Washington Post education blogger Valerie Strauss featured my article, “We Need More Men Teaching our Kids,” on her daily blog, The Answer Sheet. This is way cool!
In a piece called “Do We Need More Male Teachers?” she wrote, “If you believe, as I do, that teaching (and teaching well) is as important a job as any, then it is equally important that young people see both men and women actively involved.”
Ms. Strauss is a veteran education reporter and her blog ranks as one of the premier education sites on the web. Needless to say, her support on this important issue is greatly appreciated!
Let’s face it, dear readers, the shortage of male teachers at every level of K-12 education is not a fringe issue. Nor is it an issue that concerns only men. It is a question that strikes at the very heart of what education is about – teaching by example.
For far too long, this subject has been considered all but taboo among most education reformers. It is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about or recognize for what it is – a huge problem! Hopefully, this will change, sooner rather than later.
The importance of this issue can be traced in the twenty-one comments that Valerie’s piece has so far received. While some argue that the gender of the teacher should not matter, most agree that the lack of male teachers is a clear and present danger to the emotional and educational health of our young people.
Several went so far as to decry the “feminization” of the classroom that has occurred as result of the shortage of male teachers.
I urge readers of this blog to read Valerie’s excellent piece about this important issue on The Answer Sheet and leave a comment. (Click on the links above!) And check out the many other interesting articles that she posts on her blog every day.
I am also pleased that Valerie has invited me to write a guest blog on this issue for The Answer Sheet. I am working on this now and will let readers of this blog know when it appears. Stay tuned!