Hi Yasir,
I personally don't think that punishment is the way to go. We need to learn and teach tolerance and understanding of differences. Non-binary identification is just one of a number of gender-based matters that society is adapting to. If a handful of pupils/staff do not respect the needs of this teacher then keep educating them about why they are wrong.

It may be that you have to resort to some level of punishment somewhere down the line but hopefully not - especially if the teacher involved is happy to lead the way in informing the school community about the facts. It is not just the pupils that need to be informed. Your Governing Body, School Leadership Team and staff need to be fully informed also.

Debi

This sounds like an educational issue, best handled by the teacher in partnership with the school leaders, more than it does an HR one.

In reply to Robey:

In this case... but Deborah is right in that "non-binary identification is just one of a number of gender-based matters that society is adapting to." All of us.

Hopefully, the kids will embrace it.

ps I'd not heard of "Mx" before and I consider myself relatively enlightened. Or did.

In reply to Robey:

I would agree with Robey - as far as pupils go, this is an educational issue and not really for HR; but I would say that, whilst respecting the teachers wish on how they wish to be addressed by the pupils, they also need to approach this with some understanding and patience as well.

These pupils have been taught since they were 4 or 5 years old to call teachers Miss/Mrs or Sir. Yes children need to learn to adapt and change, but the teacher also needs to understand that it may a be a difficult habit for them to break and give the pupils the benefit of the doubt that they aren't always going to be willfully ignoring their request, especially with pupils with learning difficulties etc.

It may also take the other members of staff some time to get used to it - again, it's likely an automatic response to refer to another staff member as Miss or Sir in front of pupils. Don't be surprised if, even after training, a few staff members slip up occasionally.

There needs to be understanding on both sides.

I would consider if there are any students with autism too and how this might affect them. A young person I know with autism would really struggle with this as they are very black and white thinking and logical, and I wouldn't think it reasonable for them to suffer any punishment due to their disability.

And then there's just good old fashioned mistakes. I think even I'd find it hard not to slip up on occasion and call someone who is very obviously presenting as female (if they are on that day,or even very obviously female) 'them' or 'Mx' .

Difficult one. I'd expect a fair few 'sad face' articles in the Daily Mail if any students are punished tbh.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

I reject gender as I find it oppressive and reinforcing gender stereotypes

;)

I'd say this falls under the 'Fundamental British Values' that the school should be embedding anyway. It's a great tolerance and learning opportunity for these students.

I think support this teacher in the way that you'd support anyone with a protected characteristic that students might mock e.g. a teacher from outside of the UK - struggling to learn how to pronounce their name vs mocking their accent.
In the same way there's a difference between accidentally saying Miss/Sir and purposefully misgendering someone.

Another thought, perhaps a presentation might not be the best approach, gathering lots of students up for a 2 minute presentation would be quite disruptive?

I'd think just a very straight to the point, no big deal announcement in assembly "please welcome Mx Xyz to the school, please note it is Mx as they identify as genderfluid, if anyone has any questions please let us know" would suffice?

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Steve there has also been a bit of a campaign by some to have the word Woman changed to Womxn, in a similar vein as Mx I think?

Oh gosh - do schools still make people call teachers Mr, Mrs, Ms, Mx etc at secondary school nowadays? I can understand it a little with younger ones, but we were allowed to use first names at high school if the teacher invited it - my form teacher was Richard, rather than Mr Morgan, We had a lot more respect from him compared to one old school one, who complained bitterly about not being able to use the cane anymore and tried to insist that people called him Sir

That was 1980, so I was hoping things had moved on a bit by now. It would certainly resolve the problem of trying to invent new titles. My answer to the question are you Miss, Mrs or Ms, is always, I'm Teresa. I am currently referred to by all three of those by different organisations and it has no impact. I prefer Miss if I have to choose, but my bank wont change it from Mrs to Miss as I am divorced rather than never married. I hate Ms, but my last employer only had the option for Mr, Ms Mx on their payroll system. I think it would be a lot better if we just accepted ourselves as the individuals we are really

ps - sorry, I've had flu so feeling a little grumpy. GIRES have some great free e-learning your can go through from their website. There is a fabulous gender fluid person on there who really makes you realise that the labels we apply to ourselves and the way we choose to look, have absolutely no bearing on our ability to do the job
www.gires.org.uk/.../

Like Teresa, I can't see why pupils should call teachers MR,. Mrs, Miss, Ms, Mx or any other title. It doesn't teach respect - just identifies a gulf between those who have the power and those who don't. You earn respect.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

I asked my teenage daughters about this last night and they were very cool about it. They were aware of the terms - though not "Mx" - but embraced it. Yes, they might be worried they'd blurt out a "Miss" in error... but they were relaxed about it.

In reply to Steve Bridger:

UK law doesn’t appear yet to have embraced the concept of non binary or fluid gender. See eg www.equalityhumanrights.com/.../our-statement-sex-and-gender-reassignment-legal-protections-and-language

So, it may in fact be unlikely that anti discrimination law - particularly the Equality Act - currently protects from discrimination those who identify as gender-fluid?

In reply to David:

My understanding is non-binary is classed as transgender, that's stonewalls definition anyway although as you say David there's no reference to it in your link.

Interestingly under stonewalls definition I'm transgender as I class myself as genderless and don't conform (most days I dress like a typical bloke).

It does appear to be a bit of a minefield :S

In reply to Samantha:

Might make an interesting / useful legal research project, Samantha.