Primary school teacher imposing her opinions

[Chichi444]

My son age 9, came home yesterday and told me that during their free reading time in class his substitute teacher had instructed everyone to pick a book of their choice but it had to be a non fiction so my son and his friend picked the bible, but they were later told to go and select a different book as the bible in her opinion would be classified as fiction my son and his friend disputed this as we are Christian and so is my son’s friend.
The teacher reaction to their disagreement was “there’s no proof whatsoever that the bible is real” so they were forced to pick different books.

I am absolutely furious about this!
aren’t teacher meant to remain impartial on topics such as religion and politics?
and is there anything I can do as a parent for there to be consequences as I find this unacceptable.

thank you for reading!

Totally. And give her the benefit of the doubt until you've heard her side! I've seen many an embarrassed parent wishing they'd done that...

I commented on your thread under Christian MN but interested to know - were they asked to go the library for non fiction book? Or was it about fact? The Bible and other religious texts will be under non fiction.

If I was asked to pick a factual book then even as a Christian I likely would not choose the Bible. Not because I don’t think it is true but because most of the New Testament is in the form of parables and not direct facts like a book on dinosaurs or plumbing.

However all this is rather subtle for a 9 year old free reading session.

It’s one of those strange things… Christianity really upsets and offends a lot of “atheists”.

A lot of anger and assumptions about a little boy who wants to read the bible - thick, smart arse, facetious…

It’s clearly fiction. She’s 💯 correct and your cuckoo.

As an atheist, I'm not in the slightest bit upset or offended by "Christianity" per se.

However, I am often upset or offended by the behaviour of Christians in the name of Christianity. Which is not at all the same thing.

All religions are basically neutral imo - they are as good or bad as the people that choose to follow them.

Religions can be used as a force for tremendous good - I know people who are motivated by their faiths to show incredible care and compassion for their fellow human beings.

But equally, religions can also do a lot of harm. They can be very divisive; some people of faith can be incredibly smug, judgmental and narrow-minded; and they sometimes use their faith to try and impose their will on others.

I do find it very hard to wrap my head around the logic of the Christian right if I'm honest. Right wing politics seems fundamentally incompatible with my reading of the New Testament, but I guess that's my point, really - people's underlying values and character tend to shape their interpretation of Christianity more than Christianity shapes their values or character.

Yes, it is extraordinary.

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBackI’ve largely encountered very peaceful and kind Christians in my life. Same with most religions. I am assuming the 9 year old boy in this particular thread is also peaceful, kind and curious. All things to encourage not knock down.

She should have just said ‘ah ok - can you find a non-fiction book with diagrams, subheadings, a glossary - that’s what we’re looking at today :) ‘

Yes, I have encountered some wonderfully peaceful and kind Christians over the years. Unfortunately, I have met quite a lot of the other kind too, and many who are somewhere in between.

I'm certainly not making any judgements about a 9yo child that I've never met, and as I said in my earlier post, if this story unfolded exactly as told, then I think the teacher handled the situation inappropriately.

That’s is so good to know I had no ideas about SIAMS thank you@ChattyGeePeaTea

As an atheist teacher in a CE School...

• if true, what the teacher said is totally inappropriate and is a personal opinion being imposed on a child = not OK
• any holy book is in a weird place between fiction and non fiction
• no CE School presents the bible as fact im RE lessons; they say 'Christians believe...'
• there would be nothing wrong with a teacher saying, 'of course, the gospels were written many years after Jesus, so we can discuss whether they're accurate or not' or other things that teach children that the Bible is not historical fact
• the school will absolutely not hire this teacher again if they know about what was said
• some children lie, so I'd not believe it without verification, which it sounds like you have

Agree the teacher could have handled differently, with some tact.

Part of a teachers job is to handle such situations with grace and skill without causing offence, or belittling someone

You should speak to the teacher to get their side (to corroborate your child’s account) and express your concerns to them, and if necessary speak to the head.