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Learning Task #1: Research & Discussion Synthesis

Breanna Baltazar, Kayla Bangit & Carmela Perez

Department of Education, University of Calgary

EDUC 525: Ethics and Law in Education

Dr. Astrid Kendrick & Dr. David Scott

Group Members Present for Facilitation: Ivy Adamus, Monique Ilieh, Ingelise Kemp, Quinlan

McCormack & Jaeger White

Date of Facilitation: October 12, 2023

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Fact-finding (Part I)

In 1968, a teacher named Donald Molesky in the Govan School Unit No. 29 of

Saskatchewan supervised a gymnastic practice for a gymnastic display (Supreme Court of

Canada, 1968). Due to a failure in the duty of care, one student named Ian McKay was seriously

injured, resulting in paraplegia, due to a fall from parallel bars. According to the jury, McKay did

not contribute to his injuries by failing to perform reasonable precautions for his safety. The acts

that resulted in Molesky’s failure in his duty of care are: “(i) lack of competent instruction on

parallel bars (ii) Insufficient care and attention to spotting. (iii) Insufficient demonstration on

parallel bars. (iv) Progressive steps on parallel bars rushed. (v) Instructor not sufficiently

qualified. (vi) Insufficient safety precautions'' (p. 589). According to his supervisor duties,

Molesky was required to protect the students against foreseeable risks to which McKay was

exposed. Due to Molesky’s lack of care, the jury found him in breach of his duties. While we are

unsure of the “expertise required to instruct the students'' (Georgas, 2001, p. 66) or if the parents

were aware of the extensiveness of the gymnastics/routines being performed, Molesky should

have acted on his duty of care diligently to ensure student safety.

Gaining Stakeholder Perspectives

The stakeholders involved in this conflict are students, the teacher, the school board,

parents, and community members. This incident may affect students as they may no longer trust

to be in the care of the teacher involved or any teacher for that matter, and may affect their

willingness to participate in such activities or classes. Molesky, the teacher, may have believed

that his supervision during the practice was sufficient or may not have been aware of the extent

of his responsibilities within certain situations or environments such as gymnastics. The school

board believed that the charges were unreasonably high, but due to the substantial injuries that
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McKay sustained, the award of damages was justified. Parents and community members may

also distrust the teacher and become fearful of putting their children in that particular teacher’s

care. Parents may also refrain from allowing their children to be involved in activities as such

due to this incident.

Identifying Areas of Conflict

According to Section 225a of The School Act of Saskatchewan, the principal of a school

that approves or sponsors activities, “the teacher responsible for the conduct of the pupils shall

not be liable for damage … for personal injury suffered by pupils during such activities” (p. 591)

resulting in the dismissal of action against Molesky. However, a duty of care is “owed by a

school teacher to his or her pupils” (Hall, 2003, p. 657) and a teacher’s duty to control makes

them liable if their student harms his or herself. Because Molesky accepted that responsibility for

the care and control of McKay, he was required to seek the foreseeable risks. By looking at this

case through the lens of the ethical frameworks, we determined that Molesky should have been

adhering to the justice framework since it was his duty to create a welcoming, caring, respected,

and safe environment (Mathur & Corley, 2014; Alberta Education, 2023). Molesky should have

also been adhering to the critique framework because although he wasn’t liable, he still had the

professional responsibility for the duties of care (e.g., control, protect, and warn).

Your Role as a Teacher

As teachers, we would have wanted to have our responsibilities and duties clearly

communicated to us by the school and the school district. We would also seek professional

training and qualification in gymnastics or other physical education activities that may pose

potential student risks or safety concerns. With our students, we would set clear expectations on
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what can and cannot be performed, identify safety concerns, and seek out external resources that

can help further support our students.

External References

Georgas, W. (2001). Student-on-Student Harassment: A New Paradigm for Canadian

Student-on-Student Harassment. Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies, 10(2), 36-73.

https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2001CanLIIDocs29#!fragment//BQCwhgziBc

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8BQkAGU8pAELcASgFEAMioBqAQQByAYRW1SYAEbRS2ONWpA

Hall, M. I. (2003). Duty to Protect, Duty to Control and the Duty to Warn. Canadian Bar Review,

82(3), 645-680.

https://www.canlii.org/en/commentary/doc/2003CanLIIDocs87#!fragment//BQCwhgziBc

wMYgK4DsDWszIQewE4BUBTADwBdoByCgSgBpltTCIBFRQ3AT0otokLC4EbDtyp

8BQkAGU8pAELcASgFEAMioBqAQQByAYRW1SYAEbRS2ONWpA
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Questions for Discussion (Part II)

The questions we posed to the group were: 1) What factors would you consider regarding

the different duties of care (protect, control, and warn)? 2) How might a teacher conduct a

gymnastics practice if they adopted an ethical framework other than justice? 3) What measures

could the School District have taken to prevent this problem?

Synthesis

In response to question one, our group members highlighted the importance of the duties

of care. Regarding the duty to control, our group members shared their concerns that there was a

lack of rules and expectations set for the students in terms of how to use the equipment, what the

students’ roles are when their peers are on the equipment, etc. We, as teachers, need to give our

students clear instructions, be over-cautious, and have strict rules in place while practice is being

held. Regarding the duty to protect, our group members expressed the need for more supervision

present during practices, even if they are not qualified, having more observers can mitigate

accidents. In addition, increased supervision provides an opportunity to observe smaller group

sizes. Regarding the duty to warn, our group members suggested sending a note home to parents

listing the potential risks that could happen to their child and having parents sign a waiver before

their child can participate in the activity.

In response to question two, our group members highlighted the importance of the care

and profession ethical frameworks within this situation. We initially discussed our current

knowledge of how according to Kendrick & Scott (2023), “when it comes to safety, there is a

need to follow the justice ethical framework” (slide 175) thus, directing our focus onto the other

frameworks. Regarding the care framework, our group members suggested that the teacher

should be aware and knowledgeable of the risks that come with gymnastics and ensure that all
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safety protocols are in place to protect students from accidents. Teachers should also

communicate all the risks and safety protocols with proper demonstration with the students

themselves as well as have proper spotters in situations as such. There was also a focus on the

students that they should also be properly guided, trained, and instructed to prevent those risks as

well as practice techniques first before moving on to advanced movements like using the parallel

bars. Regarding the profession framework, our group members expressed that teachers should

adhere to school board and admin policies and according to the Teaching Quality Standards, a

teacher is responsible for demonstrating a professional body of knowledge. Therefore, teachers

should better educate themselves of the expectations, rules, and knowledge required to teach a

gymnastics class or they could also refuse to teach if they know that they are unqualified or do

not have the proper skill set.

In response to the last question, our group members suggested various ways that school

boards can prevent student injuries during gymnastic practices in the future. The suggestions that

our group members mentioned were having multiple supervisors, bringing in certified

professionals, and giving clear instructions, and waivers. Since it was unknown whether or not

parents were notified of the extensiveness of the gymnastics routine, a waiver could be given to

parents to communicate the risks. Our group members discussed that this case could be the

reason why waivers are now part of the teaching practice when conducting activities/lessons that

entail risk.

Conclusion and Reflection

We ensured that the following points were addressed during our discussion facilitation: 1)

teachers must adhere to their duty of care as they have a duty to protect, control, and warn

(Kendrick & Scott, 2023); 2) teachers should be given the proper and necessary training,
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knowledge, and support when assuming the control of their students; 3) specific school policies

need to be put in place to prevent potential risks and safety concerns.