The harsh glare of publicity may not always be welcome – but it’s a vital aspect of public accountability, contends GTC Registrar, Alan Meyrick.
The regular reporting of GTC disciplinary cases in the Times Educational Supplement (TES) provokes a wide range of responses.
Some reported behaviour may be easily viewed as inappropriate, generating ready criticism. Other cases may provoke the reader to query their own values. The questions may arise: is the behaviour described really the business of a professional regulator? Is this behaviour really unacceptable for a professional?
The very fact that cases are reported regularly in the TES, following a hearing in public, generates debate. Only the most stony hearted would take any pleasure in seeing a colleague face the added pressure of a report in the TES, in addition to the issues that have led them before the GTC. There is a very real question as to how far the reporting of a story ensures that the public interest is met. At first glance, a story that revives interest in an issue locally may not always seem to be in the public interest.
Confidence
However, ensuring that our procedures and decisions are transparent is critical to the public’s confidence in the profession as a whole. In much the same way as doctors, social care workers, nurses and lawyers have professionally led models of regulation – with public hearings – so too does the teaching profession.
Indeed the GTC, charged with promoting the high standards of the profession as well as regulating the minimum standards, welcomes the wider scrutiny of its regulatory role that follows the public reporting of its cases.
Teachers can rightly be proud of their high standards of conduct and competence. The vast majority of teachers work within a framework of high values and strong ethics and will have welcomed the Council’s publication of its Statement of Professional Values and Practice and its Code of Conduct. The Council has always wanted to be clear that its regulatory work takes place against this background.
Teachers should also feel proud that the public has entrusted them, through Parliament, with the regulation of the minimum standards necessary in their profession.
Sadly, some types of misconduct come up too often. Ask yourself if it can ever be acceptable to download pornography on the school computer; to falsify coursework; steal from the school; encourage pupils to make racist jokes; sexually harass or bully your colleagues; award contracts to your friends and family without a procurement process; pretend you have qualifications you do not possess or take sick leave and work somewhere else on the side?
GTC hearing committees always comprise a majority of teachers, as well as a ‘lay’ perspective. They do not automatically discipline teachers who have minor criminal convictions, but cases of violent behaviour, drug dealing and theft have led to teachers being prohibited. Many will nod in agreement, recognising that the reputation of the profession must be upheld.
Wider picture
Wherever possible, GTC hearing committees seek to be constructive in the sanctions they issue. If training or treatment allows the teacher to return to practice, then a conditional registration order can be made. Other issues that may influence the choice of sanction include whether the incident was a one-off, in an otherwise unblemished career; and if the teacher regrets their behaviour or accepts they have a problem.
As individuals and as part of the school team, teachers are highly accountable to their pupils, parents and the local community. The regulatory work of the GTC is part of the wider picture, demonstrating that the profession is accountable to society as a whole.
Teachers expect the conduct and competence of doctors, nurses and lawyers to be regulated, as a protection for the public. We owe it to our pupils and the public to uphold our professional standards with confidence and in the public domain. The profession is stronger for that.
