A parent photographed me in class without permission

Teapot30

Hi im an NQT and working in a Summer school teaching ESL, in one of my classes there is a parent who sits in my class with her son without permission from me or manager. I walked into class one day - on the day her son started and she was sitting there in the class and has been every day since. It was annoying and I did feel uncomfortable but I let it pass, ive nothing to hide and I work hard, im not perfect but always try my best and im always kind to students. Today I caught her taking my photo, twice. The first time I didnt say anything, thought maybe I had made a mistake, the second time it was blatantly obvious, I turned around from the board and she was taking my photo. I told her straight away not to take my photo and she said sorry and put the phone down. A little while later I was helping one of my students at his desk, the student said - in broken english - What is she doing with her phone? why is she taking photos? The student was a bit rattled by it then when I turned around, the phone was face down on the table - assuming she put it down as soon as the student called her out.
I didnt say it to the manager today as it was my second last class but I will in the morning.

Just wondering if anyones experienced this? What could she be doing? and can she legally take pictures of me without my permission?

Son of a bitch

Teapot30 wrote: »

Hi im an NQT and working in a Summer school teaching ESL, in one of my classes there is a parent who sits in my class with her son without permission from me or manager. I walked into class one day - on the day her son started and she was sitting there in the class and has been every day since. It was annoying and I did feel uncomfortable but I let it pass, ive nothing to hide and I work hard, im not perfect but always try my best and im always kind to students. Today I caught her taking my photo, twice. The first time I didnt say anything, thought maybe I had made a mistake, the second time it was blatantly obvious, I turned around from the board and she was taking my photo. I told her straight away not to take my photo and she said sorry and put the phone down. A little while later I was helping one of my students at his desk, the student said - in broken english - What is she doing with her phone? why is she taking photos? The student was a bit rattled by it then when I turned around, the phone was face down on the table - assuming she put it down as soon as the student called her out.
I didnt say it to the manager today as it was my second last class but I will in the morning.

Just wondering if anyones experienced this? What could she be doing? and can she legally take pictures of me without my permission?

Report and have her removed. She is a danger to children.

work

yes report her and consider the garda as this could be sinister. Has she passed Garda clearance and who gave her permission to sit in.
1. do not be bullied
2. Take advice, who is in charge
3. make notes of times and what happened and names of kids that saw it

Postgrad10

Have your manager with you tomorrow and tell her the class is for the ESL student not her. And any photos that she has taken will need to be deleted or reported to an Garda siochana. It's against the law to take pictures of others like that , not even just you but she could be taking pictures of the other students. How long have you been taking this class. It should have been stopped on day one.

Teyla Emmagan

She cant be taking photos in class of anyone!! How utterly bizarre. What is she even doing in the room!?

Duke O Smiley

Have you discussed her presence in the classroom with your manager at all?

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Completely unacceptable. I would not stand for it. The manager should have dealt with this already under Child Safety Regulations.

Blaizes

Report this immediately. I taught summer schools before and the only adult ever present in my classroom was an inspector or a group leader who would sit in for one class with full permission from the dos and my consent.But never did anyone photograph me or any students in the class. She has no business in your classroom and you need to sort this before you teach your class tomorrow morning.

Hitman3000

How is an unauthorised adult present in the room with children?

Teapot30

She's a group leader and parent of one of the children. I wasnt sure if I should object to her being in the class, thought maybe that could reflect badly on me? Its a very weird situation and one ive not been in before.

Blaizes

Teapot30 wrote: »

She's a group leader and parent of one of the children. I wasnt sure if I should object to her being in the class, thought maybe that could reflect badly on me? Its a very weird situation and one ive not been in before.

Ok she's a group leader so it's possible she has permission from the dos to be in your classroom.But still being there everyday is very full on and in my experience most managers would not encourage this bar one or two classes. The other thing is your permission was not sought and it would be common courtesy for management to seek your consent and at least let you know this woman would be sitting in on some of your classes.By the sounds of it she is there everyday and this is too much for both you and the other children in the class and as I have said it is not usually encouraged by management who recognise teachers have a job to do and don't need to be constantly observed.

The thing with taking photos is a huge no no and she is bang out of order. You need to speak with your boss, make it clear you are unhappy with her being there on a daily basis, taking photographs and creating an atmosphere in the class that is unpleasant ie. the student with broken English telling you what she is doing.If school aren't wiling to do anything I don't know what you can do.The thing is are they even aware of her presence there on a daily basis? Perhaps they gave her permission to sit in on one class but forgot to tell you and she is just milking it.

Tell them you no longer want her in your class and you want the photos deleted under child protection legislation.Be firm and see what they are prepared to do. They need to be professional in handling this and so do you.

Hitman3000

Teapot30 wrote:

She's a group leader and parent of one of the children. I wasnt sure if I should object to her being in the class, thought maybe that could reflect badly on me? Its a very weird situation and one ive not been in before.

You should object and state exactly why you object to her presence. Mention the phone and the taking of photos.

kurtainsider

Can someone explain what a "Group Leader" is? Is it like a Squadron Leader or a Group Captain? Everyone seems to be of the view - Oh well if its a group leader perhaps you might.......
How about telling her to sling her hook?

What does she lead? What are they? A group of whats?

Blaizes

kurtainsider wrote: »

Can someone explain what a "Group Leader"Tis? Is it like a Squadron Leader or a Group Captain? Everyone seems to be of the view - Oh well if its a group leader perhaps you might.......
How about telling her to sling her hook?

What does she lead? What are they? A group of whats?

Group leader brings a group of children from abroad to Ireland on an English language programme. Group leader accompanies children on afternoon excursions and is responsible for their welfare and safety while away from home.So if a child gets sick takes them to hospital, if a child is misbehaving contacts parents in home country, if a child has special dietary requirements or is unhappy with host family group leader will communicate these things to the school who will try to rectify.Each group of children usually has a few group leaders but this depends on the size of the group.Some group leaders are teachers or work with young people in their home country but now always I think. They don't usually get too involved in the academic side of things as that is left to the class teacher and director of studies.

RealJohn

I appreciate that you’re a NQT but you’re in charge of your classroom. You should have established what was going on the first day she was in your class and, if she had permission, fine. Taking photos is probably considered part of her role these days - it could just be for promotional purposes - but you then need to establish if she actually had permission to take photos of you (it might be in your contract, though I doubt it). If not, it needs to be dealt with. If she does, it should have been explained clearly to all parties.

BarryD2

As a punter and parent, I've been in several 'summer schools'. Not unusual for a parent to accompany a primary school child that would not otherwise go. Also as some of these music related, recordings on phones would be common.

Whatever about the other students, why is OP concerned about anyone taking photos of them?

Duke O Smiley

BarryD2 wrote: »

As a punter and parent, I've been in several 'summer schools'. Not unusual for a parent to accompany a primary school child that would not otherwise go. Also as some of these music related, recordings on phones would be common.

Whatever about the other students, why is OP concerned about anyone taking photos of them?

Would you be comfortable with somebody taking candid photos of you while you work? The manner in which the person in question took the photos, especially after the OP had asked them to stop, is very concerning IMO.

BarryD2

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

Would you be comfortable with somebody taking candid photos of you while you work? The manner in which the person in question took the photos, especially after the OP had asked them to stop, is very concerning IMO.

What do you mean by 'candid' photos? If you're suggesting 'dirty' photos - where did the OP mention this?

Yes, in a former job I worked with groups of people. Never bothered me if they wished to take photos. My balding hair at the time might be on display in some photos, but that's a paltry concern.

ShiverinEskimo

BarryD2 wrote: »

What do you mean by 'candid' photos? If you're suggesting 'dirty' photos - where did the OP mention this?

Yes, in a former job I worked with groups of people. Never bothered me if they wished to take photos. My balding hair at the time might be on display in some photos, but that's a paltry concern.

They aren't suggesting dirty photos. Candid Photos are those taken without the subject's knowledge.

Radio5

OP needs to report this to their manager and ensure that this parent understands what they are doing is seriously out of order.

As far as I can see GDPR affects the situation. The OP and all those present should have been asked at the very start if they consented to any photos being taken and should have been told specifically what those photos would be used for i.e promotional purposes for the ESL course, sent privately to parents to show their children learning, article in the local paper etc and where those photos would be used i.e. Facebook page of group, Twitter, named websites etc. They should have the choice to opt out also even if they agreed at first.

And that would be the case even if all the students were over 18. GDPR still applies.

It seems as if none of this happened here and OP is right to be concerned that this person did not even stop taking photos when asked.

Duke O Smiley

BarryD2 wrote: »

What do you mean by 'candid' photos? If you're suggesting 'dirty' photos - where did the OP mention this?

Yes, in a former job I worked with groups of people. Never bothered me if they wished to take photos. My balding hair at the time might be on display in some photos, but that's a paltry concern.

Candid photos, photographs taken informally and without the consent of the subject.

I think its safe and fair to say that you are one of a minority with your stance on this. Once again I think the OP is more than entitled to be concerned here

DONTMATTER

Are they from China?

Subtle

Can't understand the overreaction of some posters in this thread (e.g. reporting the matter to guards etc!). The situation was simply handled very badly and not addressed when it should have been by the OP. It should have been discussed with the principal and the group leader on day 1 - presumably a group leader has relatively good English so there's no excuse for not doing this. Also, I would assume that the leader has permission to take photos of her group throughout the trip, to pass on to the group afterwards etc. Obviously she did not have permission to take OPs photo but that should have been conveyed to her.

The only real issue I can see is if the class consisted of children from other unrelated groups or organisations. But again, if this were the case, the OP should have addressed the issue on day 1. Not with just one class to go!

Hitman3000

BarryD2 wrote:

Yes, in a former job I worked with groups of people. Never bothered me if they wished to take photos. My balding hair at the time might be on display in some photos, but that's a paltry concern.

That's great, you were happy to have your photo taken. This however is about the OP and she is not happy to have her photo taken.

Postgrad10

I think the fact she took them when she had her back turned is the problem, sneaky behaviour. No matter the language barrier, people know they are not to take photos without their permission. And the teacher is in charge of the group, no taking photos without asking the teacher first.