Canadian Teachers & The Law

The primary role of the teacher is to teach those students in their care. The role of the teacher today is broader and more complex than any time in history because of increasing legislation on a local, state and national level. Traditionally, the teacher was seen as a delegate or surrogate for the actual parents while students were in school. Teachers were responsible for performing a variety of functions, ranging from janitorial duties to monitoring health care. Their duties also included school administration and teaching students of different grade levels all courses offered. Older statutes and laws demonstrate the complexity of roles adopted by the teacher, but their daily actions were seldom imposed upon by education legislation. Teachers in the one-room schoolhouse era and the early 1900s were governed by common law which considered the doctrine of in loco parentis, meaning “in the place of a parent” (Mackay, 1992: xvi).

Because of the adoption of numerous statutes during the 20th century, the doctrine of in loco parentis has been made a moot aspect when determining the legal boundaries that shape the present day role of the teacher. In fact, as early as 1910 there were statutes that outlined laws concerning compulsory education and corporal punishment (Mackay, 1992: xvii). What these types of laws catalyzed was a growing division between the teacher and parent as th

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gnificant has been directed at this issue in Canada yet. The American case is known as Tinker v. DesMoines Independent Community School District. In this case the actions of students who were suspended for wearing black armbands to demonstrate against the Vietnam war were found to be protected under the constitutional right to freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court declared that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom at the schoolhouse gate” determining that the actions of these particular students did not create “a material and substantial disruption” to learning (MacKay, 1992: 48). This test is used in similar cases, like when a child’s dress is found to cause a material or substantial disruption to others (i.e., wearing a pornographic or drug advocating tee shirt). Section 15 of the Charter is another significant piece of legislation that protects individuals from abuse because of their gender, race, disability or other condition, “Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its objective the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental o
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Approximate Word count = 5530
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page)

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