MAN ENOUGH TO TEACH
IN PRIMARY AND EARLY YEARS
REPORT OF THE SYMPOSIUM
‘MEN TEACHING IN PRIMARY AND EARLY YEARS’
ON
15 JULY 2002
AT
NUT Headquarters
Hamilton House
Mabledon Place
London WC1H 9BD
NUT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - PUTTING TEACHERS FIRST
INTRODUCTION TO REPORT OF SYMPOSIUM
The symposium, ‘Men Teaching in Primary and Early Years’, was organised as part of
the NUT’s Professional Development Programme.
This report, in addition to providing a record of the symposium for the participants, is
intended to raise awareness more widely of the experiences of, and issues facing, men
teaching in primary and early years.
It will be made available across the teaching
profession. Copies will also be sent to policymakers; organisations that are concerned
with the recruitment and retention of teachers (in particular, the General Teaching
Councils and the Teacher Training Agency); and teacher training institutions.
The report summarises the inputs to the symposium by leading researchers in this field
which set the context for the discussions.
Most importantly, the report also provides a
record of the discussions amongst participants.
Although a number of politicians and
educational commentators have talked publicly about the need to recruit more men to
primary and early years teaching, there are few such records of men themselves talking
about their aspirations, motivations and experiences as teachers.
The symposium provided an opportunity, for a group of (mostly) men, to discuss various
aspects of their work as teachers and also their reasons for choosing a career in
teaching.
Participants also prioritised the strategies that they thought would be most
effective in increasing and improving recruitment and retention of men to teach primary
and early years.
Some of the concerns referred to by participants during the symposium illustrated
attitudes towards men working with young children that are embedded in our society.
Such cultural issues are not going to be changed by one symposium or the report based
on it. It is hoped, however, that this report, based as it is on men teachers talking, will
encourage changes which maximise the contribution men make; inform the ongoing
debate about the impact and role of men teachers; and lead to more effective strategies
for recruiting men to primary and early years and then retaining them.
Further copies of the report can be requested by emailing your name and address to:
nutcpd@nut.org.uk.
i.
CONTENTS
PAGE
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Goronwy Jones, Chair of Symposium
1
‘WHO, WHERE AND IN WHAT ROLES?’
Professor John Howson, Oxford Bookes University
1
MORNING DISCUSSION GROUPS
-
The Particular Contribution of Men Teachers
led by Merryn Hutchings, University of North London
3
-
Support for Men Teaching in Primary and Early Years
led by Mary Thorton and Pat Bricheno, University of Hertfordshire
6
-
Men Teaching Emotional Literacy
led by Michel Rener
12
‘WHO’S HE AND WHAT’S HE DOING HERE? –
IMAGES OF MALE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’
Dr Christine Skelton and Professor Bruce Carrington, University of Newcastle
14
‘STRIVING, THRIVING, OR SURVIVING? –
MAKING IT AS A MALE PRIMARY ITT STUDENT’
Professor Janet Moyles, Anglia Polytechnic University
15
AFTERNOON DISCUSSION GROUPS
-
Two Parallel Groups of Men Discussing Recruitment and Retention
led by Suzanne Mackenzie and Richard Stainton
18
-
Women Participants Discussing ‘Researching Men Teachers’
led by Merryn Hutchings, University of North London
23
SUMMARY OF PLENARY WITH MAIN SPEAKERS
24
Appendix 1: Suggested strategies for ‘attracting and retaining men to the primary
and early years sector’ (whilst avoiding devaluing the contribution of
women teachers). Compiled by Merryn Hutchings
26
ii.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Goronwy Jones, Chair of the Symposium and primary headteacher, welcomed
participants.
As had been anticipated, in line with the advertising of the event, there were only a small
number of women amongst the participants.
Goronwy Jones welcomed them
specifically and reminded the symposium that it was “especially for men teaching in
primary and early years”, but by no means exclusively for men. There were many
women in positions where they were very influential in the training, recruitment and
professional well being of men teachers.
He commented briefly on his own experience as a man teaching in primary and early
years in Wales and went on to note the uniqueness of the event. He welcomed the
speakers and morning discussion group facilitators as leaders in this somewhat
specialist field.
Although men were a minority in the teaching profession, unlike many minorities, they
could not be considered as an ‘oppressed’ minority. Although some individual men
teachers may have suffered from prejudice and, in some cases, bullying or
discriminatory management, overall, men in education filled a disproportionate number
of senior management positions. However, there were very real issues which arose as
a consequence of being a minority and many of those would be focused on during the
symposium.
Goronwy Jones said that a ‘Symposium’ was defined as “a collection of scholarly
contributions on a given subject”. Today’s event was deliberately called a symposium
because, although there were some expert speakers, it was the participants who were
the experts on being or having a professional interest in “men teaching primary and early
years”. So, the symposium was meant to provide an opportunity for everyone to
contribute their views and share their experiences and expertise and he hoped everyone
would do so.
Although some of the issues that would arise during the symposium, particularly those
relating to poor recruitment and retention of men into primary and early years teaching,
may seem negative, the overall focus of the day was intended very much to be positive.
The symposium was a celebration of the contribution that men make to education and
the teaching profession. The aim was to explore how that contribution could be
strengthened in terms of quality and quantity by having more men teaching in primary
and early years.
WHO, WHERE AND IN WHAT ROLES?
Professor John Howson, of Oxford Brookes University, first became interested in the
issue of recruitment of men to primary teaching about 10 years previously, when he
noticed that the School of Education, for which he had responsibility, was attracting
fewer men each year to primary teaching courses. With regard to senior staff in primary
schools, however, he had noticed that more women were beginning to be appointed.
Since 1997, the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) itself had taken an interest in these
trends and more research began to take place into gender issues relating to recruitment.
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The DfES’ figures Teachers in England (2001) demonstrated a ‘bulge’ of male teachers
at ages 45-54, a ‘short tail’ of younger teachers aged 25-34, and an ‘alarming gap’ at
age 35-44. There were few teachers aged under 25, which Professor Howson
suggested was a trend which was unlikely to change given, for example, the tendency
for students to take ‘gap years’ on an increasing basis.
He believed this data to be of concern, because of the large number of teachers aged
over 45 who would be retiring from teaching within 10-15 years. This represented a
significant proportion of the workforce and would include about half of the male teaching
staff currently in primary schools.
With regard to entries to primary undergraduate and PGCE courses, Professor Howson
said that there were differences in the quality of data for analysis, with the PGCE data
being of a better quality. The trend had been relatively static for the past decade, with a
slight rise in the early 1990s, attributable to the recession, a decline in the mid 1990s,
reflecting the lowering of recruitment targets, and a slight rise overall in recent years.
In 1991, the year in which Professor Howson began to take a particular interest, men
accounted for 17 per cent of those recruited to primary PGCE courses. This rose to a
peak in 1993 of 18.5 per cent of the cohort, with a subsequent decline to 16.5 per cent in
1997, when the TTA began to take an interest in the recruitment of men to primary
teaching. Men now accounted for under 14 per cent of those recruited for the first time
in a decade.
The trend had, therefore, been one of decline in percentage terms, even during that
period where specific attempts had been made to recruit men to primary teaching.
Although there had been more applications from men, overall, over the past couple of
years, there had been a slightly larger overall rise in applications from women in the
same period.
Professor Howson noted that there had been a change in the rules surrounding entry to
courses from ‘first come, first served’ to a position whereby all of those who applied for
courses by the end of September would be considered as a ‘pool’ of applicants from
which providers would choose. This had partly been in order to attempt to achieve a
gender balance, and also to balance levels of applications from those with a background
in arts and social science disciplines.
Professor Howson believed that there was an argument for more research to be
undertaken into how men make decisions about entering teaching and whether this
might relate to the timing of advertising campaigns.
With regard to the proportion of men who had applied and had been accepted onto
primary PGCE courses, there had been a decline in both over the past couple of years.
This raised questions as to whether the quality of applications from men may have been
of a lower quality than that of women over the period or whether there were other factors
involved.
DfES figures on the number of men entering primary teaching from PGCE courses
showed that the greatest number were aged around 30 and below, with a significant
trailing off at age 35 and upwards. The figure for entrants to teaching from primary BEd
courses showed a similar trend, but there was possibly an issue of the numbers
undertaking BEd courses ‘withering on the vine’ for other reasons.
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The picture for the future, especially within the context of the number of male teachers
approaching retirement age presented 3 possibilities, based on a ‘high’, ‘middle’ or ‘low’
estimate against the present profile and recruitment trends, and in the context of falling
school rolls leading to ITT targets which were likely not to rise and would possibly fall
over the next few years.
For the under 25 age group, the ‘high variant’ would result in a greater number of male
teachers in 2010 than at present, but the ‘low variant’ could result in as much as 50 per
cent fewer. There was also a question of how men in primary teaching might be
distributed geographically and the effect that this might have on specific areas. For all
other age groups, except those aged 55 and over, each variant resulted in a projected
figure for 2010 which would mean fewer men in primary teaching than at present, in
some cases significantly so. If current trends continued there would be an even more
significant ‘shortfall’ in the number of men teachers in primary and early years in the
future.
MORNING DISCUSSION GROUPS
Participants chose to join one of the three discussion groups (A,B,C) on offer.
summary of the discussion in each of the groups is given below.
A
GROUP A: Discussion focused on the particular contributions which men
teachers think they bring to primary and early years and related matters. It was
led by Merryn Hutchings – Reader in Education at the University of North London.
Participants’ responses (in direct speech) to the question of men’s contribution to
teaching included:

I bring a fatherly figure, particularly for children from single parent families, also
pupils that misbehave are often sent to me.

Male teachers are not necessarily better but they are rare. They can overcome
negative expectations of men just because they are there.

Men are used as an authority figure and I’m not sure this is a ‘good thing’.

I went into teaching at 36 and felt that my maturity was beneficial. I can’t give
birth or breastfeed but otherwise what I offer to young children is exactly the
same as women. It is important that pupils see that men and women are not that
different.

Women should become more ‘laddish’ and become more involved in the more
physical aspects of school life. I was pleased to see women participating in the
World Cup.

I think it’s good to have a mix of men and women in the staff-room as well as the
classroom, its good for staff and its good for pupils.

Research shows that men have a sense of humour, and you need one to survive.
I have a male toilet all to myself at school, the women all have to share one.
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
I don’t go into the staff-room because there is no male conversation going on.
I don’t want to discuss diets, I want to discuss football.

Children respond well to women who have an interest in football, they (the
women) have more energy.

In my experience, as a head, plumbing and discipline problems always seem to
be mine.

I get fed up being in the minority. I feel like putting a notice up on the toilet
saying, please raise the seat when you have finished.
Participants then considered whether children respond differently to men and
women:

In my case they do because I am the only man in 50 staff, there’s a novelty
factor.

Research shows that in households where the carers are a lesbian couple there
is no adverse effect on either boys or girls.

Personality is more important than gender in terms of relationships in school.

The terminology children use in relation to teachers varies according to the
gender of the teacher e.g., they would say that they ‘love’ a female teacher but
say they ‘enjoy’ being taught by a male teacher.
And in terms of delivering the curriculum:

Some women colleagues do not seem to have the confidence to prepare simple
equipment for science lessons. I am often sought out to help, but another female
colleague could just as easily help.
When asked how many participants were ICT, science or PE co-ordinators, several
participants indicated they were. They were then asked whether this was through
choice. The response was generally that they had applied for these roles.
The discussion then focused on whether girls and boys have different learning
styles:

Boys are more active in early years settings.

Labelling behaviour according to gender is potentially dangerous.

Girls in my last school were better than boys at football.

With my own son and daughter I have tried to bring them up without gender
influences and they have still very much fallen into stereotypical gender roles and
ways.
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
Girls and boys have a range of learning styles, however, my school runs an
accelerated learning programme which boys seem to particularly thrive with. This
programme is particularly good for pupils with autism.

What is needed is good teachers regardless of gender, so that the needs of all
pupils with all learning styles are met.

Research indicates that girls are more developed at birth and continue to develop
earlier than boys. The reason girls converse more than boys is because they are
able to and boys focus on construction because that is what they can do.

Boys fall off chairs and play with pencils more than girls.

The vast majority of excluded pupils are boys, and girls are excluded primarily for
truanting rather than aggressive behaviour.

In the school football team, there are equal numbers of boys and girls. (Another
delegate said that they only had two girls in their team.)
Participants were asked if they agreed with Estelle Morris, Ralph Tabberer and Doug
McAvoy that there should be more men in primary education and that this would address
boys’ underachievement?

Male teachers can break down stereotypes by conveying that men can do
cooking, sewing etc.

There is no evidence that male teachers do address boys’ underachievement. It
is more likely that changing the curriculum would be a more effective approach to
this issue.

The TTA campaign which implied that all male teachers would be football
enthusiasts was stereotyping. There is a pressure to conform to these sorts of
norms.

Primary education has been successful with 90% female teachers and there is no
evidence to suggest it would be improved by having more men.

The benefit of an increase in male teachers was likely to be the message that
would be conveyed to and about society rather than an effect on results.
Participants were asked, “Given the ‘gendered’ patterns of promotion, what are the
issues for men in primary and early years?”

I’ve been teaching over 20 years and I don’t want to be a headteacher but it’s
hard to keep motivated. They scrapped the advisory service in our area so
opportunities are few and far between. It’s a daunting prospect.

It does get annoying invariably being pushed for promotion. I don’t want it.

One woman I trained with said ‘you’ll be a head in five years’ - while we were on
the course!
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
If all men become headteachers then the benefit of them working directly with
boys will be lost.

Research indicates that men in ITT often expect to become a manager or
headteacher.

Although there is now paternity leave, attitudes have not changed about the role
of childcare.

Gender roles might be more clearly defined in rural areas.
GROUP B: Discussion focused on a range of issues relating to support for men
teaching in primary and early years. This was led by Mary Thornton and Pat
Bricheno, of the University of Hertfordshire, who have been researching the issue of
men working in primary schools for many years.
The question of whether there needed to be ‘men only’ training courses stimulated the
following responses (in reported speech):

When one participant was at college, there had only been nine men on the
course and he had felt very isolated.

It was difficult to say if men were isolated, but men were certainly in a minority.
There had been a tendency in the past to prioritise male teachers, as they were
seen as a novelty. Men had often commented, however, that they wanted to be
trained together and not be separated. (Mary Thornton reported how she had
felt ‘left out’ at the start of the symposium when looking around a room so full of
men – she realised this must be how men must often feel in staff-rooms.)

One participant described himself as the ‘token male’. There had been no social
activity when he trained in college and participants themselves had had to start it.

It would be difficult setting up ‘men’s groups’ as a lot of men would avoid this.

A 22 year-old classroom assistant said that being in an all female staff-room had
been a huge challenge but questioned whether that was because he was the only
male or just a reflection of his age. It was almost rude the way that women in
some staff-rooms did not include him in any discussions and inducting
newcomers into staff-rooms was an issue.

It was felt that some women inadvertently ‘mothered’ or patronised young men.

Primary teaching was often advertised as being full of handsome young people
and it was suggested that images of older men, who had been in the profession
for a significant number of years, could be used instead.

It was commented that teaching needed to get away from the image of being
either an ‘all women’ enclave or a ‘quick way for men to get to the top’. Teaching
needed to be sold as a vocation, not something where men automatically ‘got to
the top’.
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
Teaching was not always a positive choice for men, some drifted into it and left
when faced with the workload.

It was observed that two-thirds of teachers were going to leave and the Union
needed to get beyond the issue of gender as retention was an issue for
everyone, regardless of gender.

The poor status of primary teaching, in particular, was commented upon.

Single parents often wanted their sons to come into a male teacher’s class so
that the male teacher could be a role model. Many women teachers did not like
this. In addition, male teachers did not like the perception that they should be
role models and did not want this added pressure. It was felt that this pressure
sometimes came from female staff.

Men tended to be pushed into teaching the older age ranges, years 5 and 6, and
often did not teach in reception classes.

Single parents often had the expectation of ‘firm, strong’ male teachers. There
might be pressure on men to act in this particular role.

A participant commented that he did not feel pressure to act in a particular way.
He had had experience, however, of a parent whose child had had problems with
her father in the past and the mother was concerned that, if the male teacher told
the child off, the child would react badly as she was not used to having men
around.

One participant had been a primary teacher for seven years and was now
working in childcare recruitment. As a primary teacher, he reported that there
had been parents who had been apprehensive that their daughters would have
male teachers for the first time. Similarly, boys who came from single parent
families had been difficult in previous classes, but responded well to a male
teacher being a role model that the child had not had before.
Participants discussed whether gender balance was an issue in the school:

The staff-room tended to be full of older women who led the discussions.

One participant pointed out that he had five new male members of staff and felt
less isolated. When he had first trained in a Catholic school, he was sent straight
to teach year 6. Parents were concerned that he was the first male teacher that
their children had had, but parents were often happy with the situation by the end
of the year.

One participant had been turned down for an interview as the headteacher had
been concerned about having a young male in the reception class as very few
men taught in early years.

One participant was celebrating recruiting one male to teach early years, but this
teacher had reported that he had felt overwhelmed in the ‘all female’ staff room.
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
It was commented that, in higher education, attaching a male tutor to a male
student was useful. There tended to be a ‘magnetic attraction’ of male teachers
to where there was a male headteacher, which resulted in some schools having
disproportionately high numbers of men.

It was reported that it was nice to be amongst men in the staff room, particularly
for social occasions such as lunchtimes and having the space to discuss ‘men’s
things’.

It was felt that it was an issue for school leadership to encourage all staff to
‘bond’. Men should not be treated as if they were ‘stronger’, and particular
responsibilities should not be delegated to men, for example, PE and IT.
Teaching needed to be seen as a valuable profession for anyone, not just for
men.

A participant commented on the statistics on the retention of male students. It
was felt that younger trainees tended to drop out more and that more mature
entrants were more likely to ‘survive’.

It was felt that the extra financial incentives to train for a PGCE had attracted
more participants; but as a way for them to pay off their debts rather than go into
teaching.

Low pay was a factor and this had put off young men coming into the profession.
It was felt that the salary was not suitable, even at the top end of the scale.

It was commented that the threshold needed to widen and lengthen. Increments
should be over twenty years of a career, not just over seven, so that teaching
could be seen as much more of a long-term career.
There were management factors that could help men in primary schools:

It was commented that it was difficult to obtain a career in management as many
posts were temporary. How salaries related to particular responsibilities needed
to be re-examined. In schools, whether a head was male or female was
irrelevant, but it did matter in terms of a school’s public image.

Some participants commented that senior management teams were male
dominated, as men were perceived as ‘strong’ leaders.

The difficulty of networking with other male teachers was commented upon. It
was also perceived that men found it more difficult to discuss particular issues.

The TTA Mentoring Project, in its third year, had tried to set up mentoring
projects for young men who may have formed informal networks when they had
left the programme. One of the mentors on the programme had commented that
it had been a strange experience to sit and talk with other men about primary
teaching. More formal networks could, therefore, be advantageous.

It was suggested that LEAs could set up meetings to encourage networking. This
was a good idea in theory, but women could be resentful of the special efforts
being made to help male teachers. It was commented that there was a fine line
between helping male teachers and upsetting women teachers.
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It could be an equal opportunities issue if the same networks were not being set
up for women.

It was pointed out that men were not a disadvantaged minority, but still faced
problems of isolation. They faced pressure from parents and the difficulties of
being male in an early years setting.

One participant pointed out that it was the school’s policy that men and women
were not allowed to be alone with one child and this was a general policy, not just
aimed at the issue of male teachers in the classroom. Other participants pointed
out that this was not a policy in their schools, however.

Some concern was expressed about children who would sit on male teachers’
laps when hurt or upset – this could be a difficult situation for men to deal with.

A member of the group reported that the school had a policy of ‘nothing above
the knee’ for girls and it was policy that a female member of staff would deal with
injuries, or changing girls for PE, for example.

It was commented that women staff members often did not think that men could
‘bond’ with children, as women are and could become mothers. There was a
perception that men could not relate as well to children as women did.
Participants discussed why so many men failed initial teaching training courses, if
they are just as likely to be as good as women:

It was suggested that men were more threatened by the emotional ‘bonds’ that
teaching in primary and early years encouraged. There was an issue of being
simultaneously ‘in loco parentis’ and being a teacher. Some men found it difficult
to show emotions.

One participant was told by parents that he needed to ‘let himself go’ more.

It was felt that younger teachers did not ‘bond’ so much with male pupils. Only
some would come and hold their hand when in the playground, for example.

It was suggested that an exchange with reception/year 1 classes could be helpful
to begin with, which would let parents see men working with young children.

It was important to examine wider social factors and for society to say that it was
acceptable for men to be emotional and for women to take football classes, for
example.

It was important to encourage young people to come into school and this could
encourage them into a teaching career. It was reported that the most successful
trainees had been in schools beforehand and had acquired useful experience of
this. Those who did not have this previous experience were more likely to leave
teaching. Such experience could be included in the PSHE and Citizenship
Curriculum.

A participant commented that, at his stall at a recent recruitment fair, only five
pupils, aged 13-14, approached the stall, and all were female.
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
It was pointed out that some male teachers went to great pains to say that were
not gay. The presumption, that men who went into early years and primary
teaching were gay, was very pervasive and there was also an assumption that
teaching young children was a ‘soft’ and ‘wimpy’ option.

One participant said that more fathers had attended outings with him than any
other colleague. Men were often reluctant to go on outings with female teachers
as they were more likely to go with whom they felt more comfortable with.

It was reported that 18 and 19 year-olds on a mentoring scheme found it useful to
work with men on how to use their voice and mannerisms in non-threatening
ways, which had been quite a revelation for some of them. Men had to be
recruited into primary and early years in the first place, however, before such
schemes could take place.

One participant reported that he had not mentored a male student in school for
four years, even though he had asked for one.

It was suggested that maybe men just did not want to work with children. There
were higher numbers of men in the profession in the past as it had been seen as
a sensible ‘career’ for the post-war generation.

It was also felt that teaching was a different job now. Men used to be seen as
disciplinarians and automatically going into headship, but this now was not the
case.

It was felt that teaching needed to be made more appealing. The paperwork had
been influential in increasing the dropouts, particularly since the introduction of
the National Curriculum.

Geographical differences were commented upon – it was very difficult to recruit
men into early years in the North East of England, for example.
But did all this matter?

It was felt that the ‘boys’ underachievement’ debate was driving the discussion on
men teaching in primary schools.

One participant said that the children of single parents often watched him and
picked up his mannerisms, and that ‘boys would learn to be boys’ from male
teachers, so it was important to have them as role models.

It was commented, however, that there were different ways to being male and
that there may not be such a need for such role models in schools. Images of
masculinity could be obtained from outside schools, or from television, or from
other male relatives.

It was pointed out that some boys had very negative role models and so the
nature of role models in schools and in the wider society was important.

It was felt that the debate on ‘men teachers’ was similar to the debate about black
and minority ethnic teachers. Such teachers often commented that they were fed
up with being expected to be ‘role models’.
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
The double expectations (with regard to being a role model) faced by young black
men going into teaching were acknowledged.
And with regard to the curriculum?

The gender balance was felt not to be an issue in primary schools, as women
could teach football clubs and PE, for example.

Female ‘dominance’ was not necessarily ‘feminising’ the educational experience
of young boys, but this did depend on how senior management managed the
curriculum.

It was felt that, for single parent families, it was important to have good role
models for children.

There were differences between men and women, who both have their own
distinct contributions to make.

Some participants felt that it was important that stable male influences were
introduced into children’s lives. A participant gave the example where a child, on
his ‘wish list’ for Christmas, had wished for the participant to be his dad.

It was not known if the gender of the teacher was a relevant factor in pupils’
achievements as there was very little solid evidence. It was, however, a very
powerful public perception that male role models were important.

It was felt, however, that the concept of the ‘role model’ was very ill-defined and
there was much disagreement about what this should be.

A range of indicators would need to be examined, not just quantitative tests, to
examine the influence of male and female teachers.

The problem of role models was commented on, as each child would have
different needs regarding role models.

It was important that schools and role models perpetuated shared values, such
as fairness, equal opportunities, compassion, and friendliness, whilst also
instilling discipline.

The view of role models depended upon the profile of staff. Older teachers might
have different views than younger teachers on this.

It was felt by some participants that role models should not be deliberately
introduced and this was merely ‘tokenism’.

A participant commented that he had experienced more fathers coming into the
classroom for the first time, as mothers were away from home working more
frequently, and that this was quite a new phenomenon.

Some families had only the fathers at home and so the fathers had more time to
spend in the classroom.

There were still very few applicants for some posts and so schools would fill a
post with a teacher, be the teacher male or female.
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
It was felt that if the salary increased, more men would be attracted to the
profession. Some participants commented, however, that money was not an
issue for them. Salaries did need to be competitive with industry however.

It was felt that the way teaching had been denigrated was not helpful and that
teaching was still seen as something you did if you could not do anything else.

It was felt that achievements in schools needed to be celebrated more,
particularly in the press.
GROUP C: Discussion focused on men teaching emotional literacy and their
needs for training/professional development in this curriculum area.
The
discussion was led by Michel Rener who facilitates INSET in schools on emotional
intelligence.
Michel described emotional intelligence/literacy as developing a sense of ‘who we are’;
self-esteem; an ability to relate to the world; awareness of others’ feelings; an ability to
have a clear vision and establish goals; and developing an awareness of, as well as an
ability to cope with, one’s own feelings.
He talked about the desirability of people achieving a balance in terms of their thoughts
and feelings and gave examples of children’s behaviour/reactions when this balance
was not present. He asked the group whether, as men, they were ready to teach/help
children to achieve such balance and said that the discussion would cover ‘readiness’ to
teach emotional literacy; the emotional issues which arise for men teachers, and what
training/support would help men teachers with this aspect of learning.
Participants introduced themselves and said why they had chosen this workshop. The
group brainstormed a list of ‘feeling’ words. It was suggested that whilst men and
women equally have feelings, men tended to be less able to express them and had
differences in expectations. They may be less good at reading the range of emotions
expressed by children and therefore less good at predicting how feelings are influencing
children’s behaviour. It was acknowledged that there are social and cultural factors
which exaggerate differences between men and women, boys and girls particularly
during the first three (most influential) years. There was a view that men who choose
teaching as a career may be among the more sensitive of men.
The focus on emotions/feelings encouraged some participants to talk about, in some
detail, their experiences and emotional responses to certain situations. This was
appropriate and seemed to be valued by participants. Although these accounts often
illustrated the wider points being made, the details of individual anecdotes were not
recorded. Particular issues arising during the discussion included:

High levels of violence between boys.

However effective teachers are in helping children (particularly boys) to
understand their feelings and emotions, children may be from homes where
emotional development did not seem to be valued.
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
The difficulty of dealing with the emotional dynamics between girls (especially
where there may be time as violence was not usually an early outcome).

Different cultural expectations with regard to gender-related roles and behaviour
(raised by a teacher in a school where 98% of the pupils were of Asian origin).

The problem of making space for this aspect of teaching and learning given the
pressure created by the National Curriculum and the need to continually ‘do this,
do that’. It was felt that parents, especially in the early years were interested in
this aspect of children’s development but numeracy and literacy hours added to
the pressure to ‘get on’. It was felt, however, that if in the early years more time
could be spent helping children to understand and deal with their feelings, and
respect those of others, it would help with their education in the long-term.

It was noted that dinner time/play time often allowed children to ask questions
that they knew teachers would spend some time answering more fully than was
possible in the classroom.

Men teachers were often stereotyped as disciplinarians and some women
teachers use them as a ‘last resort’.

The difficulty of dealing with ‘sensitive issues’ in front of an ‘audience’ of children.

The obligation to be successful ‘”can be wretched”.

The unacceptability (to early years teachers) of older children being ‘sent down to
the nursery to see how to behave’.

Developing a sense of co-operation was seen as being conducive to successful
learning.

Concern about the recent research that had identified the extreme lack of talking
and listening during the literacy hour (with a tiny percentage of children’s verbal
contributions being of more than three words).
There was a shared view that more training in these aspects of teaching (particularly for
men?) would be helpful.

“I know where I want to get to but I don’t know what I need”, said one participant.

Another referred to the ‘healthy schools initiative’ focusing on mental health, ways
of learning, thinking, and giving importance to emotional development.

Some participants were wary of the tendency to only allow ‘happy’ feelings.

It was felt that there could be guidance/schemes of work focusing on emotional
health and giving it equal status.

One participant had experienced a facilitated staff support group (in a school in a
very challenging area) which had contributed hugely to ‘turning around’ the
school.
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
A number of participants spoke about being the ‘token male’ and that this
sometimes led to men teachers becoming the focus of ‘anger’ in women teachers
and other situations where they were seen as (and related to as if they were) the
representative of masculinity/men.

One participant recalled that, following the death of a pupil, he had felt an
obligation to offer comfort to women colleagues “but no one had comforted him”.
Throughout the discussion, a number of participants spoke at some length about
individual situations that they had faced as men teachers which illustrated the issues
summarised above.
WHO’S HE AND WHAT’S HE DOING HERE? – IMAGES OF MALE PRIMARY
SCHOOL TEACHERS’
Dr Christine Skelton of Newcastle University explained that the title originated from a
comment made by a parent when a male trainee teacher started his teaching practice. It
was a clear illustration of the scarcity of men in teaching and contrasted strongly with
1870 when there were equal numbers of men and women teaching – although their roles
were stratified so that male teachers predominantly taught in boys’ public schools.
Dr Skelton then turned her attention to boys’ underachievement, explaining that the
Government had set targets to increase the volume of men in teaching in order to
address this. Schools were also keen to recruit male teachers in an attempt to increase
the league table results. She said girls had always outperformed boys, a fact which had
led to the 11+ exam being weighted so that the pass rate for boys was lower than that
for girls. She said that a more compliant form of masculinity was being suggested;
however many of the Government’s initiatives perpetuated a ‘laddish’ culture.
Professor Bruce Carrington also of Newcastle University talked about the underlying
assumptions of current policies. He said the claim that increasing the availability of male
‘role models’ would improve the educational performance of boys lacked an evidence
base. Recent research indicated that male teachers could in fact adopt the ‘laddish’
behaviour of boys rather than diminish it. There was, however, some evidence for the
potential benefit of male role models; in particular where teachers had shared the same
experiences as pupils they could have some influence on pupils. Overall, however, the
concept of male teachers as positive role models for boys was ambiguous; rather all
teachers could provide students with an ethical template.
Professor Carrington went on to outline the study he had recently completed with Dr
Skelton. This had focused on the 2000/2001 cohort of PGCE students and investigated
their motives for entering primary teaching and their images of primary teaching as a
career. In particular, the study looked at barriers to recruitment and retention. They had
found that both male and female students agreed that primary teaching was as
intellectually demanding as secondary teaching; that it was a stressful occupation; and
involved excessive paper work.
The research had identified greater differences between key stages than between
gender. In fact, Key Stage 2 trainees demonstrated the desire to distance themselves
from Key Stage 1. Trainees thought that the gender of a teacher was irrelevant,
however they recognised that male teachers were more likely to be promoted than
female teachers. Older male teachers in Key Stage 1 were more comfortable in terms of
the issues of working with young children.
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Dr Skelton said that one of the key findings of the research was that the public image of
primary teaching was of a predominantly female domain and that the public perception
of men in primary education was that they were ‘unusual’, ‘odd’ or ‘deviant’. Men
working in predominantly female occupations tended to have their sexuality questioned
and, further, where they do not take a masculine position, they are often seen as ‘other’.
Dr Skelton said that she and Professor Carrington intended to build on this research to
investigate what differences in views might result from having male or female teachers.
She added that research in other countries had indicated that attitudes towards men
teaching in early years was determined by wider cultural influences.
‘STRIVING, THRIVING, SURVIVING? – MAKING IT AS A MALE INITIAL TEACHER
TRAINING (ITT) STUDENT’
Professor Janet Moyles, of Anglia Polytechnic University, noted that the only women in
the audience were ‘fellow’ researchers, and that ‘Men in Primary’ was an issue that both
genders needed to address.
Her son’s vocational choice was one of the things that sparked her interest in ‘Men in
Primary’. He initially chose to be a primary school teacher and then, after being
persuaded by his peers that it was the wrong option, he changed his course. After
spending 18 years in teaching – Professor Moyles had been saddened by the redirection
of her son’s career.
Professor Moyles had received funding from the TTA in 2000 to research the ‘Retention,
Recruitment and Success’ of male students.
She had decided to tackle the subject – the decreasing number of men in primary – by
dividing the subject into three research phases. The first phase would focus on the
success and retention of males in Initial Teacher Training (ITT). The second and third
phases would then delve into the recruitment of men into teaching and their success
thereafter. However, (perhaps in fear of the findings, she thought) the TTA had only
funded the first phase ‘Men in Primary ITT’.
The aims of her research ‘Men in Primary ITT’ had been to:

assess the current success rate of male students in relation to female students in
ITT;

investigate course leaders’ perceptions on the retention and success of male
students;

identify obstacles to success for male students;

recognise good practice; and

examine what needed to be done (even if it was against an organisation’s ethos).
The research covered student trainees in 1996/7, 1997/98, 1998/99 and 1999/2000.
Questionnaires were sent to all primary ITT courses, (BA, B.ED, PGCE, SCITT) – 63
HEIs and 17 SCITTs – and followed up by semi-structured interviews over the
telephone (75 per cent) and via e-mail (25 per cent). From a geographically
representative sample, Professor Moyles had used 25 interviews and 81 questionnaires
to arrive at her findings.
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Using the recruitment and retention figures that she “had battled to get out of the various
institutions”, she deduced that, although recruitment from 1996 to 1999 had increased,
the retention of male students had not changed.
The figures had highlighted the loss of men to primary teaching resulting from failure
during ITT. For example, for a BA (Ed) course from 1996-1999, 57 males and 414
females were recruited; but 25 per cent of males withdrew compared to 14 per cent of
female recruits. The majority of withdrawals of male and female students were in the
first year and the further students continued their course, the less likely they were to
withdraw.
Professor Moyles had found that the retention of male ITT recruits was influenced by:
a.
institutions;
b.
male ‘characteristics’;
c.
ITT course issues; and
d.
school issues.
Professor Moyles had found that most institutions did not keep separate information
about male and female intakes. When they did, they made it difficult to access it. One
institution had requested that Professor Moyles pay a member of staff to sift through
their archives to find the information.
Through direct questioning, Professor Moyles had found that 84 per cent of the course
leaders claimed to perceive no differences in the support needs of male and female
students. However, indirect questioning identified a number of differences between male
and female requirements.
Institutions focused far more on recruitment of male students than on their retention. To
compound this problem, less than half of the institutions believed it was necessary to
make an effort to keep males on courses. Those that did were not making the retention
of male students a priority.
Institutions were concerned with ‘equal opportunities’ for
everyone; but in Professor Moyles’ view, equal opportunities within many institutions did
not take into consideration the requirements of the male minority group.
Professor Moyles identified certain characteristics of men students:

men often did not seek help. Furthermore, when they did seek help, it was often
too late. This problem had further been exacerbated by the intensity of ITT
courses;

men were generally weaker in attention to detail and more reluctant to write
things down;

some men to appeared arrogant or over-confident (which could be compensation
for feelings of insecurity, etc.);

men were more likely to succeed if they were more mature students;

men expected to succeed and suffered more when they did not;
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
men’s self-motivational problems were compounded by (often) taking up parttime employment – in order to alleviate the financial burden of studying – which
often etched into the early hours of the morning and affected them the next day;
and

men seemed to have difficulty in financial planning and putting aside their social
lives.
Professor Moyles’ research had identified a number of ITT issues:

Not enough thought was given by some men to what a teaching career would be
like.

Men tended to be more spontaneous when it came to choosing a vocation.

Men tended to be evident on courses – becoming representatives, etc.

Tutors tended to think that men were more suited to teaching Key Stage 2.

The average ratio of women to men tutors inmost institutions was 3:1 and, in
some cases, it was 5:1.

Public attitudes deterred men from teaching very young children and this was
compounded by the fact a number of institutions for very young children did not
have facilities for male teachers.
She also identified a number of school issues:

Some school staff were inclined to over-protect male students, which tended to
mask possible problems.

Poor attendance and punctuality (sometimes due to part-time work) in their
placements affected staff attitudes to male teacher trainees.

Other staff reacted variedly to men teachers – including harassment in some
cases.

Difficulties in coping with males when no facilities were provided for them in
schools where all the teachers were women.

The generally ‘feminine’ atmosphere and discussion in the staff room made
some male trainee teachers want to avoid it.
Professor Moyles then made a number of recommendations, based on her research, to
ensure that men ‘strive and survive’ in Initial Teacher Training

Higher Education Institutions need to keep accurate ‘gender’ records.

More in-depth information should be given to prospective students regarding
opportunities, policies and practice with regard to gender issues.

Appropriate support needs to be given and backed up with documentation.
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
Applicants’ prior experiences relevant to teaching young children need to be
unveiled more so than at present.

Careful school placements need to be made.

Time management sessions need to be provided.

Mentoring for men students.

Setting up forums for men in primary/early years should be considered.

First year undergraduates may need extra support or even be recommended to
wait for a year before starting teaching.

More financial management support should be available for undergraduates.
AFTERNOON DISCUSSION GROUPS
The men participants were divided into two groups to discuss recruitment and retention
of men to primary/early years teaching. The women participants – who were largely
researchers – held a separate discussion focusing on issues relating to researching
‘men teaching in primary and early years’. The discussions are reported below.
The two men’s discussion groups followed the same format.
Firstly, they were asked to write down, without conferring, their main reason for
going into teaching. Their responses were as follows.
“Use of communication skills. Idealism – opportunity to inspire children,
make a difference to their lives.”
“Fell into it. Parents both teachers.
aspirations in other field.”
Enjoyed school.
No career
“Make an impact and felt that it was a worthwhile career to do this.
Enjoyed working with children.”
“Wanting to change the world and give children a different experience of
school than my own.”
“A love of learning. Suggested, quite naturally, a desire to share that
learning experience.”
“Enjoyed working with children.



Work experience
Scouting
Play schemes”
“Interest in child development. Belief in importance and influence of
education and wider social world. Enjoyment of children.”
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“Had experience in my half-sister’s school. Liked it – (training) offered the
opportunity not to work for 3 years.”
“Love being with children.”
“Teaching was the last thing I wanted to do when I left school. However, I
found the Civil Service very boring and I worked in residential care (at a
school). I then became interested in teaching.”
“Experiences of working with younger children when growing up.”
“To do better than the rubbish teachers I had as a child/youth.”
“Enjoyed working with lads.”
“As a job that had an influence on other people “children’s” lives. A job
that was never the same and always moving on. Holidays!”
“Opportunity to contribute.
context.”
Varied career with ‘human contact’, social
“Worked unqualified in social work. Did BEd to raise opportunities. (23
years ago)!”
“Because I wanted to interest children in learning.”
“Wanted to work with children having been in a relationship prior to this
with my partner who had a young child when I met her.”
“Like working with children.”
“Disaffection previous job – accountancy.
worthwhile.”
Wish to do something
“Wanting an ‘important’ job.”
“Wanted to progress to occupation with greater opportunities for
interaction with children.”
“Share my passion for life and the learning process (not the product).”
“I felt I was able to communicate with children – which I enjoyed.”
“Initially, I failed to get into university and an ITT course was
recommended by the school as an alternative. After ITT, I became a
teacher and remained a teacher because I felt it was a secure and
rewarding profession.”
“Wanted to help children to enjoy learning. Retention: Not be compared to
BEds who decided at 16/17.”
“Wanted to work with children, in particular teach young children.”
“I love children and take great pleasure in passing on my knowledge to
them.”
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They were then asked to write down (without conferring) why they chose
primary/early years teaching. This is what they wrote.
“Breadth of teaching experiences – all subjects. Opportunities to pursue
extra-curricular interests with children. Working with children at formative
stage of development.”
“Preferred idea of teaching whole curriculum, rather than any one subject.”
“My experiences were linked to Nursery/early years so it was the natural
age-phase to enter.”
“Didn’t want to just teach one subject and thought the younger years were
more influential (on learning).”
“In order to be there and share in the most formative part of children’s
experience – of society, life and knowledge – and in the formation of
attitudes.”
“Work done with age group voluntarily.
knowledge was broad not focussed.”
Memories of school.
Subject
“Strong belief in importance of early years in later personal development
and educational achievement.
(Experience and interest in
psychotherapy).”
“Enjoyed a first infant TP – found I was good at it – changed course from
9-14 to 3-8.”
“Love being with younger children.
Primary schools too much crowd control. Early years teach in smaller
groups – able to give emotional/physical support. Be more spontaneous.”
“Primary/Special Needs after my work in residential care at a primary
residential school.”
“This age group gave the most back – responded with eagerness.”
“Jun/Sec trained – loathed adolescents, preferred primary practice.
Taught Y6 but prefer Y2 but do not often get my choice.”
“Didn’t want to teach teenagers. Could make a great difference working
with younger pupils.”
“At the stage in their life where they are “willing” to learn and you can
teach so many different subjects etc.”
“Early years: Interest and belief in the importance of first 5 years in
influencing the direction of development of the individual to society.”
“Perception that 4-11 year olds would be less confrontational.”
“Because I felt I related well to young children.”
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“Didn’t need a particularly strong subject specialism – less academic,
more vocational.”
“Early years children really interesting and interested.”
“Influence by booklet from college – sounded exciting work. Interest in
immaturity – wish to help curriculum develop this.”
“Belief in early intervention/support/education.”
“Consider infant age to be most crucial in formative terms.”
“Foundation Curriculum – child centred approach rather than a narrow
curriculum focus.”
“Friendly, fun atmosphere to work in.”
“I felt more at home teaching children than teaching a specific subject.”
“To teach the variety of subjects in the primary curriculum, withdrawing
from the compartmentalisation of subjects in my secondary career.”
“Children more receptive in primary phase, easier to manage.”
“Nursery age children have few, if any, hang-ups, are refreshingly honest
and, in general, enthusiastic. They are, therefore, a joy to teach.”
The
men’s
discussion
groups
then
focused
on
expectations/aspirations had been met. Responses included:
whether
those
“I have been disillusioned a bit; the reality is that the time isn’t there and
there are large classes.”
“If you can only influence one or two it is still worth it.”
“I wonder if one of the influences on dropping out is the disappointment at
not being able to change the world, and also the realisation that you could
do it with the right tools.”
“Bloody-minded optimism keeps me going.”
“There is security in teaching.”
“I thought it would be more collaborative but I haven’t found this; in fact, it
is quite competitive.”
“My female colleagues do lots of display work; it’s girly and I don’t like it.”
“There is an expectation about what a ‘man’s classroom’ might look like.”
“I love teaching; it doesn’t feel like work; it feels like being with 24 friends.”
(NQT in early years education).”
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More general points about whether their (men’s) expectations/aspirations had been met
included:

the status of the teaching profession needs to be uplifted to benefit all teachers
working in the profession, both women and men;

any perception of men working with young people as being ‘deviant’ has to be
challenged;

building relationships in schools should take priority over moving into
management. However, men who sometimes are the higher wage earners in the
family are motivated to become managers in primary schools for financial
reasons;

men can feel vulnerable teaching in reception and early years – they are aware of
the difficulties of comforting young children physically, when they are distressed
for example.
This ‘cautionary behaviour’ can inhibit men from teaching
effectively in early years and primary schools;

stereotypical negative views about men teaching in primary/early years need to
be challenged both within schools and outside. Senior management in schools
should create opportunities to discuss the difficulties and the concerns that
teachers experience on a day-to-day basis;

allegations of abuse are difficult to deal with and men in early years and primary
schools need to feel that they are supported in the face of such allegations, both
by members of staff and by their headteachers;

it was emphasised that participants’ reasons for wanting to teach in primary/early
years had included: their parents being teachers; they wanted a more interesting
career; they wanted to work with young children; and they liked the idea of caring
for young children in schools;

as links had diminished between schools and their communities, the perceptions
of men teaching had become distorted as the community outside the school was
suspicious of men working with young children;

young children needed to become accustomed to adults being around them, both
in the classroom and outside it. More social events needed to happen at school
so that the gender issue was not so prominent in schools;

some participants felt that the attitudes of other staff towards them teaching
young children was sometimes hostile or stereotyped. These attitudes could be
expressed quite stridently and this was an area where men entering the teaching
profession needed to be given guidance and support.
In groups of three, the men were then asked to prioritise from a list of 27 strategies
for recruiting and retaining men in the primary and early years sector (extract from
‘Towards a Representative Teaching Profession: Gender’ by Merryn Hutchings – see
Appendix 1 for full list), whilst avoiding devaluing the contribution of women teachers.
Each group of three was asked to agree the three strategies they thought most important
to recruiting men teachers and the three strategies most important to retention. The
priorities identified by each group were then compared and collated.
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The prioritisation process showed that, according to men, the most important
strategies for recruiting men teachers to primary/early years were (with the most
frequently cited listed first).

More recognition that teaching is a high status profession (and pay structures
which reflect that for all teachers).

Secondary schools should promote work experience for boys in feeder primary
schools.

There should be more opportunities for male teachers and ITT students to talk to
school leavers.

Efforts should be made to replace the discourse that work with young children is
women’s work, in whatever sector of society.
And, according to men, the most important strategies for retaining men (with the
most frequently cited listed first).

More recognition that teaching is a high status profession (and pay structures
which reflect that for all teachers).

Fora should be created where men teachers in primary/early years can talk
together about the issues that are specific to them.

Opportunities to work with other men teachers, especially in the early stages of
ITT courses.
Specific support for men in their first primary/early years teaching post.

There was then some further discussion about additional strategies – not covered by
Merryn Hutchings’ list – that the participants thought important. The issues which arose
included:

the need to recognise the high cost of living (as exemplified in practice by the
‘ability to buy a house’);

the value of good quality mentoring;

the importance of feeling valued by parents, other teachers (school) and the
wider society; and

criminal records for minor offences (e.g., speeding) should not disbar men from
going into teaching.
Emphasis was also given to targeting more mature men to boost recruitment and the
importance of prior (and substantial) experience of working with younger children so that
men had realistic expectations of what teaching in primary/early years would be like.
The women participants’ discussion – being mainly researchers – focused on issues
relating to ‘researching men teaching (in primary/early years)’.
They had a wide-ranging discussion and exchanged views and perceptions about men
in teaching that had come out of their research.
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Specific issues relating to the research process included:

to overcome a general reluctance amongst men to volunteer information, preinterview handouts and clear information about the nature, scope and purpose of
the research had been found to be helpful;

the need to not cross the fine line between researchers reading between the lines
(of men’s ‘reluctant’ responses) and adding their own experiences (of men and
working with men) when reporting on research. Giving interviewees the chance
to read draft reports could help to prevent this;

it is important not to expect politically correct ‘answers’;

Government and its agencies were very selective in their response to research
findings/recommendations;

there was little evidence that young people specified teachers as being role
models to them (although this does not mean that, in practice, teachers are
without influence as role models);

that an extrapolation of statistics suggested there would be no men teaching in
primary by 2010.
SUMMARY OF PLENARY WITH MAIN SPEAKERS
In the plenary discussion, the following points were made.

The campaign to get more men into teaching seemed focused on the stereotyped
image of male teachers, i.e., appealing to men teaching PE and kicking a ball
about. This image had to be changed if more men were to be attracted into the
profession and in order to provide a better professional model for those men
going into teaching.

Role models were important for young children in schools, therefore it was
important that fathers, for example, were more prominent in schools and in
classrooms. The schools could make an effort at targeting certain groups,
perhaps having a ‘fathers’ group in school, for example.

The decline of the youth service and of community links had exacerbated the lack
of positive male role models for children. This fed into people’s negative
perception about men going into teaching.

Men coming to teach in primary schools were sometimes unprepared to teach a
range of subjects. They had not been properly guided as to what primary
teaching entailed.

It was important that men in early years and primary education had the support of
parents and this support could be engendered by individual teachers building on
relationships with parents and by the whole school ethos. There was a difference
between men teaching in primary and men teaching in secondary education.
Men in secondary education tended to feel safer teaching in the perimeters of
their subject areas.
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
Teachers needed to feel confident in teaching in an innovative way and not
bound by the prescriptive structure of the National Curriculum. Innovative and
‘off-the-cuff’ teaching was part and parcel of being creative in the classroom and
both men and women had to perhaps take risks in the classroom in teaching in a
less prescriptive and less knowledge-centred way. This innovation had also to be
supported by teacher training institutions and by schools themselves when
training teachers in schools.

The issue of allegations of abuse had to be dealt with by schools and by society
as a whole, as there were more complaints made against men regarding abuse
than women. This would obviously put men off in entering the teaching
profession.

It was important, if stereotypes were to be broken down, that the profession was
representative in many diverse contexts, for example, with white teachers
working in predominantly black schools, with black teachers working in
predominantly white schools, with women teachers working perhaps with a staff
that was predominantly men and visa versa. Minority members of staff in these
varied contexts needed to be fully supported by the ethos of the school and by
the management. The view was expressed that positive discrimination was not
the way forward. Quota systems would not be the solution because the teaching
profession needed quality rather than quantity.
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APPENDIX 1 : SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR ‘ATTRACTING AND RETAINING MEN
TO THE PRIMARY AND EARLY YEARS SECTOR’ (Whilst avoiding devaluing the
contribution of women teachers)
(Extracted from ‘Towards a Representative Teaching Profession: Gender’ by Merryn Hutchings)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Advertisements should include positive and safe images of men working with
young children
Careers material about teaching should be widely distributed at careers
conventions and to careers advisers in schools
Careers advice seminars should challenge existing stereotypes of teaching
HEIs should ensure that prospectuses and other publicity material include images
of teaching as a male profession
Emphasis should be given to the subject teaching aspects of primary education
Greater emphasis should be given to the ‘enjoyment factor’ in primary teaching
More recognition that teaching is a high status profession (and pay structures
which reflect that for all teachers)
Efforts should be made to replace the discourse that work with young children is
women’s work, in whatever sector of society
Ensure that positive images are seen in the media; for example, a male character
in a ‘soap’ should enter teaching or childcare
The focus should be on recruiting to ITT men of high calibre and commitment who
are likely to remain in the profession
There should be efforts to support men on ITT courses
Importance in recruitment (of men) to ITT should be given to previous substantial
contact with young children and realistic expectation
Secondary schools should promote work experience for boys in feeder primary
schools
There should be more opportunities for male teachers and ITT students to talk to
school leavers
Mature male entrants to teaching should be targeted (especially those who have
had experience working with children)
There should be more ‘taster courses’ offering a chance to visit schools
Fora should be created where men can talk together about the issues that are
specific to them
Clearer guidelines about touching children
More ways to counter charges of being a wimp or a pervert
More guidance on gender stereotypes in the teaching profession and how they can
be addressed
Opportunities to work with other male teachers, especially in the early stages of
ITT courses
Direct focus in ITT courses on addressing assumptions and understandings of
gender in teaching
Particular problems faced by male students should be monitored and addressed –
e.g., evidence suggests that men are less likely to attach importance to detailed
planning and record-keeping
Countering assumptions that men should work with older primary children by
offering all students experience of Key Stage 1 (and deferring the requirement
during ITT to choose an age group)
Specific support for men in their first teaching post
Avoidance by schools of perpetuating particular models of masculinity by asking
men teachers automatically to do sport, sort out fights and carry out maintenance
tasks
Issues of child abuse should be directly addressed on ITT courses and in schools
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