Students calling their teachers ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’ is an “outdated idea” that stems from “cultural misogyny,” according to a columnist.
Harris Westminster Sixth Form and Harris Clapham Sixth Form executive principal James Handscombe has introduced a ban in the London state school on pupils addressing their headteachers as ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’.
Speaking to The Moncrieff Show, Irish Examiner columnist Clodagh Finn said the use of these prefixes is a very “fraught topic.”
“It’s a very dated idea of calling the male teacher ‘sir’ and the female teacher ‘miss’,” she said.
“They say it's cultural misogyny – which is a very big title for these things that we've done for decades.”
‘Swashbuckling term’
Ms Finn said the term Sir is a “swashbuckling term.”
“You think of Sir Lancelot or a Knight of the Realm,” she said.
“Whereas if you have Miss, you think of the scullery maid.
“It really is much more difficult for women – anytime I go to do anything online, you get this drop-down menu, ‘Mrs. Miss, or Ms.
“People who have ideas about independent women, there is this idea that Miss is a bit strident – I always go for Ms because I think it is probably the best option."
Schools
Ms Finn said the use of these titles in schools is linked to “ideas of seniority and rank and age.”
“I think calling the teacher you know Ms Finn or whatever she likes is a good idea, or then you could say even just call them teacher,” she said.
“This idea that we're all the same and we all have the same worth is very valid.
“At the same time, if you're standing in front of a group of 14-year-olds, and you want to convey a little bit of authority, how do you draw the boundaries?
“There are formal situations, it might not be in a classroom, but you have to be able to draw boundaries.”
Institutions
Ms Finn said the use of titles is not just relevant in schools but is “stitched into our institutions.”
“You would have them in religious institutions, and you'd have them in the army and in the legal system,” she said.
She said this is symptomatic of “the idea that certain people are more powerful and have a higher rank than others.”
“It's very interesting to see that teachers are called by their first names – that seems to me like progress,” she said.
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