MenTeach E-News
March 2022
1) International: Exploring Career Trajectories of Men in the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce
2) How one Black male teacher is breaking stereotypes and shaping the next generation
3) Australia: Male Teachers Play an Important Role in the Future of Education
4) Scholarship: The Apple Pre-Ed Scholars Program at Huston-Tillotson
5) After early hardships, this Hispanic Chicago PE teacher relishes being a role model
6) Charleston County School District, University of South Carolina create Men of CHS Teach program in new partnership
7) Video: Why do men teach elementary children?
8) More than just teaching in Guyana: New male teachers want to be positive role models
9) Editorial: Eight-year-old author takes other children on an adventure of a lifetime
10) Editorial: “Time Flies When You Are Having Fun.”
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1) International: Exploring Career Trajectories of Men in the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce
We invite to this year’s EECERA SIG gender balance meeting this week on Friday, 3th September, 13:00 CEST/MEZ (12:00 am BST). If you want to attend and haven’t registered yet, please send a mail to info@siggender.eu and we will send the zoom link to you. Those who have already registered will receive the link soon.
As the last SIG gender balance e-mail was sent out in the summer holidays and might have escaped your attention, we send it again with this mail:
With the attached newsletter, we inform about our activities in the EECERA Special Interest Group “Gender Balance”, and about new projects and activities. To find about more about the event and attend: /node/3667
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2) How one Black male teacher is breaking stereotypes and shaping the next generation
It’s a role that is typically led by a female. Fewer than 3% of pre-school and kindergarten teachers are men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jeremy Walton is working to break the stereotype as the only male early childhood teacher at Next Door Milwaukee.
Next Door Milwaukee is a learning environment that specializes in early childhood education serving nearly 1,400 children in Milwaukee County, ranging from as young as birth to five years old.
Jeremy made a career switch two decades ago from working in the information technology field to pursuing his passion as a teacher.
Go to website and watch the video: /node/3668
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3) Australia: Male Teachers Play an Important Role in the Future of Education
Men play a critical part in improving education systems when they become teachers. In a profession where women are the majority, male teachers diversify the education workforce and make a significant impact as role models for children.
The teaching profession is expected to grow 4% or more in the next decade at all teaching levels. As such, there are many opportunities for men in education. However, recent data shows that while there is ample opportunity for male teachers, there’s still a shortage in supply. Read the article: /node/3669
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4) Scholarship: The Apple Pre-Ed Scholars Program at Huston-Tillotson
Huston-Tillotson University has recently been awarded a Certificate of Commendation from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for Exemplary Performance in; Preparing the Educators Texas Needs –Percentage of prepared teachers who identify as Teachers of color, for the past academic year 2018-2019. This commendation from the Texas Education Agency highlights specifically the work the university has done related to preparing African American teacher candidates. The university is now setting its goals on growing the number of African American males. The goal is to certify 25 African American males as classroom teachers by the year 2025. This project’s goal is to increase the number of African American male educators in the teaching field. Currently African American males make up less than 2% of all educators. The state of Texas currently requires a student to earn 60semester credit hours prior to being accepted into an Educator Preparation Program. Huston-Tillotson University has created a unique Pre-Education Program leading to teacher certification for African American males. Read the article: /node/3674
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5) After early hardships, this Hispanic Chicago PE teacher relishes being a role model
Hector Rodriguez knew a return to in-person instruction would come with some challenges for many students, especially after 18 months of remote learning.
Before students walked into his class in late August, the James Ward Elementary physical education teacher made it his mission to create a safe and comforting environment after an extended period of uncertainty.
“I’m focused on making teaching fun again — bringing that joy back to in-person learning for our students,” Rodriguez said.
A few months into the school year, he is incorporating social-emotional learning into his physical education classes. Some of those activities include having students lead classmates in their favorite family dance like the Macarena or Cha Cha. Activities like these, Rodriguez says, allow students to share and be “creative and express themselves.” They “help improve the classroom climate and create a safe learning space.” Rodriguez has also been working with Cubs-affiliated charities to introduce baseball to students who have never played the sport. In 2019, Rodriguez received a Cubs Jr. All Stars physical education award for his work with the organization’s spring training program at the Chinatown school. Read the article: /node/3676
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6) Charleston County School District, University of South Carolina create Men of CHS Teach program in new partnership
Charleston County School District (CCSD) announces a new partnership with the University of South Carolina (UofSC) for a program that sets a pathway for men of color to become teachers.
District officials said with under 20% of teachers in the district of color and nearly half of the students being of a racial minority, they chose to redirect their recruitment. Men of CHS is an alternative certification pathway for non-degree seekers which grants a South Carolina teaching certification to candidates specifically in Early Childhood or Elementary Education. The free teaching certification pathway is free and aims to recruit and retain diverse male teacher candidates.
“This opportunity means a great deal to me as I get to help shape the lives of our future,” says Men of CHS candidate Taylor Wright. “I am appreciative of this opportunity and will do my best to ensure that I impact student lives in the best way possible.”
The Men of CHS cohort allows candidates to co-teach with current CCSD educators, following a traditional residency model. Participating schools are E.B. Ellington Elementary, North Charleston Elementary, Stono Park Elementary, and W.B. Goodwin Elementary.
“Being a part of this work with Men of CHS Teach is rewarding and makes me proud to be a product and employee of Charleston County School District,” says April Butler, CCSD’s Director of Pathways to Teaching. “The intentionality is inspiring and so I encourage candidates to apply and become change agents in the lives of our students.” Read story: /node/3677
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7) Video: Why do men teach elementary children?
This video shows male elementary teachers from around the country talking about things they like about their jobs in an attempt to get more high school students to consider elementary teaching as a career. My classmate and I made it for our education capstone project at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. Watch the video: /node/3678
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8) More than just teaching in Guyana: New male teachers want to be positive role models
The largest batch of trained teachers – some 843 individuals – graduated from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) only a few days ago. And among the graduates are three young men – James Osborne, Glenroy Duncan and Rovindra Singh – who are eager to get into classrooms not only to teach but also to be positive role models for Guyanese youth.
Osborne, a trained primary school teacher, told the News Room that he had spent years engaging youth in various spheres, including at his church. That meant he was acutely aware of how impressionable young minds can be.
“There’s a saying when we grow up that you can’t bend a tree when it’s old, you (have to) start when it’s young,” he explained during a recent interview with the News Room.
As such, when the suggestion was made that he should become a teacher, he did not need much convincing.
But Osborne’s passion for the teaching profession was also fuelled by his own experiences with his teachers while growing up. Importantly, he shared that some of the teachers who had the biggest impact on his life were those who taught him at the primary level. Read the story: /node/3679
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9) Editorial: Eight-year-old author takes other children on an adventure of a lifetime
While the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged our world in 2021, Praise B. Nelson gained a new appreciation for animal companionships and deepened the relationship with her German Shepherd Dog friend (Aslan). Lockdowns also gave her new appreciation for friendships because she missed going on adventures with friends.
Having lost two beloved aunts that year (non-Covid related), Praise had ample opportunity to reflect, to get sick, get healed, and channel her love for writing. She wondered about the possibility of planets inhabited by wise animals who knew more than a thing or two about medicine, science, and engineering, and she decidedly parlayed her love for adventure, storytelling, animals, and science into a book the likes of which has never been seen before. Big Little Wonders: A collection of never-told-before adventures is a delightfully told, beautifully illustrated, and moral-driven anthology book for middle-grade adventurers, teaching kids some important life lessons while keeping them entertained for hours. Praise introduces us to tinkering, engineering cats that attend MIT, planet-hopping buddies, and a continent where tuna fish is plenty, and cats are acrobats and 911 operators. With wisdom for one so young, she writes about gratitude, space missions, science and shows us why sisters are the best. She emphatically states this is a book of anthropomorphism adventures for adventurers. In her words, “I love, love, love to write stories. I also love drawing animals, playing my guitar, writing songs, and playing basketball. Of course, not all at once.” Read the editorial: /node/3683
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10) Editorial: “Time Flies When You Are Having Fun.”
My teaching career began in a kindergarten classroom in 1980 in a small rural town. I remember loving everything about teaching: the children, the families, my colleagues, and the sense of accomplishment. The years passed quickly providing opportunities that I never had imagined and embracing them all without hesitation. In the blink of an eye, or so it seemed, after 34 years in education, I found myself contemplating retirement. I must admit, I was not one of those lifelong planners who had a pre-set date to retire. In all honesty, I never thought I would live that long to even experience retirement, but here I am. Time….it flies past you in a blink of an eye. Read the editorial: /node/3682
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