Teacher with public Facebook page and very political views. Would you find this offensive?

[Yellowbowlbanana]

My dd came home from school today and showed me a Facebook page belonging to one of her teachers. His posts were there for all to see although comments had been disabled. His personal information was not visible either.

His page was basically a homage to the Conservative party but at the expense of others with differing views. Everyone who supports labour or is a liberal is left-wing trash/Marxist/communist. He shares conspiracy theories that China imported the Covid variant because we were getting on top of the vaccine. He makes fun of Prince Harry asking if he's started lactating in a thinly veiled attempt to question his masculinity. He calls anyone who voted for Scottish independence an anglophobic dimwit and a bigot.
I have no problem with people sharing their political opinion but I really hate the need to squash others when doing so. I am sure that he is not sharing these views with his students but as they are all able to see them they are all clearly aware.
I think he is a very clever man but he is a shit teacher for my dd and I really don't like him. He was completely negligent in the first lockdown to the point that I made a formal complaint against him. I don't know whether this is clouding my viewpoint or whether this is an actual issue.
What do you think?
YANBU - this is not acceptable
YABU - this is perfectly fine

@madmadmadammim

No, I'm not a teacher but I am aware schools could impose any restrictions they like. However, they might have problems with Article 10 of the Human Rights Act.

I also don't see that he has behaved unprofessionally. You may not like his views but, within the law, he has a right to express them.

Some of those posts sound misogynistic, I'd report them to the school

Not sure OP.

Your tone suggests that your problem is with his actual political views as opposed to his SM account being open for public view. If this is the case YABU

@Yellowbowlbanana what do you mean by...

His posts were there for all to see although comments had been disabled. His personal information was not visible either. ?

Is he identifiable? If not how does your son know it's his?

How do you know it's him and not someone with the same name if there is no information?

As a teacher, if i found out a colleague was a tory, i would absolutely report them.

Leave it be. Don’t be one of those people

I have no problem with people sharing their political opinion but I really hate the need to squash others when doing so.

That’s a personal opinion and what he does is not exactly uncommon. Political posts here do the same.

I am sure that he is not sharing these views with his students but as they are all able to see them they are all clearly aware.

If he isn’t sharing those views to the kids then what’s the problem? The teachers at my school had CND, SNP, Greenpeace car stickers. Their political views were well known. Our modern studies teacher was the leader of our local SNP members group. Teachers are allowed to have personal political opinions.

I think he is a very clever man but he is a shit teacher for my dd and I really don't like him. He was completely negligent in the first lockdown to the point that I made a formal complaint against him. I don't know whether this is clouding my viewpoint or whether this is an actual issue.

Yes, definitely clouding your view, sounds like you are looking for a reason to make another complaint. Ask yourself if it was a teacher you loved, would you do it? If the political views were as extreme but aligned more with your view, would you do it?

I’m with those who say just let him know it’s public. Going to his boss is unnecessary.

Perhaps remind your child that they should have something better to be doing than seeking out teachers on social media?

Who says she did it? Entirely possible someone else did and passed it round for others to see.

Have you considered it may be a spoof? Teachers are told to make all SM private and they are at constant risk of malicious posting by students.

As a teacher, if i found out a colleague was a tory, i would absolutely report them

It’s not true that teachers can’t share political views outside of school in the public domain including on social media. A good friend of mine is a Labour councillor. However in this case, this teacher is veering onto very sexist language and verging on hate speech, spreading misinformation etc so I think he could be reprimanded under professional standards.

@PferdeMerde

Mind your own business

This

No, I'm not a teacher but I am aware schools could impose any restrictions they like. However, they might have problems with Article 10 of the Human Rights Act.

Teachers are usually asked to have a private FB page for their own protection, not to limit their freedom of speech.

is veering onto very sexist language and verging on hate speech, spreading misinformation etc

Nothing even remotely rises to the level of hate speech there. Being sexist and spreading misinformation is a matter of opinion, and he’s allowed to do that if he wants to.

@MintyMabel, oh OK, I though the Covid China conspiracy verges on racist and therefore hate speech, but happy to stand corrected.

saraclara and others who have asked. It is not an anonymous page. It has his name and photo. There are some personal photo's visible although I can't verify the veracity of them. You can view the comments on his posts and interact with them but not post comments.
VeniVidiWeeWee I think sharing conspiracy theories on a public platform where you are easily identifiable and in a position of responsibility is pretty irresponsible and unprofessional.
I also think it models pretty poor behaviour and judgement to insult any one who doesn't share your views. I am not far-left trash because I support BLM. Supporting Mark Drakeford does not make me a communist (just an example).

He did, aye.

I though the Covid China conspiracy verges on racist and therefore hate speech, but happy to stand corrected.

Bit of a stretch. Unpleasant, and possibly verging on racist, but attacks a country’s government not its people so gets out on that loophole. Not hate speech, but again, even if it were, that’s not illegal either.

I also think it models pretty poor behaviour and judgement to insult any one who doesn't share your views.

Again, he isn’t doing that as part of his profession, directly to the students?

In his opinion it does. Just like on here all Brexiteers are racists.

Sounds pretty horrible.

I would talk to the teacher because
A) he may be unaware that his page is publically accessible. Facebook, annoyingly, change privacy settings regularly; this sometimes leads to private pages suddenly turning public.
B) the teacher has a right to know that students are sharing this page around
C) it may be a fake page set up to make the man look bad

Report to the teacher, not the school. He should know.

If on that call, he calls you trash or a communist, that's when to raise a formal complaint... So far, he's (assuming it is genuine) been horrible, but as an individual, not a professional.

@tangerinelollipop

As a teacher, if i found out a colleague was a tory, i would absolutely report them

Bloody oath.

:o

Unless his posts are inflammatory or constitute incitement to violence I don’t think there’s a lot anyone can do. Certainly, sharing his affiliations publicly are the actions of a dumbass but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have them, and most of them sound fairly mainstream. I’m not a Tory and I think Boris Johnson is a disgusting excuse for a human being but they were voted in by a landslide a few years ago so a big chunk of the country likes them. The whole conspiracy theory stuff just makes him look foolish but again lots of people hold those views. What would you tell the headteacher? That you don’t like his views and they should be hidden? That’s censorship.

A lot of lefties publicly say that if you vote for the Conservatives then you're Tory scum. Would you consider reporting it to the head teacher if his posts were along those lines?

I'd possibly chat to the teacher, but wouldn't get worked up about it. People are entitled to their opinions.

You can view the comments on his posts and interact with them but not post comments.

See, this could be a sign that it is not a genuine Facebook page and has been set up by students or someone else (it happens more than you think it does) and could explain why your child suddenly came home with it today if it is being spread around.
On that reason alone, I would let the school know but not complain at this stage.

@MadMadMadamMim The NEU policy states employees using social media should conduct themselves with professionalism and respect.
This is not the professional teaching standards that you claimed it to be before though. Besides, not every teacher belongs to the NEU and schools don’t have to follow suggestions from any of the unions. Not that I disagree that schools staff shouldn’t conduct themselves with respect and professionalism but I also know what the teacher standards are explicit on. You wouldn’t get any teachers on Twitter/edutwitter for example, if that was the case.