A Coquitlam teacher is facing consequences after displaying inappropriate behaviour in her classroom several times.
The details are outlined in a recent decision by the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.
Several claims were made against a French immersion teacher named Brigitte Lépine, who was teaching in Coquitlam, including calling students racist, snatching devices from their hands and on one occasion, using physical force against a student.
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Claims against Lépine date back to September 2021.
The first claim in the decision concerns a Grade 6 class, a late French immersion class, meaning students were beginning to learn how to speak the language. She mispronounced one of the students’ “unusual” names, sparking laughter from the class.
In response, she called the students racist for laughing.
“Throughout the day, Lépine appeared angry and annoyed, and frequently raised her
voice. Some students reported feeling badly, as they felt that they had done
something wrong,” the decision reads.
Some students reported feeling scared, anxious and nervous around Lépine.
In a separate claim, a student was fiddling with something in their hands when Lépine responded using physical force.
“Lépine responded by grabbing Student B’s hands and pushing their hands down, towards the desk, while whispering ‘pay attention!’ into Student B’s ear.”
Another student asked to fill their water bottle but was denied because Lépine said they weren’t behaving nicely towards her.
The commissioner’s decision states that on at least three occasions, Lépine grabbed phones or laptops out of the hands of students.
“At the end of the day, when students were waiting to get their electronics back, Lépine
kept them waiting, telling them: ‘You wasted my time, now I am going to waste your
time.'”
When determining Lépine’s consequences, the commissioner considered various factors, like her history of poor behaviour and her conduct not improving “despite having taken remedial coursework in the past.”
The commissioner has ordered Lépine to take more courses in conflict communication to be completed by April 30, 2025.