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Original poster

School influencing political opinions on kids

110 replies

wonderingstar01 · 12/02/2015 21:09

At a recent options meeting at DDs school, two of the teachers presenting their subjects to a room full of parents and kids decided to voice their opinions about Michael Gove's changes to the Maths and English GCSE exam curriculum. One of the teachers really got on her soap box and spoke for a good 10 minutes about why the governments decisions were wrong. At the time I thought it was very inappropriate, regardless of the rights and wrongs of her argument.

DD comes home from school today to say they had a really good history lesson where their teacher told them that if the conservatives return to power again this election, they plan to radically change the curriculum which would affect DDs year from entering university. Including girls begin disallowed certain subjects, RE being abolished and replaced by daily church services, domestic science, needlepoint and looking after babies will be subjects reintroduced only for girls, non-christian pupils would read from a separate text in class and at the end of year 11 all the children would have their noses measured and if more than 5 centimetres they would be sent to a concentration camp in Germany.

Now I'm trying to understand how this conversation could have taken place in a positive way and for the benefit of learning, but I can't.

OP posts:
Original poster
wonderingstar01 · 12/02/2015 22:56

The class are studying WW1, not the lead-up to WW2 or the Hitler influence over Germany. If the context of the comments were; imagine a world where ….. that would be different.

Yes, I do know Michael Gove isn't education minister anymore!

As I said, what I think is inappropriate is teachers voicing their political opinions to influence those in their charge. There's plenty uproar to be had about muslim kids being brainwashed with radical islamic ideas but really this is no different.

OP posts:
TheFallenMadonna · 12/02/2015 23:02

Ok, there's no way that your child's history teacher seriously told them the Tories would bring in concentration camps if elected.
Of course it will be the activity described by previous posters.
Holocaust remembrance a week late?

TheFallenMadonna · 12/02/2015 23:08

And regarding the other issue, while I don't share my professional opinion on curriculum change, it is my professional opinion, rather than a purely political one. And that is what happens when education policy becomes a political football...

NeedAScarfForMyGiraffe · 12/02/2015 23:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

whathaveiforgottentoday · 12/02/2015 23:12

Not sure about the actual lesson the OP is talking about which seems a bit extreme, but I will admit to slagging off Gove in front of a class - mainly when he changed the goal posts midway through a year meaning those who took their exams in November had a lower grade boundaries than those who took them in the summer (the English GCSE). I didn't have an answer to give them other than 'ask Micheal Gove'. I haven't slagged off any other political party or any other education minister in front of students before in the 20 years that I have been teaching until Mr Gove came along!!

Icimoi · 12/02/2015 23:13

No right-thinking teacher could possibly do anything other than despise Michael Gove. I have no problem with them treating children as sensible human beings and sharing that with them.

ravenAK · 12/02/2015 23:27

I got my GCSE classes to write to Michael Gove a few times, expressing their views on his buggeration of their Eng Lang course.

Bastard never did write back...Angry.

Obviously in that lesson you use an existing political party -it has to seem real to make the point. Although said point obviously whooshed over OP's dd's head with several feet of clearance! Grin

cricketballs · 12/02/2015 23:27

This is a common strategy used by history teachers; they get students believing these policies then the lesson of what happened begins.

The Head of History had one class at my school completely convinced that the HT had signed up to an experiment for students to be without phones/computers to the point he was believed that parents were told they had to sign for consent or they would be fined £100....an interesting lesson followed by all accounts

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 12/02/2015 23:33

It doesn't really work if you make a party up. Using the governing body might be an alternative. Shouldn't really matter as by the end of the lesson the kids know the situation was made up anyway.

I don't think anyone seriously believes that the conservatives are advocating sending children to concentration camps because of the length of their nose.

FamiliesShareGerms · 12/02/2015 23:34

Schools must not allow the presentation of partisan political views and are obliged to ensure a balanced view is presented

The lesson sounds like a way of teaching about Nazi Germany rather than actual political indoctrination

yearofthegoat · 12/02/2015 23:34

No right-thinking teacher could possibly do anything other than despise Michael Gove

On a thread about students being encouraged to think for themselves Grin

pieceofpurplesky · 12/02/2015 23:36

Think you and DD have totally missed the point. Also options evening is the time to announce the huger overhaul in English, Literature and Maths as it is the Year 9s who will sit the 100% exam that is not differentiated and based on antiquated texts that have no relevance to children today (English).
Your child's education has been messed with and teachers who know kids have not been consulted.

DodgedAnAsbo · 12/02/2015 23:49

why are we outsourcing our concentration camps in the first place ? a country with an economy the size of ours should be able to accommodate any big noses quite easily. They would have to pay the bedroom tax, obviously

Pandora37 · 13/02/2015 00:16

I'm surprised some people think teachers shouldn't express political opinions, mine used to do it all the time! My English and RE teachers in particular were very politically opinionated. I was at high school during the height of the Iraq war so obviously there was a lot of ill feeling around about that, but I remember them slagging off George Bush and Tony Blair, saying that Tony Blair should be tried for war crimes. My English teacher even said that if there was a war between the UK and Afghanistan that he'd fight for Afghanistan! Interestingly, my RE teacher just before the general election in 2005 said he couldn't see why any teacher would vote Labour because of the mess they'd made of the education system (interesting how times have changed!) and he was probably going to vote Lib Dem. We had a lot of political debates at school and the teachers would air their opinions, some were a lot more vocal than others but I enjoyed it and students would often ask them what their opinions were.

Coyoacan · 13/02/2015 00:23

I don't see any harm in teachers voicing political opinions as long as it is not instead of teaching their subject. It's not as if students are automatically going to follow the same party as the teacher. If that were the case, I would still be a Christian

Hamiltoes · 13/02/2015 00:32

Especially on subjects like education!!

I think I'd trust a nurse or doctor on their opionions of what has been happening to the NHS, wouldn't you? Hmm

Hakluyt · 13/02/2015 00:38

The OP is either a wind up or talking bollocks. One or the other.

prh47bridge · 13/02/2015 01:22

the teachers were telling us about the EBacc

You are aware that this is a performance measure for the school, not a qualification for your child. It is not compulsory. Students do not have to take all the subjects needed for the EBacc.

FamiliesShareGerms · 13/02/2015 07:44

So is it ok for teachers to talk about their political views that, say, the best form of government is a caliphate and their students should try to establish one here or travel to Syria?

UptheChimney · 13/02/2015 07:46

decided to voice their opinions about Michael Gove's changes to the Maths and English GCSE exam curriculum. One of the teachers really got on her soap box and spoke for a good 10 minutes about why the governments decisions were wrong. At the time I thought it was very inappropriate, regardless of the rights and wrongs of her argument

So, an expert professional giving her "customers" the benefit of her professional expertise in the light of actual & proposed policy changes which will have a significant impact on the quality of the service she can offer her "customers" -- that's inappropriate?

Weird

adsy · 13/02/2015 07:53

teachers have always been really left wing. irritates the fuck out of me and I used to take great pleasure in sitting in the staff room reading the Telegraph.

UptheChimney · 13/02/2015 07:58

teachers have always been really left wing

Evidence for such a huge generalisation?

RufusTheReindeer · 13/02/2015 07:58

AS raf said it probably wouldn't work with a made up party

Ds1 just said UKIP is a better example as it's a small, relatively new party that's very popular and tries to sound Ike "a party of the people"

Using the Tories doesn't seem IMO to be a very good example so that's where I think the bias comes in

SirChenjin · 13/02/2015 07:58

I think I'd trust a nurse or doctor on their opionions of what has been happening to the NHS

I work in the NHS - opinions vary amongst us. What we absolutely wouldn't do is tell patients what impact we believe the Govt's NHS policies will have on their care.

Andrewofgg · 13/02/2015 08:06

If the teacher used the name of any existing party - even the BNP - to illustrate Nazi policy it is outrageous.