To not understand why Katharine Birbalsingh is so controversial

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Just that. Am I being unreasonable in thinking the results she achieves at her school and start in life her students get which they likely otherwise wouldn't - is something to be celebrated and perhaps we should look to what's going wrong in schools which face the the same socioeconomic challenges but get far poorer results. Surely I'm not being unreasonable to wonder this.

And children in those types of schools have actually wet themselves and girls have had to sit in soiled pants because of not being able to go to the toilet during lesson times. The toilets are only accessible at break when there often isn't enough time because of the volume of children using them
If woul question any school who has that sort of regime.

What did you think was feeble?

I know a lot of teachers and ex teachers and not one of them have said student behaviour is the reason they left the profession.
They have cited over restricted senior management team though and having their professionalism constantly undermined by not being allowed to show judgment in how to teach or how to deal with children. They also cite how much preparation they have to do and how many hours they have to work in their own time. For the most part the children are not the reason they left the profession.

The problem isn't that she talks to Jordan Peterson, the problem is that she invited him to her school and used her school to promote him.

As you can see, he is a pretty divisive figure.

The topic of this thread is 'why is Katharine Birbalsingh controversial' and an obvious response is that she deliberately courts controversy. Inviting Peterson to her school is one of these acts.

She is deliberately controversial and her approach to schools doesn't encourage children to think for themselves, just to become compliant worker bees. The curriculum is depressingly narrow and I would think her school would be a depressing place to learn or to teach.

Slightly off-topic, but still related. Does anyone on this thread send their child to The Swan school in Oxford? It seems to be modelled on Michaela, with very strict rules, silent corridors and family dining.

I was initially not keen, but after listening to two friends who are secondary school teachers tell me about how dire the behaviour they deal with is, I am now considering it for my child, as we are just outside the catchment (although secondary is a way off).

On the thread topic, I think Katharine B is probably onto something, in terms of her approach, but the right-wing talking head stuff makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Have you ever taught children? Very few are ever’compliant worker bees’

Here is KB’s incisive testimony to Parliament in April 2022, in her role as Social Mobility Commissioner for HMG. I quote from the BBC website: (Recall that 16% of girls at Michaela were doing physics A level as opposed to 23-24% nationally, is about 50% more in relative terms nationally are choosing physics than at Michaela)

^Just from my own knowledge of these things, physics isn’t something that girls tend to fancy. They don’t want to do it.

I just think they don’t like it. There’s a lot od hard maths in there that I think they would rather not do. That’s not to say there isn’t hard stuff to do in biology and chemistry - there is, but it’s not mathematical.^

Asked to explain [further] why she thought girls would be less likely to make the choice [of doing physics] she responded:

^I mean I don’t know. I can’t say - I mean I’m not an expert at that sort of thing.That’s what they say.

We’re certainly not out there campaigning for more girls to do physics - we wouldn’t do that, and I wouldn’t want to do that.

I mean, I want them to do what they want to do^.

A bright child could have provided more compelling testimony. Above, @noblegiraffe did.

I also want girls and boys to do what they want to do. But the statistics on suboptimal GCSE science preparation (I quoted above) and lagging physics uptake by girls at Michaela, together with KB’s complete lack of interest in exploring any of this, strongly suggest bias, a profit motive or both.

By now I have sourced my opinions rather credibly, @Ddakji . I am still interested in your sources as requested above. In HE STEM we have put rather a lot

Cont’d

…. we have put rather a lot of effort into this question and believe it to be complex

PS No idea why my italicisation using ^ symbols did not work. Meant to set off KB’s quotation to Parliament. Apologies

Yes - but fortunately not in a school like Michaela.

JP doesn't need KB to promote him 🤣 🤣

Anyone can visit Michaela.
Loads of people do.

Do you think she should vet who can visit and not allow 'controversial' people to visit?

Who gets to decide which mainstream academics are too controversial to be allowed?

The arguments here are getting more ridiculous:

She's controversial because controversial people visit her school.
The people who visit are controversial because a former archbishop didn't like his book.

Get a grip people.

Most 6th forms are selective

Of course she can vet who can visit her school, she's the headteacher.

Are you seriously suggesting that Jordan Peterson could rock up to any school in the country and the school would simply have to let him in and let him have lunch with the kids?

Michaela has lots of visitors weekly.

Anyone can apply to visit.

Anyone interested should then make a judgement.

Are you seriously suggesting she should deny JP as a visitor?

Why?

He is an academic who is only controversial in as far as some people disagree with him not in that he is a danger to children.

I thought you were all for children learning to think?

Yet you think only some views are acceptable? And JP is so terrible he shouldn't be allowed in a school??

KB allows anyone to visit and doesn't discriminate based on their views.

It's very very odd that you think she should.

Are you seriously suggesting that Jordan Peterson could rock up to any school in the country and the school would simply have to let him in and let him have lunch with the kids?

Totally stupid strawman argument.

One headteacher allowing JP tovisit their school is not the same as saying he should be allowed to visit any school he wants.

I hope kids at Michaela develop better logical reasoning skills than this.

The pp specifically said that Birbalsingh had to allow him to visit Michaela.

You are agreeing with me that she didn't.

You can request all you like - this is Mumsnet not a classroom, not a court of law and I’m just chatting. Maybe I used the word research when I meant stats - who knows? Like I said, I’m not in a classroom and you’re not (thank god) my teacher.

I would have thought that was pretty obvious but perhaps people in HE STEM can’t tell the difference between a parenting chat forum and academia.

I disagree with her except that her stance on religion in a school. She managed that very well. That case was untenable from the start, but the pressure for her to confirm her school was unbelievable.

I would not ever send my kids to one of her schools, but she set her rules and standards. Anyone who does not like them can choose another school.

Conform....

Nobody said she had to?

I said she has no reason not to.

You seem to believe that she should not because some people disagree with him.

I think this reasoning for a headteacher to refuse a visitor would be dangerously stupid, illiberal and a very poor example.

Oh, you are the person I was disagreeing with who is now agreeing with me. How odd.

Anyway, you said "Do you think she should vet who can visit and not allow 'controversial' people to visit?"

And the answer is 'yes, she can'. Which we both agree on.

Meetings for teachers at a ridiculously early hour of the morning before pre school care starts. It would be impossible for me to do my current role at Michaela as I would be expected to be I. School before I can drop my children. For context, I arrive at my school a minimum of 50 minutes before school.

I'd remove my child from any school which did this. It should be a sackable offence.