tim
EXPLODED TIM! (Help me!!!)
The petition is not about the organisation she works for. I don't think my employer has any right to discipline me for any petition I sign, or any demonstration I go on.
Parents gather outside Birmingham school to protest against gay teacher
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The petition is not about the organisation she works for. I don't think my employer has any right to discipline me for any petition I sign, or any demonstration I go on.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
This isn't just her signing the petition. It is her urging others to sign it.
I really think it depends on the nature of your job which petitions it should be ok for you to promote outside work.
And what if she'd joined the demo outside this school against this piece of teaching policy, which she is expected to support as part of her job? I'm very uneasy about people facing work repercussions for social media activity that is reported to their employers anonymously. But these things can't be unlimited.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
how dare she push her politics through a longstanding and legal method
newbie
undisambiguated
which part of “We are concerned that you did not demonstrate an appropriate understanding of the school’s requirement to respect and tolerate the views of others and to role model such behaviour.” isn't clear?
Why keep on about the minor reputational issue when the major requirement to respect and tolerate the views of others is spelt out?
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
andysays
Love and solidarity
Has she joined such a demo?
If not, it's a bit disingenuous to bring it up. 'What if she'd called all the other teachers in the school cunts, in front of the kids in assembly?'...
8ball
Decolonise colons!
She could easily get them on that point.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Did you read the post I was replying to.
"I don't think my employer has any right to discipline me for any petition I sign, or any demonstration I go on."
Read the thread properly and wind yer neck in.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
and what about ery?
newbie
undisambiguated
maybe. Depends on the strength of all the evidence, which we're clearly not privy to.
tim
EXPLODED TIM! (Help me!!!)
When she violates those rights; which is not what she is doing when commenting on it says or campaigning about her child's primary curriculum.
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Indeed. And posting up irrelevant rubbish about the equalities act in defence of this is rather ironic.
Some seemingly intractable conflicts of interest here. Social media and its assumed pernicious influence is something of an irrelevance here (since it is a huge, unpoliceable artefact with nebulous effects.) I abhor the opinions of this woman but as she has not been operating in direct contravention of her job ( at least, there is no evidence to suggest so) and since she is not demonstrating outside the doors of her actual school, it seems like a grossly unfair and even hyperbolic reaction on the part of her employers...which simply stokes the fires of prejudice even higher.
tim
EXPLODED TIM! (Help me!!!)
Persecuting people for opinions legally expressed outside the classroom impacts upon the rights and welfare of both staff and students in that school. It violates her rights and sets a precedent that can be used to persecute others
If she had been accused of discriminating against either students or colleagues on the grounds of her personal opinions than she should face appropriate disciplnary procedures, but this is not the allegation against her.
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
Persecution?
Shechemite
Be the sun and all will see you
One of the problems here is that there isn’t regulation for support/assistant roles (both in education and care).
tim
EXPLODED TIM! (Help me!!!)
How else would you describe it? She got the sack for expressing an opinion.
tim
EXPLODED TIM! (Help me!!!)
That is a major issue, but not related to this incident.
Not really
If my daughter had been told anything about sex or sexual relationships when she was six, I would have had serious words with her school. I've looked at the book in question and, even though it's pretty subtle, it still shows people in bed together.
She's eleven now, and I would be perfectly happy for her to be told about all aspects (with care) of human relationships, more so when she gets older and able to understand better.
I've just blocked an app from her phone (Tiktok) as it's being used for gathering data about children by the Chinese owners, and being used in India to spread porn - Am I a dodgy cunt for protecting my kid from that?
My objection is the age, not the content.
You might very well think teaching that stuff to little kids is fine, but I do not and, further, would consider anyone doing so, or supporting it, to be dodgy cunts.
I fully expect someone to tell me kids see their mums and dads in bed so it's fine, but a gay or whatever couple's kids see their mums/dads in bed, so that's already looked after for the appropriate percentage of the population. If such families have kids in any given school and the subject comes up for any reason, especially bullying, then a carefully measured bit of social inclusiveness instruction is perfectly reasonable.
Then we come to the rights of given groups, and who should be oppressed in favour of whom. I don't think it's right to oppress anyone, Muslims, Jews, LGBT, parents, whoever, so a very careful line has to be considered. In a school with no such families, why bother until the kids are able to understand basic relationships?
Anyway, in response to your accusation I'm a "dodgy cunt", I believe I'm a good dad for protecting her from learning about the wrong things too young, but teaching her all people, regardless of race, skin colour, sexual preferences, or anything else, are perfectly normal and acceptable and, most importantly, regardless of differences, we're all the same.
My daughter applied for a pastoral role model post where it was made crystal clear that her role was, in fact, to endorse and support the school above all other considerations...although nothing explicitly was said about posting on social media, daughter got the distinct impression that this was a massive no-no. Since this post was for a rather posh and exclusive all girls academy, daughter declined the offer.
newbie
undisambiguated
the main teaching union thinks that extending sex & relationship teaching to all age groups is appropriate. I don't know if you've got more than one child, but it's hard to believe one parent has a better understanding of the issues involved than the expressed view of the teaching profession.
Yes, I had wondered what 'evidence' was being offered to justify a sacking and had the impression we were really only still hearing a partial story.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
I have plenty of views that relate to my work that my employer might find objectionable. Roz Ward got suspended because her views damaged might have damaged the reputation of her employer. In that case the union was able to mobilise enough support to get the employer to cave in and reinstate her, but that won't always happen.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Was this person sacked because she damaged the reputation of her employer or because she was pushing views that directly conflicted with parts of her job?
Well, this is rather the crux of the issue isn't it? Where are the boundaries between pedagogy and child-rearing. Clumsily handled agendas, raised by competing interests usually ends with children being isolated from their peers (witness the rise in home-schooling in the US). Much depends on the perceptions of authority and the powers it assumes...but simply dismissing the anxieties of a parent as irrelevant in the face of an educational establishment frequently at war with itself is not really a guarantee that children's interests and well-being are the ultimate priority here either.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Except the gay parents. There are quite a lot of us about. And nothing about saying being gay is OK says it's better or describes anything about sexual relationships other than admitting that they're not just friends. I mean I once read a book aimed at little kids (bought in a charity shop when my daughter was small) where they really did talk about (and draw!) different sexual positions and that was dodgy as fuck, but just admitting that same-sex parents share a bed is not the same as showing actual sex.
Teaching roles always have a clause about "bringing the school into disrepute"or something similar. And I doubt there was anyone at the school "trawling social media" to see this - if we can see it, so can they, it was a public post.
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