April, 2009

A few good men

by Nguyen Huy Vu, Staff Writer - Daily Breeze.com Torrence, CA
Mario Cornejo knows how to juggle.

He spends a recent afternoon wrapping a green paper sombrero together with tape for 4-year-old Anthony Moreno. He gently pulls aside Edy Solares to remind him how to handle scissors while walking.

He sings and dances to his ABC's while two dozen preschoolers at William Anderson Elementary School in Lawndale follow along.
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Dr. Helen talks about stereotypes that male teachers face

An MSN article notes that male teachers continue to take a nosedive:
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Figures reveal only one in four Midland teachers are male

by Zoe Chamberlain, Lifestyle Editor
Will doesn't sit at his desk, he prefers sitting on it.

His teacher lets him. She knows that chastising the teenager will only lead to more disruption. And besides, he is at least taking part in the lesson.

In another classroom, Joel and Liam have gone missing after slipping out of school to buy cigarettes.

Meanwhile, Tom is screeching at his teacher that she doesn't understand him. With that amount of noise, it's doubtful that she does.
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They're the few, but they're the proud.

They are the men who teach, those whom recent reports call a "rarity" and an "endangered species."

Surveys show that about one in four teachers in the United States are male. Local data indicates that Berkshire County is right on par, with males making up about 26 percent of the local public school teacher population.

Nationally speaking, these statistics indicate a 40-year low, and particularly affect the fields of early childhood and elementary education.
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Watch videos about the lack of male teachers in New Zealand

In New Zealand, only 1% of preschool teachers are men.  If you would like to watch interviews with teachers and policymakers in New Zealand, who discuss this issue as a problem, go to YouTube. The video presents the opinion that children are placed in schools that do not reflect the composition of society, and this has unfortunate consequences. We are certain that this video will generate some great discussion.

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txQ__tNAd1M
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New Zealand men provide update about teaching

The video was a bit of a panacea for this issue in New Zealand - and yes, it was controversial at the time and did rattle some cages - as an aside the DVD (mentioned in the video) finally came out in February of this year - two years later...and it was about men in ECE.
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Turning trash into treasures - a man who recycles for children

Adam Buckingham - New Zealand
I have given a presentation at the 24th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management 'Turning waste into learning experiences for children' is a pictorial tour of creative ideas that have been added to the outdoor environment of early childhood centers. It includes innovative equipment I have designed and made for preschool children, which are predominantly made from solid waste materials.
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New Role for the ece-men Listserv

Bruce Sheppard - ECE-Men Listserv Moderator
In the beginning (before there was a MenTeach.org website) there was an ece-men listserv. A true listserv is an email program where you send an email to a central site and it gets distributes to everyone who has subscribed to this program.  Answers to this email also gets sent out to everyone on the subscription list, which stands now at about 90 email addresses.  The ece-men listserv was launched in January 2001 and has served the men and women who support men in early childhood education quite well since then.  
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