A disciplinary hearing for a teacher who secretly filmed a classroom documentary will resume on Monday.
Alex Dolan, from Cambridge, faces an allegation of unacceptable professional conduct brought by the General Teaching Council (GTC) for covertly compiling footage for a Channel 4 programme while working as a supply science teacher.
Made at four schools in Leeds and London and broadcast in July 2005, the documentary showed pupils fighting in class and running on tables, while others swore in the face of teachers and refused to work.
At an earlier hearing before the GTC panel in Birmingham Ms Dolan said she wanted to expose poor classroom standards, the deception of inspectors and the manipulation of exam results and league tables for the benefit of pupils and parents.
She told the professional conduct committee: "I believe it was caring because I got to know these children. I feared for them a great deal.
"They were so failed by the system. I was lucky - I got a good education. They weren't getting that.
"I made this film for them."
The documentary was broadcast after clearance from a High Court judge who refused to issue an injunction sought by Leeds City Council, ruling instead that it served important public interests.
Ms Dolan agreed, telling the panel: "These problems were so serious they had to be brought to the public interest.
"The bottom line was the pupils were suffering."
Quote:
Teacher filmed 'with integrity'
Alex Dolan said the problems had to be brought to the public's attention
A teacher who secretly filmed appalling classroom behaviour "carried out a positive investigation" of the schools where she taught.
Alex Dolan, from Cambridge, who made the recordings for Channel 4, is appearing before a panel of the General Teaching Council (GTC) in Birmingham.
Schools in London and Leeds featured in the July 2005 documentary.
The programme's executive producer, Allen Jewhurst, told the misconduct hearing it was in the public interest.
Kevin Sutcliffe, the commissioning editor of the Dispatches series programme Undercover Teacher, said: "We do not take the decision to film undercover lightly.
"I would like to express my view that, as a whistle-blower, Alex Dolan carried out a very positive and worthwhile investigation.
"The messenger should not be shot."
Mr Jewhurst said: "We were not setting out to humiliate children or teachers.
"We wanted to show the public the real face of what was going on in some of our schools."
Broadcast in July 2005, the documentary showed pupils fighting in class and running on tables, while others swore in the face of teachers and refused to work.
It also captured alleged attempts by teaching staff to "hoodwink" Ofsted inspectors during a visit to a Leeds school.
Mr Jewhurst told the panel: "We were very keen to expose any such dishonesty by teachers in whatever form it took."
The producer also described Miss Dolan as a woman of integrity and defended the use of hidden cameras as a "last resort" in the public interest.
"There was clearly skullduggery going on. Children were being sent out of the school to help get through Ofsted," he said.
"We had an agenda to see where the truth was... to see whether the pupils were being taught properly."
At an earlier hearing before the GTC panel in Birmingham, Miss Dolan said she wanted to expose poor classroom standards and the deception of inspectors.
The documentary was broadcast after clearance from a High Court judge who refused to issue an injunction sought by Leeds City Council, ruling instead that it served important public interests.
Joined: 10 Dec 2005 Posts: 2017 Location: Croydon, Surrey
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:03 pm Post subject:
As a practicing schoolteacher and someone who takes education seriously, I loathe the GTC.
This gutless, pointless organisation with its 'elected teacher representatives' might provide a boost for the ambitious yet supine careerists that join its ranks but it serves no purpose other than to support the sitting government's political agenda.
You would think that these creeps would be up in arms about the waste of educational prospects of so many children (and teacher's time) in our Comprehensives. The real cause for concern should be the shattered system that this woman helped to expose.
No such luck.
They are in the business of suppressing the truth about the shocking disciplinary problems and waste that is rife in UK schools.
I had my own run in with the GTC after being sacked by a school and winning an 'unfair dismissal' (under 14 different points) and 'public interest disclosure (whistleblowing)' case against my employer.
In spite of an overwhelming victory in court the GTC reprimanded me while declaring that the head teacher who was my opponent (who had been heavily criticised by the court) 'did not have a case to answer'.
After two years of the stress of the first conflict I decided that these people were not worth challenging.......I feel nothing for them but utter contempt.
I could sense the reality when I phoned the relevant departmental manager at head office.
The spirit of Uriah Heap lives on.
The GTC exists to discourage anyone from rocking the boat.
This bunch of ***** have NO OTHER DISCERNABLE PURPOSE.
Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 2568 Location: One breath from Glory
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:46 am Post subject:
My better half is a primary teacher and i have on occasions suggested writing to local papers to expose some of the problems she comes across. The one that gets me most is that the majority of the kids in her class are not getting the education they deserve because of the behaviour of a handful of other kids some of which have real mental/behavioural problems but the head teacher hasnt the money to help. The school is strapped for cash so no materials can be bought.
A black maths teacher in my lads secondary school broke down in tears one day because he was so disgusted with the lack of respect. Children in his birth country would walk for miles just to get educated.
Folks we have a serious problem in this country and short of what happened in Wales during the Welsh revivals and other places I cannot see a solution. Sticking plasters are no good. IMO A complete transformation of hearts and minds is needed to get out of this hedonistic spiral society is in. _________________ JO911B.
"for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places " Eph.6 v 12
Joined: 10 Dec 2005 Posts: 2017 Location: Croydon, Surrey
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:12 am Post subject:
fish5133 wrote:
Folks we have a serious problem in this country and short of what happened in Wales during the Welsh revivals and other places I cannot see a solution. Sticking plasters are no good. IMO A complete transformation of hearts and minds is needed to get out of this hedonistic spiral society is in.
Hear, hear!
There are millions of stories out there like this.
In 2007 I was working as a supply teacher in a failing Comprehensive. These places can't get teachers. They beg you to stay (I teach Physics/Science/Maths). after much pressure I agreed on the understanding that there might come a point where I would just walk out rather than get myself in trouble for forcefully imposing my will on one of the extremely rude little people.
This is what happened four months later. I just rang the office in the middle of a lesson and went home. You get to the point where you are in danger of picking up a chair and clubbing someone to death with it.
I joined the school in June. On the first day of the new year in September there was a new teacher in the opposite lab. to me. He was a young Guyanian who had just finished three years training at home and wanted to try the western lifestyle. He was trapped in this job because doing it was a condition of his terms of entry to the UK. He was well over 6 feet tall and was a member of the Guyanian boxing team. A big fit intimidating presence.
He asked me what the school was like. I said discipline was difficult. He smiled and shrugged.
"I won't have no problems with the discipline."
On the Friday of the first week he came into my lab again. He said, " How does anybody do this job". The children tell me to *uck off. They throw their books at me. If I call for assistance the support staff are busy elsewhere. If I kick a child out they are sent straight back into my class.....sometimes before the lesson is over. It's like trying to fight with your hands tied behind your back."
"Welcome to England", I said.
Just before the first half-term holiday in october he came into my lab with a big smile and said, "I've solved my problem."
"What's that?"
"I've signed up to go to Sandhurst and train as an Army officer".
"But, Peter.......you'll be sent to Afghanistan. You'll have people trying to kill you within the year"
"I think I can handle that but I can't handle this", he replied.
I walked away from the school at 11:15 am on November 1st.
.....and there are places that are much worse that I would refuse to spend a day in.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:45 pm Post subject:
Ahhhh...
But that's exactly what they want, surely. You've been the victim of a psycological campaign to get you to walk. They want decent teachers to leave, putting the inncent minds in the hands of people that don't care.
kbo234 wrote:
I walked away from the school at 11:15 am on November 1st.
Joined: 10 Dec 2005 Posts: 2017 Location: Croydon, Surrey
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject:
There's no such thing as a decent teacher in some of these schools. Even with the best will in the world everybody fails......This doesn't mean some teachers were not achieving great things in the circumstances, but......
But you're right about one thing......the only way I personally could psychologically survive was to stop caring about the things I couldn't change. An intolerable situation to accept actually.
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