Non Binary Teachers

Not a cult then

With many of our send pupils we've given up on formal names as it gets too complicated.

Most use first names. Some use just your surname, no prefix.

Some children simply can't do pronouns of any description. Everyone is a 'he.' (Most of the pupils are boys.)

I think this is a case if teachers not having clear guidance.

Whilst the trans guidelines don't yet exist, There's clear safeguarding guidelines about inappropriate sharing of personal information. And over familiarity. That's what is really concerning. Professional standards aren't being adhered to.

We used to work with a woman ( in an office, not a school) who was always ‘sharing’ the intimate details of her sex life with her husband, mainly singing the praises of their threesomes with an extra female. It was both tedious and embarrassing.

I asked my most ‘liberal’ colleague what she thought about it. She said ‘ oh, I suppose she is recruiting’.

As I said earlier- if the OP has safeguarding concerns the she should report it to the school.

Important to discuss here so other parents are able to recognise specific issues as such and can also complain. Not a reason to report the thread.

Obviously oversharing about their personal life is a concern, but you are attributing that to the fact that they identify as non-binary.

There is a commonality with that issue though. Perhaps 'not all NBs' but there certainly appears to be a need to project these ideas about gender and sexuality in a heightened way which you need to query as being necessary and appropriate. And query why it is so important to the individual to engage children in these concepts.

It's not just teachers, it's in academia, charities, external providers, theatre companies etc.

You can make points about over generalisation and stereotyping and criticism of looks, that's the most unnecessary point, but it's not a reason to shut down debate and this thread.

My daughters teacher is a parent to a male to female trans child.
And I agree with all and recognise all of the above, the push to teach gender ideology to the kids, the displaying of the trans flag, constant talks about sexuality and gender etc.
This stuff has no place in the classroom.

My daughter is extremely gender critical and will be fully supported by me if she ever expresses her "beliefs" in the class, namely that changing sex is impossible and that gender is a human construct.
Bring on the phonecall.

Teachers who push this shit should be sacked.
Where else is pushing your own personal agenda acceptable?

I think this is a case if teachers not having clear guidance.

Teachers are not supposed to try to influence students through airing their personal views.

At the same time though, human rights and equality are accepted areas where teachers are expected to stand up for the right way of thinking (racism is wrong etc). Arguably, promoting the perspective of marginalised groups falls under this (e.g. decolonising the curriculum).

The trouble is that 'trans' can fall into either category depending on your views and there is no really clear guidance on how to navigate this for teachers.

Personally, I think some common sense squares the two perspectives quite easily, but ultimately that's just my opinion and other people think differently.

We know that children don't learn when anxious / being bullied.
I suppose it's no surprise that the only way for these teachers to impose their niche world view on children is to intimidate and cross boundaries.
Parents need to be challenging this.

The Teachers' Standards clearly state that teachers must ensure that
"personal beliefs are not expressed in ways which exploit pupils’ vulnerability "

The adult behaviour described on here could be defined as "social grooming" - in some cases compelling and in others, encouraging children to adhere to an ideology that the adult is promoting.

The draft guidelines need to be implemented urgently:

https://consult.education.gov.uk/equalities-political-impartiality-anti-bullying-team/gender-questioning-children-proposed-guidance/supporting_documents/Gender%20Questioning%20Children%20%20nonstatutory%20guidance.pdf

For some of them it will be yes, particularly some SEND students. Why do you think this is important? Most teachers I know get called all sorts and as long as it's not deliberately disrespectful always centre the child's needs.

Lots of teachers get called 'Mum' because that's what children say so much at home. Everyone laughs and moves on to learning.

I struggle to see why an ideology which on the one hand claims sex doesn't matter and can't be acknowledged and that safeguarding around sex is irrelevant (despite all the vast amount of data to the contrary) has such a rigid adherence to forms of address. It's illogical and confusing for children.

I see we've progressed to calling us 'mean' which shows what a weak argument you have. It's not going to work. We say no, you can't stop us talking and on plenty of other sites too, this isn't the only one.

Women are organising to protect children's wellbeing in schools. This is part of that discussion (thanks OP, it's a good thread).

You can't stop us, and the more you try and scold us the more determined it makes us.

Language police. Women. must. not. speak.

The derail does show that the TRA movement is all about not liking women standing up for safeguarding and saying no. Always so revealing.

As I said earlier- if the OP has safeguarding concerns the she should report it to the school. Obviously oversharing about their personal life is a concern, but you are attributing that to the fact that they identify as non-binary.

I don’t believe sweeping statements such as “they all do…” are helpful. In fact that is exactly the kind of language we use as an example when teaching children about stereotypes and prejudice. Also criticising their clothing and calling them “awkward and square” ? It’s quite mean really.

And I have been known to remind students I go by ‘Ms’, not ‘Mrs’ or ‘Miss’. Is that too confusing for them too?!

Thanks for these observations OP. It's useful to know the motivations of the TRAs. They're very religious aren't they. But naïve. I guess they think they're trying to save the world, wondering why no one is listening.

My DC haven't had any NB teachers though having enough teachers in their secondary is an ongoing issue all on it's own.

My kids have enough issues with speaking up in class - and dealing with peers who change names and pronouns - so really hope they avoid it.

They had confused messaging around sex, gender and trans which younger two eye roll at now but from normal teachers dealing with top down welsh gov stuff.

I wonder if we've just been lucky to avoid this kind of activism teacher so far.

@Coffee473 I'm actually concerned that as a teacher you're not employed impartiality and spotted the red flags of over sharing about personal relationships, sexuality and asking the children about their relationships.

You're defending the rights of adults who are over stepping clear boundaries of appropriateness, over basic safeguarding principles.

Linked to this... I hadn't realised until I saw this X post, by Anya Palmer, that lack of belief in gender identity was also protected in law under the EA following the Forstater appeal (which protects the right to believe that sex is immutable). I would assume that this must apply to schools too, so the same rules would presumably apply in the way that religious beliefs are not to be promoted... Does anybody know the legal position on this? I'm already aware that the DfE prohibits political beliefs being pushed but my question is wider as it relates to beliefs in general.

https://twitter.com/anyabike/status/1749777661855940901?t=Ic_C9-86pSnmfLDHsH4aYw&s=19

Exactly. Sometimes it seems like these people forget that they're there to teach the children, the children aren't there to serve their validation needs.

That is not right

The students shouldn’t be compelled to remember

I would be very concerned if this complaint is upheld by MNHQ.

This is not "gossip", it is an incredibly important subject which is directly related to the current government consultation on Gender Questioning Children. In the consultation document, it is stated very clearly that not everyone believes that we all have a gender identity. Discussing examples where teachers are pushing their own belief (in gender identity) as a truth, enforcing it and weaving it in to other lessons is a very valuable and currently relevant conversation.

Thank you for creating this thread OP.

I find it interesting that Christian teachers aren't allowed to put up Christian posters. Is this the same for any religious belief? It's directly relevant to me as the LGBT club at my daughters' school has been putting up lots of posters in this last week across the school, talking about pronouns and other tenets of gender identity belief.

My DC have had a male NB teacher who was absolutely militant about the Mx. No ifs, buts, excuses.

I've never met them, but apparently clearly male, dresses in formal male teacher attire, etc etc but if a child slips up and says "sir" they are pulled up on it immediately.

Regardless of their teaching ability, it puts stress on the DC. A child of a friend became really anxious about making a mistake unintentionally and wanted to avoid school. Find me a teacher who hasn't been called 'Mum' etc and they've just ignored it and moved on.

I believe this is wrong. These people shouldn't be allowed to make children walk on eggshells in this manner.

My DC have had a male NB teacher who was absolutely militant about the Mx. No ifs, buts, excuses.

I've never met them, but apparently clearly male, dresses in formal male teacher attire, etc etc but if a child slips up and says "sir" they are pulled up on it immediately.

Regardless of their teaching ability, it puts stress on the DC. A child of a friend became really anxious about making a mistake unintentionally and wanted to avoid school. Find me a teacher who hasn't been called 'Mum' etc and they've just ignored it and moved on.

I’ve reported this- I really think it is inappropriate. Whatever your views on gender you are fuelling stereotypes, making sweeping statements and encouraging your DD to do the same. If you have concerns about a particular teacher I suggest you report it to the school, don’t gossip about them on here.

They're entirely anonymous and it's perfectly reasonable for people to criticise different elements of gender identity ideology and the social phenomena around it.

Quite