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Being there is a teacher’s professional duty

PITFALLS AND PRECAUTIONS

October 12, 2021 Chris Gibbon, ATA Secretary to Professional Conduct Committees

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Pitfalls and Precautions is a series that aims to educate teachers on professional conduct issues by highlighting situations addressed by the ATA Professional Conduct Committee.

A teacher who chose to be on the golf course when they should have been online teaching their students was found guilty of unprofessional conduct. 

The pandemic brought many challenges to everyone, and when golf courses reopened, it brought back a sense of normality to so many people. In this case, the teacher chose on multiple occasions to leave their online classroom both before the lunch hour and before the end of the day to play a round of golf. While the Alberta Teachers’ Association condones all teachers living a healthy and active lifestyle, it should not be during the school day unless they are involved in a classroom activity with their students or during unassigned time.

When school divisions transitioned to online instruction, many of them required their employees to sign an agreement that they would be available online for instruction of students in either a group setting or one to one for a specific period of time during the school day. When this teacher chose to golf rather than be available online, they violated that trust relationship with their employer. Further to that violation of trust, when asked by the employer, the teacher did not readily admit that they had golfed on multiple occasions. Sadly, it took some sleuthing by the employer to discover that the teacher had golfed many times in May and June rather than the one time that they first admitted to.

As a result of their actions, the teacher was deducted at least seven days’ pay by the employer and received a letter of reprimand. The committee, in its decision, considered the employer’s penalty and in turn imposed both a fine and letter of reprimand. If the fine was not paid within 60 days of receipt of the decision, the teacher would be suspended from the Association until the fine was paid in full.

Through their short-sighted decision to golf during the school day, the teacher neglected to behave in the best interests of the teaching profession. These actions had the potential to harm the reputation of the entire teaching profession. Further, this teacher did not have the best interests of students in mind when they chose to golf during the school day. This was a contradiction and violation of the division’s guidelines for working from home. ❚

 

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