TUI Conference - President's Address: Teachers believe the discipline problem in schools is at crisis point, reports Alison Healy.
The breakdown in discipline is placing teachers under immense strain and forcing them to look at extreme measures to protect themselves and other students, the TUI president, Mr Derek Dunne, said yesterday. He also said that the morale of teachers was "rock-bottom low".
Speaking at the opening of the TUI's annual congress in Ennis, Mr Dunne said it was becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate all students in the same classroom situation because of growing discipline problems. More time was being spent on behavioural problems rather than learning difficulties, he said.
"Many teachers despair at the challenges they face, not in teaching their subject, but in maintaining discipline," he said. "The strains placed on teachers by the breakdown in discipline are immense. The personal toll is just immeasurable."
The TUI president said teachers felt that their rights were being ignored while the rights of "ill-disciplined and out-of-control" pupils had been strengthened by recent legislation. Under the 1998 Education Act, the expulsion or suspension of a student can now be appealed.
The union had previously left the issue of discipline to teachers but it was now time to look at it as a trade-union issue, Mr Dunne said. "We do not want students endlessly suspended or expelled, but equally we deserve a system that tackles the discipline problems in a way which assists troublesome students and protects the rights of all students and teachers to work free from harassment and intimidation."
Some 12 motions have been submitted to the conference on discipline and health and safety issues, and some of these will be voted on tomorrow. The motions state that discipline problems are reaching "crisis proportions" and that teachers' stress levels are being raised to a "dangerous point". One motion calls for easier ways to remove disruptive pupils from schools.
Stressing the importance of morale in the workplace, Mr Dunne said "the morale of teachers is low, rock-bottom low". The pay issue was not the only cause, he said.
"In fact the evident discontent with teachers' pay was indicative of a wider malaise, and I call it 'dumping'. The feeling of being dumped on is tangible in staff-rooms across the country", he said.
"The Department [of Education] is perceived to ride roughshod over the concerns of teachers, ignoring their persistent calls for adequate resources and more imaginative and creative ways of doing things."
Seeing schools as a repository for solving society's endless problems also contributed to low morale, he said. "Endless tasks and programmes are introduced in schools to address the ever-increasing problems in society. Aggressive and unsympathetic management make a bad situation worse."
Morale was being sapped by "unsupportive, incompetent and out-of-touch management," Mr Dunne said.
He urged the Department of Education to become more pro-active in policing poor managers.
The Department was criticised for its "passivity and a litany of broken promises" in the case of TUI members who had been either punished or dismissed in the Waterford City VEC region. The VEC had dismissed one teacher from her permanent position, placed a reprimand on her employment record and sought the return of payments made to her. A reprimand was also placed on the record of a second teacher. Both teachers have initiated High Court proceedings. Mr Dunne said the Department had refused to hand over files on the matter.
