To feel sorry for the teacher who was secretly recorded?

[Forster2018]

Link to article here:

I don't feel sorry for her at all, she was incredibly unprofessional and I wouldn't want her near any kids spouting those views. Especially when she gave them as facts. The threats and gaslighting were shocking, and the girls had the good sense to record for their own protection.

Can someone post the link please? It's not on the OP

Social media is full of adults saying this never happens and then back tracking when directed to the audio recording.

thank goodness those girls had the wherewithal to make the recording. A light should absolutely be shone on adults bullying children

Well the teacher put it clumsily but there is more slavery now than ever before.
My friend’s dd works every day in a civil service job dealing with modern slavery.

Saying something questionable wasn't the extent of it though. She was clear that the girl's - legitimate, reasonable, provable, common - opinion wasn't welcome in their school.

If you are telling me you'd be in jail if you went around threatening people with sanctions to get them to aquience to your belief system - then maybe you should be in jail - but most people have the good sense to stop long before their loose words amount to this coercion.

A lot of kids these days think/say/are being told they are trans because they have been taught that not following stereotypes => trans, rather than not following stereotypes => stereotypes are not rules, you have different but valid interests, you are you.

No, what's unacceptable is teachers bullying students and brainwashing them.

What concerns me most is that the recording is taken out of context. It sounds to me that the two girls attacked the cat student and the teacher defended the “cat”. From the recording it is unclear if the other student really identifies as a cat or is using it as an example, which is what I suspect. The thing that worries me is that the students should not be allowed to record their teacher and the recording should not be published. If the girls think they have a case of teacher misconduct that should be pursued through the proper channels. This sets a dangerous precedent and I am not surprised that people are leaving teaching,

Another point is that the recording could have been edited and taken out of context. The girls do not include what they said to and about the other student to make the teacher lecture them on the school’s policy on inclusion.

I still teach and feel she massively overstepped boundaries here bullying pupils. As for suggesting another school - flipping heck!

'How dare you? You just really upset someone, saying things like [you] should be in an asylum.' This is a shocking statement; sticking up for non binary people, but at the expense of deriding mental illness. It sounds like this teacher is in the wrong profession if this is typically how they express their opinions. In general, I don't agree with the culture of recording people with the aim of exposing them on the internet. On the other hand, the student didn't say anything which wasn't true and I would have hoped teaching students to respectfully discuss differences in opinion is a skill most schools and colleges would encourage.

I don't have any sympathy for the teacher TBH. She obviously believes what she's saying, most of which is factually untrue. She doesn't sound like she's been forced to say it, she sounds like a true believer.

As for needing guidance on how to tackle this, surely you don't need guidance to not completely lie and disparage pupils who disagree?

Let's say the government goes (even more) nuts and sends out guidance that says you need to teach something like the earth is flat, or being gay is a sin, or that there's one true religion and everyone else will go to hell, would you teach it as is or stop and question it?

Surely you need to think for yourself about whether things are appropriate and true? Why would you teach blatant lies? Which lies are acceptable and which aren't? What makes this subject the one that it's okay to lie about?

Why do people that believe in gender have so much power over people that they can stop them speaking the truth?

@Fisharejumping what bit about “there are three sexes, male, female and intersex” has been taken out of context?

She shouldn’t be teaching. She hasn’t been able to grasp the nuances of teaching tolerance without misinforming kids. So either she’s none too bright or she’s pushing her own agenda. Thank goodness her lack of suitability as a teacher has been brought to light.

The proper channels that lead to them having to change schools? Because they pointed out a human cannot be a cat?

It is pathetic nonsense like this that got us here. The proper channels are captured. That's the fucking point.

No, regardless of the point she was making or the argument taking place, she shut down those girls views in a disgusting, really nasty way. She didn't allow for any kind of debate and attempted to indoctrinate them. Either she's severely brainwashed herself or she actually believes these things. Either way if that's how she conducts herself she shouldn't be a teacher and deserved what she got for trying to indoctrinate pupils to her ridiculous ideology.

On a larger scale the government and DofE have a lot to answer for. Why are we teaching this to children? It disgusts me. Brainwashing in the highest order.

Teacher is a respected position in society, you are not supposed to bring the profession into disrepute even when you are not at work. I would expect teachers to not behave in a way that could get them sacked whilst AT work either.

This woman was bullying and threatening two children AT work because they didn’t follow her ideology.

No sympathy at all for her. If those girls hadn’t had that video as proof you know damn well no one would have believed them.

I hope more children see this and record their teachers if they are forcing complete lies down their charges throats. It’s the only way to get this ideology out of our schools.

Sorry, what?

Believing you are a cat = mental illness
Believing you are Napoleon = mental illness
Believing you are worthless and should kill yourself = mental illness
Believing you are too fat = mental illness
Believing you are the opposite sex = a genuine physical mistake that should be fixed.

I think going forward teachers need to wise up to potential recording. Bit like emails people need to think how things sound to others

At one school whenever I had a meeting with a rather tricky head I always recorded them just in case

this teacher has been naive

RhymesWithOrange
100% agree with you.

Maybe we should also consider why these girls felt they needed to record the interaction with this teacher. Unlikely to be the first time she spouted this, and the girls know anything they said would be twisted and be named 'transphobic and bigots'. They were clearly protecting themselves because they needed to.

Either she's severely brainwashed herself or she actually believes these things

I do t believe anyone actually believes it. People either just use it as a way to increase their social standing, prove they are better than everyone else some how. The better you lie the better you are kinda thing. And it's a good way to be a complete dick to people and get away with it. No one in their right minds would look at a six foot six bearded individual and genuinely believe they are a woman and leave their sick disabled grandma alone with them for a bed bath.

Funny how most the people who claim to believe it know exactly who to marry, or ask to carry a baby for them.

@Imnotahoarderreally the context was a history lesson on 17th century slave trade. A lot of progress has been made and you can’t compare the lives of black people then with what it is today and what slavery back then was and what it is today they are poles apart.

This was clearly not someone in a difficult position trying to avoid controversy. This was someone who was pushing her own ideology onto young people and threatening them with punishment (exclusion?!) if they don't wholly swallow their viewpoint.

This is not how teachers should behave. I have zero sympathy. These are the kind of teachers I still have nightmares about and I'm in my 60s!

No one is born in the ‘wrong body’ the brain doesn’t come in two flavours and some people have a ‘girl’ brain in a boy body. That is complete nonsense.

Some people have gender dysphoria, which should be treated but not be validation and encouragement. In the same way an anorexic had body dysphoria they are given support and treatments, not encourage to be their ‘true selves’ and eat less, given appetite suppressants etc…

There are only 2 sexes. DSD are disordered around those 2 sexes. The 1 in 100 being intersex is highly offensive as it includes PCOS and endometriosis (anyone suffering from these knows full well they are female!!!)

Gender is bullshit.

2 sexes infinite personalities.

If the teacher is not a trans activist then she would have done well not to act like one.

Why do teachers needs guidance about how not behave in such a grossly unprofessional way? Do teachers usually speak to students that way whenever one of them raises questions about what they are being taught? How stupid do you have to be to believe there are three sexes?

Its possible to respectfully acknowledge preferred pronouns without buying into a harmful ideology. Young girls are having their breasts removed and taking wrong sex hormones which have permanent effects because they are being told they can choose their "gender" and change "sex". A teacher is in a position of authority, they should not be telling lies which could lead to harmful consequences. If they are incapable of teaching respect and tolerance without telling lies they should not be teaching.

Many people have been warning about the harmful effects of this ideology for years and have a suffered far worse consequences than this teacher for their trouble. Just following orders is no excuse for allowing gender nonsense to be taught as fact. Teaching was always going to need to prepare it's excuses for indoctrinating children with this harmful ideology, time to start thinking about what your excuses are going to be.