Teachers must build careers through integrity, not character assassination

Schools are expected to nurture honesty, integrity, respect and responsibility. Yet these values are undermined when teachers engage in malicious gossip, professional jealousy, false accusations and deliberate attempts to discredit colleagues. This contradiction deserves serious reflection within the teaching fraternity.

A school cannot credibly teach integrity while tolerating dishonesty among its employees. Neither can it expect learners to respect one another when the adults entrusted with their development struggle to treat colleagues with dignity.

The question is not whether disagreements will arise in schools, but whether educators can resolve them without turning professional differences into personal vendettas.

Changes in school administration should provide opportunities for renewal, continuity and improved service delivery. A new principal or departmental head should strengthen teamwork, clarify expectations and build upon the institution’s achievements.

Unfortunately, transitions can sometimes become periods of suspicion, factionalism and calculated exclusion. Teachers may find themselves judged by their perceived loyalty to previous administrators rather than their competence, integrity or contribution to the institution. Others may face hostility because their experience, achievements or leadership potential are perceived as threats.

When personal allegiance takes precedence over professional merit, the institution suffers. Teachers become reluctant to express opinions, share ideas or participate in decision-making for fear of being labelled disloyal.

Leadership should never be reduced to rewarding allies and punishing perceived opponents. An administrator’s legacy should be measured by the fairness, confidence and professional growth they inspire, not the fear they instil.

A change of leadership should not become an opportunity to erase the contributions of those who served before or to settle personal scores.

False allegations, malicious rumours and deliberate misrepresentation can damage an educator’s reputation, confidence and career prospects. An accusation repeated by influential individuals may create suspicion long before the affected teacher receives an opportunity to respond.

The consequences can extend into a teacher’s personal life. Persistent workplace hostility may contribute to emotional distress, anxiety, reduced confidence and professional withdrawal. Some teachers eventually adopt a defensive routine: teach their lessons, avoid staffroom discussions and additional responsibilities, then return home.

Such withdrawal should not automatically be interpreted as laziness or a lack of commitment. In some cases, it may reflect an attempt to protect oneself from an environment perceived as hostile.

Research reinforces the importance of taking teacher wellbeing seriously. Beames and colleagues, in a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis published in *Educational Psychology Review*, examined 88 studies on interventions targeting teachers’ mental health, burnout and wellbeing. Their findings highlighted the value of appropriate interventions in improving aspects of teacher wellbeing.

Although this research does not establish that every workplace disagreement causes psychological harm, it demonstrates why teachers’ wellbeing should not be treated as inconsequential.

Teachers are human beings before they are professionals. Their commitment to learners should never be used to justify mistreatment or to expect them to endure sustained humiliation in silence.

Workplace hostility rarely remains confined to the staffroom. It can undermine departmental collaboration, discourage mentorship and weaken the exchange of teaching resources and professional expertise.

A teacher who fears ridicule may hesitate to seek assistance. A divided department may struggle to coordinate assessments, while experienced educators may withhold the knowledge that younger colleagues need to develop.

Ultimately, learners risk bearing the consequences.

A 2025 systematic second-order meta-analytic review by Emslander and colleagues, published in *Psychological Bulletin*, synthesised evidence from 26 meta-analyses involving approximately 2.64 million learners. It found substantial associations between teacher–learner relationships and outcomes such as academic achievement, motivation, engagement, school belonging and wellbeing.

Although the study focused on teacher–learner relationships rather than staffroom conflict itself, it reinforces the importance of supportive educational environments.

When teachers become preoccupied with defending their reputations, navigating factions or avoiding humiliation, their capacity to collaborate may diminish. Learners can consequently lose opportunities for consistent guidance, coordinated support and effective instruction.

The irony is painful: in attempting to undermine one another, educators may weaken the collective effort on which learner success depends.

Ambition is not a weakness. Teachers should pursue promotion, further training, leadership opportunities and professional recognition. Healthy competition can inspire innovation and excellence.

The problem arises when ambition is pursued through dishonest means.

Blocking a colleague’s advancement through fabricated allegations, appropriating another person’s work, withholding essential information to manufacture failure or manipulating management against an innocent employee are not demonstrations of competence. They are breaches of professional integrity.

Plagiarism is equally troubling. Teachers produce instructional materials, assessments, reports, articles and presentations that reflect considerable intellectual effort. Borrowing ideas can be legitimate when appropriately acknowledged, but presenting another person’s work as one’s own is unethical.

Professional recognition should be earned, and intellectual contributions should be credited honestly. We can learn from colleagues, adapt their ideas responsibly and improve upon existing work without denying them acknowledgement.

The same principle should guide appointments and promotions. Qualifications, competence, experience, performance and integrity should take precedence over personal loyalties or grudges.

Every teacher has a duty to uphold professional ethics, but administrators have a particular responsibility because of the authority entrusted to them.

Allegations should be investigated fairly rather than accepted because they come from influential individuals. Employees should be given a reasonable opportunity to respond, confidentiality should be respected, and decisions should be grounded in evidence and established procedures.

Equally important, administrators must distinguish legitimate accountability from victimisation. Correcting a professional error is not character assassination; humiliating an employee, spreading unverified claims or deliberately obstructing their progress is not sound management.

Schools should establish clear channels for raising concerns, encourage constructive dialogue and address workplace grievances consistently. Mentorship, staff welfare initiatives and team-building activities should cultivate trust and accountability rather than remain ceremonial exercises.

A staffroom in which nobody questions authority may appear peaceful, yet silence can conceal fear and resentment. Healthy institutions create room for respectful disagreement without retaliation.

The Bible reminds us in Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

This principle calls educators to practise empathy, mutual support and accountability without vindictiveness. Forgiveness does not require concealing wrongdoing, just as professional discipline does not justify humiliating those who make mistakes.

Not every injustice is corrected immediately. Nevertheless, the absence of immediate consequences should never be mistaken for justification. A reputation can take years to build and moments to damage, while the loss of trust can affect an entire institution.

Schools must not become places where teachers merely endure one another while learners pay the price of adult hostility. They should be professional communities where differences are managed maturely, intellectual contributions are respected and every employee has a fair opportunity to serve.

When teachers protect one another’s dignity, they strengthen the profession itself. When the profession is strengthened by trust, the greatest beneficiaries are the learners entrusted to our care.

Email: jackiekebongo@gmail.com