Educational Law Professional Development Session

Shakina D. McBride

ECE 673: Advocacy, Policy, and Social Justice in Early Childhood Education

Dr. Cindy Washington

December 7, 2020

Presentation Topic: Teacher Negligence

Attention getter: The probable explanation an educator will confront lawful activity is in carelessness where the students are hurt while under the school's insurance.

Presentation purpose: The purpose of the presentation is to analyze the four elements of negligence that must be satisfied for teachers to be held liable for the injury of students.

Background information: Once inside the schoolhouse door, public school teachers do not enjoy the same rights as they enjoy outside the school. They need to take the risk of teacher negligence seriously. Teachers are expected to create safe learning environments for children.

Main point 1: The first element of negligence is the duty of care

a. One of the factors that constitute teacher negligence is the failure of care by the teachers. Teachers have a duty to protect students from injuries. The obligation of care isn't total as it just reaches out to assurance from hurt where the danger of injury is sensibly predictable (Fowler, 2019).

b. For example, they must separate students who want to engage in a fight. Teachers also must discipline the ongoing bullying of a student

c. Courts must determine whether the injury was foreseeable. Foreseeable injuries are the ones that a teacher would have prevented. The factors examined when establishing whether an injury was foreseeable are the experience of a teacher, the risk of the situation, and the age of the student.

Main point 2: The second element is the breach of duty

a. After establishing the duty of care, it must be proved that the teacher acted in a way that breached the duty.

b. The norm of care expected of an educator is that of a sensible parent (Newnham, 2020).

c. When establishing a breach of duty, it is necessary to show that a reasonably prudent person would have acted differently and would have upheld the duty of care.

Main point 3: Causation

A. There must be an actual link between the harm suffered by the student and the negligence of the teacher. This is the causal connection between the failed duties of the teacher and the injury. Causation is often the most difficult element to establish (Stader, 2013).

B. The teacher's breach of duty has to result in the injury either directly or indirectly.

C. An example is when a child runs with scissors and trips injuring themselves. This could be the teacher's fault because he should have condoned the behavior. A reasonably prudent person has to know to keep the children from running with scissors.

Main point 4: Damages

a. The damages are the actual injuries suffered by the children. It has to be established that the child has suffered an injury with measurable damages (Stader, 2013).

b. Medical bills are normally used to determine the extent of an injury or damages. The higher the medical bills, the more serious the injury was, and the longer it will take for the child to recover.

c. The students might suffer psychological financial or physical damages.

Closing summary

The four components of teacher negligence are the duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. Teachers should ensure that they understand the tort of negligence to avoid potential lawsuits by the parents. Whenever there is an accident, teachers should follow the school policies. They should also ensure that they document adequate details about the events such as how the mishap has happened and the idea of wounds.

References

Fowler, M. (2019). Negligence in schools: Educating educators about their liability. Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper, Student/Alumni Paper, (22).

Newnham, H. (2020). When is a teacher or school liable for negligence? Australian Journal of teacher education, 25(1), 5.