August, 2010

Men who change nappies change the world!

by Bryan G. Nelson - MenTeach.org
[MenTeach: This article is published on ChildForum.com, a updated site hosted by Dr Sarah-Eve Farquhar. Dr. Farquhar, who lives and works in New Zealand, has been a pioneer in researching the importance and challenges facing male teachers. You can join her site by linking here. Great job Sarah!]

Philadelphia grooms future teachers at Parkway West High School

by Sarah Burgess - The Notebook
Leon Sullivan's teaching internship at Parkway West's Urban Education Academy has taught him many lessons.

Among them: "You've got to be patient and understanding. You can't let what they say get to you. You've got to be willing to go back over some things. (And) when kids act a certain type of way, you don't get into a confrontation, you go to the source."

A Poetry Slam poem about teaching

MenTeach: Every year there is a National Poetry Slam in the United States. It is where individuals and teams compete performing their poems. It's not the poetry of your childhood. It's live, active and quite exciting to see.

Be warned that the content may have objectionable words and gestures:

Dwindling number of Malaysian male teachers in school comes as no surprise.

Recently, a young teacher friend of mine, mentioned her brother's wish to be a teacher. Having seen his sister's wonderful involvement with her students, it dawned on him that teaching would be a good career. Yet, the advice given by my friend to her sibling was nonetheless a reality that has to faced:

Malaysian Ministry to recruit more male teachers

by Sonia Ramachandransonia - New Straits Times
The Malaysian Education Ministry will set a quota and take in a stipulated percentage of men every year for teaching posts to address the dearth of male teachers in schools.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom is confident the imposition of a quota will rectify the situation.

Chinese kindergartens seek more gender balance

by Liu Meng - Global Times, China
[MenTeach: The following perpetuates some stereotypes that MenTeach believes does more harm than good trying to recruit more male teachers. You'll find this same argument - that lacking male teachers causes boys to be more feminine - going back to the 1800s in different parts of the world.]

More male teachers wanted

by Greg Burns - Buckinghamshire, UK
A MEN-ONLY teacher taster course is being put on by the county council help encourage more men into the profession.

In 2001/02 there were around 1,500 men teaching in the county but a Government campaign has seen that rise up to 2,341 in 2008/09.

To help boost numbers Bucks County Council are holding their a three-day seminar in September which will include a school placement.

What do parents think about male teachers?

[MenTeach: More and more college and university students are doing surveys asking about male teachers. They notice that there are so few men so they end up doing a research project. The following are some comments from parents in answer to a survey:

1 a) If your child/children currently has or use to have a male teacher, does/did it bother you?

African-American male teachers are a missing ingredient

by Chris Levister - Black Voice News
William Alexander was all ears at his mother's home in Riverside during President Barack Obama's back-to-school message to kids Sept. 8. The Oakland elementary school teacher, who was in the area attending a conference, knows the importance of encouraging children to stay in school. In 2004, he became the first in his family to go to college.