MenTeach E-News
February 2014
1) Anthony Barej gets a lesson in childcare at United Kingdom Hertford Regional College
2) South Africa Research: Abuse perceptions alienating male teachers
3) Where Are the Black Male Teachers?
4) The Co-operative Childcare has launched a campaign to boost the number of male nursery workers in the UK.
5) Maryland schools hope to recruit more male teachers
6) Report: Male Educators Convene Summit in Maryland
7) More male teachers solution to issues?
8) A report from a man teaching in Puerto Rico
9) Men in Early Childhood Education at the World Forum 2014 in Puerto Rico
10) 8th Annual ECMenz Summit in New Zealand – March 7 – 9, 2014
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1) Anthony Barej gets a lesson in childcare at United Kingdom Hertford Regional College
Educators are urging more Southland men to train as early childhood education teachers, with only three working in the region.
The latest Annual Census of Early Childhood Education Services figures, released by the Ministry of Education and relating to June 2012, show only three of the 367 licensed early childhood teachers working in Southland were male.
Across New Zealand, there were 438 male teachers working with 21,017 female teachers.
Nationwide, this equates to one male teacher to every 48 females, but in Southland, the ratio is only one to every 121 female teachers.
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2) South Africa Research: Abuse perceptions alienating male teachers
Male teachers are being alienated from working in the country’s primary schools, largely by the societal stigma that portrays them as paedophiles, according to new research.
Nadine Petersen, a professor at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) department of childhood education, found in her research that there was an “assumption that male teachers are inherently not to be trusted around young girls and that they must have an ulterior motive in wanting to become foundation-phase teachers”.
Titled “The ‘good’, the ‘bad’ and the ‘ugly’: Views on male teachers in foundation phase education”, her study surveyed 230 students enrolled at UJ for the four-year Bachelor of Education degree specialising in primary school teaching. Read the article: /node/2372
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3) Where Are the Black Male Teachers?
Often, particularly in urban schools and districts, someone asks: “Where are the black male teachers?”
Statements affirming the need for more black male teachers are commonplace. As an experienced black educator and former assistant principal, I have heard assertions that more must be done to increase the number of black educators in our schools. I have also seen the tremendous impact an effective black male educator can have in the classroom. Notice I use the word effective; this is because an ineffective black male educator can have a more detrimental impact on a school than perhaps a teacher from any other demographic. Read the article: /node/2373
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4) The Co-operative Childcare has launched a campaign to boost the number of male nursery workers in the UK.
It is planning to lead the way in eradicating gender stereotypes about childcare practitioners by promising to increase its own male workforce to 10 per cent, which is well above the national average.
Nationally only two per cent of all childcare practitioners are men. The Co-operative Childcare, which has 50 nurseries across the UK, has said it plans to have least two male practitioners in every Co-operative Childcare nursery by October.
Mike Abbott, general group manager at The Co-operative Childcare, said: “Gender stereotypes in childcare are holding some men back from what could be the perfect career path for them where they can positively influence our next generation. Children need to be around both male and female adults to develop their core skills, become well rounded young people and continue to flourish.
“We are determined to make a marked difference to the male to female ratio in our nurseries by leading the way in challenging these preconceptions that are damaging the industry and championing that ‘real men’ really do work in childcare.”
The ‘Real Men Work in Childcare’ campaign aims to change misguided perceptions about men in the industry. Read the article: /node/2374
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5) New England – MenTeach 2014 Gathering
Emerging Professional Award for a male teacher 3-5 years in early childhood education.
We will be giving the award out at the MassAEYC/ men’s reception Friday March 7, 2014 at 5 PM at the Westford Regency Hotel.
You can see some of the past events.
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6) Report: Male Educators Convene Summit in Maryland
On a frigid Saturday morning recently in Prince George’s County there was a gathering of a rare species in public schools: Male teachers.
And while there were less than 100 people in Charles Herbert Flowers High School’s cavernous auditorium in Springdale, the meeting –dubbed The First Annual Male Educator Summit: Envisioning the Future of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) — marked a start.
Among the participants of the fledgling enterprise was PGCPS Teacher of the year Albert Lewis.
“We need to be solution oriented,” Lewis told the group of male teachers and administrators. “Let’s not just address the problems today, let’s also address the solutions.”
Lewis is among the most rare of public educators, a Black male teacher. Read the report: /node/2379
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7) More male teachers solution to issues?
The question of whether more male teachers in city schools would help reduce disciplinary problems was raised at Friday’s Danville School Board work session, where board member Philip Campbell addressed the significant gap between male and female teachers.
According to Juliet Jennings, assistant superintendent for human resources, Danville Public Schools currently employs 515 teachers.
Of those, only 91 are male — meaning only about 1 in 6 city teachers are men.
Campbell suggested the school system should look into why so many more women are hired than men, and if placing more males in the schools may help lessen disciplinary problems among students.
“It speaks volumes to have men there,” he said. “I think we may see disciplinary situations go down if we had more men.”
Campbell added that students may respond differently to a male teacher than a female “just by seeing a man.” Read the article : /node/2377
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8) A report from a man teaching in Puerto Rico
I became a first grade teacher about three years ago at the elementary school Rafael Qui–ones Vidal in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.
I worked for two years at different positions in the school. I worked in Kindergarten, English and Title I in Math.
My mother has been a big influence in my love for pre-schoolers and first graders because she is a retired kindergarten teacher.
She worked for 31 years in the public schools in Puerto Rico.
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9) Men in Early Childhood Education at the World Forum 2014 in Puerto Rico
Join over 800 early childhood professionals from more than 80 nations in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a life-changing experience! At the 2014 World Forum you will be exposed to widely diverse perspectives and approaches to the care and education of young children. You will learn about the lives of children, families, and early childhood providers from all ethnic, cultural, political, and religious backgrounds. You will make friends for life across the globe. You will learn, work, converse, sing, dance, laugh, and cry. You will change others and you will change! Go to site to register: /node/2367
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10) 8th Annual ECMenz Summit in New Zealand – March 7 – 9, 2014
Men and women are warmly invited to attend the Summit of the Early Childhood Men in NZ Assn (ECMenz). Friday will consist of political and research presentations and panels. Saturday will include fun learning workshops and roundtables on various gender, initial teacher education and workforce topics. For people staying over Saturday night, Sunday morning will provide the opportunity for social activities and visits to services around Wellington hosted by Childspace.
The Summit advocates for men to be involved in ECE, and includes new projects and presentations on gender issues, teacher employment, teacher’s work, boy’s and girl’s learning, children’s educational achievement, childcare practices, including dads in ECE settings, etc. Go to website to register: /node/2365
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