Saturday 5 March 2011

A Welcome Change

A teacher who claimed parents and pupils were being racist towards him has been banned from the classroom.
*sits up and takes notice*
The General Teaching Council’s Professional Conduct Committee ruled Dr Emmanuel Forson, formerly of Harwich School, should not be allowed to teach.
The committee heard Dr Forson defied verbal and written warnings and continued to tell students and parents his race was a reason for poor behaviour in his classes.
Interesting!
Headteacher Nigel Mountford said the decision of the committee was the right one. He said: “I had to attend the council to give evidence.
“It is a very sad outcome for Emmanuel, but it is the right one.
“There are very few teachers that get banned. I think the priority has to be the students and ensuring they get the best possible education.”
This is so out of character I wonder if there isn't more to this story?
Committee chairman, Gail Mortimer, said: “We have seen no evidence staff, students or parents spoke or acted in a racist manner towards Dr Forson.
“We consider racism in any form to be totally unacceptable.
“To make unfounded allegations pupils and colleagues have acted in a racist manner can only have been deeply hurtful and offensive to them.
“Teachers have a duty to demonstrate respect for diversity and promote equality. Dr Forson has failed in this regard.”
An interesting wrinkle, a useful spoke in the perpetually-aggrieved bandwagon's wheel, or just a blip?

We shall see...

10 comments:

Woman on a Raft said...

Betcha the real clash is something to do with this snip near the end:

The conduct committee also heard Dr Forson “made an inappropriate comment to a student, telling him to kneel by his bed and pray for forgiveness”.

I'd suggest the Christian Institute take a look at this for the appeal, but I've doubts about the way they handle their clients.

Lynne said...

Sacked for playing the race card in order to divert from his inadequacy to teach.

Who'da thunk it?

I wonder how the the equality rent-a-gobs are going to foam at the mouth over this one?

Edwin Greenwood said...

I have a sinking feeling that WoaR may be right. Have the negative victimhood points of being an "out" evangelical Christian outweighed the positive victimhood points of being Black?

Woman on a Raft said...

Dr Forson taugh Maths for about three years at Harwich school from 2004-2007. In 2008 dismissal took place, arising from events in 2007.

The dismissal went to Tribunal, then Employment Appeals Tribunal, where Dr Forson also lost, and so he sought permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

http://www.employmentcasesupdate.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed5670

(Giving that URL because it works best if you paste it in)

Permission to appeal was refused by Lord Justice Mummery.

The allegations were serious: that children had assaulted him, that there was a racial element, and that the school was ganging-up and refusing to take proper records in order to hide its own complicity. He then accused the County Council staff of colluding with this against him.

Now, I don't like people playing the race card purely for effect and teachers are sometimes unsuitable and should be sacked. But this is Essex County Council, who last month gloatingly congratulated themselves at having seen off Carol Hill, the dinner lady who knows the difference between right and wrong and doesn't collude to keep secrets from parents. The Essex County Council which would rather call a little girl a liar than admit she'd been tied to a fence and whipped.

So I find it plausible that a school might not protect a teacher who had been assaulted by pupils.

If its any consolation, they would probably act the same way to a white teacher, so it's not racism and Dr Emmanuel is mistaken on that key point.

Harwich: School taken to tribunal
Thursday 2nd October 2008

The 46-year-old told how in October last year, a Year 11 pupil assaulted him which resulted in him seeing his GP.

He said: “He grabbed my neck and twisted it badly in front of the class. This was reported to the senior management team. He [the pupil] later apologised but I saw this is to be racial assault.”

“This incident was not documented by the school. It appears The Harwich School has no concept of racism at all,” he added.

On another occasion, he told how a pupil had drawn a picture of a monkey and said ‘Sir, this is you’.


Black teacher from Colchester ‘accused County Hall worker of racism’
Tuesday 24th March 2009

Woman on a Raft said...

Then again, Dr Forson has a conviction for taking children out of the UK without permission.

This sounds like it is related to the breakdown of his marriage, which happened during the dismissal, but details are not available.

In July 2009, he received a 42-week suspended prison sentence at Ipswich Crown Court after being convicted of taking two children - not his pupils - out of the UK in October 2008.

Source: TES

Woman on a Raft said...

Summary from General Teaching Council

MTG said...

A pretty dumb teacher but nevertheless a strange case of someone too smart to be a policeman, playing what would otherwise have been the winning card in a uniformed career.

Ranter said...

Oh Melvin.........

MTG said...

I couldn't resist, Ranter. Taking my meds in a mo....

JuliaM said...

"Betcha the real clash is something to do with this snip near the end.."

Ahhh, could be.

"Now, I don't like people playing the race card purely for effect and teachers are sometimes unsuitable and should be sacked. But this is Essex County Council..."

Yes, they certainly have form.