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Why this school just banned pupils calling teachers 'sir' and 'miss'
A top London school has introduced a ban on pupils using the terms 'sir' or 'miss' to address their teachers.
Sharing the decision in an assembly this week, headteacher James Handscombe argued that the terms are "deeply unequal" and stem from "cultural misogyny".
"We are changing the way that students refer to staff at Harris Westminster," Handscombe said in his speech, which was later shared online. "No longer will it be acceptable to call us 'sir' or 'miss'."
Instead, Handscombe is encouraging pupils to call teachers by their names. "We would prefer you to call us by our names," he said, adding, "We are also prepared for you to call any of the staff in the school 'teacher' if you need a short version."
Explaining the reason for this, the headteacher told pupils it's all to do with creating a "better and more equal world."
"I don’t know if you’ve ever reflected on the inequality of the way we refer to teachers, but it’s deeply unequal," he went on – likening the term 'sir' to nobility and power, whereas 'miss' is more like what you'd call a "small girl or an Edwardian shop assistant".
Handscombe continued: "It’s one of those things that is obviously wrong but nobody’s fault (particularly not students, who I think use the two terms as equal forms of respect) and difficult to shift. We’ll see how we get on."
Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK about the change, Rosa Goodman, a history of art teacher at Harris Westminster who helped launched the latest campaign, said: "As a Humanities teacher it is my job to help students learn to notice, analyse and challenge asymmetries in our culture."
"Whilst the language students use may not seem like a big deal, and is definitely not intentionally rude, it is imbalanced and therefore invisibly reinforces gender inequality," Goodman added. "For me, the inequality of gendered language often goes unquestioned, but the discrepancy between calling someone 'sir' and calling someone else 'miss' is vast. Language really does matter."
Although Goodman acknowledged that this "will be a hard habit to break", she emphasised that the reform is "one of the most powerful and simple ways to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment."
What's more, "it is also important to move away from binaries, showing gender fluid students and colleagues that there is space for everyone."
The introduction of the change has been celebrated by pupils and teachers at the school, with Goodman telling us that "staff and students have been nothing but supportive" – but received a mixed reaction from social media users. "We're trying something new at Harris Westminster," Handscombe wrote on Twitter alongside a transcript from his assembly. To that, someone replied, "I understood 'miss' to be a shortening of 'mistress', meaning a woman in a position of authority. Not sure stopping its use adds anything."
Elsewhere, others praised the change. "Definitely welcome this. I have always hated 'miss' because it is so coy in comparison with the authority of 'sir'," someone tweeted, as another wrote: "I think this is brilliant and good luck with it! I have always been called 'miss' and it’s so annoying!"
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