An Abso-friggen-lutely Good Teacher

Why is Hickey Sound ?

Alf one of the safest teachers around

• At Vermont I implemented appropriate safety learning, supervision and procedures. Always ! I had to take incredible measures to protect students from the unsafe practices and poor supervision of other teachers, including a coordinator, who rarely turned up on time. She on two occasions didn't turn up at all.

This teacher, Rebecca Eames is on the school council at Vermont Secondary College. The facts can be ascertained quickly, by speaking to students that she taught in Technology in 2007. No such investigation was done according to the Principals at Vermont, despite me bringing this up. Why is that ? This was admitted at the VIT tribunal in the transcript. The principals did no true investigation into my complaints when I pointed out serious safety breaches and danger to students. they also did not acknowledge the lost work time when I had to fill in for teachers like her in my breaks. 

• Being one of the best trained teachers in the department and having taught workshop safety appropriately at many schools and university for over 10 years. I am well aware of the dangers and warn students seriously of the hazards associated with the wood and metal tool rooms. I am trained in furniture technology as well as Industrial Design. I have done risk management training too. It was bizarre, that at the VIT hearing, Rod Williamson the head principal at the time, didn't even know whether the design and tech/art teachers at his school were qualified to teach woodwork or not. His best answer was, "oh we placed wood in the art curriculum, that's why art teachers take it." They really weren't qualified in 2007 to teach it. I noticed that there was a lot of passing the responsibility and blame to other people at the school. While the principals made allegations, almost always these had been received by hearsay, without investigation, DEECD procedure or reports. Essentially a whole volley of slander is directed at myself without recourse. 

Vermont as well as many other schools use unqualified teachers to teach in dangerous areas such as Woodwork and Metal work. Parents and Government should know that extreme safety breaches are occurring as principals de-prioritise these subjects in schools, as either add-ons or not academic, despite a major shortage of workers in many trades, such that we are importing immigrants to fill these high paying jobs. Education is quite often out of touch, with the real needs of society. 

• It was clear at Vermont Secondary College, that politics took precedence over good teaching and learning. This was especially true after certain teachers left the school after term one 2007. It was also clear that it escalated conflict against teachers. During term one, all the network wiring at the school was ripped out by someone who knew exactly what they were doing. Why would they do it ? What had the school done to generate that much angst. My case reveals what this might be. 

• While at Vermont Secondary in 2007, Alf complained about the unqualified status of some of the technology teachers, after observing extremely dangerous behaviours and ignorance of certain teachers for example. The teacher was watching a student using a disk sander for example. This teacher did not identify that the student was using the disk on the wrong side.

This is a hazard, by Worksafe Law of an extreme nature as it almost guarantees injury. Both the teacher and the situation, something so obviously wrong. 

• My coordinator told me of an incident where the teacher allowed a student to mig weld without eye or hand protection. This teacher has now returned to the school.
• At the same school, I observed another technology teacher , not correcting students when they got orbital sanders and were applying these to the skin of other students. 
• Students were allowed by the coordinator to use desk mounted routers and I was instructed to do so, though this tool is restricted to teachers only.
• When I brought up the danger in this, I was told by the coordinator Wolfgang Borutta, "don't upset the karma in the department," no kidding !

• A fill in teacher Sabrina Crosswaithe, did not clean up glass from the tables in one of the rooms. As such, when I had a class after her, I had to clean up her glass after her lessons. When I complained about this, nothing was done about it. 
• Despite warning the coordinator of the danger of certain damaged tools, the coordinator did not make these tools out of bounds and further the coordinator did not fix them. I purchased my own tools to substitute for the damaged tools to ensure the safety of the students.
• I was continually re-fitting blades when teachers installed them incorrectly into machines. I had to adapt and make guards where these were not there. 
• Alf has a perfect safety record, except for his initial practicum, where, while supervised by another teacher (who we might argue is inept at supervision), a student who had his back turned, put hot glue on another student's arm, as a joke. 10 years without incident for me is a rather good safety record, and I have had extreme students.

• The allegations of tailgating and speeding at camp are probably the biggest joke of all, why one of these has been withdrawn at VCAT too. The tailgating, what has been described as "unconscionable recklessness," is best understood as a bizarre attempt at making me look unsafe. The actual events do not match up with the testimony and the evidence shaky at best. I was fortunate that the real situation shows that I was actually the vulnerable person, by the bus behind, tailgating me, as indicated by law. I am accused of unsafe driving, when the actual details show, that I was the victim. This has been plastered through the newspapers, not presenting my side of the story, which I had detailed in depth. These journalists need their head read, or be censured by a disciplinary tribunal for their clear misdemeanor in lying and misrepresenting facts to the public.

Good Theory

• My theoretical background is strong. having worked in cognition, being an expert in design and technology, in a variety of fields and having incredible resilience, demonstrated through incredible adversity since childhood.
• While other non-graduate teachers in Victoria get VIt registration by default, only having a degree. To get VIT registration I had to do two years of developing a folio of work proving my ability by a host of critical criteria. 
• Studying at several universities, I gained a wide knowledge set of teaching and a variety of contexts to practice my skills. In my first year of doing a graduate diploma, I was already teaching full time, while doing the course. This before these "insane" registration bodies came in.

Good Practice

• The only time complaints were made at Vermont, was after I complained about the on-going position I had been promised at my job interview. It was a key condition we negotiated, to take the job. Before this, I only received positive feedback from all sources. It was after a May 23 meeting where a series of strange slander was made by two principals, when I started to be assertive with the principals, who now had shown me they were absolute dodos. This was particularly true of Tony Jacobs and Harry Ruff. 
• Harry Ruff made out that a process we used in technology is lacking supervision. From this point, I had to change my projects, doing one of the steps for all the students after school, sometimes till 7 or later at night. A step previously prescribed by Wolfgang as the way to do the project.
• My good practice was evident in multiple examples of evaluation and assessment, including student self assessment rubrics.
• My good practice was evident in the outcomes of my students. 
• My assessment and the student work for assessment was varied and there was much work to assess despite the allegation that there was "insufficient assessment work." 

Good Attitudes

• I am student centred and am always dedicated to informing students of possible pathways and how students can fulfill their preferred future pathways.
• At Vermont, I customised projects to the student's specific interests, not generalising activities, which might otherwise turn students into regurgitators or robots, against their preferred learning styles and . This is evident in the work. Not just in the individualised projects, but in the variety and volume of work that was created and assessed.

Regulatory Bodies Unfair & Discriminatory

• In Australia I have passed several practicums, university courses, VIT Registration and several performanace reviews to become a teacher over the last 10 years. Even then when i came to Victoria, I was demoted to graduate status, because I did not have a degree earlier, despite having completed 80 percent of my teacher's education course. The only reason I could not complete it, was that no university would allow me to enrol, in just one or two subjects. 
• This is just purely unfair, when most teachers in Victoria were given default VIT registration on the basis that thy were in a school teaching. What this shows is that VIT serves to reinforce not standards but just empower permanent workers, irrespective of the quality of their teaching. This is clear in the low proportion of females that are brought up for VIT disciplinary action. 
• Are males really the only teachers badly behaved in schools. VIT serves to create poor stereotypes of men and does nothing to ensure the regulation of gender equity in education at all. It seems that women are favourable as teachers. Its just discriminatory.

Why This is a Dangerous Case

• It sets precedents that suppress good teaching. For example, I showed evidence of good teaching, the application of good theory yet this is denied by the tribunal at VIT, supposedly experts in the area.
• Principals can use a system to implement their bullying practices and get away with it without accountability. There is very little in their allegations relevant with good teaching.