October, 2009

Teaching is becoming an increasingly female-dominated profession with men making up fewer than one in four new recruits, official figures revealed yesterday.

Despite a multimillion-pound campaign to attract more men into teaching, the latest statistics reveal a widening gap between the sexes among those gaining teaching qualifications from universities and teacher training colleges.

Schools everywhere are always looking to hire good qualified teachers. But finding an abundance of male candidates can be a challenge.

When schools set out to hire new teachers, they're not just looking for those who can teach. They also want role models, both in and out of the classroom, which is why the shortage of male teachers is particularly troublesome.

I'm a male principal of one of the largest K-3 buildings in Missouri. I have roughly 1000 students, and 80 teachers. I have 2 male teachers on staff, one in 3rd and one PE teacher. Besides them, myself, I have a male custodian and a male food service worker.

Because of this and my experiences I am interested in the phenomenon of the ever decreasing amount of males interested in the primary elementary. As a part of my doctoral studies in Educational Leadership through the University of Missouri, I am going to study this problem.

Schoolchildren are more likely to disrupt lessons if they have a male teacher, a survey suggests.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) polled 1,500 of its members in 13 English local authorities.

Although the survey found a general improvement in pupil behaviour since 2001, 77% of males said they had a lesson disrupted at least once a week.

[MenTeach: Groups of men, all over the United States (and other countries), gather to meet to share their common experience working with children. Here are two meetings that happened in the last month. Consider having your own meeting and showing the Frances Carlson's DVD.]