Friday, October 30, 2009

The Missing Male Teacher

With all of the strides that have been made in the postmodern classroom setting, one of the most surprising issues in the field of education surround gender roles—but instead of students, the issue deals with the teacher population in our schools. Believe it or not, the number of male teachers in the United States hit a forty year low during the 2007-2008 school year, when men made up of only one quarter of educators in this country. An even more staggering statistic: 91% of elementary school teachers in the United States are women. However, that is certainly not to say that only 9% of American men are interested in teaching. There are several speculations as to why so few men are entering the field of education, none of which include a general lack of passion for teaching. Instead, low pay, as well as stereotypes about traditional gender roles and child sex offenders have all played roles in deterring men from becoming teachers. Whether men are conscious of it or not, the demand for male teachers has never been higher, and it is not difficult to see why.

Since the very inception of the American education system, teaching, especially elementary school teaching, has been viewed as a domestic and nurturing role, mainly reserved for women. Since women were expected to make the easy transition from the domestic lifestyle at home to the domestic lifestyle in the classroom, the salary did not come close to matching that of a typical American male. Classic American gender roles tell us that the male is meant to be the breadwinner of the family, but this can be difficult to accomplish as a teacher—especially at the elementary level. In an article by Tamar Snyder entitled, Male Call: Recruiting More Men to Teach Elementary School, he says that “if they started paying men $150,000 a year, you’d see a lot of guys going into the field.” Obviously, that idea is unrealistic, but I found an interesting contrast in Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s speech at Teacher’s College at Columbia University, when he asserted that he found it futile to raise teacher salaries because teachers “aren’t motivated by money.” If they were, Duncan argued, “they wouldn’t have gotten into the field in the first place.” While there may be those whose passion for teaching outweighs the monetary value of the profession, to say that teachers aren’t motivated by money is completely ridiculous. It certainly cannot take place overnight, but a raise in teacher salaries could certainly up the ante for men who are on the fence about teaching career.

While men have never been formally discouraged from the field of education, there are a few factors outside of the poor monetary compensation that are deterring them from the field. One of which is the simple stereotype that teaching is “women’s work”, and that it is no man’s place to be sensitive, nurturing, and caring toward students. Another reason is that if men were to be sensitive, nurturing, and caring toward students, they’d be much more likely to be slapped with sexual harassment charges than a woman. Tyler Shannon, a fourth grade teacher in a Kansas City school district, admitted that he was very apprehensive at the start of his career to show support for his students in a physical manor. A 2002 study by the American Association of University Women showed that 83% of sexual harassment charges against high school teachers were directed at male teachers. Whether all of these accusations were deserved or not, this is an external force that is really keeping men out of the classroom.

It is certainly true that incentive outside of helping students learn is just not there for male teachers. However, as the son of a male elementary school teacher, I can honestly say that there has never been a more important time to bring men into the classroom. According to First Things First: The Importance of Male Positive Role Models, nearly one fourth of American children today live in one-mother households. Of those children, about 35% never see their biological father. These staggering statistics prove that there is a devastating lack of positive male role models for this generation of children. Simply put, children need someone who is crazy about them, unconditionally. During the 25 years that he was in the classroom, I’ve personally witnessed my dad be that someone for so many students, just as he is for my brother and me. The respect that he achieved from students and parents in his district, his involvement in the lives of his students and the true passion he’s had for teaching is what motivated me to enter the field myself. I want to be a part of the next generation of positive male role models.

Even for those without a teacher for a father, there are programs out there that strive to motivate men to teach. The Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) program at Clemson University began in order to increase the pool of elementary school teachers to make the field more diverse. The student participants in the program are largely, but not exclusively, chosen from socioeconomically disadvantaged ad educationally at-risk communities. Because the project provides tuition assistance, an academic support system to help assure success, and a cohort system for social and cultural support, most anyone is able to participate. It also gives men a great opportunity to see that while it may be an unpopular career choice for men, teaching is one of the most rewarding careers in our society. It is a truly phenomenal way to help those who want to improve tomorrow to get involved today.

4 comments:

  1. As someone who may potentially become a teacher, I found myself relating to many of the subjects brought forth in this article. Throughout my elementary school years, with the exception of gym class, I only had one male teacher. I remember it being a nice change of pace, having a teacher who I could somewhat relate to. In middle school, it was more of the same, but I did have a few more male teachers. I find that as you progress through your academic career, you have more and more male teachers. I’m going to assume this is because teaching a lower level comes with a lower level of status and prowess, which may also be why you find more male college professors than female. Many men would prefer to be the dominant provider in a family, and because of the teaching wages, many men are presumably drawn away from the profession. It would be more fit for the secondary provider, which in most cases is the woman. Speaking for myself, I am not drawn to a profession because of the money, which might be the reason why I have not been turned away from it. I’m not so sure the fear of sexual harassment charges is a primary factor in dissuading men from becoming teachers, but it is a fairly significant factor. I found myself relating with many of the concepts brought about in this article. Hopefully the programs that were mentioned will become more prevalent and popular, and our country will see more male teachers because of it.

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  2. I completely agree with your article. Male teachers in education, especially early education play an important role in the development of children. With women dominating the classrooms as teachers, children are often taught a certain way to think and act because naturally, that is how a woman would act in those situations. It is particularly important for young males to have at least one male teacher in their elementary career because they can learn more by simply watching how their male teacher acts. For example, students may come home and say things that their parents aren't used to them saying and they will ask where they got that from. A kid may say that they heard their teacher say this or that and I think that this is a good way to for children to learn. Being taught through real life experiences will make the lesson stick longer with you. I was fortunate enough to have an elementary school teacher who taught us with the concept of the "real world." We were assigned class jobs and were paid every two weeks. After the end of each month we had to pay rent for occupying our desk. Another interesting thing was that we were able to come up with our own ways of making extra money on the side by selling school supplies or snacks for snack time. This lesson has stuck with me and has taught me to budget my money because even then, we would buy unnecessary things and would worry about if we had enough money to pay rent or not.

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  3. Programs that promote males to become teachers are crucial and I think that they are great because like your father, they can be positive role models to students who don’t have a male figure in their life to show them right from wrong. However, there is that thin line between engaging with your students physically and sexually harassing them that is not clearly determined. Men naturally are more hands on but this comes with the territory that naturally this is a women’s job and yes they are to nurture more, but who is to say that a male teacher can’t do the same? I think that the reason males in elementary classrooms is so low is because of the economy. You wrote that the common belief is that males are the breadwinners of their family so I think that many male teachers left their teaching job to search for more lucrative jobs that will help their family get through these tough times. I think that if we can fix some of our economic problems, we may see an increase in male teachers.

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  4. We expect Male Teacher in Primary School.But they are not Interested to do Primary School Job? Do you know why they are not Interested to do Primary School Job?

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