Are the cultural and social values of teachers from Italy and Ghana different?

A former English teacher was accused of inappropriately touching pupils but claimed his tactile behaviour was “because of his Italian cultural heritage”. Recent allegations at the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) were upheld, others dismissed, and the TRA decided not to bar him from the teaching profession.

This reminded me of an incident when I was an acting head teacher in Tottenham in the 1990s. A supply (substitute) teacher from Ghana had begun work at the school, but within a week, I was dealing with a crisis.

While supervising playground duty on what was, admittedly, a cold winter’s day, some girls had accused him of inappropriate behaviour, including one who alleged her breasts had been touched.

If this happened now, a plethora of child protection procedures would swing into action and the process would be taken out of hapless teachers like me. In those days, I had to interview all concerned - try and establish the facts, contact parents, the local education authority and ultimately the police.

To cut a long story short, two of the girls immediately withdrew their allegation, saying that though they were present they were neither touched nor witnessed any sexualised touching, but wanted to support their friends who said there had (which adds a cautionary corrective to overzealous action in such cases).

The case eventually went to court. The evidence given by the two remaining girls was contradictory, so the judge intervened and acquitted the teacher.

However, during my initial interview with him, as one might expect, he vigorously denied the allegations and expressed his horror. What he did admit to, which I found plausible at the time, was an explanation. I paraphrase it:

“In Ghana” he said, “teachers are feared. Children never come close. Whereas in England, children are very friendly and familiar. In the playground, some girls came to stand with me and link arms to keep warm. It felt strange but I could see other children doing it with teaching assistants. I did not want to seem unfriendly, so I did the same. Perhaps I was awkward or clumsy. But I never touched them sexually.”

Both cases illustrate the complexity of a teacher’s role. One the one hand, we expect the highest standards of ethical behaviour, even where there are diverse cultural and social assumptions. On the other, teachers are also trying to build relationships that inspire and motivate – sometimes involving emotional and physical support, comfort or encouragement.

Apart from the huge impact such incidents might have on those involved, one downside of cases like this is that many men are deterred from becoming teachers, especially with young children.

Not having enough male role models in schools is not good – for either boys or girls.

I lead a practical face-to-face session on necessary and proper physical contact with pupils, and my video: ‘The Teacher & the Law’ is available to stream at: newteacherstalk.com