41 Abstract A major challenge confronting educators throughout the world is maintaining safe learning environments for students. When diffculties arise in the area of what is commonly referred to as negligence, school offcials may face years of lengthy, and costly, litigation. In light of their shared British common law system of law, this article reviews the law of negligence in Australia, the United States, and Canada. After examining the elements of negligence in all three of these Nations, the article offers a brief analysis of the similarities with regard to how negligence applies in the three countries. Introduction A major challenge confronting educators throughout the world is maintaining safe learning environments for students. When diffculties arise in the area of what is commonly referred to as negligence, school offcials may face years of lengthy, and costly, litigation. Moreover, although school offcials tend to avoid liability in all but the most serious cases, having to deal with the legal system and related frustrations can have a signifcant impact on the operation of schools. In light of their shared British common law system of law, this article reviews the law of negligence in Australia, the United States, and Canada. After examining the elements of negligence in all three of these Nations, the article offers a brief analysis of the similarities with regard to how negligence applies in the three countries. Australia The Elements of Negligence In Australian, a plaintiff must satisfy three elements in order to succeed in an action for negligence: duty, breach and damage. The third element, damage, is sometimes expanded into three elements, damage, causation and remoteness 1 although, in this article, it is treated as one, with causation and remoteness comprising its sub-elements. In order to be liable in negligence, therefore, a defendant must be shown to have owed a duty of care, to have breached that duty, and that damage was caused by the breach that was not too remote. Each and every element must be established in order to succeed in an action for negligence. In the case of teachers and school authorities, the general law applies with equal vigour, although there are some specifc issues that relate solely to their position. As such, this section of the article canvasses the three elements of negligence as they apply to school authorities and Paul Babie, University of Adelaide, Australia Charles J. Russo, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, USA Greg M. Dickinson, University of Western Ontario, Canada Supervision of Students: An Exploratory Comparative Analysis 1327-7634 Vol 9, No 1, 2004, pp. 41 - 70 Australia & New Zealand Journal of Law & Education