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Original poster

I am a teacher in a school - is this right?

262 replies

TTlover · 13/07/2021 12:13

Hi all.

I am a primary school teacher (UK) and after the racism that has been happening in the football, I taught the children in my class a lovely lesson on equality.

The children then made equality posters and anti racism posters.

We then went to put the posters up around the school.

The head teacher approached me and asked all of the children to take them down.

I feel really upset by this. It wasn’t an issue with the blue tac on the walls as there are always posters going up from other classes.

I had to turn all of my children around, ask them to take their posters down and then come back up to the classroom with the children confused.

Perhaps I should have asked first, but I really didn’t see it being an issue.

Did I cross the line? Now I feel anxious.

OP posts:

Mum233 · 13/07/2021 14:23

without. Don’t know what happened there!

nongnangning · 13/07/2021 14:27

@TTlover It is worth someone saying on this thread with its many wishy washy, apologist ('oh perhaps you stuck a poster on the wrong bit of wall') responses that not all schools and heads are like yours. Be an (anti-racist) upstander, not a bystander, I think the saying goes, which I think is what you are trying to do.

The HT of my DC (very diverse, strongly anti-racist) school sent a message to all parents yesterday saying the racism around the football had been shocking, they were discussing in school and please could parents back this up at home.

TheGlassBlowersDaughter · 13/07/2021 14:38

[quote nongnangning]@TTlover It is worth someone saying on this thread with its many wishy washy, apologist ('oh perhaps you stuck a poster on the wrong bit of wall') responses that not all schools and heads are like yours. Be an (anti-racist) upstander, not a bystander, I think the saying goes, which I think is what you are trying to do.

I don't know anything about whether you should have asked permission or not (or why your HT hasn't given a reason to tell you to take them down), but I for one think it is great that you tried to tackle it. Well done from me.[/quote]
Performative poster hanging isn't always the best way to tackle serious issues with DCs. Conflating admin issues about wall usage with being a bystander to racism is a massive leap. Your HT is co-ordinating a school community wide response. That's rather different from what OP did.

overnightangel · 13/07/2021 14:39

“ I have no hidden agendas - I wouldn’t even know politics if it hit me in the face !”

Oh fantastic so you’re teaching an ad hoc lesson on your own personal take on Equality , knowing nothing of the political connotations of probably the biggest political football of the present day ….

Sittinginthesand · 13/07/2021 14:40

What Theglass said!!

Andrea87 · 13/07/2021 14:41

This is great for the children to do this as a learning curve and also to show they care and get this message across. Don’t waste their posters please - you could colour photocopy them and reduce them to A4 size and stick them in a special book to be put in the school reception , library or classroom for next year - if the headteacher allows this.
I have made lots of similar books which were valued by children, parents and visitors for a number of year(s).

Sittinginthesand · 13/07/2021 14:43

Overnight - presumably there are students from a range from of backgrounds in the classroom, where they considered? Racism is a serious issue that needs proper addressing and a school wide approach, a quick poster isn’t enough.

lightand · 13/07/2021 14:45

@overnightangel

“ I have no hidden agendas - I wouldn’t even know politics if it hit me in the face !”

and a primary teacher is not asking the Head what they may have done wrong. Glad you are not teaching a kid of mine op. Personally. Flip.

starfishmummy · 13/07/2021 14:51

Somebody just wrote on the staff WhatsApp group that their children are posting eco posters around the school.

Then perhaps the space you used was already spoken for.

justhisonce345 · 13/07/2021 14:53

@HarebrightCedarmoon

Anti-racism is not a political agenda in itself. Either you are for racism or against it, there isn't a middle ground of "Well, it's ok sometimes."

Well no, but the debate is not ' is racism okay?'

The debate is around what do people think of some forms of activism and analysis? For example, if someone does something bad, is it ok to accuse them of 'enacting whiteness.'? Some people would regard the sentence 'enacting whiteness' as a racist statement. Some people would see it as part of anti-racist theory. There are debates over the definition of racism. So yes, there's a lot of room for politics and debate over the approach.

1forAll74 · 13/07/2021 14:54

Maybe should have put them up in your own ,one classroom. as the children got the message, with doing all their own poster work,

nongnangning · 13/07/2021 15:00

Performative poster hanging isn't always the best way to tackle serious issues with DCs. Conflating admin issues about wall usage with being a bystander to racism is a massive leap. Your HT is co-ordinating a school community wide response. That's rather different from what OP did.

OP is your HT co-ordinating a school community response to the racism? (Or if not maybe your poster-hanging will prompt something?)

User5827372728 · 13/07/2021 15:02

This is a really bizarre thread

YarnOver · 13/07/2021 15:09

If you don't know politics if it hit you in the face, as you are a new teacher I would strongly suggest you inform yourself as to politics as it's very important. This is naive of you and it isn't something to be sounding blase about ....

Findmeatthebeach · 13/07/2021 15:21

Hello OP, have you had any feedback from your headteacher yet?

IDidNotSignUpForThis · 13/07/2021 15:31

I am also a teacher. We are absolutely not allowed to put anything on the walls outside our classrooms without permission. One of the main reasons for this is fire load but also for aesthetic reasons I suppose. Perhaps the issue is not the messages on the posters but the fact you were proposing to stick 30 posters up around school without getting clearance first?

ihtwsf · 13/07/2021 15:33

I taught in several primary schools. There wasn't one where I could have gone off timetable and taught a "lovely lesson on equality" without it being cleared by the head, simply because everything to be taught had to be planned and checked each week.
Any issues which arose, similar to this one, or other world events (I can remember 9/11 in particular) were discussed at morning briefings and a whole school approach agreed upon. Most often the issues were tackled in assemblies with follow up work in class.

Similarly, I was not allowed to put stuff up around the school. I had display boards in my classroom and allocated spaces in the communal areas.

I think you went off timetable and then posted in communal areas without asking.
If your posters used phrases like "fight racism" the head might have objected to that too - I worked somewhere where we were not allowed to use aggressive words such as fight when discussing issues. There's a possibility that the posters crossed a line in this way.

I think the issue is too complex to just plan a lesson overnight, carry it out and put up posters without researching in more detail or seeking guidance from teaching staff with more experience. You also need to be better informed about politics.

You should also be able to ask why something is an issue - so perhaps ask to see the head to discuss it. Just say you'd like to know what the problem was so that you can learn from it.

However, it could be that the school (head) really don't want to tackle racism at all, for whatever reason, preferring to ignore it and brush it under the carpet.
What are the backgrounds of the children in your school?
I once worked in a school which was 99% white and the head refused to do any work on diversity whatsoever because he said it did not apply to us!

IDidNotSignUpForThis · 13/07/2021 15:33

I also think we need to slow down the judging- the headteacher is not necessarily a bigot or racist because they didn’t agree to the posters being put up all over school. Major displays in general areas in school are usually planned/ designed as a school wide issue? Not sure this is a racism issue at all …

ohfuckitall · 13/07/2021 15:48

I once worked in a school which was 99% white and the head refused to do any work on diversity whatsoever because he said it did not apply to us!

Original poster

TTlover · 13/07/2021 15:53

@Sittinginthesand no offence, but I really think you are looking too deeply into this...

I was only trying to do a good thing.

OP posts:

overnightangel · 13/07/2021 15:59

[quote TTlover]@Sittinginthesand no offence, but I really think you are looking too deeply into this...

I was only trying to do a good thing.[/quote]
It sounds very much “hey kids let’s rap!” and “notice the cool progressive stuff we (I) did to put on the walls!
You’re there to teach within the bounds of the curriculum , ie do your job, are you not ?

Original poster

TTlover · 13/07/2021 16:03

I am there to do my job.

This surely comes under British Values? And our school value of being inclusive !

Wow - you must have a really horrible life to make somebody feel bad about their job.

OP posts:

User5827372728 · 13/07/2021 16:04

@ihtwsf

That sounds like an awful environment to teach in.

At secondary, we can plan and do whatever we want every day with our tutor group. I could spend a month looking at equality in that time without anyone checking what I am doing. Also in my lessons, if something topical has come up in the news, I can totally ditch the lesson plan for the day and discuss that issue. It’s one of the reasons why I love what I do!

anon12345678901 · 13/07/2021 16:08

This is very strange, it's almost like you're trying to insinuate the school won't let you put them up because they are anti racism, whereas it's more than likely you had to have asked, which is the norm for a lot of schools, and there are other bits going up.

DinaofCloud9 · 13/07/2021 16:08

You really don't know anything about politics? That's stranger than being asked to take down some posters.

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