Noticia

Europa/Reino Unido/Abril 2016/Fuente:TheGuardian /Autora:Sally Weale

Resumen: La Asociación Nacional de Directores de Escuela (NAHT) ha pedido al gobierno para hacer PSHE una parte estatutaria del plan de estudios para proteger a los maestros de las reivindicaciones que están siguiendo una agenda personal, lo cual puede resultar en una ruptura de la relación entre la escuela y la comunidad.

National Association of Head Teachers wants personal, social, health and economic education enshrined in curriculum

Headteachers have been accused by parents of brainwashing their children after disagreements about teaching on topics such as homosexuality as part of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) is calling on the government to make PSHE a statutory part of the curriculum to protect teachers from claims that they are following a personal agenda, which can result in a breakdown in the relationship between school and community. The situation is particularly fraught in primary schools because of disagreements about what topics should be covered at what age, though once parents are told the details of the age-appropriate material being used, they are usually reassured.

In one incident at a primary school in Birmingham in 2014, police were called to a meeting of parents who were concerned about a teaching programme called Challenging Homophobia in Schools (Chips).

The NAHT, along with other teaching unions and many public bodies, has long campaigned in favour of compulsory sex and relationships and PSHE education. In March the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, ruled against making the subjects mandatory, despite receiving a joint appeal from MPs on four key House of Commons committees.

Earlier this week MPs launched an inquiry into sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools following preliminary research, which led to renewed calls for compulsory PSHE and SRE (sex and relationships education).

Russell Hobby, the NAHT’s general secretary, speaking before the union’s annual conference next week, said: “We don’t think we need to make PSHE statutory to make teachers do it, but to protect teachers when they do. Otherwise they are vulnerable to accusations that they are pursuing a personal agenda.

“We’ve seen really difficult situations where parents who disagree with the philosophies that are being promoted are saying, ‘You’re doing this, you’re brainwashing our children.’ It’s really helpful to professionals on the frontline to be able to say, ‘No, this is a duty, it’s government regulation and I am doing this, as every school in the country is.’”

Asked for examples of allegations of brainwashing, Hobby said: “If you deal with topics relating to homosexuality in a lesson and a parent from whatever background disagrees with that, they say, ‘I do not want my children taught about these issues.’

“The trouble is, these are controversial topics which our society doesn’t wholly agree on and teachers are having to be quite brave sometimes in doing that and we should have their back when they do that.”

Sarah Hannafin, NAHT policy adviser and a former teacher, said dedicated curriculum time for PSHE was widely supported by parents as well as teachers, though not all teachers were at ease delivering the lessons. “Some teachers don’t want to teach sexual education because they don’t feel comfortable doing it. That’s why training is so important, and if you’ve got dedicated curriculum time, that’s when you get dedicated teachers teaching it.

“They are the people who have chosen to teach that content and have got the expertise and the confidence. In some schools everyone is teaching a bit of PSHE, and that’s when the problems can arise, because some staff aren’t going to be comfortable dealing with those issues. That isn’t what they trained for.”

Fuente de la noticia: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/21/teachers-protection-parents-brainwashing-claims-union-says

Fuente de la imagen: https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/990c42cc11c9f20c8bdc6b76cc217cae88e180e0/0_177_4064_2438/master/4064.jpg?w=1920&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=c0790c1d651dfc26fcef2ece29c2d88d