By 1news.co.nz
A teacher has been stripped of his teaching registration for serious misconduct after swearing at students who were taking too long to leave his classroom.
It comes after the teacher involved, Hēnare Piripi Hūtana, swore five or six times at a pair of students in an angry and/or aggressive manner on May 20, 2019, a report from the Teaching Council said.
Three students, who were at the back of Hūtana’s classroom, were asked multiple times by Hūtana to leave the room to attend their next class, but they “did not leave straight away”.
Hūtana then became “really mad” and began yelling and swearing while waving his arms at two of the pupils, the students said. The third pupil was using headphones and could not hear the exchange.
Hūtana is believed to have yelled “F*****’ get down to Māori or I’ll get *** ***” and/or “f*****’ go down to Te Reo.”
The students did not respond but left the room.
The next day, Hūtana told another teacher about the incident. He said he told the pair to “get the f*** out of here, get out of this f****** classroom”.
Hūtana was placed on disciplinary leave the following day pending a hui on May 30, 2019, after the principal of the school was made aware of the incident. Hūtana then went on sick leave, and the meeting was moved to June 12, 2019.
Hūtana resigned from his teaching position during the hui while still on sick leave, effective from October 13, 2019.
Twelve attempts were made to get input from Hūtana regarding an investigation into the incident between July 3, 2019, and July 15, 2021, but he failed to respond.
After an email was sent on March 15, 2021, requesting contact, Hūtana said, “Why I’ve done my time paid the price can’t renew my teaching certificate [sic]”.
“The teaching council stripped me of everything barring my 6 months sick leave entitlement which I took under a doctors certificate stress leave, (burnt out, under pressure because I lived on site for 15 years available 24/7). I went on a 8 week course to help me recover from the above.
“So, what further damage do you intend to do to me and my family. Get a life and leave me and my family alone, because that’s what we’ve done and it excludes the horrible teaching council [sic].”
It was signed “Me the victim Henare Hutana [sic]”.
In its response, the CAC said Hūtana’s conduct “demonstrated a complete lack of professionalism and lack of regard for the emotional well-being of the students”.
“Not only was the swearing inappropriate and unprofessional, but the respondent’s conduct in the circumstance was an unacceptably disproportionate response to the behaviour of the students concerned,” it read.
“The conduct was plainly unjustified and calls into question the respondent’s ability to cope with the usual stressors of being a teacher, and demonstrates very poor role modelling to the young students.”
Hūtana, through his representative, accepted it constituted serious misconduct.
A hearing was held before the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal on May 9, 2022. A decision over the charges was made on July 4, 2022.
In its decision, released today, the Tribunal said Hūtana swearing and yelling at the students involved was “completely unacceptable and unprofessional”.
“Poor health and external stressors affect everyone’s ability to react proportionately to work stressors and to manage emotion, but it is part of all professional life to be able to respond appropriately. This is especially so when it comes to dealing with tamariki and rangatahi, as all the provisions cited by the Committee demonstrate.”
Hūtana had previous involvement with the Complaints Assessment Committee and Disciplinary Tribunal after he got into a verbal altercation with a misbehaving Year 9 student on May 10, 2017.
During the two-minute exchange, the teacher “threatened violence towards student D, used verbal put downs, and yelled”.
Through a formal disciplinary process, Hūtana was allowed to return to teaching under the condition he underwent three sessions with a counsellor; developed coping strategies to cope with challenging student behaviour; write a letter of apology to the student involved; and hold weekly meetings with the school principal to monitor Hūtana’s well-being.
The Tribunal went on to say that Hūtana’s conduct “was totally out of proportion to the behaviour being demonstrated by the students in question and shows the respondent’s ability to cope with the expected stressors of teaching is extremely limited”.
“There is no justification for the behaviour demonstrated by the respondent, and it exhibits extremely inferior role modelling to the rangatahi involved.
“In the absence of any willingness to engage in rehabilitation, and comparing the conduct to other cases, the Committee submits that a penalty of censure and cancellation of the respondent’s registration as a teacher is the appropriate outcome.”
Hūtana is no longer teaching. His practising certificate expired in June 2020.
