Editorials

Male Teachers

How do I get my teaching license?

We get many e-mails from readers about useful links. Some are from people trying to promote a product or service – not always very useful. Recently, we received a e-mail about a site that lists all the states requirements to get a teaching license – it even lists alternative certification. A very useful resource. Check […]

What does society think of people who work with young children?

It’s been a good week for news about this. A report in the Observer takes another look at a familiar question: why are there so few men in primary and nursery education? Alongside the usual stuff – pay, status, being thought of as creepy and/or a paedophile – there are some other things which are new […]

States with more male teachers have higher salaries

[MenTeach: There isn’t alot of research out that shows whether there is an effect of having more male teachers. But one study that has been around since 2003 shows that states with more male teachers have higher salaries.] “States with the highest salaries tend to have the highest proportion of male teachers. Michigan is ranked […]

Where the boys aren’t

Some of my best friends are men. More importantly, some of my best teacher friends–sounding boards, inspirations and educational soul mates–are men. But men are a diminishing force in teaching, a distinct cause for alarm when you consider that half the pool of prospective teachers is men. Newsweek and CBS took up the cause of gender balance in teaching […]

Teacher of the Year – Fourth Grade Snots

As kids we used to jump rope on the school playground chanting, “First grade babies/ Second grade tots/ Third grade angels/ Fourth grade snots.” I couldn’t wait to become one of those snots. It sounded so, well, teenagie. I was thinking a lot about fourth grade after this week’s all-district school staff meeting. Usually they […]