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More male primary-school teachers? Social benefits for boys and girls
Abstract
The call for more male primary-school teachers has long been associated with the educational needs of boys, the importance of positive male role models in schools and the disproportionate number of male and female primary-school teachers internationally. However, little is known about whether or not parents and students actually want more male primary-school teachers and if they do, the reasons they have for wanting more. This paper addresses the under-representation of parents' and students' views by drawing from a study of the perspectives of 97 parents and 184 sixth-grade students from Sydney, Australia. Surveys and semi-structured focus group interviews with boys and girls, and their mothers and fathers revealed an overall perceived social need for more male primary-school teachers. In particular, the paper indicates that male primary-school teachers are considered important for boys; a view consistent with some extant research literature that does not include the views of parents or students. The paper further indicates that parents and students see male primary-school teachers as being beneficial to girls; a matter rarely discussed in any research literature irrespective of the stakeholder group studied.
... Department of Education, 2017). The lack of male teachers has raised concerns about student learning, particularly for male students (Cushman, 2005;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Moreau & Brownhill, 2017;Pollitt & Oldfield, 2017). Based on the assumption that male teachers likely function as role models for male students and connect with male students more effectively, there is a widespread perception that the lack of male teachers are more likely to have adverse effects on male students' learning and development (Deese, 2017;Martino, 2008;Mills et al., 2004;Moreau & Brownhill, 2017). ...
... Relatedly, there is a popular idea that male teachers are more effective at disciplining boys. Parents and educators call for more male teachers in the classroom, citing their belief that male teachers can serve as disciplinarians (Carrington & McPhee, 2008;Francis et al., 2008;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). Preservice male teachers perceive that they are more likely to be expected to teach students with boys who are considered as troublemakers (Stroud et al., 2010). ...
... This common notion that male teachers have the upper hand when disciplining boys is based on a couple of underlying assumptions. First, it is frequently assumed that male teachers are better able to connect with boys and meet the boys' developmental needs (Carrington & McPhee, 2008;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Mills et al., 2004). For example, one parent says that ". . . ...
Parents and educators commonly assume that male teachers serve as more effective disciplinarians for boys than female teachers. Do schools tend to assign male teachers to teach boys with perceived behavioral issues? Our study uses administrative data in Indiana to investigate male teacher assignment in elementary school. We find that boys with at least one suspension record in the previous year are 12% more likely to be assigned to a male teacher than boys without suspensions, whereas girls’ suspension histories do not predict assignments to male teachers. In addition, teachers who have 10% or more of students with suspension histories are 19.5% more likely to migrate to another school and 16.2% more likely to leave the state’s teacher workforce. Our study suggests that male teachers have an elevated risk of being assigned to teach male students with suspension histories, which may contribute to teacher turnover.
... D'ailleurs, les élèves, garçons ou filles, disent avant tout s'intéresser aux qualités du personnel enseignant pour bien gérer la classe (Carrington et al., 2007). Toutefois, de l'avis de certains auteurs, les enseignants de sexe masculin sont identifiés comme des modèles positifs pour les garçons dans leur construction identitaire et comme des confidents dans le rapport des garçons avec la puberté (McGrath et Sinclair, 2013). À Introduction partir des derniers éléments énoncés, nous remarquons que les questions relatives à la relation enseignant-élève (REE) émergent pour décrire en partie la situation des garçons à l'école, que cette relation est façonnée par les concepts de sexe, de genre et de stéréotypes de genre. ...
... D'ailleurs, leur expérience parentale contribuerait à ce qu'ils soient plus motivés intrinsèquement pour enseigner, puisqu'ils se sentent plus à l'aise et en confiance dans leurs rapports avec les enfants (Skeat, 2004). À ce sujet, les élèves et le personnel enseignant reconnaissent qu'une plus grande présence d'hommes en enseignement aurait des bénéfices sociaux pour les garçons, où l'enseignant agirait comme modèle ou figure paternelle, et comme confident dans le rapport des garçons à la puberté ou à la sexualité (McGrath et Sinclair, 2013), ce qui laisse croire à l'importance des interactions entre les hommes et les garçons en contexte de classe. Tournons-nous maintenant vers le contexte des garçons à l'école. ...
... Qui plus est, alors que les propos de certains garçons révèlent que le modèle que projettent des enseignants semble ancré dans des principes de masculinité traditionnelle, notamment lorsque des garçons mentionnent que leurs enseignants cherchent à banaliser ou à ignorer les situations difficiles qu'ils vivent, quelques chercheurs préconisent la présence de plus d'enseignants comme modèles masculins positifs pour les garçons afin d'améliorer le plan de leur construction identitaire (McGrath et Sinclair, 2013) ou encore celui de la réussite scolaire (Royer, 2010(Royer, , 2011. En examinant le discours des enseignants, on constate qu'il est d'un tout autre ordre que celui des (Lahelma, 2000;Carrington et al., 2007). ...
... about the role of teacher gender in schooling (e.g., Martino & Rezai-Rashti, 2012;McDowell & Klattenberg, 2018). In our previous work, for example, we have described how a focus on male teachers in Australia intensified in the early 2000s, when attention was given to boys' educational "underachievement" (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). This denoted a shift in policy focus that, for the previous 25 years, had targeted the educational needs of girls. ...
... Although we contest the need for male teachers to improve students' academic outcomes, or to act as role models or father figures, we maintain that male teachers are needed for psychological (McGrath & Van Bergen, 2017), social (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013), and societal reasons (Bhana & Moosa, 2016). To facilitate a comprehensive analysis of these reasons, we present a theoretical framework for researching a shortage of male teachers. ...
... Although these classroom-level differences are likely reflective of interactions with other levels which shape gendered beliefs and attitudes, including societal perceptions and gender knowledge (see Figure 1), teacher gender also appears to be important to students themselves. In our previous research, for example, Australian girls in sixth grade expressed a need for more male teachers to understand how to interact with men outside of their families, while boys claimed that male teachers understood them better than did female teachers (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). Notably, both boys and girls reported that it was easier to relate to a teacher of the same gender. ...
In this article, four researchers from Australia and South Africa consider why it is important for primary schools to include both male and female teachers. The authors refute previous calls directed by public and political discourse, for male teachers to enhance boy’s educational outcomes or to act as role models or father figures. Instead, the authors present a theoretical framework that justifies calls for male teachers at four levels: the child level, the classroom level, the organizational level, and the societal level. While complex barriers may continue to limit male teacher representation, the authors hope that this interdisciplinary framework might stimulate further international scholarly discussions about the interactions between teacher-gender, education, and culture.
... Ainsi, les promesses de l'adéquation entre le sexe des élèves et celui de l'enseignant semblent reposer avant tout sur une conception très simpliste de la notion de « modèle à suivre » (role model) (Francis et autres, 2008;Kehler et Greig, 2005;Sokal et Katz, 2008). En ce qui a trait à la nécessité d'une présence masculine à l'école, une étude récente menée auprès d'élèves du primaire et de leurs parents montre que la présence d'hommes à l'école est perçue comme bénéfique tant pour les garçons que pour les filles (McGrath et Sinclair, 2013). Cette conclusion est soutenue par les résultats d'une étude américaine récente démontrant que les jeunes femmes et les jeunes hommes sont similairement désavantagés dans leurs chances de terminer des études collégiales par l'absence d'une figure paternelle durant l'enfance (Lundberg, 2017). ...
... Bien que la plupart des hommes qui enseignent perçoivent favorablement leur rôle de modèle positif auprès des élèves, plusieurs évoquent que les attentes à leur égard sont souvent confuses ou irréalistes (Martino, 2008;McGrath et Sinclair, 2013). Par exemple, certains parents et enseignantes sont d'avis que les enseignants de sexe masculin seraient naturellement plus habiles à discipliner les élèves (Carrington et McPhee, 2008;McGrath et Sinclair, 2013) et que certains administrateurs scolaires auraient même tendance à assigner des groupes plus difficiles aux enseignants masculins (Dee, 2007). ...
... Bien que la plupart des hommes qui enseignent perçoivent favorablement leur rôle de modèle positif auprès des élèves, plusieurs évoquent que les attentes à leur égard sont souvent confuses ou irréalistes (Martino, 2008;McGrath et Sinclair, 2013). Par exemple, certains parents et enseignantes sont d'avis que les enseignants de sexe masculin seraient naturellement plus habiles à discipliner les élèves (Carrington et McPhee, 2008;McGrath et Sinclair, 2013) et que certains administrateurs scolaires auraient même tendance à assigner des groupes plus difficiles aux enseignants masculins (Dee, 2007). Ces attitudes et pratiques pourraient nuire à l'intégration et à la formation de l'identité professionnelle des enseignants de sexe masculin, qui subissent le poids d'attentes sociales démesurées (Kehler et Martino, 2007;Rezai-Rashti et Martino, 2010). ...
La mixité de genre en éducation : quelques implications des contextes éducatifs non mixtes pour la réussite scolaire et sociale des élèves
Rapport préparé dans le cadre de la Conférence de consensus sur la mixité sociale et scolaire tenue par le Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec (CTREQ) les 9 et 10 octobre 2018
... We acknowledge that a gender disparity is common amongst educators in early childhood and primary education settings (Besnard & Letarte, 2017;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013) and is evident in Malta too (NSO, 2021b). ...
... The female participants by far outweighed the males and constituted 94.5% and 95.6% in both surveys respectively. We acknowledge that this disparity in early childhood settings (Besnard & Letarte, 2017) and primary schools (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013) is a common scenario. The gender imbalance of participants in our study reflects the cohorts of students who were reading for a degree in Early and/or Primary Education at the time, as well as the wider scenario pertaining to the great majority of female educators in early and primary education locally (NSO, 2021b). ...
The purpose of the current research study was: (i) to explore ITE university students’ views about the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning within teacher education and gain insight into their practices in view of the pedagogies and strategies adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic; (ii) to learn more about the new learning spaces and environments used by university students in ITE, and how these influenced their experiences and practices during the pandemic; and (iii) to examine how the
rapid shift to online learning and adhering to ongoing updated COVID-19 mitigation measures have affected their lives, practices,
relationships and personal well-being.
... For example, in Germany the proportion of male elementary school teachers is 4%, in Finland it is 10% and in the United States it is 2% (Mashiya 2014). These findings are supported by Drudy (2008), Cushman (2008) and Skelton (2009) as cited in McGrath & Sinclair (2013:2) when they state that 'the perceived need for more male primary school teachers has emerged as an international issue with research and media reporting proportional and absolute decline in the number of male primary school teachers in Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, Canada and the USA". In Africa the trend is similar. ...
... McGrath and Sinclair (2013) assert that the call for more male teachers in primary schools has long been associated with the educational needs of boys, the importance of positive male role models in schools and the disproportionate number of male and female teachers in primary schools internationally (cf. Martino 2008;McGrath and Sinclair 2013). Rolfe (as cited by Okeke and Nyanhoto 2021) states that men and women have a different caring stylemales promote a more active, physical environment while women foster a nurturing and calm environment, but both caring styles can be beneficial for young children. ...
"In South African primary schools, the Foundation Phase (Grade R, the year before formal schooling until Grade 3) is dominated by female teachers because few men enrol for a teaching qualification in this phase. There are various reasons why there is a reluctance by males to teach in this phase. These include parental nervousness around men who decide to seek employment in a traditionally female profession, scepticism in males’ abilities to teach young children as well as their female counterparts, the perception that men cannot handle the responsibility of taking care of young children and the perception that men who choose to teach young children are unnatural, homosexuals and deviants. The study was motivated by two factors: firstly, by the researcher’s interest in male teachers who teach young learners (because of the scarcity of male teachers in early education); and secondly, by the large number of students who enrolled for the B. Ed Foundation Phase degree at a South African university. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of male teachers in the Foundation Phase. Data were collected through focus group and face-to-face interviews and were analysed thematically. The participants were nine male teachers who teach in the Foundation Phase. The researcher wanted to obtain narrative portraits and in-depth understanding of the participants’ experiences as males in a reality that is female-dominated. The results show that in many schools, male teachers experience gender prejudice and gender stereotyping from both male and female colleagues, and often from parents. For example, some of the male participants asserted that teachers make fun of them by saying that men cannot be ‘nannies’. However, some schools were happy to employ male teachers, regardless of the societal misconceptions about male teachers teaching young children. It is recommended that, amongst others male teachers in the Foundation Phase be encouraged and educated about strategies to cope with criticism in order to be resilient."
... Herein the male role modelling discourse is used to repudiate women and femininity within which support for men's involvement in ECEC is established upon the reinforcement of male power by validating and affirming boy's masculinities and developing boys to be successful within the patriarchal order (Haase 2008). The assumption that men in ECEC are needed in order to act as father figures for children with absent fathers is also critiqued as it reinforces heteronormativity and discounts diverse family structures for example families with same-sex parents (McGrath and Sinclair 2013). Additionally, gendered expectations of men in ECEC to perform within a hegemonic regulatory discourse as superior disciplinarians and sport administrators place unwarranted amounts of pressure and distress on those men who cannot or do not aspire to fulfil these roles (Harris and Barnes 2009). ...
... Another facet of the male role modelling discourse as demonstrated in our findings is the heteronormative conceptualisation that men in ECEC can offer specialised support to fathers. This rigid heteronormative conceptualisation is problematic as it discounts the existence of diverse family structures including families with same-sex parents (McGrath and Sinclair 2013). Inciting men to stay in ECEC by relying on a male role modelling discourse premised upon normative masculine ideals preserves the narrative of keeping men in to do the work of gender normalisation rather than social justice. ...
Globally, the underrepresentation of men in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce is ongoing and has been largely attributed to the construction of ECEC as 'women's work'. Men's involvement in ECEC can help to deconstruct the feminisation of work and the gender binaries through which occupations are structured. Further to this, there is a need to dismantle reinforced gendered ideologies that work towards interrogating rather than supporting the presence of men in ECEC. This paper draws on selected findings from an international research project investigating men's involvement in ECEC. It uncovers how a group of men navigate themselves within a highly gendered ECEC terrain from which they sometimes 'dropout'. Providing nuanced understandings of how men negotiate their positions in ECEC can inform intervention strategies to increase and support men's participation in ECEC in more progressive and gender-sensitive ways.
... In order to alleviate the negative effects of a role modelling theory founded upon gendered essentialism, Martino and Rezai-Rashti (2012) argue that it would be more advantageous to advocate an alternative social imaginary that transcends the restrictions of gender. Amidst all the calls for male role models for young boys, one study also noted how male teachers were important for girls to learn about future relations with men (McGrath and Sinclair 2013). The need for male teachers to assume roles as father figures is another facet of the role modelling theory (Jones 2007). ...
... In an Australian-based study, it was reported that male teachers were considered to have social benefits for girls by helping girls to understand and interact better with men (McGrath and Sinclair 2013). Our findings add a new dimension to existing research within the international sphere by presenting a relational and contextual outlook on the ways in which adult teachers in South Africa construct male FP teachers. ...
The teaching of young children or Foundation Phase (FP) teaching as it is known in South Africa continues to be regarded as ‘women’s work’. Lately South African research has focused on encouraging men’s participation as FP teachers. In this paper, we offer a critical examination of how South African primary school teachers ‘embrace’ the need for men in FP by drawing on discursive strategies that view men as vital male role models for young girls. This contrasts more common role modelling discourses which call for male teachers to act as role models for boys. One argument put forth was that male FP teachers could help shape acceptable ways of ‘doing girl’. Secondly, a ‘daddy’s girl’ discourse was used to construct male teachers as favourable role models for girls. Lastly, male teachers were considered as role models in order to expose girls to alternate, non-violent and caring masculinities.
... Men who teach young children often have to deal with contradictory discourses that entail both risk and adoration (Evans & Jones, 2008). For example, the role modeling theory is a popular discourse used to embrace and appreciate the need for more male teachers of young children (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). The need for male role models for young boys who are at risk of being misunderstood by female teachers is one of the reasoning's behind the male role modeling theory (Hedlin & Åberg, 2013). ...
... The need for male teachers to assume roles as father figures is another problematic facet of the role modeling theory as it pressurises men who teach young children to fuse parenting and teaching (Smith, 2004). Moreover, the uncritical assumption that children with absent fathers need male teachers to act as father figures fails to consider single parent families with an absent mother and families with same-sex parents (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). The need for male teachers of young children to perform within a hegemonic regulatory discourse as effective disciplinarians and/or by exhibiting sporting prowess are further facets of the male role modeling theory (Mills, Haase, & Charlton, 2008). ...
The teaching of young children (aged between 5 and 9) or Foundation Phase (FP) as it is known in South Africa, is highly gendered and is labeled a ‘woman’s’ job. Globally there have been calls to lessen the gender disparity within the profession by increasing the participation of men. However, apprehensions about men teaching young children can counteract such efforts. In this paper we highlight the concerns emanating from a group of male and female South African primary school teachers about men teaching young children. We focus on a dominant discourse employed by the teachers that invokes essentialist notions of men as violent sexual predators, and simultaneously reinforces notions of children as vulnerable and in need of protection from men. These notions of men conjured up feelings of apprehension amongst the teachers about men as FP teachers. South Africa’s high levels of male sexual violence had especially compelled them to exercise caution when ratifying men as FP teachers. Based on these findings we argue that in order to increase men’s participation as FP teachers, there is need to address the essentialist and homogenising versions of masculinity whilst promoting alternative versions of men and masculinity by shifting away from the reproduction of men as sexual predators.
... While previous studies have explored the views of teachers with regards to the need for male role models and their potential impact on children (for example Cushman 2008;Wood and Brownhill 2018) and the views of parents and children (McGrath and Sinclair 2013), there is little research exploring the views of trainee teachers. Where there are studies involving trainee teachers, these tend to focus on exploring the factors influencing males to enter primary teaching (Stroud et al. 2000). ...
... Such an argument is unhelpful to the profession and insulting to women who make up the majority of the workforce and who are assumed to be unable to teach, inspire or control male pupils. While this argument has tended to come from outside of the profession and has manifested itself in the views of parents (McGrath and Sinclair 2013), media articles and policy documents, evidence from this study with a group of trainee teachers and from previous studies (Stroud et al. 2000;Skelton 2003;Carrington and McPhee 2008;Cushman 2008;Haase 2008) suggests that gender stereotypes continue to be perpetuated both by teachers' self-efficacy and by attitudes and practices within schools even though the flurry of papers written on this were a decade or more ago. Previous papers have argued that if we want to have a more diverse teaching population in primary schools that is representative of the true nature of gender rather than simplified stereotypes then the focus and message from recruitment drives needs to be rethought (Skelton 2012). ...
Primary teaching Initial Teacher Training courses across the UK have been under pressure from central government, Ofsted and the media to recruit more male students to their courses with the aim of increasing the proportion of males in the primary teaching workforce. This is because increasing the number of male role models in primary schools has been mooted as the solution to boys’ underachievement, especially in reading and writing. There is, however, little evidence showing any correlation between boys’ educational outcomes and the number of male primary teachers in schools. The purpose of the project reported in this paper was to ascertain the beliefs of the future primary school workforce about this focus on the need for male role models in schools. A mixed-methods approach was employed: 120 male and female primary trainees were surveyed and a further 48 took part in group interviews, all of whom were based in an Initial Teacher Training department in a university in North West England. Results indicated that although aspiring teachers felt that males and females could make equally good role models for children their personal value systems perpetuated the myth that boys need male role models to achieve better educational outcomes.
... Besides students' gender, teachers' gender has been presumed to contribute to students' gender disparities in school (T. S. Dee, 2005;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). In these cases, teachers' expectations and attitudes might provide one possible explanation for Turkish students' lower achievements (Jussim & Harber, 2005;Südkamp, Kaiser, & Möller, 2012). ...
... Nonetheless, male students experience disadvantages in school. Among other factors, the lack of male teachers is considered as one reason for gender-related disadvantages (Dee, 2007;Dee, 2006;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). In teaching nowadays, the workforce is primarily female (Forrest, Lean, & Dunn, 2015), a disparity that leads to the assumption that female students are better off than male students (Spilt et al., 2012). ...
Implicit and explicit attitudes play crucial roles in teachers’ judgments and behavior and might be part of the reason for the varying school performances of ethnic minority compared with ethnic majority students but also of female compared with male students. In this study, we investigated 80 female and 80 male German secondary school teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward female and male Turkish students, expecting more favorable attitudes toward same-gender students. However, implicit and explicit attitudes toward male and female students were independent of teachers’ gender. An IAT revealed more negative implicit attitudes toward female than male ethnic minority students, while teachers explicitly favored female ethnic minority students. Results are discussed in terms of culturally divergent social norms and gender.
... While calls for more male teachers to improve the academic outcomes of boys or to act as role models may be misplaced (see Ashley, 2003;Bricheno & Thornton, 2007;Cho, 2012;Holmlund & Sund, 2008;Winters, Haight, Swaim, & Pickering, 2013 ), there remains important social and psychological reasons for schools to include both male and female teachers ( Farquhar, 1998;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013 ). Schools have long been sites where children's gendered identities are developed, negotiated, and confirmed ( Francis & Skelton, 2001 ), and lessons about gender typically manifest as part of a hidden curriculum in which teachers' own gender may play an important role ( Basow, 2004 ). ...
... Contrary to this perception, however, advocacy for greater balance across industries is of benefit to men and women alike. Within the educational sphere specifically, there are also advantages for students themselves who report benefiting when they are able to interact with a mix of male and female teachers and who may develop healthier conceptions of gender when both males and females are represented in the teaching workforce Lingard, Martino, Mills, & Bahr, 20 02;Martin, 20 02;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013 ). Such moves can only result in a more equitable society, and not a less equitable one. ...
Whilst an international shortage of male teachers has received much research attention, to date, no study has tracked the trajectory of male teachers in any country. Drawing on annual workplace data, we calculated the proportion of male teachers in Australia from 1965 to 2016. We separate the data for Government and non-Government (Independent and Catholic) schools, and for primary and secondary schools. Findings indicate a strong decline in male representation in the Government sector. A similar rate of decline is observed in both primary and secondary schools. Of significance to educators, policy makers, and the public - no current Australian workforce diversity policies aim to redress this decline. This strong decline is not matched in the Catholic sector, however.
... Several studies have indicated that male teachers can fulfil parenting roles and be positive role models for pupils (e.g. McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Bener et al., 2006). In addition, the presence of male teachers in primary schools improves children's social skills and helps them talk about sensitive issues related to male nature. ...
This study aimed to identify why students are reluctant to choose teaching as a career in the Sultanate of Oman from parents’ perceptions. It also aimed to verify whether there were statistically significant gender differences in parents’ perceptions of the teaching profession. Using a quantitative research design, the study applied a questionnaire to a sample of 2,519 parents, of whom 66.7% were males and 33.3% were females. The questionnaire results indicated that the reasons for reluctance in choosing to teach from parents’ perceptions centred on the difficulty of the career, the lack of financial incentives compared to the workload, and teachers’ low social status compared to other professions. The results also revealed gender differences in choosing teaching as a career in favour of females from the perspective of students’ parents. It is recommended that parents should respect their children’s choice of future professions and their desire to be teachers. In addition, the Ministry of Education in Oman must make significant efforts to make teaching an attractive career again.
... McGrath and Sinclair (2013) assert that the call for more male teachers in primary schools has long been associated with the educational needs of boys, the importance of positive male role models in schools and the disproportionate number of male and female teachers in primary schools internationally (cf. Martino 2008;McGrath and Sinclair 2013). Rolfe (as cited by Okeke and Nyanhoto 2021) states that men and women have a different caring style -males promote a more active, physical environment while women foster a nurturing and calm environment, but both caring styles can be beneficial for young children. ...
PHILOSOPHICAL GAMES IN PRIMARY EDUCATION: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH Philosophical games provide an innovative transformative structure in the learning process for all levels
of formal education. The motivation is to provide elementary school teachers with an innovative
methodology for Game-based-Learning of Philosophy/in Philosophy teaching. A combination and
attentive collaboration of Philosophy, Art and games/ Game-based Learning provides new tools in
approaching and solving the problems that education faces today. Since Game-based Learning constitutes
a strong trend in technologically enhanced learning, is the, where/with the employment of gaming
elements both in learning content and learning pathways, the proposed methodology leads to a series of
novel applications about teaching philosophy that enable young agents to cultivate hypothetic-deductive
and critical thinking with a positive attitude towards others and developing feelings of constructive
antagonism. The teaching scenario proposed aims at cultivating hypothetic – deductive and critical
thought/moreover, enhances the linguistic ability in the vocabulary of ancient Greek philosophy as well.
The scenario is part of a game suite entitled “Entering the Socratic school” and targets 10–12-year-old
children. It is easy to implement on any digital platform with open-source tools used by almost every
teacher. The game elements rely on the structure of the learning content rather than on the digital tools
themselves. The methodology consists in designing a concept map and defining the game narrative, the
game levels and transitions between levels, the mechanics to be used, such as polls, badges, and
leaderboards. Online activities include digital games such as quizzes and crossword puzzles, student
generated comic stories, and a digital guide. They are complemented by physical activities involving
movement and dialogue using fishbowl techniques and Socratic circles. The proposed teaching scenario
will be implemented in the classroom in the following academic year and our work team applies
interdisciplinary approaches inspired by at least three different fields of expertise.
Keywords: Socratic games, gamified learning, philosophy, art, Moodle.
p-ISSN: 2184-044X e-ISSN: 2184-1489 ISBN: 978-989-53614-3-4 © 2022
... This indicates a need for both male and female role models in primary education, as children need positive role models of both genders during their formative years. While some may argue that any qualified teacher can provide a good role model, research has shown that children benefit from having both male and female role models in their lives (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Mills et al., 2004). This is also in consonance with the recommendation that male teachers should be encouraged to take opportunities to teach younger kids Green et al., 2014). ...
Observation and literature confirmed that men are unduly scarce in the count of foundation phase teachers in South Africa and the few that are presented as foundation phase teachers are often criticized and ridiculed with the argument that foundation phase teaching is for women. Therefore, the study sought to understand gendered ideologies in order to address the issue of missing male teachers in the foundation phase, which is currently considered to be feminized. Using Sandra Bem’s Gender Schema Theory, the study explores the perceptions embedded within gender issues and how these influence the appointment of male teachers in the foundation phase in the Amathole Education District of the Eastern Cape Province. A qualitative approach was adopted, and a case study research design was employed where six participants (three males and three females) were purposely sampled and interviewed. Data were analyzed using content analyses where some themes emerged. The study revealed that most males are unwilling to work with younger kids, while the study also confirms their roles as very important in the development of younger kids. The study concludes that male teachers’ positive influence cannot be underestimated; hence the government should devise a way to motivate male teacher educators toward the world of work in the foundation phase.
... Diversity of child composition within a class group has been found to improve quality of experience (Thorpe et al. 2012). Similarly, diversity in the workforce has been argued to expand children's experiences with benefit for learning and developmental outcomes (Kamberi, Karlsson, and Rennstam 2016;McGrath and Sinclair 2013;Rohrmann 2020). Studies are emerging that examine the impact of gender diversity on ECEC (Brandes et al. 2015), but we identify the ongoing need to expand research methods to include observational methods and test theorized benefits for children. ...
Retention rates for men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) are low. Exit is associated with experience of feeling 'other' perpetuated by judgements of men's sexuality, motives, and ability. In this paper, we take the unique circumstance of many men working together in ECEC to ask whether more men on staff improves experiences of inclusion. We analyse interviews with 10 men working in two Australian ECEC centres in which male educators comprise >20%, of the staff; ten times the international representation of men in the ECEC workforce. Our data identify a developmental process in which supports and mentorship, from female and male colleagues, are critical to retention early in career. Beyond, the building of a distinct male contribution underpins continuing career engagement. However, with the presence of more men new tensions emerge as the 'alien invader' becomes the face of the centre, potentially eclipsing the contribution of female colleagues.
... McGrath and Sinclair (2013) assert that the call for more male teachers in primary schools has long been associated with the educational needs of boys, the importance of positive male role models in schools and the disproportionate number of male and female teachers in primary schools internationally (cf. Martino 2008;McGrath and Sinclair 2013). Rolfe (as cited by Okeke and Nyanhoto 2021) states that men and women have a different caring style -males promote a more active, physical environment while women foster a nurturing and calm environment, but both caring styles can be beneficial for young children. ...
... In many countries, the vast majority of teachers are female. The lack of males, especially in early childhood and primary education, has sparked much interest among researchers internationally (for Brody, 2014Brody, , 2021Cushman, 2007;Martino, 2008;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;McGrath & Van Bergen, 2017;Sargent, 2001). This shortage has given males a unique position within the school systems around the world, and they tend to be favoured in the process of recruitment, employment, and promotion (Cushman, 2007). ...
This article presents an interview study with seven newly-graduated male teachers in Icelandic compulsory schools. We interviewed them five times during their first two years of teaching. The focus is on the ways in which the gender of the novice teachers mattered in the expectations that they experienced and how these expectations interacted with the professional demands of being a teacher. The interviews reveal that hegemonic masculinity ideas have an impact on the minds of our interviewees as they experienced various expectations, based in such masculinity. The findings also suggest a tension between the expectations of men as natural disciplinarians and the professional induction of learning to become a teacher. Male-specific expectations included that the school as well as parents expected that the students had respect for them on the grounds that they were men. While such expectations gave some a head start with positional authority, it laid a burden on them as novices. Not all of our interviewees fitted the male-specific expectations, which supports the importance of breaking down gendered stereotypes. In recruiting teachers, regardless of gender, we need individuals able to perform professional practices of care and attention to detail in managing a classroom.
... contexts (Carrington et al., 2008;de Zeeuw et al., 2015;Driessen, 2007;Neugebauer et al., 2011;Puhani, 2018;Sokal et al., 2007). Adding more male teachers to classrooms may be desirable, in part, because the presence of male teachers can send a message that men can be caring and nurturing, thereby reducing gendered stereotypes (McGrath et al., 2020;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). Additionally, male teachers potentially play an important role in student development, particularly for those who lack positive male role models in their lives (Cushman, 2005;Pollitt & Oldfield, 2017). ...
Scholars have examined the effects of same-gender teachers on student achievement, but the findings are mixed. In this study, we use 7 years of administrative data from students in elementary and middle schools (i.e., Grades 3 through 8) in Indiana to test links between gender matching and student achievement. We find that female teachers are better at increasing both male and female students’ achievement than their male counterparts in elementary and middle schools. The positive effects of having female math teachers are particularly large for female students’ math achievement, but we do not find evidence for a positive gender matching effect in English language arts. In addition, contrary to popular speculation, boys do not exhibit higher academic achievement when they are assigned to male teachers. Our findings suggest that the effects of teacher gender on student learning vary by subject and gender, but the effect sizes are small.
... Whereas the student sample was relatively gender equal (49:51), the sample of teachers was predominantly female (>90%). Given that this is normative within the profession, it may long be a limitation with which we must contend, despite empirical justification for more male teachers (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). We also acknowledge that contemporary view of gender identity is that it is not a purely binary construct. ...
Are teachers' growth mindsets associated with the development of growth mindsets in their students? We know that teacher growth mindset (TGM) shapes the attributions teachers make about their students' abilities and can lead to assumptions about the role that perceived stable traits play in students' performance; however, to date, research has not focused on the relationship between TGM and the development of student growth mindset. This study fills a gap in our knowledge by testing this association over time. Findings from an analytic sample of 57 teachers and 1957 intervention students reveal that teachers with growth mindsets have a mild positive and statistically significant association with the development of their students' growth mindsets, particularly for boys. Implications for teacher education, practice, and future research are discussed.
... A number of international researchers have commented in recent years on the global pattern of a low male presence in the early years workforce. These include: Drudy et al., 2005;Cameron, 2006;Oberhuemer et al., 2010;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Peeters et al., 2015;Sak et al., 2015;Warin, 2018;Wright & Brownhill, 2018;OECD, 2018, andBrody et al., 2021. However, despite this international consistency there are also differences between countries. ...
This study draws on data from the GenderEYE project, research conducted in England between 2018 and 2020, which aimed to examine the recruitment, support and retention of male teachers within early years education (EYE) with a view of developing a more gender diverse workforce in this sector. Data collection was by means of a survey, 9 case studies with early years settings and interviews with key stakeholders. In this study, we examine a key finding about the persistently low numbers of male EYE professionals, linking this to another finding concerning a lack of specific strategy to recruit and support men.
... For example, an absence of male teachers seems to have substantive negative effects on boys' school performance (Suryadarma et al., 2005;Carrington & McPhee, 2008;Majzub et al., 2010;Heibig, 2012;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). ...
Across countries, almost all primary and pre-primary teachers are women while few men in the occupation tend to specialise in secondary schooling and administration. We investigate the decision to become a teacher versus alternative occupations for graduates in Australia over the past 15 years. We find that this gender distribution reflects relative returns in the labour market: women with bachelor qualifications receive higher returns in teaching, while similarly educated men enjoy substantially higher returns in other occupations. We also find evidence that schools which can, and do, make higher wage offers successfully attract more male teachers as well as more female teachers with a degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These results are consistent with the predictions of theoretical models of self-selection of intrinsically motivated workers.
... Sosok ini diharapkan dapat berempa lebih dekat dengan anakanak, mendukung perkembangan mereka dan juga menjadi panutan perilaku, sehingga anak-anak ini dapat meningkatkan capaian belajar dan perilaku mereka (Beynon dalam Wood dan Brownhill, 2018) Inisia f dengan mo f ini banyak mendapat kri k, karena hanya mengaitkan rendahnya hasil capaian belajar anak dengan gender guru. Padahal, peneli an yang menilai hubungan antara jenis kelamin guru dengan pencapaian peserta didik di sekolah dak menyimpulkan hasil yang jelas (Helbig, 2012;McGrath dan Sinclair, 2013). Peneli an lainnya juga menemukan bahwa gender dan etnis guru dak terlalu mempengaruhi hasil pembelajaran (Carrington dan Skelton, 2003). ...
Publikasi ini merupakan bentuk kerja sama antara Direktorat Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini (PAUD),Direktorat Jenderal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, Pendidikan Dasar dan Pendidikan Menengah, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Kemendikbud) dan para alumni penerima beasiswa Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan (LPDP), baik dari dalam maupun luar negeri. Para kontributor yang terpilih dalam buku ini telah menyelesaikan studi di bidang pendidikan dengan fokus disiplin yang beragam (interdisipliner), dan lulus dengan predikat cumlaude atau distinction pada bidang masing-masing, baik pada jenjang sarjana maupun magister.
... A growing number of studies have recently focused on students' own current relationship perceptions. These studies have typically used student rating tasks (e.g., Hughes, 2011;Koomen & Jellesma, 2015;Murray, Murray, & Waas, 2008), student drawing tasks (e.g., Harrison, Clarke, & Ungerer, 2007;, or student interviews (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013). Using these methods, there is moderate but not strong correspondence with teachers' ratings of relationship quality (see Harrison et al., 2007;Hughes, 2011;Murray et al., 2008;Spilt, Koomen, & Mantzicopolous, 2010). ...
A rich body of research using teacher report has shown that students with disruptive behavior are at heightened risk of experiencing negative student–teacher relationships over time. However, no research has compared how students with and without disruptive behavior remember their own past relationships. We conducted autobiographical memory interviews with 96 participants (Mage = 12.31 years, SD = 1.75) from three groups: two containing students with disruptive behavior (one in alternative school, one in mainstream) and one with no disruptive behavior (in mainstream). Whereas all students in the nondisruptive group and most (90.0%) in the disruptive–mainstream group could remember at least one strongly positive student–teacher relationship, one third (32.1%) in the disruptive–alternative school group could not. This previously unidentified subgroup may be particularly at risk of negative school outcomes in the future. Interestingly, 40.5% of students in the nondisruptive group also recalled at least one strongly negative student–teacher relationship. Across groups, students attributed these negative relationships to teacher hostility and injustice. Drawing on these findings, we discuss implications for interventions to encourage positive student–teacher relationships for all students.
... These studies have however led to the call for more men into elementary education because they are seen as positive role models (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Mills, Haase, & Charlton, 2008). ...
... One of the efforts is by funding researchers to conduct studies to demonstrate the impact the male teachers have on students. These studies have, however, led to the call for more men into elementary education because they are seen as positive role models (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Mills, Haase, & Charlton, 2008). The recruitment of these male teachers has been carried out by MenTeach, a non-profit organization that helps in the recruitment of male teachers and Call Me MISTER, a recruitment program that helps with providing tuition and leadership training to African American male students pursuing a degree in education (Snyder, 2008). ...
The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of teachers in the United States and Nigeria with the view of understanding their different gendered experiences and perspectives in coming to teach. The study aims to illuminate the underlining factors in the gender variation in the teaching profession in each country. Qualitative interview design was used and the targeted population was teachers in Ogun State, Nigeria, and Oklahoma, United States. Eight teachers were purposively selected for this study because they have taught or are currently teaching in a public school; 4 teachers in Nigeria and 4 teachers in the United States (male and female teachers). The interview was the main instrument used for the data collection and a qualitative approach was used to analyze the data. The findings in this study show that; (a) gender and femininity in teaching is socially constructed and operates differently across international context, (b) the socially constructed gendered norm that women are perceived to possess nurturing abilities affects their roles in the classroom, (c) the role of the men are gendered masculine in both countries, and (d) teachers’ income differ by countries and contributes to the gender gap in the teaching profession.
... At the societal level, labor shortages could be decreased in communal HEED occupations when men move into these fields more (Goodin, 2003), and organizations may profit from the best talents when not only women but also men who are talented in communal roles pursue communal HEED occupations. Improving the gender balance among elementary teachers has also been found to be beneficial for children by exposing them to more diverse role models (Gosse, 2011;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013) and reducing their gender-stereotypical beliefs (Mancus, 1992). ...
While women are increasingly entering traditionally masculine, agentic occupations and roles, there has been less of a shift in the opposite direction: men moving into traditionally feminine, communal occupations and roles. This paper outlines the negative consequences of men's low communal engagement, and how this inhibits various benefits for men themselves, for the women and children around them, and for society as a whole. We review how sociopsychological processes driven by gender norms and precarious manhood keep men from engaging in communal roles and behaviors. Moreover, we outline how insights into these contextual barriers to men's communal engagement may also be used to facilitate change such that men are freed to pursue both agentic and communal roles. We discuss (the effectiveness of) different interventions at the societal, organizational, social, and relational level that may enable men to pursue communal interests.
... The negative image of teaching is further compounded by its relatively low rates of remuneration compared with other professions, a feature reinforcing the idea that poorly paid work is feminized work. But alongside this discourse is vigorous political advocacy as well as academic literature in support of more male teachers (Martin and Marsh 2005) as a means of providing positive male role models and a strong guiding hand for pupils, especially boys (McGrath and Sinclair 2013). ...
Over the past two decades the issue of gender imbalance in teaching has been the subject of media and political discussion. Researchers have yet to draw definitive conclusions as to the relationship between teacher gender and student achievement, but the notion that more men are needed in teaching persists, with calls for governments to enact ‘affirmative action’ policies. Despite this, surveys of male teachers have found that many believe they are portrayed negatively in the media and that they are under greater scrutiny than their female counterparts. In seeking to better understand this contradiction, this article examines 233 news stories covering the issue of men in teaching. Using framing theory, the authors found that despite a high percentage of stories carrying a positive angle, male teachers are predominantly framed in problematic ways. The authors argue that the news media is ideologically limited in its representation of male teachers, resulting in any advocacy being a counter-narrative to the prevailing logic.
... These beliefs can create gendered double 13 standards by positioning certain behaviours as appropriate for female teachers, but not for male 14 teachers and vice versa. Identifying how these beliefs contribute to the construction of gender 15 related challenges for male primary teachers has been well documented (e.g., Bhana and Moosa 16 2016;McGrath and Sinclair 2013;Mills et al. 2008). Much of this qualitative research has 17 utilised a poststructuralist feminist lens to deconstruct and critically examine issues of gender in 18 primary school contexts. ...
Primary schools are dynamic environments where teachers take on multiple roles, often simultaneously, to help promote high-quality learning and meet the various needs of their students. Within the primary school context both female and male teachers are required to perform multiple roles; however, these roles are often socially constructed based on gender. Traditionally, primary schools in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States have a high proportion of female teachers. Despite their minority status, research has noted that male primary teachers in the minority are often expected to take primary responsibility for roles such as disciplinarian, manual labourer, sports coach, and lead in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. Role differentiation in primary schools often reflects broader societal gender constructions that are increasingly subjected to critical scrutiny. Yet that same level of scrutiny has not always been applied to educational contexts. It is the aim of this paper, therefore, to more fully examine how gendered roles influence the experience of male primary teachers and more specifically, how those teachers cope with the expectations placed on them because they are men. Understanding the sources and types of coping strategies will aid in the development of specific interventions to improve the retention of other male primary teachers.
... Sport provided the environment where men could teach younger children, boys in particular, a range of life skills and strategies for managing anger and building resilience. Certainly, the theme of male role models is a consistent one in both this research and the literature more broadly (Bullough, 2015;McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Sargent, 2000). ...
This paper reports on the experiences of male primary school teachers in regional Australia. Drawing on 53 open-ended survey responses and interviews undertaken with five male teachers in Tasmania, the paper analyses their perspectives of their work and roles, and the additional labour of ‘career identity work’ through sport. For the men in this study, these additional roles find their antecedents in particular constructions of hegemonic masculinity where, on the one hand, they are expected to be ‘tough disciplinarians’ and, on the other, assumed to be ‘soft’ or ‘sinister’ for wanting to work with young children. Sport provided a safe context through which to manage such perceptions of their professional identity. Our study of teacher identities has wider significance for educators and policy makers to assist them understand and address the problem of low levels of recruitment and retention of male primary school teachers in Australia.
... Boys felt that men have a better comprehension of their play and were better able to relate. 6 In our country, especially in Punjab, only a few studies are available about teacher"s knowledge, attitude and practices regarding adolescent health. Thus this study was planned as it attempts to study the impact of health education on the knowledge, attitude and practices of teachers regarding the physical and psychosocial health of adolescents. ...
Background: Adolescents undergo the transition period of adolescence with little knowledge of body’s impending physical, physiological and psychological changes. After parents, teachers have maximum opportunity to support and educate adolescents. This study attempts to study effectiveness of health education on knowledge, attitude and practices of teachers regarding physical and psychosocial health of adolescents.Methods: The study was started with 155 teachers (teaching class 9th -12th) who willingly participated from 50 senior secondary schools of Amritsar district. After taking informed consent, teachers filled a pretested questionnaire which was followed by an interactive session on adolescent health. To study impact of health education, they were again administered same questionnaire after a period of 3 months. Statistical analysis was on Microsoft Excel, Chi square test, SPSS.Results: Maximum 74 (47.7%) teachers were aware of psychosocial problems of adolescents as compared to the physical and sexual problems. Only 11 (7.1%) teachers had adequate knowledge about changes occurring during adolescence. Majority 125 (80.6%) of teachers had no knowledge regarding height and weight gained during adolescence and more than 2/3rd [110 (71%)] of teachers were unaware of daily calorie and protein requirements. Only 28 (18.1%) had adequate knowledge about drug abuse. After intervention significant favourable changes were observed in their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding most of above mentioned topics.Conclusions: Overall knowledge of teachers in most aspects of adolescent health was found to be low, however significant favourable changes were observed after health education was provided to them.
... In their study, McGrath and Sinclair (2013) highlight how male teachers can be role models for both boys and girls and how this provides social advantages to both groups. They also emphasise parental viewpoints and show how positive parents are in believing that men should also be role models for girls. ...
The focus of this study is to examine seven municipalities that, in different ways, are working to recruit more men to work in preschools. The aim of the study is to identify different ways of working to recruit more men to work in preschools and to effect a change in the gender imbalance among the working staff in preschools. Relational agency is used as a conceptual tool in the analysis together with theories of organisational learning and change. The result is that municipalities use initiatives, one-dimensional processes or multi-dimensional processes when organising the change. These three ways of working characterise the work carried out. The work performed can in some cases be a mixture of all three, or at least comprise the first two—initiatives and one-dimensional processes. This shows how municipalities address the issue differently and the fact that the type of agency they take and are prepared to take—or the conditions needed to succeed—all differ. There is a great deal of variation in the work performed across the municipalities. One can discuss whether the municipalities more committed to change are also those more willing to have multi-dimensional processes.
... However, teacher gender would be valuable to consider in future studies on implicit stereotypes and personality theories about student gender. Frequent and ongoing discussions have focused on male teachers in order to reduce the disadvantages that male students experience (McGrath & Sinclair, 2013;Spilt et al., 2012) and because female teachers have better relationships with female students (Martin & Marsh, 2005;Spilt et al., 2012). ...
We investigated teachers' implicit personality theories in two studies. A gender IAT showed that 98 preservice teachers implicitly associated male students with negative and female students with positive student behaviors. These associations were related to interventions for male students' misbehaviors. A vignette study administered to 30 experienced teachers revealed gender-specific assignments. Externalizing behavior was seen as male, and causes as well as teachers' responses to student misbehavior were less favorable for the male student in the vignette. Our results show teachers’ contributions to the “boy crisis” and call for education programs to sensitize teachers to gender-specific biases.
Efforts to involve men in teaching young children is aimed at disrupting gender-specific occupational segregation and the feminization of teaching. This paper foregrounds the reasons a group of South African male preservice teachers chose to specialise in Early Childhood Education (ECE). We deploy hybrid masculinity as a lens to unpack how men reconfigure male power as prospective ECE teachers. Male authority and intergenerational relations in ECE and the avoidance of sexual misconduct permit male teachers to strategically mediate power and claim status as prospective ECE teachers. Highlighting these gendered complexities is vital in developing a gender equitable ECE landscape.
Cet article vise à identifier les stéréotypes de genre véhiculés par les enseignants de sexe masculin et les garçons du secondaire dans leurs perceptions déclarées à l'égard de leurs relations enseignants-élèves (REÉ). Se situant dans une approche qualitative interprétative, cette étude met en évidence les propos de 18 enseignants et de 86 garçons du secondaire, collectés par le biais de trois stratégies de collecte de données, soit l'entrevue semi-dirigée, le groupe de discussion et le questionnaire d'enquête. Les données qualitatives obtenues ont été analysées à l'aide des catégories conceptualisantes. Les principaux résultats mettent en lumière que certains enseignants mentionnent communiquer ou intervenir auprès des garçons sur la base d'intérêts stéréotypés masculins. Quant aux garçons, plusieurs d'entre eux font ressortir la distanciation émotive des enseignants à leur égard.
This article aims to identify the gender stereotypes conveyed by male teachers and male high school students in their stated perceptions of their teacher-student relationships (TSR). Using an interpretative qualitative approach, this study highlights the statements of 18 teachers and 86 boys in high school collected through three data collection strategies, namely the semi-structured interview, the focus group and the survey questionnaire. The qualitative data obtained were analyzed using the conceptualizing categories. The main results highlight that some teachers mention communication with boys is based on stereotypical male interests. In counterpart, some boys report the teachers being emotionally distant from them.
Social inequities in childhood affect children's health and development. Active In-Betweens is a weekly, healthy lifestyle and outdoor activity after-school programme, tailor-made for preadolescent children (9-12 year olds), incorporating a strengths-based, trauma-informed, co-designed and place-based approach. This study evaluated the extent to which the programme strategies and activities met the anticipated short- to medium-term programme outcomes during its first year of operation in two socio-economically disadvantaged housing communities in New South Wales, Australia. A qualitative case study used data from semi-structured interviews with child participants (n = 11) and key stakeholders (n = 10). A broad range of positive outcomes were described. Children's feedback indicated they had experienced opportunities which facilitated the development of new physical activity skills; new healthy eating experiences and knowledge; positive relationships with peers and facilitators and new connections with neighbourhood programmes and outdoor environments. Stakeholders valued the programme for the positive outcomes they observed among the children and the strong organizational partnerships which resulted. The importance of skilled facilitators to deliver the programme, the engagement of local stakeholders and a long-term commitment to programme delivery, with secure funding to ensure continuity, were clearly identified as integral for effective, sustainable outcomes.
There is a shortage of male elementary school teachers in the United States. Men who choose careers as elementary school teachers must be confident and ignore social barriers that keep other men from considering the profession. The current investigation seeks to understand the viewpoints of men who teach elementary school, a career predominated by women. This was the first known investigation on the topic using Q methodology. Data analysis extracted three distinct viewpoints: the Fixers, the Mentees, and the Aspirants. This study provides the results of data analysis, responds to research questions, and makes recommendations for policy. The findings of this study indicated that men who teach are proud to be role models and make a difference for students, and they believe that they are equally suitable to teach as women. Many participants seemed to be unaware of recruitment efforts in their field. The information gleaned from this study may help universities and school districts to seek new ways to attract quality male teachers.
Öğretmenlik mesleği cinsiyet dengesi bakımından incelendiğinde, giderek artan sayıda kadının erkeklere göre sayısal çoğunluğu oluşturduğu bir meslek haline geldiği görülmektedir. Öğretmen yetiştiren bazı bölümlerde erkek öğrenci sayıları neredeyse yok denecek kadar azalmakta, öğretmenlik mesleği bir kadın mesleğine dönüşme görünümü sergilemektedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı, öğretmen adaylarının cinsiyetlerine göre öğretmenlik mesleğinin kadınsılaşmasına yönelik çözüm önerilerinin neler olabileceğinin belirlenmesidir. Araştırma betimlemeye dayalı nitel bir araştırma olup, olgubilim desenine göre planlanmıştır. Araştırmada amaçsal örnekleme yönteminden tipik durum örnekleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi ile Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi “Temel Eğitim, Türkçe ve Sosyal Bilimler Eğitimi, Yabancı Diller, Matematik ve Fen Bilimleri Eğitimi, Bilgisayar ve Öğretim Teknolojileri Eğitimi, Eğitim Bilimleri ve Güzel Sanatlar Eğitimi” bölümlerine devam eden 1., 2., 3. ve 4. sınıf öğretmen adayları oluşturmuştur. Verilerin toplanmasında ise yarı yapılandırılmış bir form üzerinde öğretmen adaylarıyla görüşme yapılmıştır. Öğretmen adayları ile görüşmelerden elde edilen veriler içerik analiziyle çözümlenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda eğitim fakültelerindeki pek çok bölümde erkek öğretmen adaylarının sayıca azalmasının, hem kadın hem de erkek öğretmen adaylarını rahatsız ettiği bulgusuna ulaşılmıştır. Katılımcıların çoğunluğu öğretmenlik mesleğinin bir kadın mesleği olduğu yargısına karşı çıkmaktadırlar. Adaylar bu konuda hem eğitim fakültelerine hem de YÖK’e önemli sorumluluklar yüklemişler ve bazı konularda çalışmalar yapılmasına yönelik öneriler getirmişlerdir.
2020): 'Role model' or 'facilitator'? Exploring male teachers' and male trainees' perceptions of the term 'role model' in England, Gender and Education, ABSTRACT The call for more males to work with children in their formative years remains prevalent in education discourse across the globe. Assertions that these men will positively address boys' poor behaviour and underachievement, as well as serving as father figures and role models for boys, continue to fuel international policy making and shape media reporting and public opinion. This paper interrogates findings from original research which set out to explore the perceptions of white male primary school educators in England (both teaching and training) in relation to the term 'role model'. The results, drawn from a rigorous analysis of in-depth focus group interviews, highlight intriguing similarities and differences in professional thinking and suggest the need for a re-imaging of the term. The research has large-scale implications in terms of suggesting important revisions to 'more-men' policy making, for work-based professional training and development, and in informing societal discourse. ARTICLE HISTORY
This study aims to explore female learners' perceptions towards male lecturer gender. A major problem with this kind of study is low capacity of female lecturers and a large number of female learners who learn at Kandahar University. The attempt here is to find out female learners' perceptions of male lecturers and the challenges that female learners are faced against the male lecturers. The total number of participants in this study were 80, in which the whole participants are female from Educational faculty and the participants were selected randomly. The results of the statistical survey examined that female learners feel nervousness, have lack of confidence in front of male lecturers, and cannot share the questions freely with them. The study had also found that female learners talking to male lecturer feel increased heartbeat due to nervousness.
The foundation phase of education in South Africa (Grades R to 3) is perceived as a space where women and sometimes gay men teach. This conceptualisation has been contested and debated, with more men being recruited. I sought to understand how men relate to homosexuality in these settings, in a period of increased gender-based violence in Africa. I used a case study methodology of nine men, teaching in rural schools in Mpumalanga province. The theoretical framing was informed by two feminist theories: the theory of masculinities and intersectionality. The data was generated using two sessions of interview-conversations. I found that men teaching in the foundation phase construct identities that proclaim they are not soft and feminine. They further distance themselves from a gay identity and homosexuality. Essentially, finding themselves in relegated positions of masculinity, they negotiate their identities by positioning themselves as superior to other men and women. The findings provide a basis for deeper conversations about the gender identity and attitudes of early primary educators, and their potential influence on increased gender based violence.
Male primary teachers make up a minority of the primary teaching profession in countries such as Australia, England and the United States of America. This minority status can result in male primary teachers feeling socially isolated within their schools, and consequently choosing to leave the profession. This gender-related challenge is known, yet previous research has primarily focused on deconstructing and critically examining issues of gender in primary school contexts; rather than identifying practical coping strategies these men can use to deal with it and persist in the profession. Consequently, this research used surveys and interviews to identify and analyse the coping strategies experienced male primary teachers use to deal with their social isolation.
This paper gives an overview of international developments towards gender balance in the ECEC workforce in the last three decades. Research results on the role of male and female ECEC professionals and strategies for recruiting more men are reflected against goals of gender diversity and equality. As the overview shows, attitudes towards male workers and strategies for increasing participation of men are rooted in diverse and often contradictory assumptions about the ‘nature’ of men and women, their role in children’s gendered development, and the relevance of ECEC for gender equality in general. It is concluded that gender-mixed teams in ECEC institutions need gender-conscious reflection and ongoing development of gender-sensitive pedagogy. Moreover, strategies for employing more men in ECEC have to be embedded in a discourse on gender equality in wider society.
In July 2011, the State of Michigan adopted a broad set of teacher labor market reforms, including a high-stakes evaluation system designed in part to remove low-performing teachers. We examine the characteristics of teachers rated as “minimally effective” and “ineffective,” as well as their schools, and the relationship between low effectiveness ratings and later employment outcomes. Results suggest teachers of color across traditional and charter schools are more likely to receive low effectiveness ratings than their within-school peers. These low rating risks are higher for teachers of color working in comparatively White-faculty contexts. Male and novice teachers are also rated low more frequently, and important differences appear to exist in the usage of low ratings by traditional public and charter schools.
This mixed-method study (N = 657) explores high school students’ representations of their relationships with teachers in both dyadic teacher-student pairs and on a “global” level with all teachers at a focal school, as well as differences in these representations by student gender and race/ethnicity. The goals are to provide greater insight into how students represent both types of relationships, blending approaches in teacher-student relationship and school climate research, and to explore the ways in which individual student differences may be associated with trends in students’ representations. Specifically, students’ representations of their dyadic relationships with teachers are explored through content analysis of qualitative student survey data, while a global measure of students’ relationships with teachers across the school are modeled through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of quantitative survey items. Both sets of data are then disaggregated by student gender and race/ethnicity. Key findings include the multidimensionality of students’ perceptions of teacher caring, the distinction of negative relationship characteristics, and the potentially unique role that perceived affinity may have in students’ representations, particularly across student sub-groups. Implications include the need for greater attention to and articulation of students’ representations of their relationship in both research and practice.
I introduce the book’s aims and an overview of the international and historical context for a consideration of men’s involvement in early childhood education. I position my own commitment to this research area providing brief autobiographical information, which includes a description of several relevant empirical studies I have undertaken over the last two decades and that I go on to discuss in this book to ground the arguments developed here.
I include a chapter on fathers and fathering because it is a research area I have engaged in and also because it provides a readily available body of literature where we might expect to find answers to a central question about the value of a specifically male contribution to children’s lives. I present a critical inquiry into claims about the positive impact of fathers’ influence on young children and the impacts of father absence before then considering how far these findings might be applied to ECEC. I consider how institutional forces in both the family and preschool reinforce the gender binary in constructing male and female childcare responsibilities in opposition to each other. I also reflect on the relationship between male practitioners and fathers.
In this chapter I offer the reader a script that provides a clear rationale for promoting an increase of male practitioners in ECEC. I argue that the inclusion of more male teachers and carers in the early childhood education workforce can make a vital contribution to the ongoing development of a more gender-egalitarian society. However, I caution that this contribution can only be realised by gender-sensitive practitioners: women and men together, who are willing to practice and perform a gender-flexible pedagogy. At its most radical and transformative, the recruitment and promotion of more men in the ECE is a significant strategy that can help us envision a de-gendered society in which we move beyond the gender binary.
There is a critical lack of male teachers moving into primary education. The primary school teacher workforce in Australia currently comprises 92% female teachers and 8% male teachers. This gender imbalance has recently been highlighted by the Australian Council for Educational Research as one of the key factors contributing to the current teacher shortage in primary education in Australia. The situation is exacerbated as male teachers working within the primary sector are retiring and not being successfully replaced. This ongoing lack of male teachers is rarely ever viewed as problematic. A gender imbalance in primary education appears now to be culturally embedded, establishing symbolic barriers that work to maintain a largely female workforce. To date, little attention has been given within the Australian context to this situation. This literature review explores research over the last six years regarding the lack of men in primary education and identifies several key themes that have been well interrogated, as well as a number of significant gaps requiring attention.
We explore the impact of student gender, teacher gender, and their interaction on academic motivation and engagement for 964 junior and middle high school students. According to the gender-stereotypic model, boys fare better academically in classes taught by males and girls fare better in classes taught by females. The gender-invariant model suggests that the academic motivation and engagement of boys and girls is the same for men and women teachers. We also examine the relative contribution of student-, class-, and school-level factors, finding that most variation was at the individual student level. Of the statistically significant main effects for gender, most favoured girls. In support of the gender-invariant model, academic motivation and engagement does not significantly vary as a function of their teacher's gender, and in terms of academic motivation and engagement, boys do not fare any better with male teachers than female teachers.
The teaching of young children has long been dominated by women. This global phenomenon is firmly rooted in issues relating to economic development, urbanisation, the position of women in society, cultural definitions of masculinity and the value of children and childcare. There have been expressions of concern by the media, by government ministers, and others, in a number of countries about the level of feminisation of the teaching profession. This paper focuses on this important issue. It reviews current research and critically analyses international patterns of gender variations in the teaching profession and considers why they occur. It gives particular consideration to a number of key questions that have arisen in debates on feminisation: Do boys need male teachers in order to achieve better? Do boys need male teachers as role models? Are female teachers less competent than male teachers? Does feminisation result in a reduction in the professional status of teaching?
In this paper, we interrogate the call for more male role models within the context of boys' education debates in Australia and North America. We explicate links between failing masculinities and this call for more male teachers, arguing that the debate is driven by a "recuperative masculinity politics" committed to addressing the perceived feminization of schooling and its detrimental effect on boys' education.
The present paper examines male and female teachers’ language practices in relation to ‘censuring’ talk in the primary classroom, in the context of the debate around boys’ ‘underachievement’ and the ‘feminisation’ of primary school culture. Through an analysis of classroom observations with 51 men and women teachers, it looks to see whether gender differences could be found in the ways individual men and women teachers communicated in terms of their ‘censuring’ comments of pupils’ work or behaviour. Secondly, the paper takes issue with the notion that teachers operate within a ‘feminised’ educational culture, by looking at the ways in which teachers’ classroom talk can be seen to be constrained by two contrasting discourses relating to the power relation between teacher and pupil: a ‘traditional’ disciplinarian discourse, and a more ‘progressive’ liberal discourse. Both discourses have complex gendered and class dimensions, challenging the conception of a ‘feminised’ primary school culture.
Children's sense of relatedness is vital to their academic motivation from 3rd to 6th grade. Children's (n = 641) reports of relatedness predicted changes in classroom engagement over the school year and contributed over and above the effects of perceived control. Regression and cumulative risk analyses revealed that relatedness to parents, teachers, and peers each uniquely contributed to students' engagement, especially emotional engagement. Girls reported higher relatedness than boys, but relatedness to teachers was a more salient predictor of engagement for boys. Feelings of relatedness to teachers dropped from 5th to 6th grade, but the effects of relatedness on engagement were stronger for 6th graders. Discussion examines theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of relatedness as a key predictor of children's academic motivation and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Frequent calls for more male teachers are being made in English-speaking countries. Many of these calls are based upon the fact that the teaching profession has become (even more) 'feminized' and the presumption that this has had negative effects for the education of boys. The employment of more male teachers is sometimes suggested as a way to re-masculinize schools so they become more 'boy-friendly' and thus contribute to improving boys' school performance. The focus of this paper is on an Australian education policy document in the state of Queensland that is concerned with the attraction, recruitment and retention of male teachers in the government education system. It considers the failure of this document, as with many of the calls for more male teachers, to take into account complex matters of gender raised by feminism and the sociology of masculinities. The paper then critiques the primary argument given for the need for more male teachers: that is, that male teachers provide boys with much needed role models.
Focus groups and surveys as complementary research methods: A case example Combining qualitative and quantitative techniques within a single research design represents a methodological union between two divergent research traditions within sociology. Survey research, the paragon of quantitative analysis with its emphasis on measurement standardization and representativeness owes much to the Durkheim tradition of broad, comparative analysis and the search for social facts. Research approaches that favor qualitative methods to analyze social phenomena may be seen as closer descendants of Weber, emphasizing the importance of finding the subjective meaning of actors in a social setting. Because conclusions about meaning are necessarily interpretive and usually contingent on the context in which the actions take place, such qualitative analysis is typically resistant to either quantification or standardized comparison. Implicit in the two approaches to social research are fundamentally different, some might say fundamentally incompatible, views about reality and the best way to ...
Mail surveys While there are challenges to overcome and pitfalls lurking for the inexperienced researcher, a mail survey can be a very appropriate and efficient way of gathering high-quality information. How can you decide whether a mailed survey is the appropriate data collection strategy for your research question? This chapter is a short treatise on how to make that decision and how to conduct mail surveys. In comparison with telephone or in-person interviews, mail surveys have many advantages. They are relatively inexpensive. They allow for large numbers of respondents to be surveyed in a relatively short period even if they are widely distributed geographically. They allow respondents to take their time in answering and to look up information if they need to. They give privacy in responding. They allow respondents to answer questions at times that are convenient to them. They allow respondents to see the context of a series ...
Men who choose to do ‘women’s work’ and enter the female culture of the primary school can often initially face a range of stereotyped responses to their choice. Drawing on stories from a small sample of trainee and serving male teachers, we adopt the term ‘identity bruising’ to describe the ‘knock backs’ that occur to them in primary schools. How the men react to ‘bruising’ is of considerable interest, given the current concern in the UK to improve the recruitment and retention of men in primary training and teaching. An inductive and reflexive methodology is used whereby we work with the men to explore how they become aware of, understand and negotiate the problematic nature and gendered assumptions of masculinities that underpin the restrictions that they encounter.
The present article reports on a research project investigating the experiences of male primary teachers in Queensland, Australia. While its findings cannot be presented as indicative of all male teachers in all contexts, it does, however, send a warning to policy‐makers that the employment of more male teachers may not be in the best interests of gender justice unless such strategies designed to attract more male teachers are informed by sophisticated understandings of gender and social power. Utilising a (pro) feminist post‐structuralist theoretical perspective, it is demonstrated how some male teachers contribute to the maintenance of segregated work roles, which is of central importance to the continuance of gender power differentials in a patriarchal society. The research method focused on social relationships and involved a series of semi‐structured/life history interviews with 11 male teachers, six female teachers, two male principals and two female principals. An important implication from this research is that the employment of male teachers must be accompanied by an awareness of how teacher practice impacts upon the socialisation of students and how such practice reinforces or contributes to change in the broader gender system.
In recent years, there has been increasing academic debate concerning both the need for more male primary schoolteachers and the reasons for their minority status, numerically. Yet there has been relatively little heard from the men themselves. In this study the author used focus group discussions to investigate the views and experiences of practising male primary schoolteachers towards primary school teaching as a career. The focus questions included: the aspects which attracted them to primary school teaching; experiences which preceded their entry to teacher education; and the reaction to their choice from family and friends. The study concluded that a complex barrier of attitudes and actions would need to be addressed if the minority status of male teachers is to change.
For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro‐feminists have challenged the intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher population. This article seeks to redress this by identifying specific reasons why policy initiatives have failed. Through a review of the literature on teacher identities and analysis of the responses of 20 primary teachers, from a range of backgrounds, to the question ‘Has your gender had any impact on your experiences and/or career as a teacher?’, it emerged that teacher recruitment campaigns that focus on aspects of personal identity fail to resonate with the motivations of those who are attracted to teaching. Gender is not regarded by primary teachers as of having any particular significance to their careers, whilst minority ethnic and sexuality status are both regarded as having an impact. The conclusions drawn are that policies on teacher recruitment drives need to focus less evidently on gender and more on broader constructions and understandings of what it means to be a ‘primary teacher’.
In this paper, the findings of a study investigating four‐year‐old children’s perspectives on the roles that male and female teachers fulfil in a kindergarten setting are presented. The purpose of this study was to discover if the gender of a teacher impacts on children’s perspectives of their teachers’ roles and whether boys’ and girls’ perspectives differ. Children’s drawings of their teachers and conversational interviews were analysed to identify the types of roles children identified for their teachers. Interviews were also conducted with the teachers in an effort to discover the differences between children’s perspectives and teachers’ perspectives. The findings of this study question whether children’s gender stereotypes are challenged by the presence of a male teacher in a kindergarten and identify some of the challenges associated with listening to children’s voices in social research.
The need for more male role models in young boys’ lives is one of the main reasons underpinning the call for more male teachers in primary schools. However, the exact responsibilities and attributes associated with the term ‘male role model’ have yet to be clearly established. The purpose of this survey of 250 New Zealand primary school principals was to investigate the views of one major group of stakeholders to determine how principals defined male role models and what they considered the specific attributes of that role. The study found that the principals favoured men who exhibit a hegemonic masculinity couched in heterosexual, rugby‐playing, ‘real men’ attributes.
"Although the majority of research in gender and education has rightly focused on girls, recent research in the United States and elsewhere has focused much more on the learning, social outcomes, and schooling experiences of boys. This "boy turn" has produced a large corpus of theoretically oriented and practice-oriented research alongside popular and rhetorical works and feminist and pro-feminist responses, each of which this article reviews. To answer why boys have become such a concern at this time, this article explores the origins and motivations of the boy turn, examines major critiques of the distress about boys, and suggests possible directions for debates and research."
A number of countries are running role model recruitment drives under the assumption that like is good for like: ethnic minority teachers should teach ethnic minority children, women should teach girls, and so on. The empirical basis for this would appear to be case study and personal reflection. This article will examine quantitative data to test the hypothesis that male teachers produce more positive attitudes amongst boys and female teachers amongst girls. Using data from the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) Project, information from 413 separate classes for 11 year‐olds (in England) was examined. One hundred and thirteen were taught by males and 300 by females. All the pupils completed questionnaires that were designed to measure attitude to school, reading, mathematics and science. In addition, background data on those pupils were collected, including cognitive measures, attainment scores, ability measures and home background measures. The data were examined to look at attitudes using multilevel models controlling for background factors. The analysis concentrated on interaction effects between the gender of the teacher and the gender of the pupil and the results gave little support for those who advocate recruitment drives with role models in mind.
This article focuses on the call for more male teachers as role models in elementary schools and treats it as a manifestation of “recuperative masculinity politics” (Lingard & Douglas, 1999). Attention is drawn to the problematic gap between neo-liberal educational policy–related discussions about male teacher shortage in elementary schools and research-based literature which provides a more nuanced analysis of the impact of gender relations on male teachers' lives and developing professional identities. In this sense, the article achieves three objectives: (1) it provides a context and historical overview of the emergence and re-emergence of the male role model rhetoric as a necessary basis for understanding the politics of “doing women's work” and the anxieties about the status of masculinity that this incites for male elementary school teachers; (2) it contributes to existing literature which traces the manifestation of these anxieties in current concerns expressed in the popular media about the dearth of male teachers; (3) it provides a focus on research-based literature to highlight the political significance of denying knowledge about the role that homophobia, compulsory heterosexuality and hegemonic masculinity play in “doing women's work.” Thus the article provides a much-needed interrogation of the failure of educational policy and policy-related discourse to address the significance of male teachers “doing women's work” through employing an analytic framework that refutes discourses about the supposed detrimental influences of the feminization of elementary schooling.
The teacher-child relationship may serve important support functions for young children in their attempts to adjust to the school environment. A sample of kindergarten children (N = 206, mean age = 5.58 years) and their teachers participated in the present study, which was designed to examine how three distinct features of the teacher-child relationship (closeness, dependency, and conflict) were related to various aspects of children's school adjustment. Dependency in the teacher-child relationship emerged as a strong correlate of school adjustment difficulties, including poorer academic performance, more negative school attitudes, and less positive engagement with the school environment. In addition, teacher-rated conflict was associated with teachers' ratings of children's school liking, school avoidance, self-directedness, and cooperative participation in the classroom. Finally, teacher-child closeness was positively linked with children's academic performance, as well as teachers' ratings of school liking and self-directedness. The findings highlight the importance of considering various features of children's relationships with classroom teachers when examining young children's school adjustment.
This paper focuses on the Australian federal Parliamentary Inquiry into Boys' Education, Boys: Getting it Right, which is shown to be an exemplary instance of recuperative masculinity politics. The paper demonstrates how, through a variety of rhetorical strategies, its anti-feminist politics are masked and how the report works with essentialised differences between boys and girls. The argument is demonstrated through a focus on a number of the report's recommendations, including the call for a recasting of current gender policy, the need for creating so-called 'boy-friendly' curricula, assessment and pedagogical practices, and for employment of more male teachers. The report draws on populist literature and submissions from the boys' lobby, as well as practiceoriented submissions to the neglect of theoretically oriented and (pro-)feminist work. As such, the significance of the construction of masculinities to boys' attachment to and performances in school is totally neglected, limiting the value of the report's recommendations for improving schooling for both boys and girls.
Sex in Schools: How Gender Functions in the School Curriculum
- D N A Hayes
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ABS Releases Measures of Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage
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Focus Groups and Surveys as Complementary Research Methods: A Case Example
- B Wolf
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