30, 2013

 

racist

Facebook has obviously provided teachers with with the ability to connect with students and colleagues in a way they have never before. It has also exposed some teachers as being completely unfit for their chosen profession.

Case in point:

A High school teacher in the United States has sparked a racism row after ranting about black children on Facebook.

David Spondike, a 51-year-old teacher at Firestone High School in the state of Ohio, logged onto the social networking site and unleashed a diatribe against kids from the “ghetto” who had caused trouble trick-or-treating outside his house, Akron News Now reported.

The post was soon deleted, but someone sent screenshots to several local news outlets. Mr Spondike was apparently upset about one of the kids exposing himself and urinating in front of his home.

“I don’t mind if you come to my neighbourhood from the ghetto to trick-or-treat,” Mr Spondike said.

“But when you whip our your teeny d***s and piss on the telephone pole in front of my yard and a bunch of preschoolers and toddlers, you can take your n****r-a** back where it came from. I don’t have anything against anyone of any colour, but n*****s, stay out!” he said.

There are many things wrong with this post, not least of which is the inconsistency of saying you have nothing against people of any colour in the same sentence as a demeaning racial slur.

Facing an almighty backlash, Mr Spondike removed the post and said he was sorry “to those who are sincerely offended”.

However, in a series of additional posts, he didn’t apologise for using the N-word. Mr Spondike said he hears “that n****r word more than 25 times a day in a public school, where it is used thousands of times every day by black people”.

“Racism is racism and to allow one race to use a word and not another IS racist. What I said was absolutely NOT racist by any stretch of the imagination,” Mr Spondike said.

“When I try to get the teenagers in my school to stop using the word n****r, I only get laughed at.”

Mr Spondike will reportedly remain on leave while his school district investigates the incident.

The district released a statement regarding the online spat, condemning the conduct of its teacher.

“His comments were unprofessional and unbecoming a teacher,” said Superintendent David W James. “Regardless of whether he was on his own time and own account doing this, he is a teacher, and his actions influence children. This is serious.”

According to Mr Spondike’s personnel file, his record was already less than spotless. In 2007 he was accused of choking a student, though the claim was never substantiated, and in 2000 he was reprimanded for throwing a chair across his classroom.

Having said that, Mr Spondike also received “glowing evaluations” for his teaching.

 

A very poor defense by Mr. Spondike and an equally poor response by the Superintendent. A teacher should not be judged on their teaching skills alone, but also by their ability to act as a role model.  Mr. Spondike claims he is not a racist. He hasn’t quite convinced me yet.

 

Click on the link to read The Teacher that Defended Hitler and Child Abuse and Advocated Porn

Click on the link to read The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

Click on the link to read A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

Click on the link to read Teacher Strip Searches Students in a Bid to Catch them Cheating

Click on the link to read Students Asked to Submit an Assignment Arguing that ‘Jews are Evil’

Click on the link to read School Instructs Students on How to Become Prostitutes

 

The Teacher that Defended Hitler and Child Abuse and Advocated Porn

October 29, 2013

 

fired

 

If these allegations are true this teacher deserves his reputation to be completely destroyed:

A teacher has been struck off for after telling pupils that ‘Hitler wasn’t all bad – he killed the Jews, the gays and the disabled’.

David McNally also told a third-year Religious Education class at Kilwinning Academy, Ayrshire, in November last year that he would ‘rather have been a prison warden or a child abuser’, the General Teaching Council (GTC) said.

The supply teacher was found to be unfit to teach at a GTC hearing today.

The comments were brought to light when pupils complained to their parents, who contacted the school.

Mr McNally did not attend the hearing but accepted he had made the remarks in his written submission to the hearing.

He said that he was having a ‘particularly bad day’ and had made the comments in a ‘general sense’.

The GTC panel rejected his suggestion.

The Hitler comments were said to a class in which he also asked pupils: ‘Did you have sex at the weekend?’

The GTC panel heard that he told a third-year class: ‘I love my mobile phone because I can sit and watch porn on it.’

He was also reported to have said: ‘I have a part-time job at a children’s home – they have taught me how to whip a child with a wet towel without leaving a mark.’

 

Click on the link to read The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

Click on the link to read A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

Click on the link to read Teacher Strip Searches Students in a Bid to Catch them Cheating

Click on the link to read Students Asked to Submit an Assignment Arguing that ‘Jews are Evil’

Click on the link to read School Instructs Students on How to Become Prostitutes

Click on the link to read Some Teachers Just Desperately Want to get Fired

The Worst Thing a Teacher Can Ever Say to a Student

October 5, 2013

 

horns

 

Forget the fitness to teach evaluation and just cut to the chase. Did the teacher really tell his student the shocking comment below? If so, he must be fired immediately and have his teaching registration torn up:

High school teacher Gordon Bibby has been ordered by the B.C. Teachers Regulation Branch to undergo a fitness-to-teach evaluation after a series of bad moves, including telling one student: “Your mother lies when she tells you she loves you.”

According to the teachers regulation authority, the Merrit, B.C., teacher also made disrespectful comments about a student’s financial situation at home, and ripped up the homework of two Grade 9 students.

 

Click on the link to read A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

A Teacher Who Beds their Teenage Student Should be Jailed

September 11, 2013

eppie

Here’s a pointer: A teacher should never be intimate with their students. Additionally, a child who can’t clean his own room without creating a stir and running away from home is probably not going to last long in any serious relationship:

A teacher put on the sex offenders’ register over an affair with a 17-year-old pupil is now living with him in her home.

Eppie Sprung Dawson, 27, lost her job and her marriage ended after police found her half-naked with Matthew Robinson in her car after a Christmas school dance.

In July she pleaded guilty to sexual activity with the lad while in a position of trust and narrowly escaped jail.

But last week she moved Matthew, now 18, into her house after he left home over a row about tidying his room.

His mum Sheree said: “He rang Eppie to pick him up. We don’t know what she’s after.”

Sprung Dawson was sacked by St Joseph’s College in Dumfries and split from teacher husband Ranald.

She is serving a community order and undergoing counselling after telling the town’s court she was attacked by an older man at 13.

She was unavailable for comment at her home yesterday.

Click on the link to read My Teacher, the Pedophile

My Teacher, the Pedophile

July 24, 2013

icky

Today, 25 years after my pedophile teacher abused my friends, he has finally been sentenced for his heinous crimes.

I was only 10 when I was first subjected to a teacher that would later be exposed as an evil pedophile. He taught me for 2 years, and I am relieved to say that I cannot recall being personally abused by him.

But my friends have been devastated by this man. One such victim, who has a daughter in my daughter’s class, has received ongoing therapy for assaults at the hand of this awful excuse of a human being.

Whilst I wasn’t old enough to know what a pedophile was and although I never liked the guy, I wasn’t aware he was abusing my friends until he fled the country in controversial circumstances. I do remember vividly him organising a party as a treat for us, purportedly due to our good behaviour. He arranged for the use of a classmates pool whilst the classmate’s parents were at work. We were so excited. Excursions tended to be of a boring, strictly educational nature. The thought of spending the morning swimming was so new and exciting for all of us.

I remember him getting in the pool with us and playing around in a jovial and almost immature fashion (very different from the type of teacher he was in the classroom). I also remember him instructing us to freely undress together and that we should embrace our naked bodies as it is natural.  To demonstrate he stripped off in front of us in a casual and carefree manner. For some reason I have never felt comfortable displaying my naked body in public and I was a bit bothered by my teacher’s open display of nudity. I remember thinking it was weird for a teacher to be acting in this way. I was one of two children who decided not to undress in front of him and opted for a private spot instead.

When his secret was exposed and he fled the country, I remember my parents reaction. They sat me down in the lounge room with concerned expressions on their faces. They asked me if this teacher had touched me in a certain way or acted towards me in an inappropriate or threatening manner. I answered then, as I do now, that I cannot recall any such treatment. Unfortunately, some of my friends were not so lucky.

The truth is, that we were raised to have total reverence for our teachers and see them as perfect. I fear that I would have let my teacher do as he wanted with me had he tried. I did not know what a pedophile was and in those days parents didn’t discuss personal space and molestation avoidance with their children.

Today my teacher received a minimum sentence of 18 months and, after time already served in custody, he is eligible for parole in just three months! Try breaking that news to his victims who have waited for justice all these years.

The threat of such instances has made it difficult to be a male primary teacher. The constant stories of male teachers who have abused their responsibilities and offended against their students is a reminder to parents to stay alert. It means that we have to be more careful than our female colleagues when it comes to interactions and must avoid being alone in the classroom with a student.

But this is a necessary safeguard. Just think of the poor victims.