Diversity week-do my dc need to know they're teachers ' sexuality?

This makes me a bit uncomfortable. It's like they are trying too hard to show off that they are filling their diversity quota by pointing out things that are different about people. I don't know, I can't seem to find the words to accurately describe why I don't think it's right.

No I actually I wouldn't be ok with teachers talking about their hetero marriages. What the hell has that got to with teaching maths, history, English etc?

So if a teacher gets married and changes his/her surname would you expect them to retain their original surname at school?

An ex is a teacher, I often dropped him off at work (in view of students), should I have done the mum/dad routine of dropping him off around the corner?

I was a teacher for ten years before moving to another career in university and of course pupils end up knowing you’re married or have kids, it’s normal - what did you do at the weekend miss? Oh I went paint balling with my husband and son etc. I’m a bit puzzled by people saying it’s wrong of teachers to share these small human details.

My apologies. I thought you were taking about the school in question. Not the overall.

But why is ‘diversity’ principally framed in the context of sexuality?

From the OP, it's not....

From the OP it is - it is for ‘school diversity week’ which is “School Diversity Week is a national celebration of LGBT equality in schools run by the charity Just Like Us.”

No I actually I wouldn't be ok with teachers talking about their hetero marriages. What the hell has that got to with teaching maths, history, English etc?

Teachers are human beings who see their pupils every day and get to know them pretty well. Most teachers do not want to present themselves as impersonal automatons with no life outside the classroom.
I'm an MFL teacher. A lot of my lessons involve asking kids about their hobbies, families, opinions, likes and dislikes etc in the foreign language. I usually start the ball rolling by giving examples about myself. I have described my husband and children and talked about our holidays, hobbies etc countless times. All the pupils I've taught over my 25 year career have therefore known I am heterosexual. Is that a problem?!

It’s normal for a teacher to talk a bit about their personal life with the students. I know my dd’s whole year 4 class when their teacher was getting married. So if it comes up like that I think it’s great. You know, here are some picture of my summer trip. There is my wife and our son.

The labels part worries me. If for no other reason than our school has very little diversity in students and even less in teachers. A video like that at our school might make the few kids who don’t fit the stereotypical mold at our school feel isolated.

They’ve missed a trick - why does it have to be “ I am gay “ just a face and “ some of us are gay / Jehovah’s witnesses / have an artificial limb etc. Without being identifying ?

Secondary schools are full of children who feel that they somehow don't conform or belong.
That's right. Almost ALL teens feel at one point or another that they don't belong. It's called adolescence.
It's fine to show them that different sorts of people exist (Mr Jones is married to a man, Miss Ahmed is a goth etc) just as a normal part of the fabric of society.
That way young people get a sense of where their tribe might be, where they might fit in. It's a gradual process.
Staff literally labelling themselves, and encouraging students to so do too is not only cringey, it's forced and just.. too much.

I also am very wary of "sexuality" being used in schools as part of diversity, and if students being encouraged to identify as a sexuality.
Adolescent sexual orientation us none of adult's business, unless you are a close relative and they come to you for help, and even then I would stick with " it's normal, you're normal, don't worry so much".

You've contradicted your own OP there. One of the teachers said they were Jamaican but there's no BAME representation?

Always disappointing but no longer surprising to see homophobia lurking beneath the surface on MN.

But why is ‘diversity’ principally framed in the context of sexuality?

From the OP, it's not....

Teachers hold up pieces of paper with something about them written on it e.g. Gay and Proud, curly hair, Jamaican etc to give 3 examples. The information before the video states:

"...please watch the staff video to get a sense of how diverse our school is. We have such a range of different personalities, hair colour, opinions, genders, sexualities, religions, beliefs and colours that our school is a rich, welcoming diverse pot..."

All seems a bit forced to me. My dd's teacher had a baby with her partner recently and the school celebrated her and her wife's new arrival in assembly by using the phrase Mrs ........ and her wife gave birth etc . I thought it was done very nicely as it normalised it ( as it should be).
This is what we should be striving for. Putting up labels somewhat 'others' them as the straight couples aren't announcing they are straight.

Year 7 assembly "raise your hand if you're straight"

Sexual attraction really only develops with puberty so won’t even be a thing for most year 7s.

But why is ‘diversity’ principally framed in the context of sexuality? Unless we are going down the rabbit hole of fetishes and the alphabet soup there isn’t much diversity involved. You are either attracted to different sex, same sex or both.

I think if you are a young gay or lesbian growing up in a hetronormative society, it could be immensely cheering to realise not everyone else is straight. And if you are straight, it is useful to know that there is nothing wrong, dirty or not respectable about being lesbian or gay.

Exactly this!

@bercows how do you know from one sign all that information??

Was their really no mention of ethnicity in the video?

There is a massive need to promote diversity in schools...why? BLM campaign, the racism surrounding Brexit, the debates around Trans, the fact that some.kods at.your school.have 2 mums or 2 dads, the influence of religion on our lives.

As long as my kids school addresses the fact that we live in a diverse society and should accept all people....i really couldn't get.worked up about how they choose to do it.

Maybe a better solution is to reference role models other than teachers. I don't know if it's fair to either teachers or students to put them into this dynamic/structure. I certainly didn't want to emulate or model my life behaviour on any of my teachers at school, whether or not I liked them.

It's not really up to teachers to model certain lifestyles for kids, is it? Behaviour, sure. Respectfulness, kindness, curiousity, perhaps. But lifestyle? No, that's not appropriate. I do think it might be harmful to kids to know too much about teachers - politics, lifestyle, religion, sexuality, it's all stuff that I think teachers deserve to be allowed to keep private and maintain strong boundaries on, and likewise pupils.

Then again, I'd make an utterly shite teacher so maybe I'm misunderstanding the dynamic entirely.

There’s a difference between referencing your husband or wife Or your family situation and mentioning your sexuality. I’m not married but it would be weird I think if I made a point of identifying myself as straight to my pupils even though it’s moot right now because I’m single.

If I had a partner I’d say - married to Jane who’s a dr or married to John who’s a shopkeeper. It’s relevant to my current family life. Otherwise I’m basically saying ‘single but aiming to date someone with a penis’.

I find it a bit cringey tbh.

I think kids are helped by knowing there’s a Happy gay adult in their lives. Helps them feel If they are gay and feel bullied etc that it Will get better. That they can find love and peace some day even if their parents are homophobic.

I think it’s less cringy if it’s done as a “meet my partner” thing. So maybe short videos of straight AND gay teachers in a conversation with their husband or wife, family etc. Clearly shows they are gay in an extremely family friendly way no one could possibly object to.