MenTeach E-News
November 2015

1) Florida Works To Retain, Recruit Male Teachers
2) Seeking ShaQuan: A Call for Increased Male Presence in Public Education
3) NAEYC Video: The Power of Men in Early Childhood Classroom
4) Rapper Jahi Educates in the Classroom and From Behind the Mic
5) Male Teachers in great demand
6) Bryan Nelson – MenTeach wins award
7) New Push to Hire Male Teachers of Color
8) 2015 Winners of the NAEYC M.E.N. Interest Forum Awards
9) A Man in Education: Living a Double Life
10) England national men in early years conference launches in 2016

ABOUT MenTeach
JOIN or DONATE to MenTeach
VOLUNTEER for MenTeach
Forward Our Message
To be Removed From the List

—————

1) Florida Works To Retain, Recruit Male Teachers
Friday was an early-release day at Wolfson High. By 2 p.m., the students were gone, but the auditorium was filled with male teachers.

The reason? They’re part of a newly-formed male teachers’ network in Duval County.

Westside High School Principal Gregory Bostic led Friday’s workshop.

“You know when you walk into the classroom or walk into any school, you’re lacking the male figure, ”Bostic said.

He says a big reason for that seems to be pay. When Bostic asked the teachers how many wish to become assistant principals, about a third of the audience raised their hands.

But he says schools need men in the classrooms too, because a lot of students are missing male figures in their homes. Read the article: /node/2745

—————

2) Seeking ShaQuan: A Call for Increased Male Presence in Public Education
Few artistic expressions possess as much personal meaning for me as The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Anytime I listen to the album, I am transported back in time, back to my college years, back to the blossoming of new love (When dating my wife, our first song was “Nothing Even Matters”, a duet by Lauryn and D’Angelo, featured on the album), back to the final moments of the last century which, oddly enough, feels like simpler times.

Equally as captivating for me as the songs on the album are the interludes, wherein a male “teacher”, played by hip hop activist and current Newark City Councilperson Ras J. Baraka, leads his young “students” in an engaging dialogue on the meaning of love. The first interlude serves as a roll call of students. When Lauryn’s name is called, there is no response, highlighting her presumed absence from class.

From the first time I listened to this interlude, and every time since, another name, not Lauren’s, has reigned prominently over the others; ShaQuan Sutton. The name stands out for no other reason than its auditory appeal. Recently, however, I have begun to envision the endless promise for ShaQuan’s life given the context of his factious educational upbringing. For ShaQuan and his “classmates” experienced something that escaped much of my own educational experience, as well as the educational experience of countless youth, today; a strong, nurturing male presence in the classroom.

—————

3) NAEYC Video: The Power of Men in Early Childhood Classroom

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference:

Men play an integral part in the world of early childhood education, but they don’t always receive the recognition and support that they deserve. ReadyRosie delved into this serious and important topic yesterday with conference attendees.

Watch the video: /node/2748

—————

4) Rapper Jahi Educates in the Classroom and From Behind the Mic
ahi isn’t your average rapper. He doesn’t have to just worry about flow and lyrics when he tours with Public Enemy as part of the group PE 2.0. As an educator and pioneer of the African-American Male Achievement program in the Oakland, Calif., public school system, he has to wait until summer break, when the kids are out, to tour for his new album, InsPirEd.

As both a solo rapper and an emcee for PE 2.0, an offshoot of Public Enemy, Jahi has had success around the world as a musician. As an educator, he is the director of Oakland’s public schools’ Manhood Development Program and manages 16 public school sites in Oakland. The program falls under the Office of African-American Male Achievement in the Oakland Unified School District. It is the first organization in the U.S. that unapologetically and exclusively serves black boys in a public school system. Black male teachers are teaching black male students, and it has been a qualified success, transforming the lives of both the teachers and the students. Read the article: /node/2750

—————

5) Male Teachers in great demand
Former English footballer and current sports broadcaster Gary Lineker once came to my school to give an inspirational speech.

When he came in he asked “Who knows me from playing football?” The older men put their hands up. Then he asked “Who knows me from Match of the Day?” Now half the room put their hands up. Finally, he asks “Who knows me from Walkers Crisps adverts?” The whole room put their hands up. Read the story: /node/2752

—————

6) Bryan Nelson – MenTeach wins award
The Exchange Leadership Initiative (ELI) launched in November 2014, with the intention to explore strategies for making leadership more visible in the field of Early Care and Education, growing in understanding of the qualities, training, and skills sets that underlie leadership and fulfilling our responsibilities in supporting and developing leaders. Read his information and meet the other winners: /node/2755

—————

7) New Push to Hire Male Teachers of Color
New York City is rolling out a $16.5 million initiative to recruit and retain nonwhite male teachers so that its teaching staff better reflects its student population.

The effort, led by the city’s Young Men’s Initiative, a group comprising dozens of local programs serving young black and Latino men, aims to add a total of 1,000 black, Latino and Asian men to New York City classrooms or into a teaching track by the fall of 2017.

According to data from the city’s Department of Education, Black, Latino and Asian male students comprise 43% of the one million students in the city’s public prekindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools. But men of the same races make up 8.3% of the approximately 76,000 teachers at those schools.

“Our teaching force does not look like the students in the classroom,” said Richard Buery, deputy mayor for strategic policy initiatives. “The city’s workforce should look like the city.” Read the article: /node/2756

—————

8) 2015 Winners of the NAEYC M.E.N. Interest Forum Awards
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Men in Education Network (M.E.N.) Interest Forum gives out two awards each year at the national conference. The first is the Champion for Men and Children Award which goes to a man, woman or organization that has made significant contribution to furthering our efforts to increase the number of men working with children. The second award is the Leader of Men and Children Award and goes to a man that works directly with children and has made significant contribution to furthering the efforts to increase the number of men working with children. The man must currently be working directly with children. Find out who won this year: /node/2761

—————

9) A Man in Education: Living a Double Life
Double Life – noun – a completely separate way of life that you have some of the time and keep secret from other people. – Macmillan Online English Dictionary.

I transferred to UW-Stout in the fall of 2012 after spending one year at the University of Minnesota – Duluth. While at UMD I had decided to pursue a degree to become a high school social studies/history major but made the giant leap to Early Childhood Education at Stout because I always enjoyed spending time with children. Whether it was family or volunteering, I always found myself having the most fun helping children grow through play or teaching them new things. Of course I knew that Early Childhood Education was a female dominated field, however I never realized the two different worlds I would be living in. When I arrived on campus I also became a member of the UW-Stout Blue Devil football team (DIII – NCAA) and still am, proudly, a part of that program. I spent the majority of my mornings in class with twenty to forty females and absolutely no contact with any male figures. After that span of one to two hours each day where I would sit in silence soaking in everything thrown my way, my life would drastically switch gears when I attended practice with over 100 teammates and eight or so coaches, all of whom were male.

My name is Jake Pollock, a senior at UW-Stout, and I live a double life. Read his story: /node/2765

—————

10) England national men in early years conference launches in 2016
Held in Southampton next February, the conference will also introduce a charter for early years settings that welcome male practitioners.

Currently less than 2 per cent of the early years workforce is male and the aim is to build up a national resource bank to lobby the Government to encourage men to enter the profession.

‘We are taking this bold step in organising our event, after many years of advocacy and campaigning because we feel strongly that we need to do something,’ he said.

‘We would love to see the United Kingdom lead the world in the gender balance of our early years workforce.’

A series of panel discussions and workshops at the conference will address the barriers preventing men from entering early years education, as well as the practical issues they face within the profession. Go to website: /node/2767

—————

ABOUT MenTEACH: This email Newsletter has been distributed by MenTeach – a clearinghouse with a mission to increase the percentage of men teaching.

Forward Our Message – be sure to forward this message to anyone you think might be interested in teaching children.

JOIN or DONATE to MenTeach today – support our mission to increase the number of men teachers.  https://www.menteach.org/join_or_donate

VOLUNTEER for MenTeach – help make a difference by volunteering with MenTeach. We could use help moderating forums, posting articles that you find, updating the bibliography, hosting a group in your region, do some research about the percentages in your state, get involved and make some new friends. Drop us a line to let us know what you’d like to do.

E-LETTER POLICY FOR INCLUSION: MenTeach’s monthly e-letter includes news/resources/events that are relevant to those interested and supporting the education, support and care of children and families and who want qualified men teaching children.

To be Removed From the List
Go to this link and manage your account:

Men Teach E-News