Teacher fired for asking student to engage in critical thinking is ‘absolutely insane’

Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power discusses the firing of a teacher who questioned a student's claim that author J.K. Rowling was a transphobe and bigot.
A teacher was fired after his video went viral on X, where he gently challenged a student’s stance on whether Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is a transphobe and bigot.
“It’s absolutely insane, isn’t it the point of education is to teach the next generation how to think critically,” Ms Power told Sky News host Rita Panahi.
“Hopefully, this teacher will receive a lot of support and go on to bigger and better things and will continue to educate people in some way.”
“He was so careful language when he was being asked about JK Rowling he was pointing out some pretty fair points.”

[@Fatima_Garabandal2251]

He committed the capital offence of teaching kids to THINK.

[@Space_Logic]

they removed him because they found out, HE IS AN ACTUAL TEACHER.

[@NebirosVT]

They fired him because he was actually teaching instead of brainwashing.

[@melyssagarguilo4570]

He didn't even tell that kid he was wrong, he just wanted to know the source of his students' information. He's helping them work with information in a constructive way.

[@thenarsian]

He needs to sue the school for wrongful termination.

[@unclejezza]

This is disgraceful. An outstanding teacher gets fired. Disgusted.

[@stevenpage1932]

No way, that proves critical thinking is banned in schools.

[@AdornamentDesigns]

That teacher is great. Another school needs to hire him immediately. A great asset to any school.

[@rubyshepard4155]

They don't want students to learn critical thinking. That's the last thing they want. Totalitarianism doesn't work with critical thinkers.

[@nancylivengood1581]

He got sacked because he was teaching a student how to think. He is not allowed to teach his students how to think, he is only allowed to indoctrinate them. That is why we are in the sad state of affairs that we have.

[@grannygear1001]

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.” Mark Twain

[@fish9905]

The kid came to his own conclusion after listening to what JK said instead of believing what he was told about JK

[@TheDuckHasArrived]

Seriously, schools which fire teachers for teaching critical thinking should be defunded and shut down. Period.

[@rob41137]

A teacher asked his student to THINK? 🤯

[@dionnepalmer9716]

The teacher never gave a personal opinion or told the student his opinion was wrong!!! There are a lot of people who have opinions but aren’t able to explain how they’ve come to that conclusion. That’s all the teacher is trying to teach. Wrongful termination.

[@CrystalN00na]

As a teacher, I heavily focus on critical thinking. I don't give the students answers. I have them think and come up with their own opinions backed up by evidence, playing devil's advocate to get them thinking about ALL sides of topics, not just what social media and the internet spews out. People need to learn how to think for themselves, as well as think outside the box and outside of social norms. Questioning everything is EXACTLY how you learn from your mistakes and from others mistakes as well. This teacher has the grounds to sue for wrongful termination.

[@kentl7228]

Disgraceful. He didn't really voice his opinion. He asked questions of a student. He even said "thought experiment"

[@seandelap8587]

He should sue for unfair dismissal

[@Niiiiiiiila]

As a former high school social studies teacher, this is exactly why I left. Teachers are not allowed to help students learn to think for themselves lest they be cancelled. I hope he gets an even better offer, he didn’t deserve to be let go. Their loss and society’s loss.

[@PeteHowe01]

Agree with others - sue for wrongful dismissal. The man is a fabulous teacher. Need more of him.