February, 2010

The economic downturn is believed to be behind a jump in men training to be teachers - a welcome development for schools trying to even up the gender balance.

But while secondary schools are pleased to see more male teachers coming through, they say recruiting and retaining enough suitable staff remains a problem.

Massey University's College of Education has almost doubled the number of men in its secondary school Graduate Diploma of Teaching course this year, up from 35 to 65.

As an individual walks through the halls of an elementary school more often than not they will observe only female teachers. One may ask are there any males in this profession? If so where are they? Gender roles have changed in the United States, yet there are still very few male teachers in the classroom especially at the elementary level.

I am a few weeks away from my initial thesis submission titled, Understanding the role of male elementary school teachers in the social development of children raised by single-mothers in the Jewish community of Montreal, Canada.

It is a topic that has not received much attention. Sure, there is a concern for why men leave the teaching profession, and why there are so few, but what impact do they have on children in today's contemporary society? This is the area I chose to study as a male elementary school teacher myself.

Here is the abstract:

I spent this last week attending a great conference in New Zealand coordinated by the ECE Men in NZ.

As the only male teacher at Wallace Elementary School, Carlos Mendoza is often asked by female colleagues to help discipline select students -- usually boys needing extra attention.

"I guess it's because there is always a mom figure and a dad figure. Things you can get away with with mom, you'll have a different attitude and behavior with dad," said Mendoza.