New teacher ‘dragged’ misbehaving student from class, leaving him bruised

The teacher has been censured by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal following the incident. Photo / 123rf

A tribunal has censured a teacher for grabbing an 11-year-old pupil who was misbehaving and dragging him from a classroom, leaving him with bruises.

The teacher was only eight days into a job at a new school when the incident occurred.

The act has now resulted in a Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal finding the teacher guilty of serious misconduct.

While censured, the teacher was told he could continue practising, in a decision released this week. His name and that of the small rural school he taught at was suppressed.

The decision described the man as a beginner teacher and stated he was employed by the school in May 2021 to teach years six, seven, and eight students, many of whom were recognised as having behavioural and learning needs.

Eight days into his contract, he led a class of 15, alongside a teacher aide, when a boy with ADHD and other disorders became difficult for the teacher to manage.

The tribunal heard that when the student biffed a pencil case across the classroom, the teacher pulled the child from his chair by his shoulders and yelled at him.

He “dragged” him outside the classroom and caught the student’s foot on the legs of a table while doing so.

The child was later found by the principal crying, holding his leg which later showed bruising.

The day before the incident, the principal had spoken to the teacher about the boy’s behaviour and said if the teacher ever struggled, he could ask the principal to come to the class.

After the incident, the teacher said he didn’t feel safe or properly supported to deal with the student’s behaviour. He resigned from the school two days later.

The man later told the tribunal he had simply put his hands on the student’s shoulders to guide him out of the classroom.

He said his use of force was required to prevent “imminent harm” to the student or others, because the boy was throwing objects around the classroom.

The tribunal ruled that the use of force was not necessary. With only 15 students in the class, plus a teacher aide, the teacher could have fetched the principal, it found.

“While this was a momentary lapse of judgment under trying circumstances and when he was new to the profession, nonetheless this is the type of behaviour that clearly impacts on his fitness to be a teacher,” tribunal deputy chair Ian Murray wrote in his decision.

But the tribunal did agree with the teacher that the school did not have adequate behaviour management systems. They considered this a significant mitigating factor.

The teacher was censured, ordered to attend a behaviour management course and to teach under the supervision of a mentor for two years. He was also ordered to pay $3012 in costs.

Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationwide for Open Justice. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.