Teacher told my child that child is not a Muslim

[Jkam24]

My daughter has recently started reception and asked me today if our family are Muslims, to which I said yes. She then started crying saying her teacher told her that she (my daughter) is not a Muslim. Is it unreasonable to be angry about this?

I understand your initial reaction to be pissed with the teacher but sleep on it and calmly ask the question tomorrow, 99% chance its a misunderstanding and can be resolved with a quick conversation. If however its the 1% chance the teacher knows DC is Muslim and has decided they have an issue with that and want to convince her she's not or that its wrong to be Muslim then absolutely take it further but always double check both sides first in anything your DC tells you as good comprehension skills or not misunderstanding and mishearing does happen a LOT more than blatant racism or incompetence by a teacher

Kohll - I'm just going to ignore you as you don't have the basics skills to have a conversation without rudeness / sarcasm. Your hostility says a lot.
BusWankers - I'm not a mother who thinks my child is more intelligent or special - her other teachers have mentioned she is advanced for her age - nothing more, nothing less. Thanks though.
Fojn - the patronising remark was towards those knowingly being patronising. Of course it's reasonable to get the facts first. Its not really a jump as Islamophobia is rampant, even in this thread with the little microaggressions being thrown around, however I did say might

It sounds like a misunderstanding to me.

She wouldn't risk her career!

Sounds like your idea of discussing it with the teacher is a good one. With the best will in the world, kids do misunderstand things. But if there is something murkier under it, you need to know as soon as possible.

Well yes, exactly. Probably not relevant as the teacher is unlikely to have said this thing but this is correct. A 4 year old doesnt have a religion, any more than they can say father christmas is real or the tooth fairy.

They dont have the understanding to determine whether they believe theres a god or other gods or what that means and what other belief systems there are or are not.

I don't think a teacher would do that.

Side? These are not 2 equals in a discussion

You don't understand what ignore means do you, if you respond to me to call me hostile.

I think you're way off the mark and I'm not being sarcastic in the slightest. She is just four. She's not so advanced she couldn't misunderstand. She's clearly not advanced enough to understand she belongs to your religion even if she has a sense of what it means. And it's simply not a typical thing for anyone to deny another person's religion (even if you wanted to be offensive, it's not) and even less so an adult getting to know, and caring about teaching, a brand new pupil.

Similar happened to my son actually when he was young, but it was because he looks white - the TA had asked the class who was celebrating Eid, he put his hand up and was told to put it down and ‘no not you’ he was very confused so I did mention it to school and they took it really seriously (way more than I expected), because his religion had been prejudged by his appearance.

Sky Fairy? Is that really necessary? Grow up.

To clarify, my thought train was perhaps what moondune said - and whether the teacher has any right to say this if that was the case. I've been teaching for over ten years and personally would not feel comfortable making any comment or opinion on what a child's religion is. I'm also surprised that many of you are surprised that teachers can have bigoted views - I see it often with teachers of all / no religions.

I didn't think of this, my DD is mixed too so perhaps that played a part.

You win Mumsnet today 👏😄

I think you're right to raise it with the teacher, your child was upset. Did you put Muslim on her admission form? She said she didn't know she's Muslim, do you think she just got confused or was it the teacher's phrasing?

I would not really expect the teacher to remember every single interaction all day long so it wouldnt surprise me if she says she didnt have this conversation or cant remember it. No doubt that will be more cause to be suspicious of the teacher

Im not a teacher, I have misgivings about the education system/schools but F me, who would be a teacher what with the new Ofsted stuff and this sort of thing.

I don’t think your child would be lying if she’s getting upset to this extent.

I also don’t think the teacher has any right to be saying someone is or isn’t a particular religion

What is the point of this post actually?🤷‍♂️

It's most likely a misunderstanding BUT you would be surprised what I've known teachers say to students when they think it will not get repeated.

@Jkam24 your daughter is just 4 years old. Instead of getting worked up, just ask the teacher. It's easy for the child to misunderstand especially at her age.

A TA once joked with me, if I promise not to believe everything dc says about school, then school promise not to believe everything dc says about home.

Don't be too hasty to jump to conclusions. Your daughter is very young, and may have misunderstood. I think you need to speak to her teacher immediately and clarify exactly what was said to your daughter. I hope this was just a case of confusion, rather than prejudice. However, if after speaking to the teacher, you have any doubts at all, please take it up with the head teacher.

You won’t get any sympathy from anyone here. Islamophobia isn’t a thing according to most, any other religion and you would have had a different response.

Go with your gut, speak to the teacher and investigate firstly. It’s not a leap to think that there are perhaps racist undertones. I would like to think it is unlikely however you never know with the current climate.

Are you saying that Islamophobia is seeking out Muslims and telling them they're not one?

I think people are being super harsh here. OP I’d speak to the teacher tomorrow and get things straightened out either way