The pupils are taking over the classroom

The ‘racist’ uniform protests at Pimlico Academy have exposed teachers’ lack of authority, argues the Education Forum’s Gareth Sturdy in Spiked…

…why did matters escalate to a point where flags have been burned, police have been called, and the school stopped functioning and completely caved in? The reason is the steady ingress of the identitarian culture wars into schools, which distorts them away from education.

As spiked writer Alka Seghal-Cuthbert has commented, as adult authority in general is increasingly seen as negative, the role of the teacher has been transformed. This has emboldened pupils to challenge staff more routinely. It has also disoriented teachers themselves in relation to their job, so that they are much more likely to give ground to upstart kids.

Read the full article on Spiked.