How to Spot Bullying Teachers - Dance Magazine article

[richieN]

Its Mental Health Awareness week soon. This is a great article about the dangers of unprofessional conduct. 

 

https://www.dancemagazine.com/bullying-teachers-2581811648.html

 

Most of these points are obvious (as we've probably all seen them on the playground as children), but there are some good red flags for DC's and parents alike to watch out for: 

Edited May 10, 2019 by richieN

[drdance]

This is a great article - thank you for sharing! 

[Tulip]

I feel I bit sick reading the article. I witnessed this behaviour many a time.  Times are changing thank goodness. Another form of bullying is to completely ignore the student. 

[taxi4ballet]

1 hour ago, Tulip said:

Another form of bullying is to completely ignore the student. 

And repeatedly praising some students and not others.

[Anna C]

7 hours ago, Tulip said:

I feel I bit sick reading the article. I witnessed this behaviour many a time.  Times are changing thank goodness. Another form of bullying is to completely ignore the student. 

 

Yes. My dd always said she’d rather constant correction than being ignored.  I have seen (thankfully only a few) examples of unacceptable behaviour over the years at “hobby” schools and Associates/full-time school and it can be quite subtle but still damaging and unacceptable with hindsight.

 

Thank you for sharing this, richieN. So important to be aware of these red flags, especially in the oh-so-small ballet world where I think sometimes parents and students fear either losing a school place or even being given a reputation of being “troublesome” - when one wouldn’t dream of accepting any form of abusive behaviour from staff at a state academic school.  

I think things are changing for the better but I wonder if there is still - and may always be - an element of “you’re lucky to be here; don’t complain because there are 20 other students/dancers who are willing to take your place”.  

[EverHopeful]

This has really truly struck a nerve with me. And I’m an adult student - I don’t know if that makes it worse or better. Luckily I’m now somewhere I feel much happier.

The one thing I would want to pass on to anyone in this situation is that there are always other options - don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise. That’s something I wish I had realised sooner

[Danceforfun]

Unfortunately it’s not getting better it’s getting worse and until we have an independent governing body that can have powers required to investigate serious complaints against dance teachers ( I am talking independent part time schools) then our children are subject to atrocious behaviour both mental and physically harming. We have several schools that have styled themselves on a famous oversized American woman!!! And as this teaching method of bullying has been celebrated on tv some individuals think it is the only way to succeed 

[taxi4ballet]

4 hours ago, Danceforfun said:

We have several schools that have styled themselves on a famous oversized American woman!!! And as this teaching method of bullying has been celebrated on tv some individuals think it is the only way to succeed 

I agree - people tend to believe what they see on television, and think that this sort of thing is acceptable and necessary in order to get results.

[Crystaltips]

Agree that there needs to be a independent body with teeth. That will investigate grievances and conduct inspections. The article attached to this thread pales into insignificance compared to some of the examples I am aware of. And people are too afraid to complain openly. It is regrettable that individuals have posted comments in the past that have led to locked threads and a prohibition on discussing certain schools. But probably driven to it by the lack of other channels. 

[MrsMoo2]

Yes, great article and an independent body to investigate concerns would be a great idea. We’ve witnessed a few of these and also teacher-parent bad behaviours. 😟😟😟

[Pas de Quatre]

The trouble is there are no laws or regulations governing dance schools. All the major dance boards offer teaching qualifications, but these are often just geared to teachers following their syllabus and entering their exams to generate income. Many dance degrees have some anatomy and teaching practice modules, but not all. However an excellent teacher may just have been a performing professional who later switched to teaching & coaching without taking formal qualifications. So all of these can be excellent schools. But there is absolutely nothing to stop anyone who just did a few classes previously (whether as a child or adult) setting themself up as a dance school and some of these are downright dangerous!

 

So until there is some overarching body, then there is nobody to oversee the more invisible problems of exploitation and bullying at supposedly reputable schools as described in this thread. 

[Picturesinthefirelight]

I work for a construction company and we’ve just had the loss adjusters in about a workplace accident. 

 

Our employer and public liability insurance quotes quotes are given once we’ve provided lots of information about qualifications, training, risk assessments etc. Why can’t the insurance companies who provide Public Liability & Professional Indemnity insurance to dance school carry out more stringent checks. (Or is it just st that parents are bullied out of making claims so they don’t care?). 

[richieN]

2 hours ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:

I work for a construction company and we’ve just had the loss adjusters in about a workplace accident. 

 

Our employer and public liability insurance quotes quotes are given once we’ve provided lots of information about qualifications, training, risk assessments etc. Why can’t the insurance companies who provide Public Liability & Professional Indemnity insurance to dance school carry out more stringent checks. (Or is it just st that parents are bullied out of making claims so they don’t care?). 

Good question:

Insurance companies could tighten up the requirements for dance insurance. But there are market forces at work (chicken and egg scenario)  - the premiums are required to be kept very low due to the low profit margins of dance companies, and adding extra layers of admin will drive up the cost. So I cannot see insurance companies driving up standards until claims start costing them a lot of money.

 

Currently, the "no win no fee" world is pointed at car accidents or injuries at work. If they were to change tack, they might make the insurance companies tighten up their standards. But unless dance injuries are profitable for legal companies, (high volumes or high sums involved), things are unlikely to change.

**full disclosure - I used to work for an insurance company**

[Crystaltips]

Right now my dd is mourning the departure of one of her close friends from her school. He was within weeks of completing a foundation degree but left because he was so unhappy he couldn’t stand it a minute longer. Will he or his parents complain? Of course not! He has a place somewhere else next year. No one wants to rock the boat. And that is why we need an external statutory body.

[Tulip]

I believe for vocational schools they need to have a robust policy and procedure in place to address bullying and the meaning of bullying. Principles or head of schools must be regularly observing, supporting and offering training to their staff in this area. Some teacher and even parents don’t even realise that their methods of teaching is having a huge effect on these very young, talented students. 

It is not ok to ridicule students in front of peers, it is not ok to purposely ignore students etc etc.

One incident that  has always stuck in my mind and still upsets me even today, was when my daughter started her full time  vocational school aged 12. She is a summer birth and was a tiny little thing, she was homesick and stressed as she was the newbie. Any way the teacher told the whole class to form a circle around my daughter, then asked everyone to put their hand up to say what was WRONG with my daughters plie. The whole class then began to have a go at saying what they thought was wrong, no other student was selected.  My daughter was devastated, humiliated and very upset. She never cries in front of anyone, but she cried when she went back to the barr. It turns out that this teacher actually really liked my daughter and saw her potential. Sadly my daughter then started to understand that if this teacher was giving you ‘attention’ in this way, then you were liked. I actually ended up liking this teacher, but I have never forgotten how this tiny 12 year old, who was already stressed and sad was made to feel, and I totally disagree with her out of date training methods. 

I couldn’t report it, because my daughter didn’t need the added stress of me going into the school, meaning she would have to deal with the fall out, and I knew that would definitely happen as I’d been advised from other mums to not say anything. 

My little daughter toughened up and remained at her vocational school for four years, observing good practice and bad practice, she knew the difference. 

If at the end of her dancing career she chooses to teach dance, then at least she will know never to bully her students. 

[drdance]

A while ago several parents teamed together with myself to attempt to lobby the large exam boards to be more pro-active about dealing with damaging teaching practices. It was challenging and we struggled sadly. The ISTD were happy to receive anonymous complaints regarding teachers but I don't recall how pro-active they were in actually following these up.  Other exam boards have complaints policies in place but these are not anonymous and to raise a complaint about a teacher doesn't necessarily have any actual consequences for the teacher! The NSPCC has guidelines for writing policies but that's about it. https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/for-performing-arts/ - The only legislation regarding dance teaching/performance relates to stage performance, chaperoning etc rather than bullying/abusive teaching. Even complaints to local authorities about dance teachers being physically abusive fell on deaf ears unless you could provide unquestionable evidence - short of having video and audio footage of a teacher being abusive I doubt anything could be done.

 

I personally think that there should be a mandatory, annual child protection CPD requirement for membership of all the major organisations - this is something that is relatively easy to implement and police. As a voluntary member of a parish church choir I have to complete yearly online child protection CPD so I can't see how hard it would be for the RAD/IDTA/ISTD/BBO etc etc to implement something similar and if I'm honest it shows a lack of understanding of the position of influence that these bodies have, that they haven't done this.

 

However, it comes back to the age-old issue that ANYONE can set up dance classes without any qualification, without any insurance and without doing any training.

[Pas de Quatre]

However, there is also the case for Teacher protection against weird or malicious complaints!  In my many years of teaching there have only been a few incidents, but they were traumatic at the time.  

 

The most unbelievable was a Grade 3 (Yr 6 child) preparing for an exam.  It was a hot day and she still had her crossover on.  I had given warning the previous week that I would expect everyone to take them off and just have leotards - meaning that they would have time to mend any holes or get new kit.  Reluctantly the child started to take it off, but could not get the knot undone, so I helped and then helped take the arms off.  The mother subsequently accused me of assault!!!  I was very grateful that as it was an exam practice the pianist was there to witness everything.  However the mother complained to the exam board and it went all the way to the Chair as she wouldn't accept she was wrong.  Luckily my version, corroborated by my pianist, was believed, and several mothers had offered to give "character witness" if necessary.  The biggest irony is that the girl had just passed her 11+ was going to the Grammar and had already given notice as they wanted to concentrate on academics.

 

 

[taxi4ballet]

I have just had a look on my local council's website. They issue licences for many things including dangerous wild animals, catteries and kennels, zoos, pet shops and riding establishments.  All of those are concerned with the health and welfare of animals - apart from riding establishments which presumably includes humans as well.

 

There doesn't appear to be any licensing system whatever to cover sports and gymnastics coaching, dance schools or indeed any activity for children where you would want a regulated system in place. Parents have to rely on the governing bodies of those organisations to keep tabs on what is going on. The onus is also on parents to check that extra-curricular teachers are properly qualified, have the right insurance & first aid training etc, and most importantly, a robust safeguarding policy. 

 

As others have said, anybody can hire premises and set themselves up as a dance teacher without going through any checking procedure whatever other than a DBS check. 

 

Surely it is time for such establishments to be properly checked and licenced by the authorities, perhaps under the umbrella of OFSTED.

[Sally-Anne]

I was bullied so badly by my ballet teacher as a child. She was perfectly well qualified as a teacher, it didn’t stop her bullying behaviour. There were a few children she picked on, but I think I had it worse than most.Her behaviour was actually abusive at times - I wish my mother had had the balls to change me to another school. Now as a dance mother, I’m determined to protect my daughters from this type of behaviour. Unfortunately, we have already had issues with a teacher (again, well trained) at a well respected ballet school. I’ve complained, which I don’t think helped much, but I won’t stand by and allow my daughters to suffer the same abuse I put up with.

[drdance]

Interestingly, although not directly related to bullying, I noticed something in my local councils 'children in entertainment' regulations (the joy of putting on a dance school show in 2019!) which states:

 

"Dangerous performances

The extent to which a child may be involved in dangerous performances is extremely limited.

Performances of a dangerous nature include all acrobatic performances and performances as a contortionist.

In addition, the regulations state:

• no child [of any age] shall take part in any public performance whereby his life or his limbs are endangered
• no child under 12 years may be trained in such work [ie acrobatic or contortion] 
• a child who is age 12 or more may be trained under a licence issued by the local authority of the area in which the training is to take place (or any one area if more than one local authority is involved) subject to conditions which may be imposed.

Powers of local authority with a warrant: An officer of the local authority or a police officer may enter any place where there is reasonable cause to believe that:  a child is believed to be taking part in a performance or being trained for dangerous performances contrary to the provisions of the act and may make enquiries about that child."

 

So - while not directly related to bullying per se, parents may have legal grounds to raise a concern (and potentially shut down shows/competitions/performances should they choose) if children are being trained unsafely. This is of pertinence particularly for children who appear in shows/performances under licence.

[richieN]

Good find

[annaliesey]

On 13/05/2019 at 17:00, taxi4ballet said:

 The onus is also on parents to check that extra-curricular teachers are properly qualified, have the right insurance & first aid training etc, and most importantly, a robust safeguarding policy. 

 

As others have said, anybody can hire premises and set themselves up as a dance teacher without going through any checking procedure whatever other than a DBS check. 

 

Surely it is time for such establishments to be properly checked and licenced by the authorities, perhaps under the umbrella of OFSTED.

 

Unfortunately this is where it all falls down .. qualifications, clean DBS, insurance, safeguarding policies aren’t worth anything at all in fact they mask a problem and lure parents into false pretences.

 

ofsted, CDET, LADO ... nobody is interested  to the extent they will change or take on the responsibility.

 

the other unfortunate thing is that in UK law, physical abuse has to be reported in 6 months. 

 

Emotional abuse is not time bound but has only ever been prosecuted where it has been alongside sexual or physical violence. 

 

Where a dance teacher/professional is self employed they fall outside LADO’s remit for DBS referral or barring notice because no action would be taken by an employer on the basis of a grievance complaint.

 

the RAD, ISTD et all have grievance policies that rely only on criminal prosecution or within complaints made in a very short timescale. Essentially they are useless in a lot of cases hence why we have tried to ask for whistle blowing. 

 

 The police, Local Area Designated Officers all have the view “you can remove yourself from the (privileged) situation” as they are generally only concerned with avoiding immediate future harm but it’s important to nobody that bullies and abusers are punished. It lands on no specific desk. Until it does we are sitting in a time bomb until a Larry Nassar or similar happens in this country.

 

As Dr Dance says, some of us did make an effort to lobby and improve things. Ironically I’ve been too busy dealing with helping my child recover to devote the time needed but it needs some attention or articles like this will continue and nothing will change.  Now that she’s finished counselling courtesy of victim support, and has gone back to full time school, I might pick up the baton again if anyone wants to join me. 

 

Our story is only one and unfortunately we’ve come across an ENORMOUS amount of stories. 

 

One of the things we DO have on our side is social media and the ability to speak out, irrespective of Acceptable User Policies, it’s important to find a way.

 

I’m always happy to offer support by PM or phone to anyone that needs a confidential ear  

 

 

[annaliesey]

17 hours ago, drdance said:

Interestingly, although not directly related to bullying, I noticed something in my local councils 'children in entertainment' regulations (the joy of putting on a dance school show in 2019!) which states:

 

"Dangerous performances

The extent to which a child may be involved in dangerous performances is extremely limited.

Performances of a dangerous nature include all acrobatic performances and performances as a contortionist.

In addition, the regulations state:

• no child [of any age] shall take part in any public performance whereby his life or his limbs are endangered
• no child under 12 years may be trained in such work [ie acrobatic or contortion] 
• a child who is age 12 or more may be trained under a licence issued by the local authority of the area in which the training is to take place (or any one area if more than one local authority is involved) subject to conditions which may be imposed.

Powers of local authority with a warrant: An officer of the local authority or a police officer may enter any place where there is reasonable cause to believe that:  a child is believed to be taking part in a performance or being trained for dangerous performances contrary to the provisions of the act and may make enquiries about that child."

 

So - while not directly related to bullying per se, parents may have legal grounds to raise a concern (and potentially shut down shows/competitions/performances should they choose) if children are being trained unsafely. This is of pertinence particularly for children who appear in shows/performances under licence.

That’s interesting but at the moment competitions, summer schools, masterclasses, intensives, workshops are all excluded from Children in entertainment laws 

[drdance]

26 minutes ago, annaliesey said:

That’s interesting but at the moment competitions, summer schools, masterclasses, intensives, workshops are all excluded from Children in entertainment laws 

They are - but shows where people buy tickets are not. So if someone wanted to 'flag' a teacher for dangerous/unsafe practices would it not be possible to raise a concern at this point? If people are buying tickets to watch competitions this might come under licencing laws somehow?

[richieN]

42 minutes ago, drdance said:

They are - but shows where people buy tickets are not. So if someone wanted to 'flag' a teacher for dangerous/unsafe practices would it not be possible to raise a concern at this point? If people are buying tickets to watch competitions this might come under licencing laws somehow?

Perhaps we can hold festivals to account, as they sell tickets to the general public.

[annaliesey]

8 hours ago, drdance said:

They are - but shows where people buy tickets are not. So if someone wanted to 'flag' a teacher for dangerous/unsafe practices would it not be possible to raise a concern at this point? If people are buying tickets to watch competitions this might come under licencing laws somehow?

I don’t think it does. Either the festival or comp is operating under BOPA (Body of persons approval) or might even have an exemption granted by local council. 

 

In some case the local authority just won’t even know 

[Peanut68]

Another area that surely needs tightening up (& would be relatively easy to do?) is where the awarding bodies such as RAD & ISTD with Registered Teachers who have to fulfill certain criteria in order to receive that registration (& presumably offers a level of reassurance as to qualifications & suitability to teach to parents when choosing dance schools) with policing it more as I see that many schools have classes taught by non registered teachers but st exam time enter the pupils under the name of the one registered (or the one ‘paid up’ registered?) teacher  or even under the name of a freelance teacher or one at another school all together. This surely is a misrepresentation of the pupils teaching & also gives no real value to being registered with one of the bodies....

Completing a training course & ongoing CPD is no guarantee of a good teacher (we all know those who just ‘have the skill’ with no recognised teaching training qualification. But bodies representing teachers surely would gain in value & be of more value to join if this ‘loophole’ were closed. I am also a big believer in there being some ‘ofsted’ style overseeing of any ‘out of school’ activities for young people.... 

[annaliesey]

Peanut68, crazy isn’t it but maybe that’s more “poor service” than “unsafe” or “bullying”.

 

You would hope parents would remove their children if it wasn’t what they wanted to pay for 

[HopelessMummy]

My biggest issue isn't with bullying teachers: it's with bullying parents who feel the necessity to assert themselves, further their child's interests by putting down others.

[Pups_mum]

On 18/06/2019 at 20:19, Peanut68 said:

 I am also a big believer in there being some ‘ofsted’ style overseeing of any ‘out of school’ activities for young people.... 

I can see where you are coming from with this, but it could well be a "be careful what you wish for" scenario. Obviously dance is different, as it, and certain other out of school activities are largely provided by small businesses, the majority of community sports clubs are run by volunteers and  on a shoestring. I can't speak for every sport in every location obviously, but I volunteer within 2 sports - I am a coach in two clubs and secretary of another (different sport) and I suspect that introducing Ofsted style inspections would kill off huge amounts of out of school activities.

 

We already struggle for volunteers as it is. The time commitment is huge and there is often a significant financial cost to volunteering. I was fortunate in that one of my clubs funded my coach training, but I know plenty of people who have had to self fund for everything - coaching course, first aid course etc.  But I do buy equipment, drive hundreds of non refunded miles, pay for my own CPD and have been known to buy food and drink for the kids whose parents forget, dont bother or simply can't afford to send something. This week I have been out til around 9pm three nights plus doing session prep and club admin outside of that time. Training is also time consuming and there are plenty of hoops to jump through already to achieve and maintain qualified coach status. If a club has Clubmark status from Sport England there is also a lot of work that goes into that - I'm thankful that that is someone else's job in our clubs! And this is on top of a fairly demanding "day job" and looking after my own children.

 

Not that I am anything special. I have met people who give far, far more than I do to their volunteering work. I'm just giving an example of what volunteering is like in many out of school activities. It is time consuming, increasingly regulated already, can be costly and stressful. A lot of parents want all these opportunities for their children but expect someone else to do all the work and are quick to complain or even abuse volunteers. All that, already puts people off and leaves clubs struggling for helpers. Finance is often tight too. Adding Ofsted inspections to an already demanding and often pretty thankless task would, I suspect, send many clubs under due to a combination of increased costs and loss of volunteers.

 

Obviously there has to be scrutiny, and without doubt there are bad apples in every sphere that need to be dealt with, but there is a fine line to walk. I love what I do, but I already have to deal with this type of inspection in the workplace and if I had to go through it again for each of the 3 clubs I help with I would walk away as would most of those I know. This would be a sure fire way of closing lots of clubs or pushing costs up to beyond what would be affordable for many  -  everything would have to be run by professionals.To be honest, I am not sure what the answer is, but I am certain that it isn't replicating Ofsted.

[Peanut68]

Really good points well explained Pups_mum & actually you are absolutely right....regulation could well kill off opportunity for so much that is fine out if good will...

I guess perhaps the key thing is to listen to our young people, share information  openly & not be scared into just towing the line & accepting along the lines of ‘that’s jar how it is’ etc.

If we are not happy with the garage who service our car we switch garages....

And there is no one size fits all so there is space for lots of different people, styles & methods I guess! With welfare, safety & child protection an obvious must of course.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Peanut68
Typo

[Pups_mum]

I think you are right Peanut. It is about listening, believing, picking up on signs that your young person is not thriving, and, crucially, not being afraid to walk away. The last part is probably the hardest, particularly if it is a prestigous school, club or programme and you feel your child is going to miss out on opportunities, but long term it has to be the right thing to do. The more people start to refuse to accept bullying behaviour in this kind of setting, the greater the chance there is of change. Once the threat that "there are dozens of kids that I could replace you with" begins to ring hollow, these teachers and coaches will have to change or leave. But it is so hard and will take time.

I think there is a growing movement though,,and forums like this help. For what its worth, my DD has experienced the whole range of teacher behaviour in the 18 or 19 years she has been dancing. She will hopefully be starting to train as a teacher soon and has a very clear idea of who she wants to be as a teacher, and the attitudes she plans to challenge. I don't think she is alone. There is hope!