Chris Spence — the former Toronto District School Board director whose teaching career was shattered by a plagiarism scandal — broke his silence Monday on CBC's Metro Morning.

The interview — his first in months — comes in the wake of a years-long scandal and the loss of his teaching licence, a period which Spence called "hell."

'I've paid a heavy price'

"Right from the get-go, I've taken full responsibility, I've apologized," he said. "I feel like I've paid a heavy price."

Spence resigned from the top job at the TDSB four years ago after admitting to plagiarizing passages for an opinion piece in the Toronto Star.

Following that incident, CBC News also found a portion of Spence's 1996 PhD dissertation on the education of black male athletes appeared to contain passages lifted from another source, an article by Othello Harris in the 1991 book Sport, Racism and Ethnicity.

"I took shortcuts, and I didn't give credit where credit was due," Spence said on Monday, adding it was a "mistake."

'The writing piece is one piece of who I am as an educator,' Chris Spence said on Metro Morning on Jan. 16. (Toronto District School Board)

He said there was "self-induced pressure," in part because he was the only black TDSB director.

"I'm constantly aware of my blackness, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that, and recognize and understand that I'm stepping into white spaces almost everywhere I go," he said.

"As the only black director, I knew and felt that spotlight shining on me. I tried to be everything to everybody."

Spence hopes to teach again

​In December, Spence was found guilty of professional misconduct — and had his teaching licence stripped — by the Ontario College of Teachers.

Spence didn't defend his actions during the hearings, instead issuing a statement that said: "I am on my knees, still. I just want to get back on my feet."

He now hopes to return to teaching.

Ex-TDSB director Chris Spence speaks to Metro Morning about wanting to return to teaching after his career was shattered by a plagiarism scandal. 8:18

When asked if he still has the moral authority to be a teacher after admitting to plagiarism, Spence cited his track record.

"I think if you go back and you take a look at some of the successes and accomplishments I've had in education as a teacher, my record of reaching and teaching and helping youth — I think it speaks for itself," he said.

Kids have been at the "centre of everything I've ever done," Spence said.

"And the writing piece is one piece of who I am as an educator."

Next month, the University of Toronto will determine whether Spence hangs on to his PhD in education, or whether that will be stripped from him as well.