To be alarmed that teacher called a child a 'twat' in school?

[khaleesi71]

I'm not in the UK but a European country. DS (11) tells me that in his English class two students were discussing religion and what the difference was between Christianity and a Catholicism. Teacher says to children, "they are both the same you twat". Another student asks a follow up question and teacher turns to them and says "do you want me to call you a twat as well?". I was and dispatched an email to HT asking her to look into it. HT comes back to me to say teacher is very sorry she said that. The teacher is Australian and where she comes from it is a 'polite form of teasing' and they use the word a lot. She did not mean to cause offence. We have spent a fair bit of time in Aus and DS went to school there. We never heard it used in that way! I think it's a disgrace that a teacher uses derogatory terms for women in a class and think it normalises that sort of language but AIBU?

I’m always very keen to stress there’s no such thing as a stupid question, nothing ever wrong with asking. It’s more daft comments or obviously silly things like a pp suggested “what’s 2+2?”, “I don’t know, 30 squllion, are you being a fruit salad?!”. There are times we will be laughed at, part of resilience is being able to realise we’ve been a little daft, but actually that’s ok. We’re not stupid for doing it, we shouldn’t not try again because we made a mistake. To me it’s an opportunity to help students lose that fear of making errors, they’re so stifled and lack creativity because they’re so terrified of getting it wrong for fear of being judged negatively. I want them to have a go, to make a mistake and learn from it. Part of our ‘banter’ is to provide that environment.

Sorry if I haven’t been clear, I don’t think the teacher was right to call a student a twat, and the way it’s been portrayed suggested the teacher could have been better. But they have apologised, what more can she do than that? And we don’t know the exact context of any other comment, we only have a third hand account, I don’t think it’s fair to judge someone on that.

I’m also not suggesting I spend half my lessons doing this, I probably go a term/ half a term without saying anything about lemons or fruit salads!

The teacher is Australian and where she comes from it is a 'polite form of teasing' and they use the word a lot So far we have 11yrs of Australia behind us, actually....15 if you include dd1's 11 yrs and dd2's 4, not ONCE have I heard a child be called "twat" as a "polite form of teasing"

I suggest you get your ds to start calling his teachers twats, and then tell them (when they object, as they definitely will) that he is only "politely teasing them, as per "Australian" culture" and see if they think it is funny.

Thanks for explaining YourDaughter.

I've lived from one end of Australia to the other, and have NEVER in real life heard anyone call anyone else a "twat", be it at school, Uni, with friends, work, family, etc.

There are definitely many colloquialisms that are so specific to particular States/ regions/ cities/ even suburbs, here, but this word has never featured as one I've heard used. I'd be very interested as to where the "Australian" teacher came from, given that I've never heard it used! (That said, however, I do acknowledge that some Aussies use certain other words as everyday language, that I have never and will never say - but I have heard those words/know those words are used!).

I actually thought it was an English variation of the word twit, when I have come across it in books, here on MN, etc.

email the head teacher and inform him/her that twat, yes even in Aussie, is a "polite" form of saying CUNT :)

Less than 10 years ago someone pulled me up for using twat at work and I genuinely had no idea it meant cunt.

I thought it meant twit or similar.

It is possible!

it was even used in the movie EASY A and they knew it meant CUNT, im in NZ and when it is used you have no doubt of what it means

'The teacher is Australian and where she comes from it is a 'polite form of teasing'

NO it isn't

The teacher sounds like a fucking idiot. Perfectly reasonable question, and don't call pupils any names, however inoffensive it may seem. Surely every anglophone around the world knows that "twat" is a sexual offensive slang. The twat.

That said, however, I do acknowledge that some Aussies use certain other words as everyday language, that I have never and will never say - but I have heard those words/know those words are used!

Would that be "wank", as in "that presentation was a wank"? I was when I first heard this, said by an entirely respectable person, though not to the presenter or as a public statement.

It's interesting to note all the variations. My inner child wants to reply along the lines of a PP and say that it is a polite form for cunt. From other issues in class (and school) there is an approach to teaching here that is different to what DS has been used to. Part of settling overseas is learning to live inside this new culture. Sadly an outdated approach to power and respect in the classroom is one of them. I will simply acknowledge the HT response. DS and I have talked about respect in the classroom (he wondered if he could call a teacher a name - I said no!) using some of the responses here. Thanks all