MenTeach E-News
October 2013
1) German government campaigns for more male kindergarten teachers
2) Hiring Males Is School District Priority
3) Male Kindergarten Teacher to Principal in China
4) Increasingly, male teachers found at head of elementary class
5) Research: Turkish Female Preschool Teachers’ Attitude toward Male Preschool Teachers While Hiring Job
6) New Zealand – Men in Early Childhood Education National Summit – Call for Papers
7) New England – MenTeach Fall 2013 Gathering
8) Former coach influencing lives as special education teacher
9) Estonian National Strategy Aims to Increase Share of Male Teachers to 25%
10) National USA Conference Meeting in Washington DC
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1) German government campaigns for more male kindergarten teachers
It is still an unusual picture: Karsten Röttjer, a 1.90 meters (6’3 inches) tall male, surrounded by young girls and boys. Physical education is on the schedule today. The children bustle around the kindergarten teacher. Physical education is always exciting for the children and with their new kindergarten teacher Röttjer it is even more fun. “I noticed that some of the kids are totally focused on me. Me being a man, the kids are much more boisterous than with a woman,” the studied social worker claimed.
Kindergarten teacher Röttjer: “The kids rampage around more with me than with female educators.”
The 40-year-old has worked in a day-care center in southern Cologne for five weeks now. He still needs to get used to the miniature world of small chairs, tables and a sink. But the work with the children is fun for him. Read the article: /node/2285
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2) Hiring Males Is School District Priority
Male teachers continue to be an area of need for Charles County and the state.
The school system’s human resources department reported to the Charles County Board of Education on Tuesday that of the 170 new hires, 37, or 21.8 percent were men, and 132 or 78.2 percent were women.
Sean McDonald, human resources specialist, told board members that the figure is on par with state figures. He said state data indicate that of those studying education in Maryland colleges and universities 81.4 percent are female.
Hiring male teachers, McDonald said, “continues to be an area of need.” Read the article: /node/2286
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3) Male Kindergarten Teacher to Principal in China
When Zhu Jun graduated from East China Normal University in Shanghai in 2003, he dared not tell anyone he had found a job as a kindergarten teacher.
“People thought a kindergarten teacher was a nanny and they would not accept a university graduate becoming a nanny,” he said.
It is now 10 years since Zhu, Shanghai’s first male graduate of preschool education studies, started in the profession. In that time he has become the city’s first professionally qualified male kindergarten principal.
Male kindergarten teachers are now more recognized by Chinese society, but kindergartens still find difficulty in recruiting enough male teachers. Read the full story: /node/2287
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4) Increasingly, male teachers found at head of elementary class
“Kids had issues with me being a strong figure. They’re used to hearing it from their moms or aunts.” Tyrone Johnson, above, a third-grade teacher at Ashley Elementary (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
Each weekday, students filing into Denver’s Ashley Elementary School come face to face with a relatively rare educational experience.
They call it by name: Mr. Johnson. Mr. Heath. Mr. Walters.
In all, eight of 18 instructors at the K-5 school are men, a proportion that far exceeds the statewide average of 15.6 percent of elementary school teachers — most concentrated in grades five and six.
“Anybody who works with little kids knows they need input from both sexes,” says principal Kenneth Hulslander, who assembled his staff by keeping an eye out for promising male talent among visiting substitutes and student-teachers. “I look at it as being part of the learning experience for my kids.” See the date, read the story and watch a video: /node/2290
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5) Research: Turkish Female Preschool Teachers’ Attitude toward Male Preschool Teachers While Hiring Job
This research was conducted to understand the attitudes of female preschool teachers’ towards male preschool teachers while hiring job. In the research there were two CVs which have all the same features except their genders. These CVs were given to female preschool teachers to assess them as hiring job. These questions were; Do you think this teacher would be a good teacher? Would you hire this person as a preschool teacher? Would you prefer this teacher as a teacher of your child? Would you think that children prefer this teacher as their preschool teacher? Do you think this person is happy as a preschool teacher? Female preschool teacher ranked these questions 1 to 10 while evaluating. Participants of the research consisted of six participants from private schools and 24 participants were from government schools. By considering CVs, all female preschool teachers ranked five questions that were asked them about hiring job of that preschool teacher. Read the full research report: /node/2292
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6) New Zealand – Men in Early Childhood Education National Summit – Call for Papers
Men in Early Childhood Education National Summit – Call for Papers
8TH NATIONAL SUMMIT ON MEN
IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
7- 8 MARCH 2014
WELLINGTON, NZ
The theme for the national EC-Menz Summit to be held next year in March in Wellington, New Zealand is “Lifting the Lid on Gender Issues in Early Childhood Education.”
Download the form: /node/2293
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7) New England – MenTeach Fall 2013 Gathering
Meeting 9 am to 1pm Saturday, October 26
Department of Early Education and Care
51 Sleeper Street, 4th Floor, Boston, MA
Special Guests –
EEC Commissioner Tom Weber and NAEYC Board Member Amy O’Leary
We understand the value and richness that a diverse workforce offers. We strive to find qualified educators who reflect the diverse families that we work with. We have made great strides in broadening the ethnic and cultural composition of the teachers in our children’s classrooms. What is sorely lacking is the presence of male teachers in our early education and elementary school programs. The men and women who support New England MenTeach are dedicated to building a more gender balanced teaching profession in our communities. MenTeach is about children’s success.
8) Former coach influencing lives as special education teacher
Teachers at Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton call Ray Berger the “gentle giant.” His former football players call him “coach.”
A big man, Berger works with almost 30 special needs students, many of whom have severe physical disabilities. Now the school’s “crisis intervention” teacher, Berger, 50, is respected, not feared.
“I wanted a male presence,” said William Latson, the Spanish River principal who two years ago asked Berger to take the job. “He has a good disposition with the students. The kids all know he’s the football coach.”
Berger understands, through sports, what it takes to be successful and responsible, Latson added. “He’s about the school and rolling up his sleeves and jumping in whenever he needs to.” Read the article: /node/2296
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9) Estonian National Strategy Aims to Increase Share of Male Teachers to 25%
One of the goals of the Ministry of Education’s newly-drafted lifelong learning strategy for 2014-2020 is to increase the share of young teachers and male teachers, uudised.err.ee reported.
In 2012, 85.7 percent of teachers were women, in one example of the traditional gender gap that appears to be more strongly entrenched in Estonia compared with its neighbors in the region. Read the article: /node/2298
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10) National USA Conference Meeting in Washington DC
The National Association for the Education of Young Children Men in Education (M.E.N.) Network Interest Forum invites men and women to its annual meeting. Take the time to learn and share information on a variety of activities for men, fathers, and others who have an impact on the lives of young children. Learn about what’s happening in the USA, and internationally (particularly Germany and Norway). Find out how to recruit more men to your program, and how to support and retain men you already have. Help set the future agenda for the interest forum, have fun, and make new friends! Also read about the Awards event: /node/2303
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