What do you think will happen with the Batley Grammar school situation ?

[CovidCorvid]

So a teacher showed a class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.....media are talking about it possibly being the Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

Obviously that ended badly for Charlie Hebdo staff and a teacher in France who showed his class the cartoons was killed outside the school.

So locals are staging a peaceful process outside the school and say they won’t leave until the teacher is sacked. Can the school sack the teacher for this? I wouldn’t have thought it was a sacking offence? School is having to stay closed for safety reasons. Teacher is suspended, there will be an investigation. He’s under police guard and has had to leave his house.

Realistically it is no longer safe for him to be in this school
Best outcome is he moves to a different school in a nearby area with more "progressive" thinking.

If I were his wife I would be suing the charity who realised his name and moving altogether tbh

I don’t know all the details but on it’s seems like an error of judgement and I feel very uncomfortable about him being sacked.
I’m sure he will want to work elsewhere but I don’t think he should be fired because of causing offence.

Oh and the complainant parents should obviously not be allowed to sit on an independent review panel (which is what they have asked for). That clearly isn’t independent!

Sorry, I’ve seen there’s an earlier, lengthy thread on this topic.

I think the teacher should rethink their career.

People who deliberately choose to distress the children in their care shouldn't be teachers.

What defence can the teacher possibly have?

@PrincessNutNuts

I think the teacher should rethink their career.

People who deliberately choose to distress the children in their care shouldn't be teachers.

What defence can the teacher possibly have?

Deliberatly distressing the children? How, by showing them a cartoon?

Seriously?

Defence: Maybe teaching them there's a whole world out there and some people have different opinions?

Calling a famously distressing and offensive image simply "a cartoon" is minimising the situation rather disingenuously don't you think?

The fact that Muslims find this image distressing and offensive is well known.

Famously offensive?
Things are only offensive if given attention, perhaps a casual shrug.. And some healthy perspective would help?

According to the students who are campaigning for him to be allowed back, it was in the context of an RE lesson about what constitutes blasphemy and he warned students beforehand. It was unwise given the politics around it and probably should have just taught the lesson without showing the image but discussing the case study but I don’t think it was done maliciously and probably was a good lesson - offence aside.

@PrincessNutNuts

Calling a famously distressing and offensive image simply "a cartoon" is minimising the situation rather disingenuously don't you think?

The fact that Muslims find this image distressing and offensive is well known.

Some Muslim. Not all please don’t lump them all together. They do not all think the same.

I think the teacher will resign and find another job.

Fair enough @Freddiefox

The school will stay closed for several days. The gang of thugs outside the school will stay there until the teacher resigns or is sacked. The teacher will be attacked/harassed as soon as someone finds out where they live. The Imam will plead (very quietly and from a distance) for everyone to behave, while simultaneously implying that dire things that might happen are the fault solely of the teacher and serve him right.
A huge wedge will be driven into the community, starting with the children, and it will set relations back years.
Nobody who demonstrates a single smidgen of common sense will be listened to.
Probably some or all of the Moslem children will be withdrawn from the school too causing further disruption to their education.
Nobody will ask the children or their mothers what they think or want.

How come there are no mothers protesting?

I'm being serious and not goady, btw.

@PomBearWithoutHerOFRS

The school will stay closed for several days. The gang of thugs outside the school will stay there until the teacher resigns or is sacked. The teacher will be attacked/harassed as soon as someone finds out where they live. The Imam will plead (very quietly and from a distance) for everyone to behave, while simultaneously implying that dire things that might happen are the fault solely of the teacher and serve him right. A huge wedge will be driven into the community, starting with the children, and it will set relations back years. Nobody who demonstrates a single smidgen of common sense will be listened to. Probably some or all of the Moslem children will be withdrawn from the school too causing further disruption to their education. Nobody will ask the children or their mothers what they think or want.

And all because of one stupidly naive or deliberately provocative teacher.

One teacher who was following a scheme of work that other students have vouched for as having been on the curriculum for several years.

It is a valid topic to study, it’s not a faith school and the men outside the school are repressive and not representative of many of the Muslim students. My husbands nephews attend the school - their families are appalled by the men outside not the teacher inside.

The people who are offended at these kinds of things are usually in the minority but unfortunately they shout the loudest so their voices are the only ones heard or given the most attention to. I'm Muslim btw and don't think it was wise of him to show the cartoon but the protestors need to get a life. To me people like these come across as having the most fragile faith.