John, Comment 72 of 93, Queensland schools fall short of national rivals, My School website reveals, Tanya Chilcott and Andrew MacDonald, The Courier-Mail, 5 March 2011: Historical link preserved from the original page.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-schools-fall-short-of-national-rivals-my-school-website-reveals/story-e6freoof-1226016161661 Historical link preserved from the original page.
What are the various teachers' unions and the Australian Education Union doing about the abuse of Australian classroom teachers? Historical link preserved from the original page.
Workplace abuse in schools is a nationwide problem - and the more people - teachers, students, parents - are informed, the more hope there is that something will be done about the situation.
Most of my career has been spent in New South Wales but I now live in Queensland and work as a supply casual teacher.
Teacher abuse is alive and well in NSW.
At one school where I worked no fewer than 12 teachers were either put on improvement programs or threatened with them over a period of five years.
This was a school with only about 200 children.
But the abuse of teachers at work is not confined to NSW and QLD.
It's Australia-wide.
And it is not the 'dud' teachers who are copping the abuse.
In my experience it's the efficient and caring teachers that get it in the neck.
I worked with a teacher in her 70's.
The principal had actually recruited this lady from Victoria.
She was to provide support for students with learning difficulties.
She brought with her a program that the principal didn't know anything about.
Once the principal got a set on this lady she sunk her teeth in like a bulldog.
She was such a nice lady that she didn't believe she was being bullied.
She thought she was doing something wrong.
In the end she just left and went back to Victoria.
She was broken, n ever to teach again.
The main cause of the problem as I see it is that a certain kind of person is promoted - people whose 'achievements' are made by treading on other people on the way up.
Promotion rewards this kind of behaviour and so it flourishes.
Helping the behaviour to flourish are policies and procedures that embed bullying as a management tool in the fabric of the department.
How many workplace bullies hide behind departmental 'policies and procedures' when accused of misconduct?
How many workplace bullies trot out the infamous 'Nuremburg defence' - "I had to follow orders"?
My question is: What are the various teachers' unions or the AEU doing about the abuse of Australian classroom teachers? Historical link preserved from the original page.
As far as I can see - very little.
In fact my experiences have led me to suspect that union officials may be somehow complicit in 'keeping the lid on' the situation.
I believe the issue of teacher bullying is a sleeping giant and when it wakes up everything is going to hit the fan.
Comment made by email to the webmaster: 18 January 2011.
Teachers are bullied at work - and administrators are party to this inappropriate behaviour.
Speaking as a teacher of thirty years experience, bullying is alive and well in school workplaces.
The rhetoric is that workplace bullying is not acceptable, but I can testify it is tolerated within school hierarchies.
My colleagues tolerate and accept workplace bullying by fellow staff (teachers) because they have mortgages and bills to pay.
Creating waves means the possibility of further inquisition and intimidation.
Often the victim comes under extreme scrutiny and questioning causing lack of confidence and a feeling of being backed into a corner.
Schools will not move forward when the administrators are party to such inappropriate behaviour.
Schools can "talk the talk" re bullying - but unless school principals "walk the walk" it's meaningless.