MenTeach E-News
July 2014
1) The Pendulum Column: Where is Mr. Waldo?
2) Program aims to attract black males into teaching
3) Where Did All the Male Teachers Go? France Worries That Boy Students May Be Suffering
4) Male teachers in Western Pennsylvania elementary classrooms
5) Study: Minority teachers benefit all
6) Earn $24,000-$32,000 stipend to get your Graduate degree at the Richmond Teacher Residency (RTR) Program
7) Study: Minority teachers benefit all
8) New book: Men Who Teach Young Children – An international perspective
9) Men Teachers Perform as Musicians
10) The man who would be a nursery teacher in Vietnam
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1) The Pendulum Column: Where is Mr. Waldo?
I take great pleasure in attending the annual conferences of the National Association for Young Children (NAEYC). For me the NAEYC typifies the apex of professionalism, in addition to being something genuinely affirming about achieving a critical mass of early childhood educators at the annual conference.
These are my people! They speak my language. They are the ones who might mutter, “We need to wait our turn” when a shopper squeezes ahead of them in the checkout line or “Are you sure you did your best?” when the mechanic fails to fix their car.
In their midst, it is unnecessary to couch my opinions in a preliminary explanation of what it is I do for a living. Yet my deepest feelings of loyalty, acceptance and camaraderie collided with reality as I plucked the 2004 NAEYC Conference Preliminary Program from my mailbox. Read Don Piburn’s editorial from 2004: /node/2464
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2) Program aims to attract black males into teaching
A doctoral candidate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania recently stood in front of high school students from the Homewood Children’s Village and asked how many planned to go to college. All hands shot up, but when he asked how many planned to go into education, the hands dropped down.
National statistics echo this scene, which involved about 20 black students, most from Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood. Less than 2 percent of teachers in the U.S. are African-American males, according to Robert Millward, education professor at IUP. To try to increase those numbers, Mr. Millward started the Black Men Teaching Initiative, which led to the teens, male and female, from Homewood Children’s Village attending a workshop at IUP. Read the article: /node/2467
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3) Where Did All the Male Teachers Go? France Worries That Boy Students May Be Suffering
There are too many women in English schools, declared British Prime Minister David Cameron. In order to restore authority in the classrooms, Cameron thinks that the presence of male teachers — who can show both “strength and sensibility” — should be reinforced as soon as possible. The idea has been given some thought in France as well.
An advisor close to French President Nicolas Sarkozy said “there are too many women teachers” and that the situation should be “more balanced.” Read the article: /node/2419
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4) Male teachers in Western Pennsylvania elementary classrooms
Sixteen kindergarteners sat cross-legged on a rag rug, singing songs about the days of the week and the months of the year.
The classroom at Carnegie Elementary School in the Carlynton School District was furnished with the usual toys preferred by 5-year-olds — trucks, blocks, a kitchen play-set, a miniature makeup table. There was a collection of books nearby, and a set of puzzles in cardboard boxes.
In addition to lists of class rules and words the students had learned to read, Penguins, Steelers and Pirates posters decorated the walls.
The sports motif was all that suggested anything unusual about the teacher, who sat in a white wooden rocking chair at the front of the room.
“Good morning, kindergarten friends, how are you?” chanted Don Alexander, as his students clapped out a rhythm. Their eyes were fixed on Alexander, a tall man in his early 30s with floppy brown hair. Read the article: /node/2468
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5) Study: Minority teachers benefit all
Despite the cry from people of color for more teachers who look like them, both whites and blacks benefit from a more diverse teaching force, according to a study by Center of American Progress.
“…A study of the relationship between the presence of African American teachers in schools and African American students’ access to equal education in schools found that fewer African Americans were placed in special-education classes, suspended, or expelled when they had more teachers of color, and that more African American students were placed in gifted and talented programs and graduated from high school,” stated the report.
Teachers of color also have, “an affinity for infusing their classrooms with culturally relevant experiences and examples, setting high academic expectations, developing trusting student-teacher relationships, and serving as cultural and linguistic resources—as well as advocates, mentors, and liaisons—for students’ families and communities.” Read the article: /node/2470
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6) Earn $24,000-$32,000 stipend to get your Graduate degree at the Richmond Teacher Residency (RTR) Program
I am currently suggesting that you add RTR to your database of residency programs.
Here’s a brief description of it: RTR is a program based in the inner city of Richmond, VA. In your 1st, of four-year commitment (also known as the residency year), you earn your Master’s Degree in Education (concentrations offered are Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and Special Education) from Virginia Commonwealth University, which has been ranked as one of the top graduate education programs in the country for several years. Read the article: /node/2473
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7) Study: Minority teachers benefit all
Changing demographics trend toward diversity
Despite the cry from people of color for more teachers who look like them, both whites and blacks benefit from a more diverse teaching force, according to a study by Center of American Progress.
“… A study of the relationship between the presence of African American teachers in schools and African American students’ access to equal education in schools found that fewer African Americans were placed in special-education classes, suspended, or expelled when they had more teachers of color, and that more African American students were placed in gifted and talented programs and graduated from high school,” stated the report.
Teachers of color also have, “an affinity for infusing their classrooms with culturally relevant experiences and examples, setting high academic expectations, developing trusting student-teacher relationships, and serving as cultural and linguistic resources—as well as advocates, mentors, and liaisons—for students’ families and communities.”
A study titled, “Teacher Diversity Revisited” reported in May 2014 that learning from and networking with a multicultural teaching staff is also important for preparing white students for a workforce and society where they will no longer make up the majority. Read the article: /node/2474
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8) New book: Men Who Teach Young Children – An international perspective
David Brody has written a well-researched book presented in an engaging manner. He tells powerful stories of men caring and teaching, that you, the reader will enjoy reading and connecting with. The depth and quality of his interaction with his subjects and his observation in the classrooms are translated into valuable insights for nurture. This book will serve not only those interested in men teaching but also those interested in how teachers, in general, provide quality education, care and nurture for young children. It is an excellent foundation and model for future study of further cultures. I have high hopes for future inclusion of perspectives from other continents. Read more about the book: /node/2477
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9) Men Teachers Perform as Musicians
When I attended the California AEYC conference in April I won a CD by Chucky Baby and The Biscuits – “Rising Up!”.
They are with a preschool called “Step One Nursery School” in Berkeley, CA with as many as 10 male teachers. I have forgotten lots of the details. But thought you might find it inspiring as I did. Watch and listen to one of their songs: /node/2478
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10) The man who would be a nursery teacher in Vietnam
Most red-blooded males want to be spacemen, fire-fighters, bus drivers, fighter pilots, engineers, doctors… but not Le Dang Hanh, 26. He is never happier than when he is dancing, singing and playing games with his young charges. Hanh is a teacher at Quynh Phuong nursery school in Quynh Luu District in the central province of Nghe An.
At first, I found it hard to believe that a Vietnamese man would willingly become a nursery school teacher. My curiosity arroused, I decided to travel several hundred kilometres from Ha Noi to Nghe An to bear witness to this marvel of a man.
Seeing is believing. Hanh, the nursery school teacher, is real. He is slim and tall, with thick eyebrows and a moustache. He has a firm handshake and his eyes are very bright.
He is the second of three siblings. His father is a forestry worker and earns a good living.
Hanh says he developed an interested in singing, dancing and telling stories at a young age. Even before he became a teacher he used to sing and play games with small children in his neighbourhood. That was why he decided to enrol in a nursery school-teachers class at Nha Trang-based National College of Pedagogy. Read the article: /node/2436
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