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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Twinkl has fallen for the rainbow guff

29 replies

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 24/02/2019 11:19

For non-teachers, Twinkl is a huge part of many teachers' lives. They produce colourful, generally reasonable quality resources- worksheets, displays, vocabulary mats etc. Their stuff links closely to the National Curriculum and they add topical stuff for eg Olympics, royal weddings etc. They are seen as trustworthy and run Facebook groups that thousands of teachers follow and use as a place to discuss issues and ask for help.

Today they have posted 'If you do one thing tonight, read this blog: Trans teen "What I wish my primary teachers had understood " '. There are accompanying resources.

I am not a Twinkl subscriber so I can't see everything, but I can link to the blog which includes things like "why can't toilets be gender neutral?" and sleeping arrangements on residential trips.

Some teachers pay their own subscription to Twinkl, others work in schools that subscribe. They are a huge part of the education landscape and seen as very mainstream, establishment even. It alarms me hugely that they are peddling this stuff with no reference to the equality act. It has the hallmarks of them having asked the wrong people to advise them.

Could any MN Twinkl members who feel as I do let Twinkl know about Transgender Trend so that they see an alternative viewpoint at least? And perhaps express some disappointment about the disregard for girls' rights, eg Year 6 girls having to share toilets with boys as they deal with periods for the first time.

[MNer for 12 years but couldn't fathom how to get back on post data-hack, hence NC]

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RockyFlintstone · 24/02/2019 11:21

I'm not currently a subscriber and I'm not working in a school right now, but I can confirm that Twinkl is an absolutely huge resource for teachers these days and the content that they put out is used pretty much everywhere. It's massive.

WeRiseUp · 24/02/2019 11:23

God I wonder of there's a scandal like Sparklebox about to blow up.

LangCleg · 24/02/2019 11:29

Links, OP?

Yes, WeRiseUp, I was just thinking about Sparklebox.

Oversight has become so poor as we have atomised and contracted out public services.

RockyFlintstone · 24/02/2019 11:30

www.twinkl.co.uk/blog/what-i-wish-my-primary-teachers-had-known-by-a-trans-teen

Blog is here.

To be fair there are a few good points - like lining up children in boys and girls, or on a Victoria Day getting the girls and boys to do different activities. It made me think about my own practice, and tbh, things like lining up according to sex are mostly just for ease - you often need two lines otherwise the line is too long to keep an eye on everyone and boy/girl is just easiest.

But the other stuff about toilets etc is a load of crap.

Don't think comparisons can be made with Sparklebox at this point, Twinkl are just jumping on the 'homosexualandtransgenderarejustthesamething' bandwagon, and are just putting out what they think schools want.

PhysaliaPhysalis · 24/02/2019 11:40

I can see all the resources - they're in partnership with Stonewall which made me Hmm.

It's odd though, because the vocabulary resource says things like: Please note, it is important not to confuse 'sex' (male and female) with 'gender' (men and women). It defines transphobia as 'fear or dislike of transgender people' - I'm assuming Stonewall had a hand in this so is it OK to be against self-ID now? That's not transphobic because being against self ID is not about disliking transgender people; it's about safeguarding against those (mainly straight men) who would would take advantage.

As for the blog, as a teacher who takes Year 6 pupils on residential every year, I would never allow mixed sex rooming. Even if it meant the hurt feelings of one child. It's not fair on the other children and sexual experimentation is not unheard of at 11. Nor would I encourage mixed sex toilets - we have one girl at our school who started her periods at 8 which she found embarrassing to manage at the best of times. She's not the only girl who has reached puberty either. The same goes for getting changed for PE. I feel immensely sad for the child/ren who feel they are a member of the opposite sex but I'm not going to put the safety and dignity of 29 other children at risk because of it.

I'll message twinkl, but as you can see from above, I'm not terribly eloquent. I'll have a look around the FWR boards and see if I can make my opinion clearer.

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 24/02/2019 11:42

Thanks to PP who quoted blog. Can't really link to the resource as I don't currently subscribe and can't screenshot as new users can't post images. Did however find they are grateful to Stonewall for their advice.

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WhenIsTheEasyBit · 24/02/2019 11:42

X post. Thank you Physalia

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BettyDuMonde · 24/02/2019 11:55

Physalia - I think you are perfectly eloquent and clear as to how you won’t be jettisoning sex-based safeguarding for all, in favour of one child’s personal feelings. Much better to reach a pupil-by-pupil compromise (in line with the kind of reasonable adjustment made for SEN or seriously ill children) in discussion with the child’s parents, than remove the rules that keep the vast number of children safest.

Single sex provision is more necessary than ever, due to our multicultural society. Children who are dysphoric need separate sensitive, accommodation when sex segregation is in play. Anything else is unfair on the other children/too big a risk for the teacher.

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 24/02/2019 12:04

Beautifully put by both Betty and Physalia.

Not sure how to link to this thread if I post in Staffroom?

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Tanith · 24/02/2019 12:08

The Sparklebox scandal was different - the person responsible was already a convicted paedophile:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/895603-Is-there-already-a-thread-about-the-Sparklebox-website-news?pg=1&order=

With Twinkl, it sounds like they’ve been taking advice from 3rd parties. I recently noticed some LGBT stuff but I’m not sure how long it’s been there.

JellySlice · 24/02/2019 16:58

or on a Victoria Day getting the girls and boys to do different activities.

What's wrong with that? It teaches quite clearly that the gender binary and sex discrimination were strictly enforced in Victorian times, and demonstrates how far we have come in relaxing that binary. It teaches that gendered behaviour and biological sex are two entirely separate things.

Or should we be historical revisionists and rewrite history to tell children that boys could dress as girls if they wanted to in Victorian times? That putting on trousers and a waistcoat entitled a Victorian girl to learn Latin and Maths instead of needlework and deportment?

R0wantrees · 24/02/2019 17:10

current thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3516346-Compulsory-trans-lessons-in-primary-schools-what-will-this-involve

see also Website with links to the books and 'No Outsiders' program by Andrew Moffat. Amazon has some open access to the books.
There is also a section with links and resources.

There's much that's good within the program and resources however despite being based around the Equality Act 2010 where sex is a protected characteristic, Moffat and many resources conflate sex with gender /gender identity.

It would be a shame to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' but there is a need for careful nuanced evaluation of the program which has a blindspot with regards sex/sexism.

From links, Moffat comments, 'Stonewall . Excellent resource, well worth keeping up to date with.'

www.equalitiesprimary.com/about-us.html

NeurotrashWarrior · 24/02/2019 17:27

Placemarking. Sadly not a subscriber any more.

If you want to make a teacher very happy these days you give them a Twinkl subscription.

Teachers who want to get out of teaching go and work for Twinkl.

Fully agree with what R0 says about the No Outsiders teaching materials.

KataraJean · 24/02/2019 20:41

Well, that is a rather insidious way to get ideology into classrooms, isn’t it?

glenthebattleostrich · 24/02/2019 20:44

I'm a subscriber (childminder) and I'll be emailing them a link to transgender trend. As well as some articles about stonewall.

I'd appreciate any help with the email.

Manderleyagain · 24/02/2019 20:59

Physalia - on the vocab list - I don't think it's widely accepted that 'man' and 'woman' refer to gender rather than sex. Though most people might imagine man to refer to a combination on the male sex and the social role. Is that the only way they define sex and gender? Do they define gender identity?

Part of our problem is that people have been pushing through these new definitions into policies, making twaw true by stealthily changing the definition of 'women'. So now though many people still think man/woman refer to sex, some are swearing blind that they have referred to gender for decades. It's 1984 in practice.

Manderleyagain · 24/02/2019 21:01

There is legislation (not the equality act) that says children over 8 yrs need single sex loos at school, so twinkl shouldn't be encouraging mixed sex.

pombear · 24/02/2019 21:21

FFS. The teachers' resource linked from the Twinkl blog.

Anyone who still thinks that Stonewall hasn't developed into a regressive movement needs to read this document.

content.twinkl.co.uk/resource/8f/53/t-lf-255290-lgbt-inclusive-education-primary-best-practice-guide-english.pdf?token=exp=1551041030~acl=%2Fresource%2F8f%2F53%2Ft-lf-255290-lgbt-inclusive-education-primary-best-practice-guide-english.pdf%2A~hmac=c437d16911ca825185ca7fa0f5f3a7edb62bf3600798758e23d6e24b937a0df0

Forgive me for a longish post and Sunday evening brain, but this is making me grumpy!

From p5
The Stonewall Teachers Report found that the young people most likely to experience homophobic bullying were those who don't conform to gender stereotypes, such as boys who were perceived as being feminine or girls who were interested in sports. This was true for both primary and secondary school, suggesting that intolerance for non-conformity begins in primary school.

OK, yep, something that feminists have been challenging for years, that girls can be interested in sports, boys should be able to display stereotypically feminine behaviours without either sex being bullied for it. I hear you, let's challenge it (though not sure that automatically puts them within the rainbow sparkle T banner).

You can help inhibit this tolerance developing by actively challenging gender stereotypes. Ensure that school activities aren't exclusively for pupils of a particular gender (SEX, Stonewall, it's sex, not gender, that's the problem!) and model the use of inclusive, non-stereotypical language.

OK, despite you getting confused between sex and gender stereotypes Stonewall, that's great advice, don't segregate activities into gender stereotypes.

The very next para:
Challenging gender stereotypes will help make your primary school a more inclusive space for children who are showing gender variant behaviour, or who may feel their gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Many schools are already demonstrating excellent practice in working with these pupils to ensure they feel safe and able to be themselves at school. Seemingly small changes, like helping a pupil to use their preferred name and pronoun at school, can have a huge impact on the child's self-esteem

Woah there.

Hang on Stonewall. You've just jumped from encouraging an environment where gender stereotypes are debunked, a child can express any behaviours, like whatever activities they want to without being constrained by these stereotypes, to identifying specific children breaking out of stereotypical behaviour 'needing a special inclusive space' and potentially new pronouns. (But you chucked 'sex' in there, briefly, even though you don't use it anywhere else). That's odd.

And, to be honest, confusing, given that your initial paragraph was about homophobic bullying. Even though your organisation is an LGBT one, this page jumps straight from 'homophobic bullying' to 'child is trans'. And even though this document is LGBT inclusive, the majority of the case studies at the end are about 'gender diversity and trans' issues, not LGB.

Anyone reading p5 with their critical thinking hat on will see how confused this thinking is.

And illustrating a page that descends into pronouns and celebrating trans people with a picture of a girl kicking a football. Fuck that.

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 24/02/2019 21:37

Thank you Pombear and all PPs. Still don't know how to do links, but will hop o ver to staffroom and ask GC Twinkl users to have a look at the great points made here and ask them to contact Twinkl and point them towards Transgender Trend's pack.

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pombear · 24/02/2019 21:53

Fingers crossed Whenis.

Still grumpy about 'girl liking sports' = ^showing gender variant behaviour"

Who the fuck wrote this shit?

pombear · 24/02/2019 21:54

Oh, whoops, that shortening of your name I just did doesn't look good, does it! Bit like a whiney penis! Sorry WhenIsTheEasyBit!!

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 24/02/2019 22:11

Oh dear, chose a new name in a hurry and clearly didn't think it through!

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categed · 25/02/2019 02:27

The stonewall descriptors describe gay and lesbian as being attracted to same gender. Other twinkl resources describe the as same sec 🤪

Twinkl has fallen for the rainbow guff
Twinkl has fallen for the rainbow guff
categed · 25/02/2019 02:29

Sec would of course be sex 🤔😂

WhenIsTheEasyBit · 25/02/2019 06:56

And 'sex assigned at birth' of course Angry

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