There isn’t all that many male teachers operating at the Primary school level. Some think this a great shame and point to all the impressionable boys without male role-models.
It is true that there are a growing number of boys without male role-models. I don’t see this as merely an educational problem, but rather a societal problem. As a society, we have the responsibility for ensuring that fathers lift their game and take more responsibility for the raising of their own children.
As for teachers, I don’t want a male teacher to teach my son, I want a great teacher to teach him. An effective teacher is clearly a better result for any boy than merely a male teacher.
And the truth is that men do not seem to be attracted to teaching, especially at Primary level. Some say that the Government should incentivise men to take up teaching. I think this is a big mistake and amounts to a form of sexism. Firstly, you want your teachers to want to teach. This is an idealistic profession. Teachers choose to be educators for reasons other than money. I don’t think the result of men suddenly signing up only due to the extra incentives offered is good for developing quality in the profession. Worst still, that man is likely to take the spot of an idealistic female, who might desperately want to be a teacher. Do we really want to go down the path yet again of selecting men over women for gender reasons alone?
I am all for promoting the wonders of teaching to men. I am very much against offering incentives and Uni places to men over women for no reason other than their chromosomes.
Michael Grossman is the author of the children’s book, My Favourite Comedian. You can buy a copy by clicking on this link.
Tags: Education, feminist, feminsim, gender gap in teaching, Male Teachers, men in the classroom, sexism in the classroom, Teaching, why are there so few male teachers
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