Teacher who filmed 'truth' of class chaos
A TEACHER facing disciplinary action after secretly filming pupils’ appalling behaviour was praised yesterday for exposing the “real face” of the schools where she taught.
Alex Dolan compiled the covert film while working as a supply science teacher at four schools in London and Leeds.
The footage, screened in the Channel 4 documentary Undercover Teacher, showed pupils fighting in class, running on tables and swearing in the faces of teachers.
But the programme landed Miss Dolan, 33, in trouble with education chiefs who accused her of unacceptable professional conduct, a charge which she denies.
Allen Jewhurst, executive producer of Undercover Teacher, told a General Teaching Council panel yesterday that Miss Dolan was only seeking to expose the truth.
He also insisted that the programme was in the public interest.
He said: “We were not setting out to humiliate children or teachers. We wanted to show the public the real face of what was going on in some of our schools.”
Broadcast in July 2005, the documentary also captured alleged attempts by teaching staff to “hoodwink” Ofsted inspectors during a visit to a Leeds school.
Mr Jewhurst told the GTC panel in Birmingham: “We were very keen to expose any such dishonesty by teachers in whatever form it took.”
He also described Miss Dolan as a woman of integrity and defended the use of hidden cameras as a “last resort” in the public interest.
At an earlier hearing, Miss Dolan, from Cambridge, said she wanted to expose poor classroom standards, the deception of inspectors and the manipulation of exam results and league tables for the benefit of pupils and parents.
The documentary was broadcast after clearance from a High Court judge who refused to issue an injunction sought by Leeds City Council, ruling instead that the programme served important public interests.
Mr Jewhurst said: “We had an agenda to see where the truth was... to see whether the pupils were being taught properly.”
The hearing continues.
