1) Life is Good: Playmakers in Haiti
2) Singapore: More men entering early education
3) Read some Men’s Stories: Gene Brugger, Teacher a St. Rita School for the Deaf
4) Male teachers wary of hugging students
5) Thank you for my male teacher
6) Daddy Daycare Planned in New Zealand
7) The Need for More Men to Be Interested in Child Care Policy
8) Parents welcome men into childcare: 98% now happy to let them work in nurseries
9) Kansas Ranks #1 (with 33.1%) For Most Male Teachers
10) Continuing to go after his dream at 50 years old
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1) Life is Good: Playmakers in Haiti
[MenTeach: If you watch the video you’ll see many young men involved in play. For many men, play is a great place to get involved in children’s lives and can serve as a great recruiting program for men to become teachers.] From Ron Blatz: My friend Roger sent this link recently, about a great work going on in Haiti. I just watched it again. I know us MECE’ers will appreciate the work that this organization does and the 3 minute video is just so inspirational. Watch the video. /node/1734
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2) Singapore: More men entering early education
In the woman-dominated industry of pre-school educators, Mr. Patrick Magno – who teaches at Kinderland – is a rarity. But the situation is gradually changing, according to pre-school operators. NTUC First Campus, which operates more than 90 childcare centres in Singapore, now has seven male pre-school teachers. Three years ago, it had none. According to a spokesperson, six of these male teachers were mid-career switchers who came on board after an in-house scheme was introduced to encourage people to join the industry. Its training arm sees about 10 male trainees every year. Read the rest of the article: /node/1740
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3) Read some Men’s Stories: Gene Brugger, Teacher a St. Rita School for the Deaf
In his second-floor classroom at St. Rita School for the Deaf, teacher Gene Brugger spends 45 minutes on a morning exercise that would take most teachers five minutes. Over and over he sounds out the beginning sound – “th-th” – for Thursday, holds up flash cards for students to match the word to the sound, and demonstrates its American Sign Language motion. He repeats the actions for the name of the month, the day’s weather and finally his students’ names. And he does it day after day after day.
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4) Male teachers wary of hugging students
Kindergarten teacher Paul Ferreter knows he is putting his credential on the line each time he opens his arms to hug one of his students. While more and more teachers, especially male educators, are putting up barriers to protect themselves from false allegations, Ferreter said he can’t bring himself to forgo hugs. But his hugs have been modified. He calls them “sideways hugs.” “Our teachers union has told us we shouldn’t pat the kids on the shoulder, there should be no touching,” said Ferreter, who teaches at Golden Empire Elementary School in Rosemont. “I’m taking that risk because I think it’s important.” Read the entire article: /node/1745
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5) Thank you for my male teacher
I’m sure that many people can talk about one of those special teachers. Our son had just such a teacher, and his name was Michael Moores at Yuba City High School. Well, the school I attended was Arboga grammar school. I had reached the seventh grade and there were three of us who felt rather big and we were a bit unruly. The principal, Gertrude Cable, decided to bring in a male teacher to bring our class under control. In came Mr. George Smith. Read the entire letter: /node/1746
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6) Daddy Daycare Planned in New Zealand
We could be seeing dads working as educators and more kids benefiting from contact with men if Dean Severinsen has his way. Less than 2% of staff employed at childcare and kindergarten centres are men, and men are even scarcer in licensed home-based ECE. Many children in NZ spend little or no time in the company of a responsible male adult. Few Dads get the opportunity to spend meaningful periods of time with their own children. With government policy continuing to promote children spending longer hours in non-parental ECE the problem will worsen. But a planned new home-based ECE service called ‘Dino’s Daddy Daycare’ is set to challenge this. Read the article and complete their survey: /node/1747
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7) The Need for More Men to Be Interested in Child Care Policy
Today at the New America Foundation in Washington we held an event on child care policy in the context of the President’s recent Race to the Top challenge grant. 170 people RSVPed for the event. 141 watched on the internet. 119 attended in person. However, counting myself, there were only 6 men at the event. 6 men out of 119 attending. That is a stunning statistic. It is also a significant problem for child care as a political issue. For an issue like child care to break through the Washington policy stalemate, where little social policy is being legislated, and to receive significant attention, there needs to be broader support. When issues are narrow, or appear to be an issue of interest for only one group or one gender, it becomes much more difficult for those issues to receive broad political support. That is what I am concerned about with such a ratio at our event today. See the entire editorial: /node/1749
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8) Parents welcome men into childcare: 98% now happy to let them work in nurseries
Almost all parents would be happy for their children to be looked after by male nursery workers, new research shows. There has been a “sea change” in attitudes since a survey six years ago found that only 55 per cent of parents accepted the idea of men working with their children. The latest study, carried out on behalf of the major day nursery groups, found 98 per cent of mothers and fathers were in favour of men caring for children between the ages of three and five. Currently, less than three per cent of nursery staff are men. Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, said: “Parental attitudes have long been held to be a barrier preventing men working in childcare. Our survey suggests this is no longer the case. The vast majority of parents and female childcarers want more men as trained professionals.
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9) Kansas Ranks #1 (with 33.1%) For Most Male Teachers
[MenTeach: In 2010, K-12 schools in the United States average about 24% male staff in classrooms.] Kansas tops a national education list, earned not by what was done in the classroom but by who is in the classroom. A National Education Association ranking released by USA Today shows that the sunflower state supplies the most male teachers in K-12 public schools. It’s the first day of school at Seaman High and social studies teacher Randy Crome is getting to know his students. Crome is one of 32 male teachers at Seaman, which equates to about 40% of the total teaching staff. Read his entire report and find where your state ranks in the United States: /node/1752
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10) Continuing to go after his dream at 50 years old
Dear Mr. Nelson,
You may or may not remember me, but I graduated this past May from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Elementary Education. At one point during college I did a research paper on the shortage of male teachers and I sent you a series of interview questions that was part of my paper along with other resources I received from MenTeach. Read the entire letter: /node/1754
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