Teachers have the same rights to freedom of speech and political activity in your private lives as any New Zealander. Chatting about politics or policy in private conversation with colleagues in the staffroom or campaigning for a party in the weekend is all good (in general).
However, when acting as an employee, best practice is to be politically neutral (the Public Service Act has been amended, and teachers are now clearly part of the public service).
So this is pretty clear. Teachers can do politics as citizens, but not when acting in their professional capacity. They explicitly say teachers should not:
using my authority as a teacher to undermine the personal beliefs of my learners or inappropriately influence them to take a course of action
Now look at what Naenae School has done.
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This is appalling. If teachers want to take leave and attend a protest march that is fine, but here the principal is announcing the school is taking an institutional stance on the Treaty of Principles Bill and they are taking the whole school to join in a protest march against the Government’s bill.
Apart from the ethical stance of using 5 – 10 year olds as pawns in a protest, the teachers doing this are clearly breaching the Teaching Council guidelines.
It is not clear who made the decision, but the principal is the leader of the school so is responsible. His name is Murray Bootten.
I would encourage people to file formal complaints that this action is a breach of the Teaching Council guidelines. Send them to the board chair and the Teaching Council. The board chair is Tina Renata. They don’t list an e-mail for her but use the office e-mail address. And you can fill in the Teaching Council form here.
I want to be very clear this is not to do with what their views are as an individual. If they want to attend a protest march as individuals, fine. But to bus in school children to a protest march is a breach of their professional standards, and their role as state employees funded by taxpayers.
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And here you have a principal saying that their taxpayer funded school supports the protest march, and they will mark any student missing school to attend as having a justified absence. This is both breaching the law, and the Teaching Council neutrality standards.
The SWIS board chair is Mel Millington. You need to complaint to her first in order for the Teaching Council to then consider your complaint. But as the note says the board supports the decision, don’t expect a positive response. So also complain to with the Teaching Council form here.
Again this is not about their personal views. This is against what is a form of abuse – pushing their partisan political views on children.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
7 comments:
I can't think of anything much more disgusting than this. We've just had an apology for abuse in state care and these schools are now abusing their pupils.
Now we have activist principals as well as judges subverting rules. We desperately need a leader with a spine to deal with all this rubbish. Thank you David. Please everyone, protest as advised. It's the best we can do. MC
Perhaps these responses to the hikoi aren't surprising David?
When referring to the "Teachers Council Code and Standards" there are many references to TT, a partnership and teachers being obliged to "practise and develop the use of te reo and tikanga Maori".
It's our democratic right to protest in a personal capacity, but these examples demonstrate how far some educators are prepared to go in response to the issue.
Any possibility that our PM takes time to read the room and changes course from his comments on Monday?
Completely agree.
Pay these schools on attendance per day for both teachers and pupils .
Also take the teacher registration away from the union and establish an independent body.
Promoting maoridominance seems to be the main preoccupation of the teachng Council. It is a propoganda machine to which teachers are forced to contribute and comply.
Many schools these days refuse to take kids on field trips for legitimate outdoor learning experiences as they're afraid of the Health & Safety implications if a child is injured. Yet Naenae School is officially taking kids on a school trip on the train into a very unpredictable situation. What is their plan for 250+ kids in central Wellington if there is a sudden outbreak of violence and the riot police spring into action? The school community should be asking the School Board WTF is going on here.
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