World News

There were 20 Canadians (at least 8 Manitobans) who took the time and resources to show up for the historic gathering at the 2008 Working Forum on Men in ECE. The 140 delegates had a great time together and many friendships were born out of this gathering.

Discussions were rich, workshops incredibly insightful, and plenary sessions well received. Most of us will remember most the wonderful stories that were shared about our journeys into and in the field of ECE.All left sharing a renewed urgency to work to wards a more gender balanced workforce, for the sake of the children.

Six-year-old Nguyen Khanh Linh is astonished to see a television cartoon of a male bear teaching a class.

And it's not because the teacher is a large furry animal.

"Why is it a he-teacher? Teachers must be female," she says.

In Viet Nam, where female teachers vastly outnumber their male colleagues, the little girl has enunciated a truth not a prejudice.

[MenTeach: Don Piburn was the co-facilitator for the Working Forum Men in Early Childhood Education in Hawaii and has sent out a message to the men and women in his local community about what's going on in the world.]

Aloha Hawaii supporters of Men in ECE Hawaii!

International Efforts

A NEW report has found that the abolition of the honours Irish requirement will not entice more men to become primary school teachers.

Politicians, such as former education minister Mary Hanafin, have suggested that dropping the honours Irish rule would help tackle the gender imbalance in national schools.

Dutch Christian Democrats (CDA) have called for an increase in the number of male teachers in primary schools. CDA MP Jan Jacob van Dyke claims that children are better off if they are taught by both men and women. At the moment, the majority of primary school teachers are women. According to the CDA, teacher training colleges need to change their curriculum in order to attract more male students.