Transgender Rights vs Religious Fundamenatalism.
My view on a current controversy in an Irish school that is the focus of international attention.
A long time ago I was in a position to exert some influence on the education policy of a large local authority in the north of England. It meant, for example, that I sat on panels charged with selecting head teachers for any school in which the post became vacant.
During my four year terms there were many such occasions, especially as one district within the authority’s purview had undergone a far reaching reorganisation. This involved closing all the existing schools and replacing them with newly established institutions so that every teacher, from head down, had to apply for roles in the new schools.
I, and the other members of these panels, were agreed that the ethos of each school was important and that it was up to the head teacher to ensure that ethos was central to the operation of the school. Central to the ideas we agreed upon were values such as inclusivity, compassion and empathy. We deemed it important that everyone in the school be treated with dignity and respect. Bullying and harassment were not to be tolerated. This applied equally to teachers, non-teaching staff and all pupils and their parents.