Teacher sacked after expressing personal view on Israel and abortion in class

[cakeorwine]

A teacher joined the school in October 2024 as a French teacher and Year 10 tutor

She was covering history. The topic was the bombing of Dresden. She also asked whether similar moral issues surrounded the current Israel-Palestine conflict, in an attempt to engage the class.

In response to a student’s question, Ms Meston affirmed that she was “pro-Israel”, but lamented the deaths of innocent people in Gaza caught up in the conflict

A student asked her whether she was “pro-abortion”, to which she responded that she was “pro-life”.

Asked to elaborate on her position, Ms Meston explained that she held this view because she was a Christian and knew women who had undergone abortions and regretted the decision.

A student replied that she knew women who had abortions without regretting them, to which Ms Meston responded: “Fair enough."

She was dismissed for “sharing personal opinions on political issues with pupils”.
The school’s headteacher said there was a “real concern” that Ms Meston would continue to “cause harm or distress to pupils”.

During her time at the school, a group of students repeatedly asked for her views on Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, to which she responded briefly that they were both popular politicians before returning to the subject of the lesson.

One pupil also asked her whether she would be attending the Reform UK party conference in February last year, after she had encountered a student at a previous Reform event.

Ms Meston said she would be attending, but maintained that she did not force her views on students at any point.

The Teachers’ Standards, set by the Department for Education, state that teachers “should generally avoid sharing personal political views unless they are entirely confident it will not be seen as promoting that viewpoint”.

The guidance adds: “When political issues are taught, they must be presented in a balanced manner.”

There are strict rules on expressing your personal opinions in class, especially on issues as heated as abortion, Gaza etc

Political impartiality in schools - GOV.UK

It sounds like this class got out of hand - she was supposed to be covering Dresden. I've been a teacher and you just say that your opinion isn't relevant. You can discuss what people think for and against

I was asked if I believe in God because I didn't pray in assembly. It's not hard to say that I don't share my beliefs in class.

I wouldn't make it about myself,

It's not difficult to explain what was presented without saying what her personal view is

And teachers have to be careful with contentious issues as they need to ensure a balanced approach is taken

If a teacher just presented one side of a contentious debate, especially with source materials from an organisation that might be known for being a bit dodgy or selective with its source material, that would be controversial

I can imagine how that could occur when discussing Gaza, abortion rights, Brexit, Trump etc

I'm quite surprised by this in the context of Trump and Putin. I understand that you wouldn't want to say you hated them or supported them but in a history lesson on anti-democratic norms surely they are living, breathing examples? As in discussing specific examples of behaviours? ICE or the invasion of Ukraine, a President who has been accused of sex offences etc.

I remember my history teacher at school and he would have had a field day with our current geopolitical situation!

"the point is, you shouldn’t know either way"

"For every subject? Maths, Science??? Do you believe we should check on political views? There is already a recruitment crisis"

You really haven't made yourself clear

Why would you say "You hated them"

You can give plenty of examples about Trump and Putin, Demonstrate their contempt for democracy etc

But why say "You hated them"

I could give plenty of examples about where religion has done bad things in my classroom without saying " I hate religion"

Someone could give plenty of examples about trans people and their negative impact on women's sports etc without saying they hated trans people

It would be obvious to the pupils from that presentation

Another teacher could give examples of trans people in a positive light. No negative examples.

They wouldn't say they were supportive of trans people but a one sided presentation would give it away

I am not sure why you think it's so hard not to express a personal opinion.

I think you need to re-read what I wrote. I'm literally saying a teacher WOULDN'T say they loved or hated them exactly BECAUSE it's a simple personal opinion. But I can 100% see how a teacher could pull out specific behaviours to illustrate a point in certain subjects. This isn't the same as expressing a like or dislike.

"How do you not criticise Putin or Trump? How can you be neutral about those two?"

You said "How do you not criticise Putin or Trump"

It is not the teacher's place to criticise Putin or Trump.

But a teacher can give plenty of examples in a lesson on British values referencing Putin and Trump without directly criticising them

Some posters on MN struggle to remember what they wrote and forget that people can easily read the quote history

I don’t think teachers should express opinions so have no issue with her being sacked for this. The problem, as always, is that is it is a 2 tier system. My DD has been told by teachers in their school (a couple of teachers) that they hate Donald Trump, Trans rights are human rights, Nigel Farage is a right wing facist. All of which might be true depending on what you think but not something teachers should be saying to kids.

The ideal is to not give personal political opinions in the classroom, in this case the teacher was asked directly whether she was pro-choice and replied she was pro-life, which is a slip up, but did it merit being sacked? And importantly can she persuade the court that if she'd given the opposite answer she'd have been treated more favourably? If she has a couple of examples up her sleeve of other teachers giving more left wing views in lessons with no repercussions, she might have a chance.

I vehemently oppose her views, but she was answering questions raised by pupils, not raising those issues.

Ironically, if you read the quote history, you will see I'm not the poster you're quoting. Hoisted by your own petard.

I'm not exactly disagreeing with you.

But this story makes me uncomfortable, because honestly I don't believe it's truly content-neutral. I think schools embrace politics in many ways (and that's not necessarily wrong), but only notice it as 'politics' when it's certain views.

For example, my son's headteacher used Donald Trump in an assembly as an example of someone who was coarsening public discourse, exhibiting bad values, and damaging trust in politics.

Now, she's not wrong: he is doing all those things. I think he's an awful man.

I don't even particularly object to her saying so, if the school environment is one where views are aired and debated and politics is allowed, including unfashionable politics.

But if the Trump-is-bad assembly is fine, then it has to also be fine to have an assembly praising Trump and his great values.

I just don't think it would go both ways. I think a teacher that did an assembly on how great Trump is would be pulled up on 'politics' pretty quickly.

Families in the uk have fallen out over Israel and Palestine. Madness! If England and Scotland went to war tomorrow do you think a teacher in Israel would get sacked for being “pro England” no? I mean they probably wouldn’t be pro England or pro Scotland anyway they just wouldn’t give a shit.

Meanwhile people here continue to file for divorce over Israel and palestine

This is fairly ubiquitous in the profession, academia is the same. Right wing views are not popular. Look at Katharine Birbalsingh.

It isn’t madness and is divisive. Scotland and England also was a pretty divisive issue during the referendum. Antisemitism is rife and worsening, I even read an antisemitic comment on LinkedIn last night which is generally supposed to be apolitical. Apparently Jews are the least persecuted race purely because of the amount of Jewish CEOs. Moronic remark. Polanski’s Greens have added fuel.

You’ve missed my point. Scotland and England was a big issue in the UK at that time. Nobody in the Philippines would have given a shit.

People have always screamed antisemitism when Jewish excellence is pointed out. Not sure why it’s hateful to point out the number of Jews that have done well for themselves. People are always saying whites or sometimes East Asians are the “least persecuted race” without being called racist. It’s hardly hate speech.

Don’t get me wrong there is antisemitism out there but you could have used a better example

I agree. Teachers should not be expressing their personal views and if it's their teaching role to discuss politics, sociology, contemporary history - they should be able to present a balanced view without the pupils knowing their personal view

I could easily be a Devils Advocate and give the counter point to something that I actually agreed with

e.g Discussing religion and someone says they don't believe in God. I don't believe in God but I can give arguments for why people do

We could be discussing the Monarchy. I hate having a Monarchy but I am perfectly able to give the reasons why many people support having a Monarchy versus an elected Head of State

If you can't do that, you shouldn't be teaching

And if your role is teaching maths or French,it's unlikely you'll ever need to do this

Science is more interesting. Evolution, climate change, Big Bang etc

A good teacher should be able to develop a pupil's critical thinking skills

There is a view on MN that some posters lack critical thinking skills and just jump in and give a response automatically to a thread title without reading the OP or following links

(That may or may not be my personal opinion)

Are you struggling to understand the difference between having views and expressing them to your pupils?

I am sure that Katherine does not express her personal right wing views to her pupils

And if they teach sociology, politics etc. The teachers should give balanced view points and not express their views

Her approach to teaching is right wing. That's fair enough. But she and her teachers should not be expressing their political viewpoints to the pupils

Fair enough

You said

Quote history
Superhansrantowindsor · Yesterday 20:40
How do you not criticise Putin or Trump? How can you be neutral about those two?

cakeorwine · Yesterday 20:54
Clearly you aren't cut out to be a teacher if you don't know how to keep your opinions to yourself in the classroom

Quoting cakeorwine
SquirrelSoShiny · Today 09:17
I'm quite surprised by this in the context of Trump and Putin. I understand that you wouldn't want to say you hated them or supported them but in a history lesson on anti-democratic norms surely they are living, breathing examples?

cakeorwine · Today 09:57
"How do you not criticise Putin or Trump? How can you be neutral about those two?"
You said "How do you not criticise Putin or Trump"
It is not the teacher's place to criticise Putin or Trump.

But a teacher can give plenty of examples in a lesson on British values referencing Putin and Trump without directly criticising them
Some posters on MN struggle to remember what they wrote and forget that people can easily read the quote history
---------------------
Fair enough on the misquote but you've missed the whole point in your reply

1. So someone said how do you not criticise Trump or Putin?
2. I said that it's easy to keep your own opinions to yourself in a classroom
3. You replied that you were quite surprised by this. You wouldn't say you hated or supported them but surely they are living examples

Exactly. It is NOT the teachers place to directly criticise Putin or Trump with their personal viewpoint but they can give plenty of examples of the damage they've done to democracy

Can you explain what were you were surprised about? Do you think it's possible for someone to express their personal opinion of someone without people actually knowing it's their personal view?

My son observed that at his woke private school it was totally acceptable for teachers and students to express anti Trump views and take lefty stances, but more right wing things like immigration being a concern couldn’t be reasonably discussed.

Teachers are supposed to remain politically impartial by law. It’s doesn’t stop them.

My teens have come home and told me about their PSHE lessons and it’s nothing but teacher’s political views and quite frankly hard left indoctrination.

Private schools are not bound by Government regulations

I can only imagine what goes on behind the scenes in many private schools - especially the more religious ones.

In State schools, that attitude shouldn't be tolerated.

Have any parents expressed concerns about the teachers?

Students should be allowed to express their own opinions. If it's in a classroom discussion, a good teacher should be able to give counter view points without giving their opinion

A pupil could say that immigration is good for the UK and give their reasons. I am perfectly capable of giving some counter arguments

The next pupil could say immigration is bad for the UK. A good teacher could then give some counter arguments.

Ideally the pupils should be doing it. I would get them in groups and randomly give them a view point to discuss and to present to the class in a debate, even if they didn't personally agree with it

At my school, we had a debating society. We often had to present one side of a debate even if we didn't agree with it.

I could present arguments on both sides of lots of issues having been on MN for so many years. You would never know my personal opinion

Except for Hawaiian Pizzas, Jaffa Cakes and Yorkshire

It’s the most recent example I’ve come across and that was almost word for word the quote. He said “Jews are the least persecuted race, just look at how many CEOs are Jewish”. How is that not antisemitic?

Maybe you should be having a word with the school then

I know I had to have a meeting without coffee when I said something to my class I shouldn't have done and some of the parents reacted. All I can say that I was glad it happened before WhatsApp groups were a thing. And teachers email. And Facebook.

Just the school gate

(And now people are going to wonder what I said. And it was my personal opinion on a subject)

How does that relate in any way to the answer given about schools.

Once again

You can be pro or anti anything

But you don't express your views

That said, if it was WW2 when we were at war with Germany, I can imagine the schools and teachers were encouraged to give their views

I was watching Trespasses which was set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. One of the leads is a Catholic teacher but she has some Protestant children in the class. Clearly politics and the violence comes up. The Headteacher and the Catholic priest in the school clearly express their opinion in the classroom and definitely discriminate against Protestant pupils

I can't imagine what schools were like in parts of Northern Ireland during the Troubles

I can only imagine what schools are like in Israel and Gaza or in many other parts of the world

I learnt on supply teaching that Somali kids hate Ethiopian kids.
Pakistani children who are Muslim hate Hindu children from an Indian background

Eritraen children have their own hierarchy of who they hate from Eritrea

All this is learnt from home and sometimes it might be learnt in religious centres. It also comes from the culture of the schools they come from

I am sure there are examples in the United States where schools don't present balanced views on subjects and indoctrinate their pupils

And that's without their daily pledge to the United States and the flag in the classroom

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

• Stand at attention facing the flag.
• Place the right hand over the heart.

It's the Government indoctrinating susceptible pupils with loyalty

Get them whilst they're young