The number of men training to be primary school teachers has increased by more than 50 per cent over the past four years in England, new figures reveal.
The growth rate is five times that for women, according to data from the Teaching Agency.
Interim chief executive Lin Hinnigan said: "Primary teaching is increasingly a career for the most able graduates.
Getting a job in childcare was, says Mick Kenny, probably the best mistake he ever made. He wanted to work with children, but it was school-age youngsters he had in mind.
In fact, the Kilkenny man had a "phobia" of little children - a neighbour's small child was always bursting into tears at the sight of him.
I just got these numbers (see below) from my contact within our Provincial government of Manitoba (Canada). I certainly am encouraged as the trend seems to be in an upward direction. The fact that our government even cares enough to keep these numbers is amazing in its own right.
Ron Blatz, Executive Director Discovery Children's Centre Inc. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
A groundbreaking International Conference hosted by two of the World's most innovative projects. If we can create confidence in a child at an early age, if we can make childcare more adventurous, outgoing and jointly enjoyable, if we can provide a positive male role model, will this help in creating a more positive teenager/adult with an outlook far healthier than the one they have at present?
If you live in New Zealand, there is every chance that your child will not have a male teacher until they reach high school.
Startling. But is it important? Education Minister Hon Hekia Parata argues that it is the effectiveness of the teacher, rather than the gender of the teacher, that makes a difference to a child’s learning.
Just like the rest of the nation, Canberra's non-government schools have proven they're outstripping the public sector in attracting male teaching staff.
Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the ACT's non-government schools have recorded a 27 per cent increase in male teaching numbers since 1997 compared with an increase of just 1 per cent in the public sector.
A keynote speaker at the Early Childhood MenZ Summit in Wanganui said it was heartening to see that men are now realising a career in early childhood education is a viable option.
Dunedin Early childhood education lecturer Tagiilima Feleti said the number of men showing interest in early childhood education was growing rapidly.
Nelson Tasman Kindergartens are serious about attracting more men to early childhood education, following recent media reports identifying a lack of men in this area.
Nelson Tasman Kindergartens CEO Wendy Logan says it is a serious issue, especially as research shows that children learn the most from good role models.
by Dr. Tim Rohrmann - Coordination office men in ECE
The year 2011 has seen a rise in interest in the theme of gender balance in the ECEC work force, at least in Germany. We have now contact with experts from 19 countries worldwide who are interested in issues of gender and male/female workers in ECEC. With this newsletter, we inform about some previous and forthcoming events.
In Germany, on 1st October 2010, the European Social Fund (ESF) programme "More Men in Early Childhood Education and Care" was launched. The three-year programme consists of 16 pilot projects in 13 federal states across Germany and has received a grant of 13 million Euros. The programme which will run until the end of 2013, will strive to find ways of recruiting more male educators for ECCE centres.
While an increasing number of New Zealand families would like men to be teaching their under fives, the men are not there to be employed, says an early childhood organisation that represents 1100 centres nationwide.
Chief Executive of the Early Childhood Council, Peter Reynolds said today that early childhood centres would employ many more male teachers if such teachers existed. And he called for teacher trainers 'to get more active in the promotion of our sector to men'.
Marlborough's only male kindergarten teacher is encouraging other men to "throw the stigma out the window" and join the profession.
Michael Clark, the head teacher at Springlands Kindergarten, said he wanted men to forget about what people might think about them being in early childhood education.
The survey shows teachers believe little is being done to address the performance gap between girls and boys.
The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the findings of the latest Staff in Australia Schools survey, which asked more than 15,000 teachers and principals about their working conditions.
The report found fewer than one in five primary school teachers is male, with the number of female teachers rising in the 2010 survey to 81 per cent.
Peter Harper moved to Methven with the intention of only staying a couple of years. Now, 31 years later, he's ended his career at Mount Hutt College and finds himself in a strange place - the job market. His departure isn't retirement; it's just a change of scenery. Mr Harper came from a teaching family - his mother taught English, his father taught mathematics.
It's a well known fact: the vast majority of people working in child care are females. Figures from the ABS show that at least 95 per cent of the working population of child care workers are female.
Attracting men to the industry is difficult and complicated: there are issues surrounding parental suspicion of men and the idea that child care is 'women's work', the low pay and status of child care workers have also been identified as a deterrent.
Men make up just 1.6 percent of New Zealand’s early childhood workforce, one of the worst male participation rates in the western world – but the South Island’s largest kindergarten provider is taking a strong stance in addressing this statistic, and enriching the early childhood education environment with a greater gender balance.
. . . The whining schoolboy with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school. - William Shakespeare
There are just not enough male schoolteachers, says Captain Errol Brathwaite. And it won't be the first time the utterance has been made by an educator.
The number of men applying to Bath Spa University to be primary school teachers this year has risen dramatically.
The 66% increase in applications mirrors a national trend: figures announced by the Training and Development Agency for Schools ( TDA ) show a 52% rise in the number of men applying to primary teacher education programmes in England.
The rise is attributed largely to the economic recession, with redundancies and unemployment making teaching an increasingly attractive option.
Male teachers are becoming rarer in New South Wales public schools, but these four teachers from Bowen Public School aren’t planning on going anywhere soon.
The men share decades of public school teaching experience between them and are standing strong in a public sector that is seeing a decrease in male employees.
South Tyneside is bucking the trend when it comes to the number of male teachers in primary schools.
New figures released by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) show more than a quarter of schools in the country (27.2 per cent) have no male teacher.
But only eight of the borough’s 46 primary schools (17.4 per cent) have no men in their classrooms.
More men are applying to be primary school teachers but male role models in early education remain stubbornly low, according to new figures.
At Dundee University, applications from men for courses are up by almost a quarter compared to 2008-09 while they are up by 12.3 per cent at the University of Aberdeen.