MenTeach E-News
November 2019
1) Bowie State program looks to draw more black men to education careers
2) Black Male Educators and the Lack of Diversity in Classrooms
3) Former basketball standout is different role model now, first black man to win state’s early education honor
4) A message from a black male teacher: Don’t make educators like me the default disciplinarians
5) Scholarships for Minority Males in California
6) Principal loves teaching pre-schoolers, takes lead in skills upgrade with pursuit of master’s
7) How Patrick Harris Found Healing In The Classroom
8) When Race is the Primary Job Qualification for Teachers
9) Australian man speaks about his aim to see more men working in ECEC
10) Gender Balance – European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA)
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1) Bowie State program looks to draw more black men to education careers
If you look inside many of America’s classrooms, you’ll notice someone is missing: black male teachers.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Education, only 2 percent of the country’s teaching workforce are black males.
The phenomenon has not been lost on educators like Bowie State University professor Dr. Julius Davis. He recently undertook an effort to increase the number of black male teachers that can be found in DMV classrooms.
The University System of Maryland awarded Davis a $44,000 grant to operate a center at Bowie State that specializes in the research and mentorship of black male students and teachers.
“I think it’s important for young black male students to see a black male who looks like them in an academic setting doing intellectual work,” Davis said. Read the article: /node/3474
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2) Inequality in day-care centres: Male educators are more likely to work temporary
Many parents and educators want more male professionals in day-care centres and kindergartens – however, men have greater difficulty to get into daycare centers in permanent employment. This is the result of a new study of the Delta-Institute for Social – ecological research.
Accordingly, more than 90 percent of professionals are of the opinion that male educators for the development of children are important. 62 percent of all parents interviewed found that the policy should seek to attract more male educators in Kitas in Berlin. Nevertheless, only 77 percent of the respondents, male skilled workers had a permanent contract in the case of women, it was 91 percent. Read the article: /node/3459
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3) Former basketball standout is different role model now, first black man to win state’s early education honor
For two years as a teaching assistant in a Pre-K classroom, Johnathon Hines learned about rituals and routines and how to keep a 4-year-old student’s attention long enough to impart a lesson.
The job was supposed to be a way into the school system while Hines waited for a physical education position to come available. Those are coveted. Many who become PE teachers only give them up when they retire. Or die.
When a job finally became available four years ago, Hines turned it down.
Sticking with the 4-year-olds paid off last month when Hines was named the 2019-2020 Pre-K Teacher of the Year by the Georgia Department of Education’s Bright from the Start Department of Early Care and Learning. His new mission is to show the students that being black and achieving success does not have to involve athletics or the entertainment industry.
He is the first black man to receive the statewide honor. Read the article: /node/3477
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4) A message from a black male teacher: Don’t make educators like me the default disciplinarians
My first day in the classroom is one I’ll never forget. I was given a room of curious sophomore students – 43 of them.
I could feel the lump in my throat and every drop of sweat on my body. I was used to public speaking, and I felt good about what I would be teaching. But in that moment before the first bell rang, I actually thought about walking out.
When the bell rang, I called for the attention of the room. Most of the students didn’t even hear me. I called out again, a little louder. Now more students looked at me, but with some side eye and a few dismissive smirks. Their conversations continued.
I had little to no control over the classroom and it was only the first two minutes. So, I did what any good teacher does who doesn’t know what they’re doing … I acted like I did.
I stepped out from behind the lectern and walked to the middle of the room. “My name is Mr. Miller, and this is research and study skills. I don’t repeat myself, so if you fail to listen, you will fail. If you don’t work in this class, you will fail. If you give me your butt to kiss, I’ll draw a butt and lips on your report card next to your F.”
Some kids laughed, and others rolled their eyes. They knew they were in for a long semester, and so did I. Read the article: /node/3479
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5) Scholarships for Minority Males in California – Future Minority Male Teachers of California
What is F2MTC?
The goal of the F2MTC project is to improve the pipeline for male teachers of color throughout the California State University system so that elementary age students of color will have increased numbers of males of color serving as teachers, mentors and role models, thereby helping to close the persistent achievement gap between white students and students of color. Read the article to find out about scholarships: /node/3288
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6) Principal loves teaching pre-schoolers, takes lead in skills upgrade with pursuit of master’s
When he first started teaching at a pre-school, even the parents of the children enrolled there were curious as to why a man would take up the job.
“Some of them would ask me ‘Men can join this job?’ or ‘Why didn’t you teach primary school instead?'” said Mr Mohammad Aizat Hashim, 31, who is now a principal, at Mosaic Kindergarten.
But he knew early childhood education was his calling, after a particularly memorable experience with a group of pre-schoolers when he tried out the job as a fresh graduate.
Back then, it was his first time reading to a group of 20 pre-schoolers, with their undivided attention on him.
Mr Aizat felt intimidated and nervous, as he had never stood before so many children on his own before. He took a deep breath, flipped the page and began reading a story – and the children’s gazes never left him.
“That was the moment I knew this was the job I want,” said Mr Aizat. Read the article: /node/3481
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7) How Patrick Harris Found Healing In The Classroom
On a late Thursday afternoon, 5th grade teacher Patrick Harris closes out his day planning lessons for the coming week and helping his students find their friends throughout the building.
Rather than being disturbed by the occasional shouts from students during our conversation, he met them with a smile as he paused to reflect on his path into the classroom.
“I wanted to be a teacher since I was in the first grade,” said Harris. “I know that’s something you don’t hear a lot of kids say, but I had a phenomenal pre-K experience and great teachers who encouraged me.”
As he began to matriculate through school however, Harris quickly found that the passion he had for the classroom wasn’t always shared by his teachers. Read the article: /node/3483
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8) When Race is the Primary Job Qualification for Teachers
A few years ago, I met with two program directors. One worked for a well-respected education nonprofit, the other for a local public-school district. They had each recently released employees for poor job performance. Both of the released employees were people of color. When I asked the directors what they had covered in the job interviews with these employees, the directors told me they had asked the job seekers for their story. Though one candidate had received a degree in psychology and the other had received a degree in social work, neither program director had asked the candidates during the interviews how to apply their disciplinary knowledge. The focus was only on their story. Competence was assumed because the candidates were black American adults who would be working with students of color—and race seemed to be the primary criteria the directors were looking for. Read the editorial: /node/3486
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9) Australian man speaks about his aim to see more men working in ECEC
Australia’s ECEC sector is dominated by female employees with statistics from the Australian Government revealing that less than 3 per cent of all employees in the sector are male.
Currently employed as a childcare worker at SDN Beranga, an autism specific preschool in Rooty Hill, Mr Conneely enrolled in the qualification after beginning his career in the community services sector so he could follow his passion to educate the next generation.
“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I did not think I was academic-minded enough to study a degree. I got to the age of 28 and decided it was now or never. I chose to enrol in the degree at TAFE NSW as I thought the hands-on learning environment would be better suited to me” he said.
At first, he said, Bachelor studies were a challenge, as he hadn’t needed to write academically, or use critical thinking for some time, but these challenges were soon overcome with the support of the lecturers at TAFE.
“My teachers really inspired me to push myself above and beyond what I thought I was capable of and I was able to use the skills I was learning, while studying the degree, in my role as a childcare worker” Mr Conneely added. Read the article: /node/3490
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10) Gender Balance – European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA)
For some years now, researchers from several countries have formed an international network on the issue of men, women and gender balance in the ECEC work force. Since 2010, members of the network organised research symposia on the annual conferences of EECERA. 2012, the network initiated a Special Interest Group within EECERA.
The SIG focuses on the issue of gender balance in the ECE work force, and on the important role gender plays in adult-child-relations. Although there have been discussions about rising the proportion of male ECE workers for more than two decades, the theme remains an issue. Recently, several research projects were conducted, and in some countries governmental funded programmes have been started for bringing more men in the profession of Early Childhood Education and Care.
Read the article: /node/3487
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