As a follow up to the great meeting we had in June with our friends from Ontario I submit this summary of the work they are doing and encourage you to follow the links that lead to great material.
A Sault Ste. Marie/Algoma District Campaign
A group of early childhood educators, with the support of Sault College and the AECEO, are working on raising the awareness of the importance and benefits of supporting gender balance in our profession. Very few men work in this field and our working group’s goal is to change this by initiating a campaign to recruit and retain males in the field of Early Childhood Education.
We have been meeting for over a year, and with the help of the Sault College Marketing and Advancement Department, have developed a series of posters that depict both men and women working in the field. The message we are promoting is that quality educators can be both men and women. Please see the attachment to view a sample of the posters we will be using.
Our first phase involves distributing the posters to childcare programs with the hope of raising the profile of men working in the field with both families and educators. We are encouraging programs to view the movie Recruiting and Retaining Men in Early Childhood Education which provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss some of the barriers men, who wish to enter this field, face. As well, one of the men working in the field was interviewed for a local TV show to discuss his experiences of working as an Early Childhood Educator. Bruno Miceli’s interview can be viewed at TV2 in Canada. A link to the show will also be posted on the Sault College ECE website.
We are also planning to display posters in places where people might be considering second careers and places where adults are working with children as volunteers. High school guidance counsellors will be provided with information and any opportunities to share information at local conferences will be pursued.
If you would like more information about our campaign, please write to Andrea Welz, andrea.welz@saultcollege.ca. We would love to hear from you.
Male student graduates
Got this great piece of news from University College of the North in Thompson. An e-mail from some supportive friends would probably be in order.
I am writing to share some exciting news with you. This June UCN Thompson campus will graduate the first male student from the ECE program. What resources can I share with him regarding the Men in Childcare network? How is this organization contacted? I am sure there is more you can tell me that I have not thought to ask. I look forward to your rely.
Brenda M. Still
Instructor
Early Childhood Education
Telephone (204) 627-8655
Fax (204) 623-4831
Email: bstill@ucn.ca
Terry Bussey published a new book
We are so pleased that the editors of a new book have included the story of Terry Bussey (of Discovery) in their new book. I’ve order my copy from Amazon and would recommend that you too consider getting this inspirational book.
A new book by Lemuel W. Watson and C. Sheldon Woods, “Go Where You Belong: Male Teachers as Cultural Workers in the Lives of Children, Families, and Communities” is available. “The purpose of this book is to continue the dialogue about the importance of men in the lives of young children and the teaching profession. This book will also be beneficial for those teachers and administrators who work on a daily basis to enhance the education of children in early childhood and elementary education programs. By sharing their stories, male teachers in this book educate the reader about the challenges they face as men; however, their stories also offer solutions and suggestions as how to work with parents, students, peer teachers, and others in order to maximize student achievement.”