Claire Wilson
In February 2024, Teacher Tapp undertook a poll of 4,646 teachers on behalf of HOPE not hate to find out more about prejudiced language and behaviour within schools. HOPE not hate has received increasing numbers of reports of this language and behaviour from teachers and school staff. Asking about their experiences in the classroom since September 2023, 68% of secondary school teachers reported hearing hateful language, 38% have witnessed pupils expressing hateful views, and 36% reported students praising or supporting extreme individuals.
Hate in the classroom is often discussed in terms of bullying, discrimination and child-on-child abuse. This behaviour ranges from those who use slurs often without an understanding of their origins, to those who firmly believe and actively engage in hateful views and ideologies. Between these two poles are young people who are at-risk of developing hateful world views. Teachers also report the use of slurs indiscriminately towards anyone, regardless of their background and identity.
The most common forms of prejudice teachers reported seeing from students were homophobia (61%), racism (55%) and aggressive misogyny (41%), with 35% of secondary teachers also seeing transphobia. Of course, these statistics are only reflective of what teachers have witnessed; in some cases incidents might be happening outside of supervised time and not correctly reported.
And when we spoke to her [a trans pupil] and said, Oh, could you remember what the comment was? And her response was actually, I wouldn’t be able to remember that specific comment because it’s just so commonplace every day.
Secondary school teacher
Some students might simply be better at hiding these views around teachers. A staff member in an independent school reported that pupils are smart enough to know what to avoid saying around teachers, although they were certain hateful language was being used in the school more widely.
Confidence in identifying hate
Worryingly, only approximately half of teachers report being confident in identifying and resolving conflicts involving incidents of discrimination. Discrimination based on sexual preference was the issue most teachers were confident in dealing with (63%), whereas the fewest were confident in dealing with issues where religion was the topic (51%). Previous polling on the same question from Teacher Tapp shows that this confidence has slightly decreased over time, particularly for sexual preference and religion. Support and guidance on an issue-by-issue basis is needed to boost confidence.
When it comes to cases where an individual’s hateful attitudes suggest a real risk of violence, staff reported feeling that the school was not equipped to deal with the student, but there was no alternative service or pathway for support. Staff felt confident in identifying a young person’s route to radicalisation but lacked the skills or resources to work with that individual after that.
Teachers’ experience of misogyny in the classroom
In addition to aggressive misogyny from students towards their peers, female staff members have reported an increase in deliberate and targeted misogyny towards them, often to demean or undermine.
“They have a real issue with female members of staff. They will blatantly ignore female members of staff’s instructions but whenever a male member of staff speaks to them, it is absolutely fine, they did it [follow the instruction].”
Secondary school teacher (male)
In another example witnessed by HOPE not hate in a classroom in the North-East, a KS3 male student speaking positively about Andrew Tate then told the female teacher present that he disagreed with her being in the classroom and that she should stick to her gender roles. The staff member later said that this type of sentiment from students was not widespread when she first started teaching, but that students have been emboldened by influencers such as Andrew Tate.
The problem is that they’ve learned the kind of dogmatic behaviours that those characters [Andrew Tate and others] have taught them. They also try to use their physical presence against you… often targeting or challenging those they view as assertive female members of staff.
Secondary school teacher
This type of behaviour towards teachers is worrying on many levels. We know that students will only listen to and learn from sources who they view as valid and who hold some intellectual weight in their eyes. The idea that anything that is being taught by female teachers is untrustworthy and up for debate is very concerning.
Teaching has traditionally been female-dominated, and today the proportion of secondary school teachers who are male is at a record low of 35%. With women making up the majority of educational leaders interacting with students, this erosion of respect threatens the important role of teachers and schools in challenging prejudicial ideas, and their crucial role in young people’s development more widely.
Influences on young people outside of school
Teachers and school staff have also reported an increase in anti-social language from parents. Staff we spoke to reported discriminatory language or harassment being used towards staff members and also parents directing harmful language towards other parents and even students.
It is vital that parents and schools work together to educate young people about tolerance and acceptance, but it is increasingly becoming a futile task for school staff members when parents are also buying into hateful discourse.
Teachers also mentioned that recent Conservative Government policies and guidance to school staff were paradoxical when compared to rhetoric from members of the party. Teachers gave the example of the Government rhetoric on “stopping the boats” as part of its agenda on preventing immigration to the UK – it creates a confusing mandate for school leaders and staff because some of the harmful comments students make about minority ethnic people and people who have migrated to the UK are also made by senior politicians, including the Prime Minister.
Next steps
It is also clear that the challenge of hate in schools is a complex one, with no ‘one size fits all’ solution. However, we find that schools want more coordinated guidance from the Department for Education in dealing with prejudice within schools. The government does already run a service called “Educate Against Hate” which lists guidance from 3rd party providers and charities. Whilst this is a useful resource, it also relies on individual teachers and school leaders to coordinate lessons.
Teachers were keen to emphasise that they feel unsupported by the Government when it comes to speaking up on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. They felt that the government guidance – which dealt more with what not to say than what to say – did not provide any real assistance. As a consequence of having to create their own solutions, addressing the issue has been fraught and has also caused disagreements within the staff body.
Teachers also felt that addressing issues of hatred and equality with students would be much easier if there was a reduction or cessation in the government’s questioning of the validity of minority groups – for example, transgender and disabled people. Schools do not feel supported in speaking out on these issues when it comes to incidents with pupils, as they are often directly undermined by government and media rhetoric, which many parents then also mirror.
Many schools end up having to find guidance from charities and consultants, often at a cost. With concerns about budgets, these ‘non-essential’ interventions are often the first to be cut. Teachers also raised the point that there is benefit to keeping some conversations “in-house”, with young people talking to teachers with whom they already have trusted relationships. Training for teachers on identifying and responding to hateful attitudes and behaviours would be helpful.
Plugged In but Disconnected looks at young people and the attitudes they hold. We find some shocking evidence of hateful attitudes, particularly amongst young men. Download the report today.
HOPE not hate can reveal the location of plots of land in Wales owned by the Woodlander Initiative, a land-buying scheme with links to Patriotic…
