Hello.
I'm a TA in a large state school. I have only been there since the beginning of the school year so I don't know all the teachers well, but I do enjoy it and find it supportive and friendly.
There is something that's been bugging me since I first started and I would like some advice on how to handle it. I attend a computing class once a week with a child. It's a tricky class for behaviour so I haven't talked to the teacher other than a hello and goodbye every week so I'm not sure if he's the person to mention this to.
On the wall in the classroom there is a large display of a project that a class has put a lot of work into. They have produced posters about women who were instrumental in the development of computing. The display is great, it's bright, colourful and full of information but they all have the same title, which I presume is the brief they were given.
I imagine if this had been a project about men they would have been called inventors, creators, pioneers or scientists or something similarly positive. Unfortunately the title of this project is 'DotComDivas'.
It's not a huge issue, but I really want to say something to someone about the casual sexism and point out that 'Diva' is a word with negative connotations. I even checked the dictionary definitions, and other than opera singers, the definitions are something along the lines of 'women who are demanding, spoiled or self-absorbed'.
I could mention it to my PT but he's very busy and I don't think he would take it anywhere. I don't know if this particular teacher even set the project (his name isn't on the door), I could mention it to the department head but I don't know her either and I don't want to be a stranger whose first contact is to criticise her department. Do I go to the very pleasant Head with his constantly-open door? I guess the sensible thing is just to leave it, but I suspect this is a project which is repeated with every year group class.
The school works really hard to promote STEM subjects in female pupils - it seems a shame to display something so contrary to their ethos.
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As a TA, how do I (or do I?) raise this with a teacher?
36 replies
dotdotdotmustdash · 19/01/2018 19:28
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