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The teacher's position at the school was terminated for the following school year after students protested against her.
By Nia Tipton — Written on Apr 18, 2023
A teacher at an all-girls private school in the U.K. was forced to apologize to her class and her job was put in jeopardy after she addressed them without taking into account their preferred genders.
While speaking to Daily Mail, the teacher, who preferred to remain anonymous to protect her students, said she was "humiliated and embarrassed" by the entire situation after being called out by her class for not respecting the way they wished to be addressed.
She refused to adhere to her students' respective pronouns and called them all 'girls,' despite their protest.
The teacher, who had recently been hired at the £20,000-a-year school ($25,000), which is part of the independent Girls' School Day Trust, was called out by her students in May 2021 after saying to the class, "Good afternoon, girls," after being told by the students that "not everyone here identifies as female."
She still refused to listen to the students' requests, even after coming in for another school day and finding that her class, full of 11-year-olds, had written their names and respective pronouns on the board, including one student who used they/them pronouns.
She told Daily Mail that her class of Year 7 students even tried to challenge her to "acknowledge" their pronouns. In response, the teacher told the class that if some of them wished to be referred to by different pronouns than the ones assigned at birth, she would need to involve their parents.
The students then organized a lunchtime protest against their teacher, where other teachers appeared to side with the young students. "I was told that they made placards with slogans such as 'Trans lives matter,'" she told the publication
"Before the end of the week, I was in some sort of disciplinary process and the head of [the] year was telling me I had to apologize to the girls."
The teacher claimed that her position at the school was phased out because she wasn't respectful of the student's gender identities.
Accompanied by the head of the students' year, the teacher was forced to stand to the side while her superior addressed the students on her behalf.
"She spoke to the children on my behalf saying no one here would want to hurt you and you're all really loved by us," the teacher recalled. "She then worded the apology in terms of, 'I am sorry you're upset and we didn't mean to offend. I'm sorry you felt bad.'"
"It was all pretty humiliating and embarrassing."
The teacher further claimed that all of the issues with her class started after students at the school in upper grades gave a presentation about "diversity and inclusion," where they touched on gender identity and respecting pronouns.
She complained that her refusal to adhere to her class's preferred pronouns resulted in her position at the school being "managed out," after she was told by the head teacher that her application to remain at the school and her contract was denied.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics.