VANCOUVER – A B.C. teacher has been suspended following a string of incidents where he pushed elementary school students and used "inappropriate language" in class.
The troubling behaviour took place between 2015 and 2018 while Jason Alexander Hop Wo was teaching in two separate school districts on Vancouver Island, according to a disciplinary decision that was posted online this week.
Hop Wo was working as a substitute teacher in a Grade 4/5 class in the Cowichan Valley back in December 2015 when he admitted to making physical contact with students several times.
"He shoved a student as a method of hallway management," according to the decision, and "grabbed one student by the wrist and pushed the student out of the door at the lunch break."
"He grabbed one student's shirt and physically moved the student because he had stepped out of line," the document reads.
The next month, while teaching a Grade 3/4 class in the same district, Hop Wo belittled his young pupils, calling one a "fool" and telling the entire class they "suck."
He also used the term "panty face," which is not defined in the decision.
Hop Wo was disciplined by the district in March 2016 and resigned from the teacher-on-call list. But the teacher wound up in more trouble while working at an elementary school in Nanaimo-Ladysmith in 2018.
When a Grade 2 student was being stubborn, Hop Wo picked the child up by the shoulders, moved him and loudly told him to "move now," according to the decision.
At the time, Hop Wo was suspended by the district for three days and made to complete an anger management course.
His conduct has since been reviewed by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, which last month decided to also suspend his teaching certificate for a week and send him to a course called "Creating a Positive Learning Environment."
