To be clear, I'm not
suggesting it, I'm sharing what the law says. FWIW, I am a qualified teacher and a man, if those things are important to the discussion.
What the law allows may still fall well below the professional standards expected of a teacher. In particular, a teacher who uses force to maintain good order and discipline is likely failing to create a safe environment, failing to manage behaviour effectively, failing to treat pupils with dignity, failing to safeguard children's wellbeing, amongst others.
I would fully expect a teacher who can't control their classroom without force to be investigated and to potentially lose their job pretty quickly. The point is that it's not illegal, provided the force is reasonable (another point of ambiguity).
Also, it's not 600 upheld complaints, it's 600 investigations resulting from referrals. After investigation, 244 hearings were held and 202 of those found serious misconduct, and 157 teachers were banned from teaching, most commonly for sexual misconduct or indecent images, not use of force.
466 000 is FTE for state-school teachers in England alone. Actual HC is 512 000, with another 75 000 FTE working in independent schools (couldn't find HC details), so 600 000 is a better estimate for the number of teachers under the jursidiction of the TRA - 202/600 000 is 0.03%, or one in every 3000 teachers (referrals is still around one in 350).
Obviously stuff handled before it reaches the TRA isn't in those stats, but mostly those cases are not career-ending.
What the law allows may still fall well below the professional standards expected of a teacher. In particular, a teacher who uses force to maintain good order and discipline is likely failing to create a safe environment, failing to manage behaviour effectively, failing to treat pupils with dignity, failing to safeguard children's wellbeing, amongst others.
I would fully expect a teacher who can't control their classroom without force to be investigated and to potentially lose their job pretty quickly. The point is that it's not illegal, provided the force is reasonable (another point of ambiguity).
Also, it's not 600 upheld complaints, it's 600 investigations resulting from referrals. After investigation, 244 hearings were held and 202 of those found serious misconduct, and 157 teachers were banned from teaching, most commonly for sexual misconduct or indecent images, not use of force.
466 000 is FTE for state-school teachers in England alone. Actual HC is 512 000, with another 75 000 FTE working in independent schools (couldn't find HC details), so 600 000 is a better estimate for the number of teachers under the jursidiction of the TRA - 202/600 000 is 0.03%, or one in every 3000 teachers (referrals is still around one in 350).
Obviously stuff handled before it reaches the TRA isn't in those stats, but mostly those cases are not career-ending.