Saturday, December 23, 2023

Catholic teacher guilty of professional misconduct after refusing to indoctrinate children in extremist ideology

Teacher sacked for telling children that LGBT practices are sinful | UK  News | Metro News

A Catholic teacher was guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct”, a regulator has ruled, after she refused to teach extreme gender ideology to pupils.

Glawdys Leger, 43, was dismissed from Bishop Justus Church of England School in Bromley, Kent, when she refused to teach “extreme and politically partisan LGBTQI lessons” to Year 7 and 8 pupils.

She was sacked for gross misconduct in May 2022 by the Aquinas Church of England Education Trust, which also claimed she was a safeguarding risk to the “emotional well-being of children”.

The trust then referred her to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which held a fitness to practice hearing to consider whether she should banned from the profession for life after 12 years working as a specialist Modern Foreign Languages teacher.

The TRA stopped short of issuing a “prohibition order” after consulting Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and admitting that it could “not be proved” that Leger had brought the profession into disrepute or that her conduct was “contrary to fundamental British values in that it lacked tolerance to those with different beliefs”.

Instead, the regulator has decided to ensure that the disciplinary action taken against her and the rulings of the TRA formed part of her professional record.

The publication of the ruling follows the government this week announcing its trans guidance for schools which says there should be a “presumption” against children being able to change gender.

Leger said: “I am relieved to not be banned from teaching in the UK. However, I find it extremely alarming that I have been found guilty of discussing and debating Christian teaching in a Christian school in an RE lesson.

“I raised what I did because children were being taught one extreme LGBTQI+ narrative at the school with no debate. Yet for raising, expressing and teaching Christian beliefs on these issues, I have been accused of not presenting a balanced view.

“Any Christian or religious school  must be upfront and honest with parents who believe they are sending their children to a Christian school, if it no longer adheres to Christian teaching or beliefs, or even its own teaching on human sexuality. 

“They must be transparent with parents that, in many cases, some Christian schools are instead pushing deeply contested and harmful ideologies on children without their parents’ permission or knowledge.”

She added: “Christian beliefs and any other religious beliefs must be respected in all schools. Children should not be misled.

“As soon as I provided pupils with the Christian teaching on these issues and encouraged debate and discussion, I was sacked and brought before a fitness to practise panel with my career on the line.

“The impact of what has happened has taken a great toll on me. The thought of me losing my career for expressing my Christian beliefs in response to questions from students has been heart-breaking.

“While they have not banned me, they have placed a significant mark against my name which future prospective employers will see. It is like I have had a ‘hate crime’ recorded against my name which will be kept on the system to highlight that I have Christian beliefs on these issues.  

“The message from the TRA is that Christian teachers must not only be silent about their beliefs, but they must actively promote LGBT ideology or risk being severely punished and even losing their careers.”

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported Leger, said regulatory bodies were creating “an oppressive environment for teachers which chills the atmosphere and prevents the expression of Christian faith in schools and any alternative or balancing viewpoint to LGBTQI+ ideology”.

She added: “Glawdys is a Christian teacher who was teaching Christian ethics in an RE lesson in a Christian school. For her to be punished for doing her job well creates censorship in the classroom. 

“Ms Leger cared deeply about the children in her care and wanted to teach them about the tolerance and hope that is found in the Christian faith. For that she has been punished and even risked loss of her license to teach.

“We are ready to continue to support Glawdys and to appeal any of the findings made against her by the TRA.”

Leger’s ordeal began after she was instructed to use materials for RE entitled Who Am I?, which included introducing 11- and 12-year-old children to gender identities such as pansexual, asexual, intersex and transgender.

The lessons were also designed to encourage “allyship”, in which “typically a non-queer person…supports and advocates for the queer community”.

Presentation slides integrated the idea that a condition of friendship and allyship at the school would involve defending and promoting any “protected characteristics”, including any gender identities – even though gender identity is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

The same presentation slide also included the Soviet-style slogan: “Equality is a strength, Diversity is our power, Inclusion is a necessity.”

Leger says she was also compelled to show pupils a film commissioned by Stonewall, the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe, called Fit, about millennials who are “not what they seem at first glance, with gay hearts lurking behind tough exteriors and straight kids expressing themselves in very queer ways”.

Leger had also grown increasingly alarmed by the promotion and acceptance of abortion and Critical Race Theory within the school.

During lesson discussions on LGBTQI issues at a staff training day, she expressed that she did not believe in transgender ideology and said that Christians believed sex outside of marriage is sin. She later declined to teach LGBT ideology during RE.

During her disciplinary hearing, the TRA panel found no evidence that Leger had said during a lesson that “God will love you more if you are not LGBTQ+”, which she had consistently and vehemently denied saying.

It also said Leger “presented as genuine and sincere in her personally held views”, was “tolerant of people from all backgrounds”, and “had no intention of causing distress or harm to pupils”.

In its decision, however, it said that “public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Ms Leger were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession”.

The Aquinas trust has previously said: “The school teaches in line with statutory requirements to promote British values and follows relevant guidance outlined by the Department for Education.”