MenTeach E-News
July 2017
1) In D.C., Bringing Male Teachers Of Color To The Preschool Classroom
2) Male nurses? Female firefighters? Yes, as career boundaries erode.
3) Plans in place to attract more men to the classroom in Australia
4) Increasing diversity in teaching is the aim of university in Washington
5) Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute Graduates 151 Teachers – almost all men
6) Male early childhood teachers almost quadruple in New Zealand – but lobbyists point to continued ‘sexism’
7) Mansur’s Manifesto: How an Aspiring Black Male Teacher Plans to Turn Teaching Into Activism
8) Retiring after years of Early Childhood Service in San Diego School District
9) Important need exists for minority teachers in our schools
10) Editorial: The Unsuspecting Mentor
ABOUT MenTeach
JOIN or DONATE to MenTeach
VOLUNTEER for MenTeach
Forward Our Message
To be Removed From the List
—————
1) In D.C., Bringing Male Teachers Of Color To The Preschool Classroom
When kids go back to school after the summer break, the chances of them having a male preschool teacher are pretty slim — just 2 percent of early education teachers nationally are male. And the probability of having a male teacher of color is even lower. In Washington, D.C., public schools, they’re trying to change that with a new program called the “Leading Men Fellowship.” Listen to the report and access the application: /node/3137
—————
2) Male nurses? Female firefighters? Yes, as career boundaries erode.
Men and women tend to choose different career paths, and researchers have identified this as the biggest reason men make more money. So if men and women were equally represented across all occupations, would it close that gender pay gap?
Teaching is just one example of an occupation segregated along gender lines. Growing up in the 1990s, I didn’t have a male teacher until the seventh grade. Data suggest that’s still a typical experience: According to the Labor Department, about 80 percent of elementary- and middle-school teachers are women.
A wide array of other jobs in the United States are overwhelmingly done by one gender or the other – from low-wage cafeteria workers (61 percent women) all the way up to the C-suite (75 percent of chief executives are men).
But according to a study released July 13 by the job-search site CareerBuilder, that could be changing. Women are entering traditionally male-dominated jobs in greater numbers, and vice versa. One of the more dramatic examples: A full 95 percent of firefighters are men, but nearly a third of new firefighters hired since 2009 have been women, according to the study. On the other side of the coin, just 20 percent of elementary school teachers are men, yet men make up nearly half of all new hires in the field over the past eight years. Read the article: /node/3139
—————
3) Plans in place to attract more men to the classroom in Australia
A targeted and specific recruitment drive is needed to attract more men into the nation’s classrooms to arrest a male teacher drought, a new report finds.
The first study of its kind to ask serving teachers why they chose the profession reveals the main driving factor for all teachers is the intrinsic value of teaching, followed by teaching ability, and a desire to shape the future of young lives.
But male teachers were more likely than their female colleagues to be drawn to the profession to teach a subject they have a strong interest in, as well as leadership opportunities.
The report by the Learning Sciences Institute Australia at the Australian Catholic University, commissioned by the Queensland College of Teachers, busts the myth that people go into teaching as a “fallback career”.
It finds the greatest influencers on people choosing teaching are not career counsellors but teachers themselves, followed by family and friends. Read the article: /node/3143
—————
4) Increasing diversity in teaching is the aim of university in Washington
The racial diversity of teachers in six school districts in South King County is low relative to the racial makeup of the districts’ students, according to data from Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
October 2015 figures from the Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Highline, Renton and Tukwila districts reveal that students of color make up 69 percent of the total population of nearly 105,000 students – while classroom teachers of color account for only 15 percent of the nearly 6,000 classroom teachers in these six districts.
“Our school districts have valiantly attempted to change this. Some of them are making significant progress. However, there is still a big gap between the diversity of students and the diversity of the teachers, and much work to close it,” said Dr. Frank Kline, who is a program manager at Highline College, which serves South King County.
A new teacher training program beginning fall 2017 at Highline seeks to change the disparity. It gives those who hold an applied associate degree in early childhood education or paraeducation a path to an applied bachelor’s degree with the opportunity to earn teacher certification. Read the article: /node/3144
—————
5) Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute Graduates 151 Teachers – almost all men
[MenTeach: This region of Africa has a different challenge of trying to find more women teachers. “At the primary level, trained female teachers decline to 16%, junior high level 5% and senior high 4%.”]
The Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute (KRTTI) in Kakata, Margibi County has graduated about 151 trainees from its Cohorts-8 Pre-Service “C” Certificate Program.
Giving the overview of the Cohorts-8 2016/2017 Academic Year on Monday, July 24, 2017 at the graduation ceremony, the Director of the Kakata Rural Teacher Training Program, Shadrach Y. Kerl, praised the trainers and other support staff for collectively contributing towards the successful completion of the program.
Mr. Kerl disclosed that over the period of the implementation of Cohorts-8, the administration of the KRTTI made tremendous achievements in the areas of the renovation of several dilapidated infrastructures on the premises of the institution. Read the article: /node/3147
—————
6) Male early childhood teachers almost quadruple in New Zealand – but lobbyists point to continued ‘sexism’
Men teaching in New Zealand preschools have almost quadrupled in nine years – but lobbyists want more support to overcome persistent “sexism” in the sector.
Ministry of Education data shows that the number of male teachers in early childhood has jumped from 129 in 2005 to 494 at last count in 2014.
But a researcher who has worked on the issue for 25 years, Dr Sarah Alexander, says men still make up only 2 per cent of early childhood teachers – less than their 2.3 per cent share in 1992.
The male share dropped to a low of 1 per cent in 2005 before recovering to 2 per cent in 2014 – a “disappointing” result that Alexander puts down to “persistent sexism”.
“We hope change begins before the end of the year and funding is announced by the Education Minister to meet the costs of necessary activities such as unconscious bias training for Ministry of Education staff and teacher educators,” she said.
“The alternative is another 20 years of sexism in our early childhood education system.” Read the article: /node/3149
—————
7) Mansur’s Manifesto: How an Aspiring Black Male Teacher Plans to Turn Teaching Into Activism
Anytime I tell people that I am majoring in social studies education, they ask one of two questions: “Where do you want to teach?” or “Why do you want to teach?” Those especially curious ask both. My answer is consistent: I would like to teach in a secondary school serving predominantly low-income, African American students. And I am entering the profession as an intentional form of activism. My goal is to actively break down inequities that negatively impact my students, in schools and in life.
A more critical question, however, is “How will I teach?” or “How do I plan to turn my teaching into activism?” On this, I am also clear. Read the article: /node/3156
—————
8) Retiring after years of Early Childhood Service in San Diego School District
Rodney West, co-facilitator, for the NAEYC Men’s Interest Forum, retired as teacher and administrator in the San Diego School District. He was among those Educators in the African American community honored with a citation from the house and senate of California. Read the article and see the photos: /node/3167
—————
9) Important need exists for minority teachers in our schools
Black teachers make a difference.
I know because I attended a prestigious college-preparatory public high school in the heart of Chicago where approximately half of the teachers were black. They included my AP Biology teacher and AP English teacher, several of my art teachers, one of my history teachers, a chemistry teacher — and probably many more I’m forgetting in the haze of the past quarter-century.
These African-American men and women were well-respected experts who took no guff from students regardless of whether they were black, white, Hispanic, Asian, immigrant, native-born, rich or poor.
The effects they must have had on my black peers were heretofore unfathomable, but researchers have started quantifying it.
Low-income black students who have at least one black teacher in elementary school are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and consider attending college, says “The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers,” a new working paper recently published by the Institute of Labor Economics. Read his story: /node/3161
—————
10) Editorial: The Unsuspecting Mentor
In my 27 years in the field of education, there is one responsibility for all teachers that has remained somewhat consistent throughout my career. It is the open acknowledgment that, in addition to ensuring that students learn the curricular content for any given grade level, there is also the role of creating a positive relationship with students. However, in some cases a male teacher is helping a child overcome a negative, sometimes toxic, relationship with the men in their lives. On many occasions I’ve had mothers come in at the beginning of the year and tell me that I have my work cut out for me because of a strained relationship their child has had with an adult male figure in their life. I always provide the same response to each concerned parent, “Give me three weeks.” Now, three weeks is not a magical formula that is rooted in a wealth of data; it is simply what I believe it takes for me personally to begin fostering a relationship with a student, one which is rooted in genuine respect, concern, and ultimately, trust. I can honestly say that there has not been a situation in which this has not been achieved. I assume this additional role as mentor with great pride and steadfast attention because I was in need of a mentor growing up and had that role wonderfully served by one of my elementary teachers. He not only served as a mentor to me growing up, but still serves in this role today. He is the reason I entered the field of education. Read the editorial: /node/3153
—————
ABOUT MenTEACH: This email Newsletter has been distributed by MenTeach – a clearinghouse with a mission to increase the percentage of men teaching.
Forward Our Message – be sure to forward this message to anyone you think might be interested in teaching children.
JOIN or DONATE to MenTeach today – support our mission to increase the number of men teachers. https://www.menteach.org/join_or_donate
VOLUNTEER for MenTeach – help make a difference by volunteering with MenTeach. We could use help moderating forums, posting articles that you find, updating the bibliography, hosting a group in your region, do some research about the percentages in your state, get involved and make some new friends. Drop us a line to let us know what you’d like to do.
E-LETTER POLICY FOR INCLUSION: MenTeach’s monthly e-letter includes news/resources/events that are relevant to those interested and supporting the education, support and care of children and families and who want qualified men teaching children.
To be Removed From the List
Go to this link and manage your account:
https://www.menteach.org/e-news/