World News

Get your free DVD about men teachers...

Bryan G Nelson — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:25:08 -0500

Body:

...but you'll need to go to Scotland to get it!

A new DVD created by Men in Child Care in Scotland titled: See the Difference: A question of gender equality.

Wanted: A few good men - Boys' classroom struggles linked to scarcity of male teachers

Bryan G Nelson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Author:

by Karen Kawawada - Record Staff

Body:

Peter De Pratto is a white, middle-class man. And he's a minority.

The 54-year-old is a Grade 2 teacher at St. Luke School in Waterloo. He has been teaching for 31 years and has taught junior kindergarten to Grade 8.

"I enjoy working with younger children. I find it challenging and rewarding at the same time," he said.

As a male primary school teacher, he knows he stands out. He has been the only man on staff at times. It doesn't really bother him.

"You're not going to sit down (in the staff room) and talk about the Bills-Raiders game on the weekend, but it's still a nice environment," he said.

But the ranks of male teachers are low and dropping.

According to Statistics Canada, men made up only 31 per cent of full-time Ontario teachers in 2004-05. Between 1990 and 2000, there was a 14 per cent drop in male teachers, even as numbers of female teachers rose 11 per cent.

The differences are even sharper at the elementary level. Of members of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, 81 per cent are women.

The Ontario College of Teachers says in 2006, only 11 per cent of kindergarten to Grade 6 teachers were men.

Another fact: as a group, boys aren't as successful in school as girls.

Ontario provincial testing has consistently showed girls do much better than boys in reading and writing.

More women than men enter university and the gap widened substantially in the 1990s.

Some have tied boys' relative lack of success to the scarcity of male teachers.

American psychologist and physician Leonard Sax, an outspoken proponent of single-sex schools, has argued there are big differences in how boys and girls learn, even in how well they hear -- and that teachers tend to teach to their gender's ways of learning.

"Anytime you have a teacher of one sex teaching children of the opposite sex, there's a potential for a mismatch, if only in decibel level," he wrote in his 2005 book Why Gender Matters.

Female teachers tend to speak softly, discourage competition and avoid confrontation when "many young boys are energized by confrontation and by time-constrained tasks," Sax wrote.

"Anybody will acknowledge that boys are different than girls, especially young boys," said retired principal and Waterloo Catholic District School Board chair Wayne Buchholtz.

"They learn differently; they're much more physical. Oftentimes, you need that kind of (teacher). You need somebody who's going to go out and play with the kids. . . . Males, for the most part, have more of an interest in the sciences and hands-on kinds of things. Boys need that kind of approach.

"I'm not saying women don't do that, but they don't tend to do it as readily. It's not as natural for them, often."

Retired chemistry teacher David Lamble of Fergus saw similar patterns of behaviour in high schools.

"I think females are more compliant in the educational system," he said. "It doesn't take anybody more than 10 minutes to look in a classroom and see that young ladies are much more likely to do their homework than guys. . . .

"I do think that young ladies (teachers) tend to want things much more structured than guys are prepared for. . . . If you take a look at who gets the detentions most, it's guys; who gets expelled the most, it's guys. And who gives the most detentions? It's female teachers."

Herb Katz, a retired University of Alberta education professor, said teacher gender may be a factor in many boys' lack of enthusiasm for reading.

"Boys like the kinds of books that most early years female teachers don't like," said Katz. "That's why you don't find too many of them in the classroom -- because most early years teachers are young women."

Women tend to choose assignments that suit girls better, Katz said. He was once the only man on a committee to develop assessment tools in literacy.

The other committee members favoured an approach in which students were asked to make journal entries giving their personal responses to selections they'd read or heard.

"From my point of view, this was an approach to helping kids learn to read and write that didn't fit very well with boys," said Katz. "Boys often don't feel very comfortable writing personal feelings down."

Katz raised his objections but was overruled. It led him to conclude "basically that elementary schools are not boy-friendly," he said.

"That's not to say they set out to be hostile to boys. It's that the fit between the physical and the cognitive development of boys . . . and the way that knowledge is . . . delivered in the curriculum is not friendly to boys."

But Katz says it's too simplistic to blame boys' academic difficulties on female teachers -- or even to generalize that boys don't do as well in school.

"Socio-economic status is the strongest predictor of attitude towards and performance in reading," he said.

"Boys who come from higher socio-economic levels share attitude and performance levels more with girls from their own socio-economic status than with boys from poorer areas."

Katz and a colleague did a study in which 180 Grade 3 and 4 boys having trouble reading got one-on-one tutoring. The male and female tutors were university students trained to deliver a "boy-friendly" literacy program.

The boys all improved, and there was no academic difference whether they had a male or female tutor. But the boys with the female tutors generally emerged with more confidence in themselves and their reading abilities.

Some media concluded boys did better with female teachers. But Katz says the main factor wasn't gender.

The female tutors were third- or fourth-year education students. Because it was harder to recruit male tutors, the men were generally younger; some weren't even in teacher training.

"It's not the gender of the teacher that's important; it's the competence of the teacher," said Katz.

"The female student teachers were better trained than the males so of course they had a stronger impact."

Wayne Martino, a University of Western Ontario expert in gender issues in education, agreed.

"Claims are being made that if we put more men in the elementary school classroom, that boys are going to do better. There's no research that shows that men actually make a difference in terms of academic achievement."

All teachers need to be better trained to teach kids to read, said Katz.

"In New Zealand, to qualify as a teacher, you have to take six full courses in literacy, in the teaching of reading. At the University of Alberta you can graduate with one course in what's called the teaching of language arts."

Teachers also need more training on the different ways boys and girls tend to learn, Katz said.

"We don't prepare our students at all for the needs of boys or the needs of girls. We don't teach them about teaching poor students or rich students. . . . We teach them in a very traditional, narrow way. We lump all kids together."

Local educators agree teaching skill is far more important than gender. But they also say they'd like to get more good men into the classroom.

"I'd rather take an excellent female teacher than an inferior male teacher," said Buchholtz. "But if I had two teachers of equal status, if I was a principal today, I'd be looking at a male."

The reason? "Kids need both male role models and female role models, especially in elementary schools," the retired principal said.

"Boys want someone to look up to," agreed Lamble. "But males almost never see a male teacher."

January 2008

Go to website.

Stereotypes might keep some men away

Bryan G Nelson — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Body:

They're young and enthusiastic, brimming with the love of teaching.

They're also men. And somewhat to their puzzlement, that makes Marc Hoare, Rakesh Patel and Adrian Hoyte hot commodities.

Hoare, 29, who teaches Grade 7 English and math at Kitchener's Margaret Avenue Public School, says he's mystified as to why there aren't more male teachers. He loves his job and says it's equally well-suited to men and women.

"I don't bring anything different than any other teacher would except for personality," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're male or female . . . it boils down to the personality of the human being."

Hoare started thinking about teaching in Grade 8, when he had an inspirational teacher who just happened to be his first-ever male teacher.

But for Patel and Hoyte, the idea of teaching didn't even cross their minds until they were adults.

Patel, 27, a Grade 5/6 teacher at Manchester Public School in Cambridge, did a degree in biopharmaceutical science. Then he had an opportunity to volunteer in a Grade 1 class.

"I went into the class and it was like an ah-ha moment," he said. "Watching the kids and being part of their discovery in education, it was inspiring on almost a minute-to-minute basis."

Hoyte, 33, who teaches French and a few other subjects at Manchester, came to teaching a bit later in life, after years of experience in business.

He was a father, coach and children's program volunteer at church, but it took his wife, mother, mother-in-law and even his mechanic to tell him he'd make a good teacher.

Hoyte says he never thought of teaching as a feminine job, but stereotypes might keep some men away.

"Teaching is perceived as parenting in absentia . . . and typically that role is taken on by women," he said.

Wayne Martino, a professor of education at the University of Western Ontario, agrees teaching is popularly considered women's work -- and women's work has tended to be devalued with lower status and lower pay.

Patel could have earned more working for a pharmaceutical company. But pay wasn't a big concern, he said.

The competition of the business world may appeal more to some men than teaching, theorized Hoyte.

As a teacher, "you work hard and you do your job well; you won't make any more money. You . . . hang out with the principal; you're still not going to make any more money."

Martino said men may shy away from teaching because it's not seen as macho to be nurturing and caring.

"There is a sense that if you want to go into elementary school teaching, and particularly if you want to teach younger kids, you have to be gay."

Not only does homophobia colour some people's perception of male teachers, there is often a worse suspicion.

"There is a real concern that male teachers or people interested in going into the profession have about being seen as pedophiles," said Martino.

Hoare, Patel and Hoyte avoid touching students or being alone with them. But the idea of being accused of misconduct doesn't worry them too much.

All say they've had nothing but positive reactions to their roles. They've had parents comment on how nice it is for boys to have male role models. Patel and Hoyte say their ethnic backgrounds have also helped at times.

Patel, whose parents are from India, has caught students swearing in Gujarati and called them on it. Hoyte, who is black, has been able to open students' eyes by relating his childhood experiences as a victim of racialized bullying.

Still, they're adamant that neither race nor gender has much to do with their effectiveness as teachers.

"It's just about me and if (students) like my teaching style," said Patel.

Hoare's 12-year-old students have various points of view.

"I'm a boy so they have more in common (with me) than female teachers," said Ryan Rotteveel.

"Mr. H is really athletic and I'm an athletic person, so he understands me in that way more," said Duncan Quinn.

"I like male teachers because I find female teachers more strict, because students think they can get away with more," said Maddy Mellick.

But Siarra Klee said she doesn't care whether teachers are male or female.

"Are they good at teaching? Are they nice or are they mean? That's what I care about."

January 28, 2008

Go to website.

Blokes can do it as well

Bryan G Nelson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Author:

by Craig d'Arcy, facilitator of the Newcastle Males in Early Childhood Network Group

Body:

Craig d'Arcy, facilitator of the Newcastle Males in Early Childhood Network Group, discusses the barriers that men often face in early childhood and why it's crucial we work to remove these obstacles.

Early childhood carers and educators strive to avoid stereotypes and ensure that all children are presented with healthy and diverse messages about gender identity - through the language we use, the images we portray, the environment we maintain, the diverse experiences we implement and the interactions we engage in at our services.

All of us aim to provide both boys and girls with opportunities to explore their own meaning of what it is to be male or female and to carry this into adulthood.

Male staff and volunteers in children's services are the essential missing ingredient from these valuable ideals - particularly in Australia, where they make up only about two per cent of early childhood staff.

Typical barriers for men in the early childhood sector include:

* negative community attitudes, including the fear of being accused of abusing children
* an extremely low number of other men in the profession and hence a lack of inspiring role models
* studying or working in isolation from other men
* community perceptions that working in children's services is little more than babysitting, thus also contributing to low pay and poor working conditions
* not being effectively recruited, supported or retained when students or workers
* often being seen as a token or novelty, noticed because of their gender, not their skills or qualifications.

Strengths that men provide

Men have something to offer which is different to what females offer young children. When men and women are working together in teams, children's experiences are enhanced.

Traditional arguments for increased male involvement centre on:

* the developmental needs of children
* the positive ways that male staff can model relationships
* the possible benefits to fathers
* men adding their voices in calling for better working conditions and wages in children's services.

Many of the reasons for men entering the profession are the same as their female colleagues, but a lot of men who choose this non-traditional career often have further experiences and skills that they wish to contribute.

Michael is a teacher in a long day care service who says he became motivated after having children of his own and wanting to show others, including fathers, that men can take on caring and nurturing roles:

'I have been a strapper and a meat processing worker but I like the idea of being a pioneer. I like to push the boundaries and do physical activities with the boys and girls that they wouldn't normally do. I also felt that I could help provide a positive and stable male role model that many children in my local area are lacking.'

Building awareness

Reflecting the increasing interest in the roles of men and women in the profession, a working forum on men in early childhood education was held in May 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The working forum is a World Forum project to create a global meeting place to identify actions and promote men's participation worldwide. Early Childhood Australia is a member of the World Forum Alliance.

You can find out more about the forum at: www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/projects/men_ece/

Supporting men in early childhood

The bottom line in our work is that we aim to promote the wellbeing of all children. In order to do so we need to recognise that men are essential in early childhood services - and that blokes can do it as well.

Craig d'Arcy
Facilitator
Males in Early Childhood Network Group

References and further reading

Hamilton, K. (2003). 'Daddy Daycare': What's keeping men from a career in early childhood? Rattler, 68, 6-8.

Sargent, P. (2004). Between a rock and a hard place: Men caught in the gender bind of early childhood education. The Journal of Men's Studies, 12(3), 173-193.

Males in Early Childhood Network Group (2006, 8-9 July). Workshop on the benefits of male involvement in early childhood services. Participant comments at the Males in Early Childhood Summit, East Maitland, NSW.

March 2, 2008

Go to website.

Data about the percentage of male early education teachers in Manitoba, Canada

Bryan G Nelson — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Author:

by Ron Blatz - Manitoba, Canada

Body:

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.

Here in Manitoba, we just received our second round of statistics regarding the number of men in ECE.

They are as follows:
                                                April 2007             April 2008
ECE workforce total number               5525                   5685
Male workforce total number                217 (3.9%)            257 (4.5%)
Child Care Assistants (untrained)           172                      208
Early Childhood Educators (trained)         45                        49

The good news is that the Manitoba government has made increased male involvement in ECE a goal in their five-year plan. They have identified two excellent government representatives to work on this project (Margret Ferniuk & Cees Devries). We (the delegates from Winnipeg who attended the Working Forum in Hawaii) have secured a meeting with these representatives to begin the process of planning out a strategy.

On a personal front, we at Discovery Centre have just hired a few more male and female staff for the summer which at present puts our staff composition at 15 men 30 women. If you become aware of any male hiring’s in your neighbourhoods let me know. I’d especially enjoy getting names and e-mail addresses so we could welcome our new brothers into our world of ECE, as well as congratulate the employers for their courage and insight into the needs of young children.

A five year plan that includes pensions and recruiting more male teachers

Bryan G Nelson — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Author:

Ron Blatz - Manitoba, Canada

Body:

The Province of Manitoba is committed to take efforts to increase the number of men in ECE.

BRAVO!

It is part of a 12 point Five Year plan for the development of our ECE system here in my province. If you read through the document (you can download the pdf document here: Five Year Plan) the 20% increase in funding targeted to increased wages and a Pension plan. I thought we would never be able to use the "P" word in our industry. This is a day to celebrate for Families and ECE's here in our province.

As a note to friends outside of Manitoba, this is all being done while holding the parent fees at their present rate (they are controlled by our government and have remained unchanged since 2000), while attempting to increase capacity by 6,500 spaces including 35 new locations in the next 5 years. By far the most ambitious and concrete plan ever seen in our province and we believe the best plan in our whole country.

If you want more details go to: www.manitoba.ca/childcare

Gender stereotyping results in male teacher shortages in Vietnam

Bryan G Nelson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:56:03 -0500

Author:

by Tran Quynh Hoa - Vietnam News Service

Body:

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.

The imbalance is seen as harmless by a lot of Vietnamese, but educational and gender experts think the shortage of male role models in education is detrimental to the development of a rounded personality.

Tran Thi Hao, the principal of Vien Thanh Primary School in Yen Thanh District, central Nghe An Province, says there are only two male teachers out of a teaching staff of 32 at her school, and one of those is going to retire shortly.

Phan Hoang Duong, a sixth-grade student at Ha Noi-based Dong Da Junior Secondary School, says she had just two male teachers last term.

According to Ministry of Education and Training statistics, in the 2006-2007 school year, there were 780,600 Vietnamese general education teachers. Of that number, 547,000, or 70 per cent, were female.

The gender imbalance is even more pronounced in primary schools, where female teachers accounted for 78 per cent of the total.

The situation seems no brighter for future generations of teachers as no effort have been made to specifically attract men, say education experts.

Only one fifth of the students at Ha Noi Teachers' College are male, according to the college's Student Management Department.

"At the primary education faculty, 100 per cent of the students are female," says the department director.

Raquel D Castillo, Global Campaign for Education's Asia Advocacy and Campaigns Co-ordinator, says this shortage of male teachers means sexual stereotyping is being instilled in children at an early age.

Thinking outside the box

However, Hoang Hoai Nhon, a teacher at Ha Noi's Khuong Thuong Primary School, says there are more female than male teachers because the profession allows women to juggle work and home life.

"[The fact that there are] more female than male teachers shows a social sharing of jobs. Teaching itself is not hard work, therefore women will have more time for their family," says Nhon.

Plan International's gender consultant, Nguyen Thi Thuy, says, despite gender equality laws, domestic chores are still seen as women's work. Thus parents and friends encourage girls to go into teaching.

"My mother wanted me to become a teacher since I was a little girl," says Nguyen Thu Trang, a teacher at Tran Hung Dao Senior Secondary School in northern Nam Dinh Province.

Stereotypical images in school textbooks make matters worse, says Thuy.

"Children always see images of men working as pilots or engineers, while women work as teachers or tailors," she says.

"Moreover, teaching is not a high-income job, so men, who aspire to be the family breadwinner are not attracted to the profession," says Thuy.

Furthermore, "Primary school is not a place that suits men because teaching such little pupils means playing the role of mother," says Vien Thanh Primary School principal Hao.

Although mathematics teacher Nguyen Duc Dac loves his job at Nam Dinh City's Nguyen Hue Senior Secondary School, he admits he only went to study at Ha Noi National University of Education because it was free.

"I still think that women are better at persuading naughty students [to behave]," he says.

But UNESCO's Ha Noi representative, Vibeke Jensen, says it is precisely this stereotype that needs to be addressed.

"It's true that it requires a lot of patience, but I don't think it's true that men have not got the patience or can't cultivate patience.

"I think it's totally wrong to think that teaching is a simple task. It's one of the most complex jobs you can find," she says.

Jensen says Viet Nam needs to raise the status of primary school teachers to attract the best staff.

"Records show that once men get involved and start teaching at this level, they can be very good at it.... Sometimes we have to lose our preconceived notions, think outside the box and do things differently," says Jensen.

The reason UNESCO advocates more balance between male and female teachers is that boys and girls need male and female role models, says Jensen.

"It's important for primary schoolboys to have male teachers, girls to have female teachers. It's also important for the opposite sex to see that boys can see female teachers in this role and vice versa," says Jensen.

"From a gender perspective, boys will be put at a disadvantage if they only learn from female teachers. There are a lot of things, especially at puberty, that boys will have difficulties with and dare not to ask or share with their female teachers," says Plan International's Thuy.

Education experts say gender disparities in teaching need to be addressed. "It's an important issue that has been neglected," says Ha Noi National University of Education's educational psychologist Vu Kim Thanh.

Research has been carried out in other countries that indicates gender inequality in education has a profound effect on child development.

UNESCO's Jensen takes Mongolia as an extreme example. She says boys never get to see a male teacher.

"The school environment is so dominated by women that boys cannot get a foothold."

Jensen says the shortage of male teachers is being blamed for the high drop out rate among schoolboys.

It's a similar story in Denmark where girls now do far better than boys in school.

"Forty years ago, we talked about how to promote girls, but now we're talking about how to get boys to stay because they are dropping out," says Jensen.

Contrasting pictures

The Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008 shows that Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand are in a similar position to Viet Nam, although the gender imbalance is more or less serious.

"Although there are generally more female teachers in the world, there are quite a number of countries where male teachers dominate," says Jensen.

In Cambodia, for instance, women account for only 41 per cent of all teachers at primary school level, 33 per cent at junior secondary and 26 per cent at senior secondary. She says part of the reason is culture.

"It is related to socio-cultural issues where women cannot go out of the house, or go far from the house. It's difficult in Pakistan or Afghanistan, for instance, to hire female teachers in remote rural areas because for a woman, to move from her home to the school is a challenge," she says.

July 14, 2008

Go to website.

Report from Maylaysia

Bryan G Nelson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Author:

by Hajah Mahanom Basri, President, Association of Selangor State Childcare Centres

Body:

Dearest friends,

Breaking news, Annual General Meeting of Association of Childcare Centres in Selangor State, Malaysia was held at the Selangor State Building Hall on the 26th of April 2008. Members attending were majority women with only 10 interested men around. This year is an election year and suprisingly, out of 15 committee members, 3 men were elected to be the Vice President and District Representatives. This has never happened before and I personally think its going to be a different scenario whereby men in ECE will be contributing to compliment women whom all the while have been leading this industry in Malaysia.

I would like to quote what Mr. Ron Blatz has said. "We hire real men, with stamina, strength, and a deep love and concern for children." I hope that the male committee members who have been elected will be the role models for other men.

Hope to hear from all of you soon.
Make yourself good, Help others become good, and Make the whole physical world good.

Best regards from Malaysia.
Hajah Mahanom Basri,
President,
Association of Selangor State Childcare Centres.
Shah Alam City Centre, Malaysia.

Things happening all over the world - a report from Hawaii

Bryan G Nelson — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Author:

Don Piburn

Body:

[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
It has been exactly one month since the Working Forum (WF) on Men in Early Care and Education (MECE) Honolulu (See below). It was a tremendous success, with more than just a handful of the delegates calling this a “WOW!” or "life-changing" event.

• The World Forum Foundation (WFF) website http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/projects/men_ece/index.php has been updated; it can now be used as a potential press release.

• The WF MECE delegates list is up and available for those delegates who wish to stay connected.
• If you plan or are in the process of writing or presenting on what you learned or shared at the 2008 WF MECE Honolulu, please let us know

• Since a critical part of the WF MECE efforts continues to include the sharing of stories, please add your story to the WF MECE collection! Go to the link: http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/survey/index.php?survey_id=136. See some of the stories entered thus far at: http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/projects/men_ece/stories.php.

• IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ!!! – The 2009 World Forum on Early Care and Education, which will include our next official WF MECE event, will be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland in early summer of 2009. (We’ll know the exact dates after awhile, but typically “WoFo” is held in the early summer).

• 2009 WoFo Belfast places WF MECE at the epicenter of allied international MECE efforts!

• United Kingdom (UK)-wide Men in Childcare (MIC) (http://www.meninchildcare.com/), which trained over 1000 men to be ECE professionals; held 6 very successful international Men in ECE conferences, and has at its helm our very own European representative and now one of three WF MECE Leadership Team co-coordinators, Kenny Spence (http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/projects/men_ece/bios/spence.php).

National Efforts

The NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo is the largest early childhood education conference in the world, where tens of thousands of educators choose from hundreds of presentations and exhibits. The 2008 NAEYC Annual Conference will be in Dallas on November 5-8, 2008.

• NAEYC Interest Forums are groups of NAEYC members who share a common area of concern related to the NAEYC mission, and who desire to network, reflect and learn together.

• The Hawaii Association for the Education of Young Children (HAEYC) – Men in Education Network (M.E.N.) Interest Forum functions in the same capacity.

• Involvement in national efforts is one way to keep Hawaii at the epicenter of the Men in ECE movement.

• HAEYC M.E.N. is directly affiliated with the NAEYC M.E.N., which is co-coordinated by Bryan Nelson, Francis Carlson, whom you may remember from the 2008 WF MECE Honolulu, and Mr. Rodney West of San Diego Unified School District.

• Don Piburn recently received NAEYC approval to plan the official NAEYC M.E.N. Interest Forum Symposium at the NAEYC annual conference as a follow-up to the 2008 WF MECE Honolulu.

• Bryan Nelson and Frances Carlson have both agreed to assist.

Next Steps in Hawaii’s Efforts:
Hawaii has become an important global epicenter for the international movement supportive of men in ECE following the 2008 WF MECE Honolulu.

• All options for future Hawaii MECE efforts are open for discussion, however trying to encourage change by oneself can be exhausting. It's nice to have help, and perhaps more importantly to have others of a like-mind to offer support, even in small ways. A little encouragement can go a long way.

• Translate this as: If you only have just a little spare time, but are still interested in this movement please contact us anyway. We want your ideas and any level of involvement!

• HAEYC M.E.N. has been in existence since 2004, plus has the collaborative statewide infrastructure of the HAEYC already in place to support us.

• An HAEYC M.E.N. statewide gathering to discuss “Next Steps” on Men in ECE could take place in affiliation with the upcoming State Early Childhood Conference, set for October 3 – 4, 2008 on Oahu at the Hawaii Convention Center.

Finland: Incentives for Male Teacher Trainees?

Bryan G Nelson — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:20:23 -0500

Author:

Finish News

Body:

The Ministry of Education is considering whether to offer incentives to encourage male university applicants to study for qualification to become school teachers.

A report in the daily Aamulehti claims that reforms to the laws governing tertiary studies are being considered. New legislation will be introduced in 2010.

In practice, incentives will take the form of bonus points or quotas.

Of undergraduates study for their teaching qualification at the University of Tampere, 84 percent are women and just 16 percent are men.

February 12, 2007

Go to the website.