u/teateach

The International School of Brno
in the Czech Republic

Original post:

I was fired one week after informing my boss of the lead teacher's treatment towards her students.

(I was the teaching assistant in this classroom. I was there two months then terminated so they were legally allowed to fire me without cause)

Mind you, after the teacher was informed (I know because she became extremely cold) it escalated to physical aggression a few days later. All because she wanted a student to move over for a halloween photo, she yelled in her face and yanked her to the side so hard that she fell (from a kneeling position, but still).

The students are only 6-7, and they are absolutely wonderful. Only 14 students. Teachers and even the principal were often coming to me saying how lucky I was to be in this class because they're so well-behaved, calm, kind, and intelligent.

But it was the lead teacher's first year as a lead in an elementary school (she was previously a preschool teacher...), and she just couldn't take the stress. For two months, I hoped things would improve once she settles in after relocating from a different continent. I went back and forth wondering: Am I being too sensitive? Is it worth pissing off the teacher? Will I be seen as a trouble maker?

But everything just kept getting worse, to the point that parents came in to tell the teacher that their child is crying at home from what the teacher says, and one student asked me (in front of her Mom!) if I could go with her to the classroom because she's scared the teacher will yell at her.

The next day I was in my boss's office telling her everything. Kept it very professional, didn't say any personal opinions against the teacher, just stated things that have happened and expressed that I feel this teacher needs more support, and that I would like to help the classroom become a healthy and safe environment for the children. I had been keeping a list, and it was so long that I only addressed maybe half of the incidents. My boss seemed very concerned, asked more detailed questions, and thanked me for coming to her. So I couldn't have been more shocked when they terminated my contract, citing a need to "shuffle things around".

Anyways, some examples:

- Frequently gossiping to me about students... right in front of them. Verbatim quotes: -I don't know what's wrong with him, he just doesn't understand anything. -She doesn't know how to listen, her ears must be ornaments. -He can't read, he can't write, what are we supposed to do with him?

- Lashing out and snapping about everything. If a child so much as touched their name-tag or tapped their shoe, she'd yell and threaten to throw it out. She was especially tough on the children who didn't yet understand English.

- Telling the whole class that so and so got every answer wrong on their test, so they need to pay more attention. Support group or advanced group, true or false, it didn't matter, she just wanted to shame them.

- Telling the whole class that a student cannot write or spell correctly so she can't understand a single word they write. They sadly replied "I tried my best."

- She sent some older students to get paper from the art room, but the art teacher came back before the students and kindly told the teacher that she can get it from the supply room. The students came back, and the teacher says, "Miss Art Teacher said you cannot have paper because you were running around the halls and acting wild." I also caught her lying to me about other very minor things, so I'm guessing this has something to do with her still being there.

All of this, especially the gossiping and the harshness of her communication, I had addressed with her multiple times. The gossiping she admitted she shouldn't do, but continued. With the aggressiveness towards students, she tried to convince me to be more tough on them. And I quote, "We can be more tough on them, they aren't THAT young." This convo went in circles for so long with me saying that I don't think it's necessary, they behave and work better when we respect them, we are teaching them how to be respectful so we owe it to them too. That I wouldn't budge and it'll just have to be a difference of opinion. I didn't even directly address her behavior, but she still started treating me differently. In the beginning of the year, she shared that she's not sure how she feels about direct communication because it can make things awkward. So I doubt this is the first time someone's had an issue with her character.

It's been a difficult few months, considering whether or not I still want to be a teacher. I had an issue at my previous preschool when I told my boss that a teacher yanked a four year old backwards by the hood, basically choking him, and her response was that sometimes teachers need to be rough and show their true emotions so that children understand when they've done something wrong. I ended up quitting a few months later. These were both private schools where parents pay upwards of 2k per month, in Europe. I just really sometimes can't even believe the behavior I've witnessed, while the only people with the power to protect these children turn the other way.

Also just for funsies I want to mention that this teacher realized she didn't know how to add 341 + 237 as she was teaching it to the class. She also consistently wrote the HTO chart backwards so the number 130 would look like 031. On public transport she'd yell about how she thought the men of my country looked like hardened criminals who didn't know how to shower and take care of themselves. Just a whole entire mess of a person.