Teacher whose LGBT diversity lessons sparked protests from parents nominated for global award
Andrew Moffat's 'No Outsiders' programme has faced a fierce backlash from angry parents.
By Will Stroude
A gay teacher whose lessons on LGBT diversity sparked protests from parents has been nominated for a global teaching award.
Andrew Moffat, the assistant head teacher at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham, has made the top 10 shortlist for the Global Teacher Prize, the BBC reports.
He has been responsible for starting a ‘No outsiders’ project at the Muslim-majority primary school to promote equality and diversity, which has included lessons on LGBT families and the 2010 Equality Act.
The move led to a petition from angry parents calling for an end to the classes, and protests have reglarly taken place outside the school this term.
Despite the ugly scenes outside the school gates, Parkfield Community School has insisted the LGBT inclusion programme wll continue, and the school has been backed by Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, who told the BBC it was important schools teach children that “there are families that have two mummies or two daddies”.
Mr Moffat, who was awarded an MBE in 2017 for his services to equality and diversity in education, is up against nine other teachers from all over the world Global Teacher Prize, run by the Varkey Foundation education charity.
He has been shortlisted for his work to improve opportunities for children in a deprived part of Birmingham.
Discussing the controversy surrounding his LGBT diversity push on Good Morning Britain on Thursday (21 February), Mr Moffat said: “The point of ‘No outsiders’ is preparing children fo life in modern Britain, so we’re all different but can get along.
“You can have black skin, brown skin, white skin, [be] Christian, Muslim, Hindi, Sikh, Jewish, be gay or lesbian, have disabilities, but we can all be friends [and] get along.
Andrew Moffat has been named as one of the world’s best teachers after facing protests and threats at the school gates over his promotion of equality issues pic.twitter.com/5rPI2rMZwV
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 21, 2019
“I understand that some communities have tensions with the LGBT aspect, but we have to work out a way to get through this, because in the UK there are gay people. And that’s Okay, that’s good.
“We have to work together, get through this together, and we will get through it together; we’ll find a way.”
The winner of the Global Teacher Prize is set to be announced next month.