As I write, hostilities are raging in the Middle East. This war has had an impact on civilians in Palestine, with all crossings into Gaza closed, suspending the entry of aid (OCHA, 2026), affecting an already devastated territory. Isreal’s war on Gaza had a catastrophic effect on the Strip’s children, with at least 21, 289 killed between October 2023 and 3 February 2026, including 120 since the ceasefire was announced in October 2025 until the end of the year (UNICEF, 2026). Schooling has been heavily affected. According to a UNICEF spokesperson, in January 2026 more than 90% of schools have been damaged or destroyed, and 60% of school-aged children have no access to in-person learning (Elder, 2026). However, he also stated that UNICEF schemes are reaching children with their ‘Back to Learning’ initiative, to provide a bridge until the restoration of Gaza’s schools.
As the horrors of the war on Gaza unfolded, the issue made it into classrooms in the UK, over 2000 miles away. My research looked at how teachers were navigating this subject, if they felt able to at all, and any barriers that they faced. I gained a snapshot of their experiences through a qualitative survey which ran from mid-May 2024 to mid-June 2024. Interviews were also conducted with 15 teachers and three participants from organisations that support teachers in their practice. This allowed me to dive deeper into their stories.
The topic of Gaza was overwhelming perceived as risky by the participants, and this was for a number of reasons. Firstly, teachers reported a mix of attitudes from their senior leadership teams (SLTs). Some teachers reported being explicitly told they were not to discuss the issue, with one describing this as “censorship”, whereas others were left without guidance leaving them unsure as to how to proceed. Secondly, teachers were concerned about their ability to stay “neutral” when discussing the war. For some, this was a directive of balance from the SLT, and others felt they may not be able to contain their personal views. However, some of the participants did not agree that this was an issue about which one could be neutral, expressing concern about the “silencing of pro-Palestinian views. Presentation of [the] situation as two competing sides as opposed to a genocide of Palestinians”. Thirdly, teachers felt there was a barrier due to community pressures and were worried about social tensions. For example, one teacher expressed concern that exploring the topic may “lead to accusations of antisemitism, or racism against Palestinians”. Finally, several teachers also relayed their worries about their own lack of subject knowledge when it came to Israel and Palestine, leaving them ill-equipped to answer questions.
In my article for the journal Human Rights Education Review, I advocated for a human rights approach as a way for teachers to address Gaza. Teachers shared how this was successful in their own classrooms, with one relating: “The best angle, I always say, is from the human rights angle. That’s where you can’t go wrong. You avoid all the politics or whatever and you just say this is what’s happening and then you just talk from a human rights perspective, and you use human rights organisations and say this is what they’re saying, none of this is my opinion […] I think if you do that, that’s the easy angle to take. And no one should be then objecting to that”.
By using this approach, the pressures that have been internalised and individualised as personal problems facing the teacher can be recognised as structural and then put into a wider framework to help students to gain an understanding using international law concepts. This can also reassure teachers worried about being ‘political’ in the classroom that the framework they are using is not promoting partisan views, which contravenes the legal duties set out by the Department for Education (DfE, 2025). By drawing on international UK-signed treaties such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), teachers can feel more confident exploring these issues. Despite teachers’ concerns on breeching the law, it should also be noted that the DfE’s political impartiality guidance outlines that pupils’ engagement with political issues should be encouraged, and conversations should not be prohibited.
Ultimately, if we want to encourage young people to be global citizens, education should provide a platform for them to be able to understand the world in which they live, and to understand that their voice matters. This is after all enshrined in Articles 12 and 13 of the UNCRC. To help with this, those in initial teacher education should be provided with training on how to cover unfolding human rights crises like Gaza in their classrooms, and the value that a human rights framework can provide.
Dr Anna Liddle is a Senior Lecturer in Education in the Sheffield Institute of Education
The views expressed in the post are the views of the author and do not represent the views of the University or its policies.
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