Following a dossier that revealed that pupils are being taught ‘politically-based’ lessons about racism, police and colonialism, MPs were warned to be careful.
Teachers are accused of introducing pupils into ‘politically based learning materials’ in lessons about racism, colonialism, the police and other topics.
Education Secretary Nadhim Ziawi warned schools earlier this month against teaching about white privilege as if it were facts and stated that it was a contested viewpoint that could push partisan politics on to pupils.
His intervention was in response a Commons education committee report that said teaching white privilege could violate the Equality Act.
Nadhim Zahawi, Britain’s Education Secretary, warned schools not to teach about ‘white privilege’ earlier this month.
A stock photo of GCSE students putting themselves forward in class. The Free Speech Union submitted a dossier highlighting individual cases in schools to the Department for Education.
The report stated that telling children that they are different due to their race is illegal.
The Telegraph reports that Mr Zahawi received a dossier this week that included details about cases in which schools in the country were allegedly involved in ‘politicized teaching’.
The Free Speech Union’s file contained examples from 15 schools in England.
One example of such a situation was highlighted at Piggott School, Berkshire. Parents were said to have raised concerns over a classroom resource called ‘A kid friendly guide to social justice terms’.
A worksheet refers to police as “workers chosen by, protecting, and serving people in power” and racism as “rules, ideas and actions that target people who are of colour to keep them under control of those who already possess racial power”.
The dossier also stated that the school taught its pupils that micro-aggressions are a form ‘unintended’ discrimination.
This could be as simple as asking someone from a minority ethnicity about their English or telling them that their hair would look great if it were straight.
Jonathon Gullis, Tory MP and author, stated earlier in the month that the expression “white privelege” is racist.
Jonathon Gullis, Stoke-on-Trent North MP (pictured left with Jacob Rees-Mogg) defended his belief that the expression “white privilege” is racist and extremist and that teachers who use it should face discipline and be reported to the government’s counter-terror program as extremists.
Jonathon Gullis, Stoke-on-Trent North MP, stated in a statement that he was told “lefty Twitter is in meltdown” because he claimed the term is used in schools and colleges.
The Stoke-on-Trent North MP also said teachers that use it should be disciplined and reported to the government’s counter-terror programme as extremists.
In a statement, he added he had been told ‘lefty Twitter is in meltdown’ because he said the use of the term in schools, colleges and university’s is extremist.
The Free Speech Union dossier also made reference to Chesnut Grove Academy, Balham. It stated that pupils were given a worksheet that asked “What is the purpose for a police officer?” Before a section containing the ‘key words’ ‘colonies’, racial profiling and juvinile [sic], corruption reform, accountability
According to the dossier, a teacher from a Kent secondary school was also reported to have made a comparison between former US president Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler during an history lesson.
Students were told at a secondary school in Lewisham that they were privileged because they were white.
The dossier states that the same students were also told by the police that they’must reform’ and that they’should engage with protest’.
It comes after a landmark June parliamentary report that found that English education system has systematically ‘let down’ white working-class students for decades. Furthermore, promoting notions of ‘white privilege’ only makes matters worse.
Robert Halfon, MP, the Tory-dominated Commons Education Select Committee’s chair, stated that white working class pupils are among the most under-achieving in the country, and that they ‘feel anything but priviledged’.
A spokesperson for Department for Education said that schools must remain politically neutral and should be aware that pupils may be exposed to opposing views.
“We expect that, in most cases, concerns regarding political impartiality within schools can be addressed through dialog and agreement on simple mitigations.
Although the Free Speech Union was contacted for comment, a Sunday tweet called on the Government’s attention to the issue ‘before the situation gets out of control’.
It stated: “Schools should be exposing their children to a wide variety of views and encouraging them debate and make up own minds, rather than teaching a narrow ideology.
“The Government must address this problem before it spirals out of control.”
Piggott School as well as Chesnut Grove Academy were also contacted.