colleagues who do not get on

Fuinseog

I was talking with a female friend the other night who is a teacher.

She was telling me that in her school she was reprimanding a pupil in the corridor when another teacher intervened and told her to lighten up. She asked me what I would have done in the situation but I was at a loss.


Both teachers are in their twenties and junior members of staff, so it is not the case of a senior staff member berating a junior, though in my view this should never be done in front of the kids as the staff should present a united front and not undermine one another)

The notion that one colleague would interfere with what another is doing is alien to me. Any opinions?

pooch90

This has happened with a colleague of mine recently and other member of staff.
The reason the teacher interfered was purely to undermine the other.
If it was me she had done it to she would have been pulled aside and given a right talking to.
She has undermined her authority in front of a pupil and implied that she was wrong to reprimand them.
If the teacher didn't apologise or acknowledge her actions were wrong I'd go to my principal (I'm primary-not sure of how it'd go in second level)

Teaching is about team work and undermining one another just isn't on and is a detriment to the school as a whole.

looksee

Completely out of order. I would occasionally take a student into the corridor to talk to them, not particularly to give out, sometimes about illness/absence etc. I do this to give the student privacy from the rest of the class, usually there is no-one much in the corridor in classtime.

It was totally unprofessional for another teacher to intervene or even acknowledge there was a conversation going on. Possibly is someone were shouting and 'foaming at the mouth' they might be taken aside - I have never seen or heard of that happening, but 'if' - but even then any conversation would not be in the hearing of the student. I would suggest speaking to the teacher then, if necessary, going to the principal.

Fuinseog

looksee wrote: »

Completely out of order. I would occasionally take a student into the corridor to talk to them, not particularly to give out, sometimes about illness/absence etc. I do this to give the student privacy from the rest of the class, usually there is no-one much in the corridor in classtime.

It was totally unprofessional for another teacher to intervene or even acknowledge there was a conversation going on. Possibly is someone were shouting and 'foaming at the mouth' they might be taken aside - I have never seen or heard of that happening, but 'if' - but even then any conversation would not be in the hearing of the student. I would suggest speaking to the teacher then, if necessary, going to the principal.

where does a young teacher learn the professional code of conduct, apart from experience? Certainly not in the dip. I learnt mine from tips given from senior colleagues but surely something like this should be written down and given to junior teachers?

As I said such a situation where one colleague undermines another is hard for me to believe, but I know there are staffrooms out there where you are very much on your own and backstabbing is the order of the day.
staffroom politics and how to deal with them is very much underdiscussed.


something I find bad form is when a teacher just opens the classroom door and walks in to your class. This is especially bad if you expect the kids to knock and await a response.

livinginkorea

I once had a senior teacher come into my class and lecturer my students for making too much noise. I gave them an activity to do and naturally they were going to discuss / negotiate elements of the task with their group members. The classroom was right beside the staff room. I think he thought the class didn't have a teacher or that I had stepped out (clearly he didn't hear my voice over the sea of students :rolleyes:).

Anyway, after class I tore strips off him in the teacher's room, he apologized and that was that. Make it quick and painless and then make up. He needed to be put in his place. Same applies for the OP. If not then it could happen again.

looksee

Fuinseog wrote: »

where does a young teacher learn the professional code of conduct, apart from experience? Certainly not in the dip. I learnt mine from tips given from senior colleagues but surely something like this should be written down and given to junior teachers?

I agree code of conduct information would be useful as a written document, but you can't legislate for every eventuallity, and in my opinion this situation was more about common courtesy and common sense. Does a teacher really have to be told not to undermine another teacher's authority in front of a student? Actually, now I see that written down, yes, maybe they do

Fuinseog

looksee wrote: »

I agree code of conduct information would be useful as a written document, but you can't legislate for every eventuallity, and in my opinion this situation was more about common courtesy and common sense. Does a teacher really have to be told not to undermine another teacher's authority in front of a student? Actually, now I see that written down, yes, maybe they do

I think other countries they have a simple written code of professional conduct. Whenever the dept brings out something here it is almost unreadable.

There is so much the dip does not teach the teacher and they find themselves quite unprepared when they start teaching.

Common courtesy has been played down in recent years and linked to snobbery.

looksee

Fuinseog wrote: »

I think other countries they have a simple written code of professional conduct. Whenever the dept brings out something here it is almost unreadable.

There is so much the dip does not teach the teacher and they find themselves quite unprepared when they start teaching.

Common courtesy has been played down in recent years and linked to snobbery.

I bruised my jaw! Are you serious about that?