Educational malpractice: legal cases and educators' views

Article


Teh, Mui-Kim. 2008. "Educational malpractice: legal cases and educators' views." Education Journal. 36 (1-2), pp. 137-152.
Article Title

Educational malpractice: legal cases and educators' views

ERA Journal ID20044
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorTeh, Mui-Kim
Journal TitleEducation Journal
Journal Citation36 (1-2), pp. 137-152
Number of Pages16
Year2008
Place of PublicationShatin, Hong Kong
ISSN1364-4505
Abstract

The notion of being negligently and legally liable for poor teaching that results in the failure of students being able to achieve expected educational outcomes is an unimaginable prospect. However, there is an emerging trend of legal proceedings being brought against teachers, blaming them for low scores in literacy, numeracy or even the failure to pass an examination. The duty implied on educators to ensure the educational well-being of their students and the breach of such duty is what is commonly termed in the literature 'educational malpractice' or 'educational negligence'.
In this article, several cases relating to educational malpractice that took place in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia are reviewed, and the cases demonstrate that the courts are beginning to show a willingness to extend the tort of negligence to students' intellectual harm. The author then conducted a small-scale investigation to ascertain the views of school principals regarding this issue, with very interesting results.

Keywordsnegligence; administrator attitudes; court litigation; foreign countries; educational malpractice; principals; teacher competencies; teaching skills; educational quality; legal responsibility; low achievement; teacher responsibility
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020480506. Litigation, adjudication and dispute resolution
480499. Law in context not elsewhere classified
390402. Education assessment and evaluation
Public Notes

Chinese title : Jiaoyu Xuebao. Author Version not held.

Byline AffiliationsSchool of Law
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