Teachers say trans guidance to protect children is devisive

[impossibletoday]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/22/teachers-say-trans-guidance-protect-children-divisive/

Sorry, I can't get an archive site to work

https://archive.ph/4bImt

It's not about being "divisive" or taking a stance, or having a value judgement applied.

It's about safeguarding children.

If you are a teacher and you don't understand this, you are in the wrong job. Leave.

The poll, published over the summer, found that a majority of teachers – 57 per cent – had still not read the guidance some six months after it was published.

I suspect the true figure is much higher than 57%. This survey only includes teachers signed up to TeacherTapp, who are probably relatively clued up. Most of my colleagues have never heard of TeacherTapp or the guidance.

At my school there is a tiny but activist minority whom the SLT are scared of upsetting, an even tinier minority who are trying to resist, and everyone else is pretty clueless and just does as they're told.

It's about safeguarding children.

It should be about safeguarding children, but it doesn't.
There are far too many loopholes for activist teachers (at whatever level) to exploit.

And in the end they are still only guidelines, which if headteachers want to ignore they can do.

It needs to be a solid set of rules.

A mirroring of the country by the sounds of it.
Its the larger group who in the end is always the problem.
The uninformed and apathetic
"and everyone else is pretty clueless and just does as they're told.'
Tbh at this very late stage they have no business to be given their jobs.

We've had years of teachers being told the opposite - by Ofsted, politicians and the DfE. We shouldn't be surprised that they're suspicious.

I read the OP's headline as 'derisive'. Which seems to be how the guidance is regarded.

Most teachers wouldn't read guidance that comes through half way through the year unless have some responsibility for safeguarding / higher pastoral role.
In most schools we have updates to safeguarding in training at the start of the year, so perhaps ask again in mid September and you may get a different answer.
I have followed this issue since about 2015 so have read the guidance but only through finding the guidance online, not through my school. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't trickled down to all staff in schools. Rest of the year, most of us are too busy teaching to spend time updating safeguarding knowledge and teachers all know we will have to do it in September anyway.

This seems relevant to this - https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5142945-trans-inclusion-schools-toolkit-have-your-say

if you can feedback on the Brighton Council Trans Toolkit - it will help these teachers escape the madness, please take a minute!

So trans activists who have prominent noisy union reps who like to make a lot of noise but aren't actually particularly representative of the majority of teachers are saying what?

And what are actual teachers saying? And do they have guidance and support on how to handle brainwashed kids and parents who then kick back when teachers try and safeguard them against gender nonsense?

No they don't have the guidance and support. School training (including the mandatory safeguarding training) happens at the beginning of the the year. Although Streeting has been very clear about the direction of travel for the NHS in stopping experimental puberty blockers for children, there's been no steer for schools yet from Phillipson. Which as ever leaves the space free for the activist bullies to take centre stage.

My hope is that the draft guidance - flawed as it is - will be challenging for the government to overturn. The five key principles being:

1. Schools and colleges have statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children.
2. Schools and colleges should be respectful and tolerant places where bullying is never tolerated.
3. Parents should not be excluded from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to ‘socially transition’.
4. Schools and colleges have specific legal duties that are framed by a child’s biological sex.
5. There is no general duty to allow a child to ‘social transition’

I'm not holding out much hope for change in schools at present.
It's still a topic that isn't discussed openly as many are very wary of saying the wrong thing. I can't imagine things changing quickly unless changes are mandated rather than just recommended.

Well this stuff is "divisive" because it's become a culture war. However, what some of these teachers want to teach is also "divisive".

Point being, we don't indoctrinate children with whatever the latest fashion happens to be in left-leaning circles. Rather, we insist that, in general, (allowing some exceptions), teachers have to be politically neutral and not try to push particular perspectives on their audience.

Some teachers have been acting in ways that are not only unethical, but against their legal duty. Of course they aren't going to like being told to "stop doing it", of course they are going to find that "divisive", or pretend it's "divisive" anyway. They are throwing out rhetoric because they want to keep doing their thing.

I am bringing this link up again because it is a fact that

• teachers have been acting unethically
• change is schools is possible
• parents are being excluded from decisions pf pupils to socially transition

And almost all of that comes back to the Brighton and Hove Trans Toolkit - which is open for feedback right now - more of us need to be doing it

It is a bit simplistic to to just say "trans activist teachers", they didn't just arrive in the schools.
Schools for many years were guided by stonewall when they were a respectable LGB guidance group that did a lot of good work.
When stonewall changed to the trans agenda they not only brought in activists but also had a group of well meaning members of pastoral support staff to call on that had either gone through trans training or got the school to sign up to stonewall certifications.
The activist teachers came in on the back of this and by that time stonewall had already signed up the head teachers and came with government backing.