Teacher accused of using false qualifications and experience in 25 job applications in Cork
He had applied for teaching posts at Cork College of FET; St Colman’s Community College, Midelton; Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig; Davis College, Mallow; Glanmire Community College and Terence MacSwiney Community College, Knocknaheeny. File picture: iStock
A teacher has been accused of professional misconduct over falsely representing his qualifications, teaching experience and registration status in numerous job applications to the Cork Education and Training Board three years ago.
A fitness-to-teach inquiry of the Teaching Council heard that Cork ETB made a formal complaint to the regulatory body about teacher, James Clancy, after it noted an “extraordinary” number of discrepancies in 25 job applications he had submitted between February and May 2023.
Cork ETB’s director of schools, Pat McKelvey, gave evidence that significant discrepancies were noticed after Mr Clancy had sought feedback about his “exceptionally low marks across a number of interviews” for various teaching posts.
The inquiry heard the teacher had only obtained a score of 12 out of 140 at an interview for a job with St Aidan’s Community College in Cork including a score of one out of 20 for class management.
A total of 23 applications were for teaching posts at 16 different post-primary schools run by Cork ETB including two or more at Cork College of FET; St Colman’s Community College, Midelton; Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig; Davis College, Mallow; Glanmire Community College and Terence MacSwiney Community College, Knocknaheeny.
When asked to explain the discrepancies, the inquiry heard that Mr Clancy claimed he had been “put on the spot” and was not fully prepared for answering questions as well as being under time pressure. “My memory was not precise,” he told Cork ETB.
However, Mr McKelvey said Mr Clancy seemed to have conflated interviews and forms he had filled out as part of the application process.
Mr McKelvey said the ETB’s concerns had not been addressed by the teacher and his responses to queries were “not in any way adequate.” He told the hearing that Cork ETB decided to make a formal complaint to the Teaching Council about the teacher as he continued to apply for teaching vacancies up to March 2024.
Mr McKelvey explained that it was “absolutely vital” to have accurate information about applicants for teaching posts as verification was only conducted at the stage of offering contracts to successful candidates.
The witness said it was “really unusual” that anyone would not be accurate about their qualifications and registration in job applications.
Counsel for the Teaching Council, Neasa Bird BL, said the allegations, if proven, constitute professional misconduct as well as breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers.
The inquiry heard that Mr Clancy did not wish to participate in the hearing and he was not legally represented.
Although he had indicated to the Teaching Council that he would like to observe the proceedings remotely, he did not attend the inquiry via videolink.
Ms Bird told the three-person inquiry panel that Mr Clancy had graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from University College Cork in 2006 and a master’s degree in journalism from University of Limerick in 2020.
However, the inquiry heard he had variously claimed in different job applications for teaching posts in specific subjects that he had recognised qualifications for science, sports, Irish, English, geography, physical education and business.
Ms Bird said he had also falsely claimed in numerous applications that he held a master’s degree in education from UL when the qualification was actually in journalism.
In addition, she stated Mr Clancy had variously claimed he had worked with Cork ETB on a fixed-term contract between September 2022 and June 2023 teaching mathematics and economics as well as working as a casual substitute teacher in the same subjects for the ETB between October 2022 and July 2023.
However, Ms Bird clarified that he had only ever worked for one day for Cork ETB — a two-hour period on November 28, 2022 — as a tutor on an English course for non-native speakers for which registration with the Teaching Council was not required.
The barrister said Mr Clancy had also falsely claimed his registration with the Teaching Council was for the post-primary sector, when it was in fact for further education, and that he had full registration.
Ms Bird said the teacher had been notified in April 2022 that his full registration was conditional on providing a teaching education qualification by April 2025.
She acknowledged that at one stage the Teaching Council had issued a certificate which had incorrectly indicated Mr Clancy had a qualification to teach maths at post-primary level.
However, Ms Bird said the error was corrected in May 2023 and the teacher was reminded that his certification was solely related to teaching in the further education sector.
The inquiry heard that Mr Clancy had also claimed in job applications to Cork ETB that he had been employed by a Cork language school for six months in 2022.
However, a director of the Centre of English Studies (formerly known as the Active Centre of English Training) gave evidence that Mr Clancy had only worked there as a tutor between June 20, 2022, and August 12, 2022, where he taught a group of Austrian students.
Kevin Magner accepted that he had written a reference letter which inaccurately stated that Mr Clancy had worked with the language school between April and October 2022 but which also noted that he was “keen to teach” and “an enthusiastic team member”.
In reply to questions from Ms Bird, he said Mr Clancy did not have the usual qualification required for teaching English as a foreign language but exceptions are made and there was a shortage of staff at the time.
Mr Magner recalled that he had hired the teacher after getting him to sit in on a few classes where he was “not shaken”. The chairperson of the inquiry, Adrian Guinan, adjourned the hearing which will resume at 11am on Tuesday.
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