Eton master dismissed after row over ‘masculinity’ talk

ETON COLLEGE has dismissed one of its masters amid a free speech row prompted by a lecture which questioned “current radical feminist orthodoxy”.

The £42,500-a-year boarding school has been accused of “prioritising emotional safety over intellectual challenge” after it allegedly banned a presentation on the theme of masculinity from being delivered to students.

Will Knowland, who has taught English at Eton for nine years, alleges that he has been dismissed for gross misconduct following a dispute over a lecture he was due to give pupils earlier this year. The lecture, titled “The Patriarchy Paradox”, was part of the Perspectives course taken by older students to encourage them to think critically about subjects of public debate.

But Mr Knowland’s lecture, which he had prepared in video f orm and uploaded to the school’s intranet due to Covid, was never given to students.

“The head master felt that some of the ideas put forward in my lecture – such as the view that men and women differ psychologically and not all of those differences are socially constructed – were too dangerous for the boys to be exposed to,” Mr Knowland said. “I explained to the head master that I wasn’t endorsing all the ideas in my lecture, but I wanted the boys to be made aware of a different point of view to the current radical feminist orthodoxy, which insists that there’s something f undamentally t oxic about masculinity.

“In my lecture, I pointed out that, historically, masculine qualities like strength, courage and tenacity have often been as beneficial to women as they have been to men.”

Mr Knowland set out his view of events in a letter addressed to the Eton community which he said was to address the “rumours” about why he had been dismissed. In his letter, seen by The Daily Telegraph, he explained that schools had a legal duty to offer a balanced curriculum, adding that he believed the topic of masculinity “lacks balance” in the way it was taught at Eton College.

He described how before his lecture was broadcast to students it was circulated among fellow teachers of the Pers pectives course, one of whom complained about its content.

“The head master sided with the complainant and asked for the video to be removed, which it duly was,” Mr Knowland claimed. He said that the dispute arose when he refused to remove the lecture from his personal Youtube channel “Knowland Knows” which had 746 subscribers. “Because I believe passionately in free speech, I said I would only take it down if given a clear reason, which is how I ended up being dismissed,” Mr Knowland alleged.

He said he was appealing against his dismissal, and if this failed he intended to take the school to an employment tribunal if necessary.

In a fundraising page he set up to raise money for legal fees for a possible tribunal he said: “I have been dismissed from my employment. My wife and I will be made homeless, along with our five children.”

An Eton College spokesman said: “As this matter is being appealed as part of the college’s disciplinary process, it would not be appropriate to comment before a final decision is made.”