The Educational Black Hole (and the Egg Heads that control it)

By Susan Ingred and Kevin Booker

The book is about surviving bullying in the education system from all perspectives - teachers, students and parents.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Ingred
• Release date: Aug 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301173600

Susan Ingred

BA Graduate Diploma Arts, Musician, artist and mentor.

Book preview

The Educational Black Hole

(and the Eggheads that Control it)

An anti - bullying guide

By Phili Augusta Folia and Kevin Booker

Copyright © 2013 Susan Ingred and Kevin Booker

All rights reserved.

Distributed by Smashwords

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Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Bibliography

False claims of misconduct are a common occurrence. It is about the perception that the department is not assisting its’ teachers and… there is a feeling of lack of confidence in the department. - New South Wales solicitor, Ian Collins, who specialises in teachers’ cases.

This book has been written by two teachers who have been exposed to the dark side of our education system, as have many, many other members of this system. Every chapter addresses matters which have an extremely significant effect on those within the system, and should be mandatory reading for all within the system, from the upper echelon, and down through the hierarchy, the teachers and incoming teachers, the parents, both present and future, and maybe even our students in the upper levels of the system.

Chapter 1

Why we wanted to write the book - Personal experiences that led us to this point.

There is a plethora of issues which seem to aggravate and perpetuate bullying across the whole education community, which includes teachers, students and parents. School communities are far more diverse and complex today, with emerging technologies, new digital education platforms, multi - cultural ideologies, competition for diminishing resources and softening world economies. And with privatisation becoming a global trend, Victorian schools have greater autonomy as to how they use their finances and resources, as compared to schools in NSW, which is more global and transparent.

This means that the use of finance and resources in Victoria is easier to manipulate, which leads to teachers being underpaid, based on managerial perception and discretion, which can then be used against teachers who speak out. This leads to financial abuse and deceptive conduct - i.e. whistleblowers are victimised, penalised and treated harshly and unfairly, which often breaches the constitutional guidelines and departmental legislation.

You may be downgraded from an experienced teacher to a lower level, such as that of a first year graduate, which can then have dire repercussions if you are paying off a home mortgage.

With the system being operated on State, Federal and Territorial levels, it effectively covers the rates of pay for teachers, which defeats the purpose of protecting the teacher, and brick walls the victim - the bullied teacher - so they cannot get out of the bullying situation.

They cannot get out, because the principal is all powerful, and the legal framework is too complex for anyone to help you, because no ombudsman wants to touch it, and neither do the unions. In addition, the Federal Minister for Education does not want to interfere.

This happened to me when I was head-hunted to replace another teacher, who I found had been bullied, and then I was told that this teacher had left without notice, and that they were irresponsible.

When a mobile phone film was produced by one of the offending kids, which was connected to this teacher leaving, the student was given a one week suspension, and my new colleagues told me that the student was a monster.

The school put two other students on suspension, did not call the police, and the matter was covered up. I was misled, and also not paid for six weeks, and basically had an enormous battle to get basically anything at all.

And when it did come, I was underpaid by several levels, and in a deliberate trick, I was referred by the deputy, who had head-hunted me, back to the principal. This principal had a very bad name, and many women were afraid of him, and could not even sit in his office. This was a form of cyber bullying, and should have been reported to the police.

But, because the first victim did not know about mobile phones, they were left high and dry. Had the police been called, the matter would have been dealt with appropriately by the executive, and the school principal. As this matter is a work cover matter, it can, and should have, resulted in criminal charges and/or sanctions.

However, as it was covered up, the second teacher was victimised for bringing the mobile phone film to the deputy, who did not want to know, and it was very clear that this person wanted to cover it up. This led to a negative impact on the lives of both teachers.

With their thinking that it was a contract position, they were lured into believing it was permanent employment, but as unsuspecting and trusting teachers,