COLUMN: Think Again – Why professional judgment matters

One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that teachers make hundreds of decisions every single day.

Most of them are minor, such as deciding how many math problems to assign at the end of a lesson. But others carry much more significance. Some could even be career ending.

Yes, you read that correctly. One wrong decision and a teacher’s professional career might come to a screeching halt.

Consider one decision that teachers make on a regular basis—what videos to show to their students. This is where some teachers have made really bad choices.

For example, a Toronto teacher recently showed the video of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk being assassinated to a class of Grades 5 and 6 students. The Toronto District School Board quickly removed the teacher from the school and began a full investigation.

Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that it’s inappropriate to show videos with graphic violence to elementary age students. This certainly shows a lack of professional judgment.

Sadly, this is far from the only time when a teacher made a potentially career-ending decision. Back in 2012, a Montreal teacher showed his Grade 10 class video footage of convicted murderer Luka Magnotta stabbing and dismembering his victim. Unsurprisingly, that teacher was immediately suspended from the classroom and eventually fired.

Showing inappropriate videos is far from the only way that some teachers have shown poor professional judgment. Engaging in sexual relationships with students, sending flirtatious text messages to students, stealing school property, and making inappropriate posts on social media are all surefire ways to end a teaching career.

Professional judgment is one of the most important things that a teacher needs to have. This includes discernment about what materials and videos to share with students, an understanding of proper boundaries between students and teachers, a strong moral compass, and a healthy dose of common sense.

While we obviously can’t guarantee that all teachers have excellent professional judgment, there are some things we can do to make it more likely.

First, education faculties need to do a better job of training teachers, particularly when it comes to understanding the importance of professional boundaries. Considering that young people today have grown up with social media, we must educate prospective teachers about the perils of posting inappropriate details of their personal lives on social media.

Second, school administrators must do their best to screen out candidates with questionable dispositions during the hiring process. Administrators also need to mentor new teachers as they start their careers. A significant part of a new teacher’s professional development should include learning about the many pitfalls they must avoid.

Finally, the provincial government needs to enhance the transparency of the Registry of Certified Teachers and Clinicians. While this registry lists the names and certification status of all certified Manitoba teachers, it does not include details of disciplinary decisions made prior to 2025. That’s because previous cases were resolved under rules that kept the process behind closed doors.

As a result, members of the public rarely heard about the egregious errors in judgment that led to teaching certificates being suspended or cancelled. This lack of disclosure was unacceptable.

Fortunately, provincial regulations now permit new disciplinary decisions to be posted online. So far, two disciplinary decisions are available on the provincial website. As time goes on, more will be added to the list. This follows the example of provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, where disciplinary decisions have long been published online. When it comes to misconduct, transparency is key.

All teachers must have professional judgment. Students and their parents deserve nothing less.

Michael Zwaagstra is a teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.