Will Knowland: ‘Teachers Don’t Know Best’
In a twist of sweet irony, it was the mostly leftist media and woke Eton's actions that propelled Will Knowland's Patriarchy Paradox lecture to internet stardom. Originally intended to raise debate among Eton's older students, Knowland's YouTube clip has clocked over 230,000 views, became an important landmark in the fight for free speech, and caught the eyes of leading influencers like Triggernometry, Carl Benjamin, Andrew Doyle and Jordan Peterson.
Knowland's fight for justice is far from over but he did land a reassuring victory as the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) cleared him of professional misconduct. Contrary to Eton's claims, the TRA has ruled that the comments made by the English teacher in his Patriarchy Paradox video could not amount to unacceptable professional conduct.
This important victory for free speech is pivotal for several reasons - it inevitably forces Eton's woke headmaster to reflect on his actions, it places the issue of free debate within schools at the heart of the news agenda, and sends a clear message that there are men out there who will not be bullied. Perhaps most importantly, the fact the TRA's judgement was not blinded by Knowland's questioning of the patriarchy and toxic masculinity ideas is heartening. We are so accustomed to the system automatically rejecting any non-feminist idea that this ruling is enough to encourage and infuse hope.
I first interviewed the father of five soon after his shock dismissal from Eton. I catch up with him as he breathes a cautious sigh of relief, his private tutoring is up and running and his YouTube channel Knowland Knows is gathering momentum.
I start by noting that two years after Patreon shunned Carl Benjamin’s Sargon of Akkad channel, prompting Dave Rubin, Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson's protest departure - all are doing great - "taking a hit for their ethics" turned out to be a booster in the long run. I also mention the dismissed educator Academic Agent, who went on to start a successful independent teaching venture. I ask Knowland if such 'shocks to the systems' can in fact be a blessing.
Hannah Gal: You have landed on your feet - teaching and growing YouTube channel...
Will Knowland: Nobody interested in the critical exploration of ideas can thrive in an environment where ideas can be gross misconduct. I am happy to embrace the consequences of sticking to my principles. Universities and schools have become increasingly overrun by what John Gray has called 'a persecutory orthodoxy that tolerates no view of the world other than its own.' Passionate about the values of classical liberalism (as they used to be understood), I have no interest in that. The Eton that fired me is almost recognisable from the Eton that hired me.
How are things progressing on the legal side? I know that Toby Young was advocating on your behalf.
I have lodged my claim in the Employment Tribunal, and I am very grateful for the support I have received from the public so far. Maya Forstater's win was encouraging since my lecture expressed gender-critical and biological essentialist views.
Being cleared by the Teaching Regulation Agency was also encouraging. The referral was optional. Schools only have to consider whether to make a referral. They are obliged to refer only if the case deserves a decision about whether the teacher should potentially be barred from the classroom for life. Eton chose to make the referral, but the TRA didn't even think it should proceed to a hearing.
So this isn't about professional standards: it's about Eton's internal policies. And should the attempt - being spearheaded by Eton - to restrict curriculum content ever succeed, it would be very damaging to the British education sector. Teachers must not stifle students' freedom of thought.
I argue that the whole ‘men vs women’ as a real, ongoing issue is false. Men and women might clash over specific matters but we are not two entities that are constantly at odds with each other.
I agree that the two sexes function symbiotically. But I don't agree that feminism has meant that 'the pendulum has swung too far in women's favour.' Surveys show that women are unhappier than ever and regret the Sexual Revolution far more than do men. Women also still want stable providers for their families. As the husband's job status and income decline and as male unemployment and income instability rise, divorce rates rise. Most women aren't feminists, and most don't see being forced into the workplace as being 'liberated' from the home. If feminism meant valuing women's choices, the choice to be a stay-at-home mother would also be valued. As Sarrah Le Marquand made clear, however, 'only when the tiresome and completely unfounded claim that "feminism is about choice" is dead and buried (it's not about choice, it's about equality) will we consign restrictive gender stereotypes to history.' But stereotypes are rooted in reality, so what about women who don't find them restrictive? Well - the feminists answer - they're guilty of false consciousness. They're not really women at all.
Thinking of the education system, do you think any legislation or guidelines can be put in place to remedy the situation?
We already have legislation that is good in theory. But it’s ‘use it or lose it’. Curriculum content, for example, is already excluded from the Equality Act. And yet the majority of teachers self-censor out of fear, so the ideological stranglehold tightens, and students continue to suffer the consequences. The unfettered critical discussion of ideas distinguishes education from indoctrination.
Elana Fishbein, founder of No Left Turn In Education, exposes postmodernist and Marxist indoctrination within schools. She says to parents, 'you will take a bullet for your child, this is the bullet'. More and more parents are troubled by schools' woke rhetoric. Is the legal path the only way to stop this madness?
Money talks: concerned parents of students at elite schools should withdraw them. Parents should also request to see the PSHE materials of schools and be vigilant about what their children are being taught in other subjects, especially the humanities. But ultimately, the legal path is probably necessary. Religion, family, education, media, and law - these, according to Antonio Gramsci, are 'the institutions of cultural production'. He believed all had to be infiltrated and subverted from within - what Rudi Dutschke later famously termed 'the long march through the institutions'. Nobody should be surprised about what is happening today: the objectives were set out openly and honestly. If our institutions fall, it's because they deserve to. Kenneth Clarke stressed that, above all else, civilisations require 'confidence in the society in which one lives' and can collapse when this is exhausted.
Parents rightly say that it is them against the school - the majority of parents do not want teachers talking to their kids about sex/gender for example, but the schools are literally fighting for their right to do this.
Parents have an innate interest in their own children that strangers don't have. They also have the most intimate knowledge of their own children. Teachers don't know best. Schools have no right to force on children a system of education or set of principles that parents disapprove of. A Headmaster is ultimately just the parents' deputy. Sadly, with students at many schools now being taught about 'ethical porn', modern education is looking increasingly like an unprecedented experiment in sexualisation.
Hannah is a London based journalist covering culture and current affairs. She writes about photography, film and TV for outlets in the UK and US, and covers current affairs with particular interest in the Jewish world. She is also an award-winning filmmaker and photographer. Her films were screened in festivals worldwide and parts of her documentary about Holocaust survivor Leon Greenman were screened on the BBC.
You can find more from Hannah here.
Check Out Our Previous Interview with Will
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