The Incompetent Teacher

Description

Teachers and managers role play challenging situations, with the late Ted Wragg asking the difficult questions. This week, how does a head decide when to fire a struggling teacher? When does the union move to organise an exit with dignity?

Ted Wragg conducts an imaginary case study with the help of eight panellists. His story involves maths teacher Polly Chalice, nicknamed 'poison chalice', a divorcee with three children. The dilemmas arise out of trying to improve her performance while not short-changing her pupils.

Key questions raised:

• Should you react to a parent's complaint about a teacher made during a chance encounter while shopping on Saturday?
• When do you move from informal to formal procedures?
• How do you effectively measure performance to obtain evidence of incompetence

For relevant links about evaluating problem teachers and the teacher support network, visit our resources and materials page.

Part of the series: What If...?