My 5yo's teacher is insufferably woke

[Ladyday1995]

Apologies if this is not in the right category.

My DS started year 1 in September. His new teacher has been somewhat of a thorn in my side for a few weeks. Nothing serious though and I've never had much need to speak much to her.
DS came home last week waxing lyrically about COP26, how we are wrecking the planet and destroying animals habitats. He quite rightly doesn't understand what he can do about it, we live a fairly "green" lifestyle etc. We talked about it at length so I could make sure he understood.
Anyway, I'm not all too happy that this is what he's being taught in his valuable schooling hours. I've had a little peep on teachers Twitter and she jumps on many trendy societal issues of today, even supporting insulate Britain FFS.
I realise this is a slippery slope. I'm in Wales and I know the gov has recently slipped past a controversial new "diversity and equality" plan for the curriculum. I can't say I agree with much of what I've read being taught to children, particularly regarding sex education, and gender identity.
It's a bit of a minefield. The climate change lessons aren't ideal, but I digress. My worry starts when the PSE lessons start. Ideally I'd not have my son attend these lessons at all. I am more than capable of explaining these matters to him myself when I think he is mature enough to understand. Is it unreasonable to ask for a more detailed report of what they will be studying? I don't want to look like some Pearl clutching bigot. I am concerned about how much of his teacher's political stances could seep into her teaching practice. Does anyone else have any experience or ideas of what little uns are being taught in school these days?

I'm with you OP. I wouldn't like a child of that age being taught about climate change.

This isn’t new or “woke” OP.

I was at primary school in the 80s and we did loads of learning about climate change, learnt about things like recycling and saving water etc. we also learnt about endangered animals etc.

It’s by learning about it steadily at age-appropriate levels over a period of time that kids make sense of this stuff.

Some kids will learn nothing at home about these topics; either because their parents don’t know or don’t care about it, or because they assume school will teach it.

I think learning about our world and having PSHE lessons is as important as any other subject.

@ThreeImaginaryBoys

I am not attempting to “rile you” ffs, I’m giving my opinion on your comment and telling you I think putting your own personal politics in the classroom is wrong.
I have never said I know more about teaching than you - I have pointed out that you are payed to teach your subject without shoehorning your personal politics in to it to students.
You teaching remit isn’t to do whatever the f you want because everyone else is ignorant of how teaching works - it’s to teach peoples children in a apolitical manner competently.
I swear some of the teachers on here have developed God complex’s from working with children where they’re always in control.

The vast majority of the population don’t want every random teacher injecting their particular politics (whatever they might be) into the classroom whenever they feel the need and if some teachers feel entitled to do that they have a major ego problem.

@ThreeImaginaryBoys

And of course parents can critique the attitudes and work of teachers who teach their children, I’m not sure why you think they can’t. Not only can they, they should if they feel there’s something wrong with it. Nothing could be more important.

Why do you object to five year olds being taught about consent @Megalameg?

It would be the PANTS rule they are taught. An incredibly valuable and important safeguarding tool.

[quote Megalameg]@TrampolineForMrKite

You are missing the point, it doesn’t matter what your political beliefs are or whether they align with mine - you should not be pushing them on school kids. That’s not what your payed for or what parents send their kids to school for.

Frankly it seems very egotistical, like you see the class room as your own soapbox with an audience that has no choice but to be there and listen to your irrelevant to their schooling beliefs. And since you’ve agreed with a post that basically confirms you think teachers are just so clever (it’s a basic degree ffs) that parents can’t comprehend the genius it takes to teach, I can’t help but think that’s exactly how you see it.

Once again, parents don’t care about your beliefs or send their children to school so you can live out your fantasy of being an activist or politician and let everyone know about your politics. And I’m sure kids don’t care either. You are payed to educate children in the given subject, not treat the classroom like your own private Facebook page.[/quote]
Wow. So many horrific assumptions.

@Megalameg you are wilfully misunderstanding me and teachers in general. You’re also pretending not to know about the extra training teachers need on top of their “basic degrees” for some reason.

I really think you’re on a wind up tbh. For you and anyone who feels this way, please do homeschool your kids as it’s apparently so easy to teach: that way no ones opinions but yours will come near them and I’m sure their GCSE results will be absolutely brilliant because exam specs and how to teach them are as easy as buying a workbook in WH Smiths.

@Sherrystrull it’s like banging your head off the wall. Don’t engage.

@TrampolineForMrKite

“Many a time I have explained my political stance to the kids I teach, because teaching isn’t just about the subject you teach”
“That applies whether they’re 6 or 16”

Those are your words, what is being wilfully misunderstood about them?
You proudly admit you tell kids about your politics even when it’s irrelevant to the subject your teaching and will happily do so if they’re 6. In fact you state you think that’s part of what teaching is.

This is literally what you have said in your own comment. I’m not misunderstanding or misinterpreting any part of that.
If you genuinely believe it’s your duty to tell your kids about your politics when they’ve got nothing to do with the subject you teach that is pure egotism on your part. And that you think it’s fine to do it to 6 year olds makes it all the worse.

I’m sure the parents of the kids you teach would be just thrilled to know your views about how teaching is more than the subject your meant to teaching their kids and what that entails.

[quote TrampolineForMrKite]@Megalameg you are wilfully misunderstanding me and teachers in general. You’re also pretending not to know about the extra training teachers need on top of their “basic degrees” for some reason.

I really think you’re on a wind up tbh. For you and anyone who feels this way, please do homeschool your kids as it’s apparently so easy to teach: that way no ones opinions but yours will come near them and I’m sure their GCSE results will be absolutely brilliant because exam specs and how to teach them are as easy as buying a workbook in WH Smiths.

@Sherrystrull it’s like banging your head off the wall. Don’t engage.[/quote]
Hear hear.

Interesting assumption that teachers only have their 'basic degree' as a qualification. Not like any of us have come from different backgrounds, eh?

But I'm going to shuffle off and put together my evil plan for corrupting the nation's youth next week ... just need to open my box of hidden agendas ... :)

@Megalameg

You fail to have any understanding how teaching and learning happens in a classroom. The relationship between children and their teachers means that interesting questions are asked, conversations are started and children and adults share their opinions. That's how children learn that different people believe different things and having different opinions is ok!

@Sherrystrull

Actually like everyone I’ve spent plenty of time in the class room as a student - and I don’t recall a single one of my teachers (especially in primary school) explaining their political stance in a totally unrelated subject as @TrampolineForMrKite says they do with pride.

Alternately - you could simply choose not to let the children know all your political beliefs either prompted or unprompted (which I’m sure would be most parents preference) by telling them that you don’t talk about that while teaching.
I’m sure the kids could cope with that, though some of the teachers would apparently find it quite difficult not to share their politics with 6 year olds (something I wouldn’t have known before this thread but you learn something new everyday).

[quote Sherrystrull]**@Megalameg

You fail to have any understanding how teaching and learning happens in a classroom. The relationship between children and their teachers means that interesting questions are asked, conversations are started and children and adults share their opinions. That's how children learn that different people believe different things and having different opinions is ok!
[/quote]
@Sherrystrull Exactly this. I tell them my opinions on all sorts of things. I once had a bottom set year 11 class who accessed MacBeth mostly through a BBC version where James McAvoy was a sous chef in a fancy restaurant. We talked at length about our opinions on food and most of the kids were Muslim (and I have a Jewish background) so we got to discussing whether kosher/halal diets were still of any relevance in the 21st century- because they brought it up. I have some of my opinions about that too. Should I have just slammed my copy of MacBeth on the desk and cried “Get back to the Shakespeare! Here we speak about nothing but books!!!!”?!

@Megalameg you seem to not like teachers much. I wonder why this is. I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned how much holiday we get yet and/or the unions being too powerful.

@ThreeImaginaryBoys we can team up. What shall we start corrupting them about first? I

@TrampolineForMrKite says she teaches 11-16 year olds.

I've been to hospital, doesn't mean I have any idea about being a doctor.

@TrampolineForMrKite

Actually no, I like plenty of teachers - I don’t however like the egocentric and overreaching attitude you say you take toward teaching.

@Sherrystrull

And also said in their own comment that they thought it was part of teaching to tell their personal politics to children, even if it wasn’t part of the subject whether they are 6 or 16. This is literally what they have commented.
Excuse me for reading it as they wrote it.

I’m astonished that a teacher would a) use their real name on social media and b) not have their account set to private.
How exactly did you find it?

This is what she said

As for the teacher being “insufferably woke”.... sounds like she’s passionate. Many a time have I explained my political stance to the kids I teach (11-18) because teaching isn’t just about the subject you’re teaching. I have never tried to make students believe what I believe, but I believe it’s important to discuss it. That applies whether they’re 16 or 6.

I took this as talking about opinion in an age appropriate way.

@Sherrystrull

Yes and they’re wrong. It’s not important for them to discuss what they believe with their students, nor is it their job - especially when it’s “not about the subject your teaching” ffs.

It’s egotistical to think discussing what they believe politically is even remotely a necessary part of the job they are payed and entrusted to do.

You can interpret the comment more generously than it warrants if you want but the only thing the comment actually says is that they think it’s important they discuss their political stance with children, because teaching is about more than the subject they teach to them and that they’re happy to do this with 6 year olds.

I seriously question the professionalism of any teacher who has discussed their political stance “many a time” in the classroom, especially in unrelated subjects.

Sorry if you answered and I missed it but why do you object to five year olds being taught about consent @Megalameg?

It would be the PANTS rule they are taught. An incredibly valuable and important safeguarding tool.

If you've been teaching a while then 'many a time' might be once a year.

And teaching absolutely is about more than the subject you teach.

I don't teach politics or mention them much but I wholeheartedly object to the suggestion that I can't share my opinions with my class.

We have taught COP26 across the year groups this week in my school as part of at least one area of the curriculum. I would think that is an event with several teaching and learning opportunites that would tie in with exisiting topics, or be taught as a topical subject. It is not necessarily the teacher's own personal soap box. You seem to have made a number of assumptions.

Climate change is a fact. Home school him if you have a problem with schools teaching kids facts.

They need to learn about climate change from a really young age, so they know exactly the right thing to do as they grow older. If you’re not drumming into your kids’ heads at home that they need to look after the planet, you’re doing it wrong.

@Megalameg but your subject will feed into loads of other subjects. Especially something like English (which is my subject) which takes in history, RE, politics, sociology, art along the way. 11-18yr olds have got clear opinions and ideas of their own, they ask about yours as a teacher, but also just as an adult humans. And some of those questions will be about your politics or religion or whatever.

I remember the first time it happened when I was an NQT.... I was explaining the political spectrum to a class of year 9s.... the big line, left and right, what ideologies are important to groups along the line....which famous figures are where.... some bits from recent and historical manifestos on the board “Where would Winston Churchill have been?” .... “What about Hitler?”...“Where is Tony Blair?”.... “Margaret Thatcher?”... “Where’s our local MP?” And quite understandably they wanted to know where I would put myself. I remember distinctly being worried that I would say the wrong thing or something wrong or unprofessional. So I decided to write down words that I thought were important next to the line: “charity”, “compassion”, “help”, “support” and asked the class where they would go on the political spectrum. A pretty good way of handling it, I’d say. And whilst I made clear that I had left wing leanings and the conversation that followed underlined that, it’s hardly the giving out of “Ban the Bomb” badges and copies of the Communist Manifesto that some people seem to be associating with an “egotistical teacher” pushing their agenda on innocent minds. It was an intelligent conversation and exchange of ideas between an educator and their pupils. And it’s a pretty decent example of the conversations that have come after between me and kids of all kinds of ages, abilities and backgrounds.

I do call my pupils “Comrade” though, that’s fine, right?

@Moreandmoreandmore

*Arthur That means if a child in class says something other students need not to treat the comments as gossip. It does not mean not talking about the lesson content at all. It means not going home saying X,y and z said this. It means going home and saying we learnt about X, y and z. If the child's comments flag a safeguarding concern the teacher will deal with it.

Its about making the classroom a space where children feel they can talk freely. They are not advocating hiding information from parents about the content of the lesson*

Do you think a three year old can understand the difference?

I do think a 3 year old is unlikely to remember about keeping anything confidential anyway. It's just about practising the idea that pshe lessons are a space to speak freely. It's standard practice in pshe lessons to create an environment where children are encouraged to speak freely across all key stages. The idea of confidentiality is part of that. You are implying jigsaw, and subsequently teachers, are deliberately encouraging children to keep lesson content a secret from their parents which is an out and out lie.