Kevin Donnelly interviewed by Miranda Devine: Safe Schools and Gender Theory
2GB, 9 February 2017
Miranda talks to Dr Kevin Donnelly, senior research fellow from the Australian Catholic University, about Safe Schools and Gender Theory.
Good news for NSW on scrapping gender theory sex ed.
Rebecca Urban, The Australian, 9 February 2017
NSW public school teachers have been banned from teaching gender theory in the classroom after an independent review into the state’s sex and health education resources.
Students will no longer be taught that gender is a “social construct”, or that sexuality is “non-binary”, occurring on a continuum and “constantly changing”.
An edict encouraging teachers to “de-gender” their language will also likely be scrapped, along with sexually explicit case studies and teaching aids such as the “Genderbread Person”, which promotes the idea that there are “infinite possibilities” of gender identity.
Announced in September, the review by professor Bill Louden followed reports in The Australian that a sex education resource, the Teacher Toolbox for delivering content related to diversity of sex, sexuality and gender, was promoting Safe Schools materials, possibly in contravention of federal guidelines.
Further revelations about Crossroads, the state’s compulsory sex education program for Years 11 and 12, also pushing gender theory, prompted the then education minister Adrian Piccoli to order a review into the research base and scientific underpinning of the material. An update on the review has been provided to teachers, detailing a list of resources that should not be used.
The list includes the 17-page Teacher Toolbox resource, the Affirming Diversity unit aimed at Year 10 and three of the sexual and gender diversity activities contained within the Crossroads program.
One of those, called Opposite Ends of the Pole, encourages students to consider various case studies, including “Joseph”, a man married with three children who “masturbates [and] fantasises only about men” as well as “Alex”, who had sex with girls as a teenager but has developed a relationship with a man since moving to a country town.
The department yesterday declined to comment on the specific recommendations of the review and it is not clear whether the ban stems from specific recommendations or is pending the department’s response to the review.
It is also not clear whether new Education Minister Rob Stokes will have a role in endorsing recommendations from the review.
Gender theory, and its creeping influence on government-run education, has been a controversial topic over the past year, having also underpinned the divisive Safe Schools program.
The concept of deconstructing gender derives from 1990s “queer” theory and is understood to be highly contested, even within the social sciences. According to the NSW Education Standards Authority’s statement of equity principles, curriculum and support materials should reflect evidence-based research.
The document also states, however, that teaching materials should provide “opportunities for students to evaluate and deconstruct gender and sexuality”.
Labor MP Greg Donnelly, who has campaigned for the removal of Safe Schools, called on the Education Department to release the latest review.
“It is important that the public gets to see what is in the review report,” he said. “Given the highly controversial statements that were contained in the teaching material, mums and dads are entitled to know what the review report says and recommends.”
Safe Schools position statement – Nick Wakeling MP
Our schools should have a zero tolerance approach to bullying of anyone over things like race, gender, religion, sexuality or appearance.
It is important that our schools foster respect and tolerance in our children.
Despite its name, Daniel Andrews and Roz Ward’s Safe Schools program is not at all about making schools safer for students. Safe Schools is not a broad anti-bullying program that encourages our children to respect others no matter what their circumstances.
Daniel Andrews and Roz Ward’s program is all about pushing one person’s radical-Marxist ideology onto other people’s children.
Victorian schools should provide genuine anti-bullying programs for students, which promote respect for all others irrespective of their circumstances. These programs should not be a Trojan horse for politicising the Victorian education system.
This is why a Liberal Nationals Government will remove Daniel Andrews and Roz Ward’s politicised program and replace it with an initiative that sends a strong message of mutual respect and anti-bullying.
We are dedicated to ensuring that our children are educated in a safe, inclusive and age-appropriate environment for learning.
A Liberal Nationals Government will put the safety of all Victorian children first with genuine anti-bullying procedures that provide healthy learning environments for our kids.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Education, Nick Wakeling:
‘The Safe Schools name is so damaged in the Victorian community that parents no longer have any faith in the program and that’s why it needs to be scrapped. ‘
‘We need to start all over again but this time without a fringe ideological agenda and a focus on a broader anti-bullying program that teaches kids to respect everyone and where parents are engaged.’
Source: http://www.nickwakeling.com.au/shadow-minister-for-education/safe-schools-position-statement/
Opposition vows to dump Safe Schools program
Victoria’s controversial Safe Schools program will be axed if the Coalition wins the 2018 state election, with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy promising to replace it with a “genuine” anti-bullying program.
A Liberal policy document provided to Fairfax Media claims the program is “all about pushing one person’s radical-Marxist ideology onto other people’s children”.
“Victorian schools should provide genuine anti-bullying programs for students, which promote respect for all others irrespective of their circumstances,” the documents says. “These programs should not be a Trojan horse for politicising the Victorian education system.”
The Safe Schools program aims to promote acceptance of LGBTI students and was introduced six years ago by the Brumby Labor government. It continued to receive funding and support under the Baillieu-Napthine governments.
But the program has recently come under attack, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announcing a review amid claims it aims to indoctrinates children with a “gay agenda”.
The Coalition has promised to replace the “politicised” program with an initiative that sends “a strong message of mutual respect and anti-bullying”.
Opposition education spokesman Nick Wakeling said the initiative needed to be scrapped because its brand was too damaged.
“We need to start all over again but this time without a fringe ideological agenda and a focus on a broader anti-bullying program that teaches kids to respect everyone and where parents are engaged,” Mr Wakeling said.
The unambiguous pledge to scrap the program presents a clear policy divide ahead of the 2018 state election. Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to expand the program to every government secondary school by 2018, and said he received his policy advice from experts “not from bigots”.
It follows a decision by La Trobe University this week to suspend Safe Schools Coalition co-founder Roz Ward after she called the Australian flag “racist” on her private Facebook page.
And last week, Ms Ward was forced to resign from her advisory role on the government’s LGBTI education committee due to the same Facebook post.
Committee chair and Gender and Sexuality Commissioner Rowena Allen confirmed on Friday that she asked Ms Roz to stand down from the advisory role.
“The constant attacks on Safe Schools are unjustified and my decision was in the hope that the community would go back to focusing on the important work of Safe Schools and the program is about more than just one person.”
An Andrews government spokeswoman said they spoke to Ms Allen about the Facebook post ahead of Ms Ward’s resignation.
“Given the conservative campaign against Safe Schools, the government spoke to Ms Allen about the impact the post would have on young people and the program,” she said.
Meanwhile, La Trobe University could face legal action over its treatment of Ms Ward.
Maurice Blackburn wrote to La Trobe University vice-chancellor John Dewar on Friday and demanded that he reinstate Ms Ward and withdraw his allegations of misconduct.
It will commence legal proceedings in the federal court if the university fails to meet these demands by 10am on Monday.
The law firm and the National Tertiary Education Union believe that Ms Ward’s suspension contravenes the university’s enterprise agreement, the Fair Work Act and Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act.
“Constraining Ms Ward’s right to express a political opinion because of the unreasonable and unfounded reaction of particular sections of the media, and the public to that opinion stifles public debate, gives in to fear and ignorance,” employment law expert Josh Bornstein wrote in the letter to La Trobe.
Professor Dewar said the university was following its disciplinary processes and no determination had been made about Ms Ward’s future at the university.
Liberty Victoria joined the chorus of condemnation against La Trobe University on Friday, saying Ms Ward’s comments were “open political dialogue in a free and democratic society”.
Liberty Victoria president George Georgiou SC said La Trobe University “will deserve the consequences” of legal action.
A petition calling for La Trobe to reinstate Ms Ward has received more than 10,400 signatures. A rally will be held at the university’s Bundoora campus on Thursday.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/opposition-vows-to-dump-safe-schools-program-20160603-gpb7le.html
WATCH: Aussie ‘safe schools’ leader admits program is about gay activism, not bullying
MELBOURNE, March 18, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Undercover video recorded at the 2014 Safe Schools Coalition National Symposium has exposed as a lie the claim that the program is about helping students stand up to bullying in schools.
Prime Minister Turnbull reviews Safe Schools
Prime Minister Turnbull has ordered a review of Safe Schools, which receives $8 million in federal funding, while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has strongly backed the program and launched a scathing attack on Turnbull’s review.
Karalee Katsambanis: Don’t teach my kids about LGBTI issues… that’s my job
As an Australian parent-of-three, I believe that I should be allowed to choose the ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ I talk to my children about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) issues – NOT schools and NOT at 11 years old.
Karalee Katsambanis is a mother-of-three and a journalist for more than 20 years.
Safer schools or a radical Marxist sexual revolution?
Publicly the person who set up the Safe Schools Coalition program says it’s to stop bullying and suicides, but she told a Marxism conference it was part of a wider Marxist strategy to radically change society.
Patrick Byrne is Vice-President of the National Civic Council
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