Shirtless teacher 'trying to be cool'

IPSWICH, England, June 20 (UPI) -- A substitute teacher who was fired after taking his shirt off in a Suffolk, England, classroom said he was just "trying to be cool."

Martin Rouse, 57, said he was trying to get an unruly class of 14-year-olds under control when he removed his shirt at Sudbury Upper School, The Daily Mail reported Friday.

"I generally have a fairly humorous rapport with students because it helps them to work -- it is not entertainment for entertainment's sake," Rouse said. "It is about getting them involved, some of them are pretty bored and turned off and you have to work really hard to get them involved."

"I was trying to be cool," he said.

Rouse was immediately fired.

"It might not have been the right thing to do -- I was on the cusp of not doing it," he said. "I regret it in that it might affect my employability and I would never do it again. But I won't change my style of teaching. It wasn't lewd or sexual but I think a staff member thought it was."

"If teachers can't express themselves and show themselves as living, thinking people, who inspire them (pupils) then it is a bad step for education," Rouse said.