Colin Tarr: Guidelines protect teachers from vexatious complaints

The New Zealand Educational Institute's guidelines for primary school staff on physical contact with pupils have been criticised by Alison Jones, an associate professor of education at Auckland University.

In her Perspectives article, she claimed the guidelines were an over-reaction to the risks teachers faced, and that they increased teacher anxiety about the issue.

I acknowledge the guidelines are cautious in the advice they give. But the fact is there is a need to safeguard teachers against a small minority who are caught up in what Dr Jones calls a moral panic, and are, therefore, prone to make unfounded complaints.

Teachers have to be aware their interactions with pupils are the subject of public scrutiny and that, as a result, there is a risk they could face vexatious, over-zealous or unfounded complaints.

The NZEI is obliged under its rules to advance the cause of education generally, while upholding its members' rights individually and collectively.

This includes an obligation to provide advice on the practices within which teachers need to operate. That is why it originally developed the guidelines on physical contact between staff and pupils.

The guidelines have proved effective in keeping staff safe. Since they were issued in September 1998, the number of complaints against NZEI members involving physical contact with pupils has dropped.

The guidelines were developed by experienced teachers based on what they had learned from working in schools, and provide practical and common-sense advice on situations such as administering first aid.

They are not rigid rules; they are designed mainly to raise awareness and to give guidance on how staff can minimise the risk of being exposed to accusations.

Dr Jones acknowledges there is a societal focus on child-safety concerns, and that this can at times be accompanied by unnecessary angst and alarm about physical contact between adults and children.

Yet she then claims the NZEI is over-reacting when it advises its members to be aware of that angst and alarm, and points out that this could result in a physical contact with a pupil being misconstrued, leading to accusations.

NZEI members did not create the social climate that surrounds physical contact between adults and children. It is, therefore, unfair and inaccurate to criticise the union and its members for responding to the factors that affect their workplaces.

We also need to recognise that society itself has changed and continues to change, and that this is reflected in our classrooms.

In the past five years, the number of Asian pupils in our schools has risen 37.5 per cent, the number of Pasifika pupils has grown 17.5 per cent and the number of Maori pupils is up 11 per cent.

The number of pupils identified as Pakeha has dropped by 4.2 per cent.

Of the 750,000 pupils enrolled in our schools in July, just over 40 per cent are non-Pakeha, and that figure is rising.

Society is being enriched by this increasing diversity and, as a result, many classrooms today are like a mini-United Nations.

This means that staff have to account for a wide range of cultures and religions. As a consequence, the physical contact that is acceptable for one child may be inappropriate and culturally offensive for the child sitting at the next desk.

Every child needs to feel safe and happy at school. The NZEI guidelines acknowledge that by providing a basis on which schools and parents can work together to develop agreed policies and practices.

The guidelines do not mean that teachers are cold and distant from their pupils. The curriculum, in fact, requires teachers to have warm, respectful and responsive relationships with their pupils.

I have worked in nine schools during my career as a teacher and principal, and have spent time in hundreds of primary schools and early-childhood education centres.

The overwhelming majority were busy, happy places with good teaching and learning occurring in a supportive, friendly atmosphere.

They are places where pupils' achievements are well acknowledged, and where pupils are thriving in a caring, learning environment.

The recent debate about physical contact between staff and pupils has been instructive and the NZEI will review the guidelines in the light of this. The research on this issue by Dr Jones and others will inform this work.

NZEI members will continue to work, as they always have, with parents, the Teachers Council, the Ministry of Education and others members of the education community to ensure schools and early-childhood centres provide environments where staff and pupils feel safe.

This is essential because it is only when the staff and pupils feel safe that they can focus on what really matters - children's learning.

* Colin Tarr is a primary school principal and national NZEI president.