|
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
Touching kids is OK for
primary teachers, new draft guidelines suggest - but a look might still be
enough to get them into trouble. Primary teachers are
debating the draft drawn up by the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI)
designed to replace its controversial eight-page, hands-off code of physical conduct
introduced in the mid-1990s after the Christchurch Civic Creche case. Instead of saying
teachers should avoid touching children and being alone with them, the
guidelines say physical contact is "perfectly acceptable". But they still warn
about squeezing students' shoulders and hugging or eye contact that might be
misconstrued. Wellington education
expert Sarah Farquhar said the guidelines were a vast improvement, but the
warnings suggested teachers could still be worried about false allegations of
abuse. Michael Neville, the
Levin teacher who was last year found not guilty of sexually assaulting four
former pupils, said the draft was fraught with problems, particularly where
it prescribed against eye contact. Teachers were afraid to
look at children for fear of inadvertently looking at their chest or groin.
"I just find that absolutely absurd," he said. "But we're too far
down the track of everybody looking sideways at each other to roll it
back." Auckland University
education lecturer Alison Jones, whose research has found anxiety over sexual
abuse has become embedded in the school system, said the climate of panic had
disastrously put young men off teaching. In the past decade the
proportion of men in primary teaching has steadily declined - from 21% to 18%
in the past 11 years. NZEI's review was a
significant and sensible step in combating anxiety over touching children,
she said. But NZEI president
Colin Tarr said it was not yet certain the old code would be replaced. The
draft would be debated and probably rewritten before being presented to the
union's executive for adoption in November. Tarr confirmed the
union was looking at whether the old code was too cautious and prescriptive,
but added: "I don't think that a complex issue like this can be captured
in a page." Since the code was
introduced, vexatious complaints had decreased significantly, he said. Yet student teachers
are still frightened, not only about physical contact but also what they say.
Teacher trainees are even told to avoid terms such as "love" or
"sweetheart". Christchurch student
Giarne Clarke, 28, was reprimanded on her teaching section for telling
students to shut their mouths and get on with their work. "It's a very PC
world in the classroom," she explained. "You're very timid
about what you say - it could come across as a little sleazy." |
