I am a science teacher teaching secondary sex education and genetics

[Clairetree1]

Ever single time. Every single time. Every single time.

I am being asked how men turn into women.

I say they can't. They turn into transwomen. These are men who change their bodies to be as much like women as possible, but are still men.

Every single time I teach pregnancy I am asked how men can do it.

Every single time we go through genetics I get a shocked response for saying "this is male, this is female"

Every single time I make any distinction between male and female I am asked "are you allowed to say that?

I equate being ordered to teach that men can become woman to previous generations of teachers being ordered to teach nazi race science.

I am quite sure I will be sacked one day

[Bowlofbabelfish]

There is no mention of colleagues in the quote, only that to refer to a transwoman as a man is considered transphobia.

That means that if she teaches biology in her class (because as we all know, transwomen are in fact men) she falls foul of the school policy and can be accused of transphobia.

Are you saying she should teach the kids a lie or answer their questions with lies?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

In the school it has never been mentioned in the context of science teaching. However in the school policy, not refering to transwomen as women is listed as transphobia.

That's the entire post from the OP. It clearly shows that there is a mismatch between the science curriculum and the school's equality policy on trans issues.

[daimbars]

OldCrone are you serious? You are suggesting the OP should tell her kids that a trans women teacher is really a man?

That would create a hostile and intolerable working environment for the trans woman teacher.

It would be the OP's duty as a colleague and teacher to keep her opinions to herself and respectfully refer to her trans woman colleague as she / her.

[OrchidInTheSun]

Daim: please show the mention of the transwoman colleague.

[Ereshkigal]

Haha how typical. Hypothetical trans identified male colleagues.

[daimbars]

The OP says in the OP

I equate being ordered to teach that men can become woman to previous generations of teachers being ordered to teach nazi race science.

Then says on 10/6 at 10.22

In the school it has never been mentioned in the context of science teaching.

All the OP needs to do is swallow her bile and call any trans women who happens to be in the school 'she'. It surely can't be that hard.

[Ereshkigal]

Where is the trans identified male colleague Daim?

[OrchidInTheSun]

Oh god you really are flailing around now daim. Just quit.

[AngryAttackKittens]

As fascinating as I'm sure daim's imaginary friend the teacher at OPs school is maybe we could get back on topic now?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

As mentioned upthread, this is not a novel phenomenon in science teaching. It's already a problem in relation to teaching evolution when creationism is sometimes also taught in RE lessons.

It's not bad thing, though, that children do come across these contradictions in school. Children need to be exposed to challenging ideas and taught how to think critically and to evaluate the evidence. They also have to learn how to be respectful of other people while not necessarily agreeing with them. This is not an easy thing to do but it's how we rub along together in society.

[TimeLady]

65 posts to go, daim. Job nearly done.

#weseeyou

[daimbars]

However in the school policy, not refering to transwomen as women is listed as transphobia

This trans woman could be a colleague, a parent, a governor, the head teacher, whoever this trans woman is the school's policy is to refer to her as a woman.

[daimbars]

Orchid you are the ones flailing, you cannot come up with a single coherent argument to support the OP's claim she is being forced to teach the Nazi Race Science that men can become women (apart from she's not she's being asked to call trans women women).

[daimbars]

It's not bad thing, though, that children do come across these contradictions in school. Children need to be exposed to challenging ideas and taught how to think critically and to evaluate the evidence. They also have to learn how to be respectful of other people while not necessarily agreeing with them. This is not an easy thing to do but it's how we rub along together in society.

Yes, quite.

[OldCrone]

daimbars
Read this post from a transwoman science teacher
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3238618-Trans-Media-Watch-has-written-to-parliament-saying-trans-identified-male-can-be-considered-as-hate-speech-and-that-Mumsnet-users-referring-to-penises-are-being-transphobic?msgid=77584383

I hope this will go straight to the post, otherwise it's the post by DebbieInBirmingham Thu 03-May-18 11:56:01

[Ereshkigal]

Oh so you're saying the OP should facilitate a challenging class discussion about transgenderism, enunciating the science? Great idea!

[R0wantrees]

Debbie Hayton writes: 'A Plea To Trans Activists: We Can Protect Trans Rights Without Denying Biology'

"Muddled thinking about sex and gender, and what it means to be male or female, also threatens the credibility of transsexual people who transition to escape the chronic and debilitating effects of gender dysphoria. I know that struggle first hand. I can recount the standard trans narrative of discomfort with my sex from a very early age. Throughout childhood I yearned to be female but concrete reality displaced my wishful thinking, and instead I grew into a man who married and had a family.

I graduated in physics and became a high school teacher. When gender dysphoria finally overwhelmed me, my goal was to carry on teaching and stay out of the newspapers. That strategy was partly successful: I still work in the same school, but my desire for obscurity has been obliterated. I was never exposed by a hostile press, as even the most antagonistic journalist would struggle to spin much from my unremarkable transition. I outed myself when I started to challenge postmodern thinking that suggests our sex depends not on our chromosomes, but what is in our heads; something that is not based in facts and evidence but in feelings and opinions; something that has established the mantra transwomen are women.... " (continues)
quillette.com/2018/03/30/plea-trans-activists-can-protect-trans-rights-without-denying-biology/

[Bowlofbabelfish]

She’s supposed to teach facts. And then told that calling a transwoman a man is transphobic

It’s like being asked to teach biology but any mention of evolution is banned.

There is no mention in the policy of colleague or ‘people one encounters in person.’ Simply a blanket statement that if she tells the truth it’s considered a hate crime.

I find that rather worrying. At best, it’s a poorly thought out policy to not differentiate between creating the best atmosphere in school/civilised getting along with those you disagree with and ideology.

At worst, it is indeed a policing of the truth.

I don’t feel like I’m flailing. I feel like I’m patiently explaining fossils to creationists. I feel like I’m right. I feel the weight of an awful lot of science is behind me.

[Picassospaintbrush]

Because it's infantalising nonsense Daim.

Transphobia isn't the sanction you seem to believe it is, the truth is transphobic, science is transphobic, and mollifimg people with this condition is not the job of the public. They need to find a more robust solution than the expectation of collective pretence.

[R0wantrees]

Debbie Hayton's speech at WPUK meeting can be seen here:

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Transphobia is a badly overused word. It should be restricted to cases where people behave in a hateful way to someone who is transgender, out of prejudice, ignorance and fear. It's not in any way an appropriate word for stating scientific facts.

[daimbars]

Erishkigal

Oh so you're saying the OP should facilitate a challenging class discussion about transgenderism, enunciating the science*

Yes I am! It gives kids the opportunity to make up their own minds and talk it through. Some may think that science trumps everything while others may think there are things in the world that science cannot explain. I would be delighted for my DC to be involved in that discussion.

[Ereshkigal]

Yes. The science can speak for itself.

[daimbars]

But seeing as the OP says this has never come up in the context of science, she is just being asked to call trans women women as per the school policy, there should be no conflict between her biology classes and her interaction with trans people within the school.

[OrchidInTheSun]

It would be like religious studies then or philosophy, not science.