To get weary of the stance re male teachers

[GetSomeCatsOut]

AIBU to get a little fed up with the attitude expressed by some that a teacher is superior in the classroom (particularly but not always) the primary classroom?

I have actually had people say to my face 'that class needs a MAN!' or in the case of male candidates for interview 'oh fantastic; that's just what we need!'

It seems acceptable to be casually sexist in a way that the equivalent prejudice in say racism wouldn't be expressed.

Have others experienced this?

[PtolemysNeedle]

I have experienced people saying that it would be nice to have a male teacher, or expressing their delight that a male teacher has been appointed, but I don't think that it's because anyone thinks they're superior. It's because there are so few men in primary teaching, and it is good to have a balance.

[museumum]

It's about balance not superiority. I like that ds's nursery has a few men in the same way I like to see women in an engineering company.

[formerbabe]

Yabu. It is because men are under represented in primary education.

It seems acceptable to be casually sexist in a way that the equivalent prejudice in say racism wouldn't be expressed

I hear lots about how ethnic minorities are under represented in certain fields.

[Goshthatsspicy]

I think it is good to have a balance. I wish my younger children's school had a male teacher. We need more male teachers in primary schools.

[Goshthatsspicy]

I'd like to see more men in other roles in a school setting too.
Lunchtime supervisor
TA

[GetSomeCatsOut]

I can't imagine explicitly stating a class 'need' someone of Asian heritage though, or that an individual who is black should be appointed for this reason alone

[NormHonal]

I don't think it's necessarily sexist, but as PP has said, good to have a balance.

Also if you subscribe to the popular "Raising Boys" way of thinking, the male influence/contact is supposedly vital for boys at the primary age. I know lots of people who believe in that 100% and have said how pleased they are when a male teacher pops up in primary (which is very seldom), based on what they've read.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

Well I'm not on interview panels and I would be a bit if those sorts of things were expressed in a formal, supposedly non-biased environment. But on a more general level, I think all parents would welcome a broader representation of men in teaching/childcare.

[PurpleDaisies]

Totally agree with the other posters. I have never heard anyone say this or anything like it.

In primary there's a big shortage of men so actively recruiting them is a good thing, particularly for boys that don't have a strong male role model in their lives.

[GetSomeCatsOut]

Why? :)

Why do we 'need' male teachers in a primary setting?

What do you think they can do that female teachers can't?

[MadHenLady]

YANBU. Mums at my DD's last school were like this. One of the teachers was very stereotypically ''girly'- tiny little thing, long blonde hair, little squeaky voice. There was much bitching at the school gate about how the boys would run rings over her, they needed a firm hand, etc etc. Small rural school, only one male teacher.

By the end of the year, the ''girly'' teacher had the whole class nicely in line and eating out of her hand- mums then complained she was ''too strict!''

[candlesandlight]

Maybe it's just because some boys do not have stable role models in their life.

[GetSomeCatsOut]

I had a feeling someone would say that Purple, which is why I specified the examples I had heard.

If you haven't heard this said I am pleased - I have.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

I'd also welcome more BAME teachers, more out LBQT teachers... Our classrooms should represent our society.

(My tablet tried to correct LBQT to albatrosses but I'm cool with the lack of them in classrooms!)

[BeakyMinder]

So if it's all about achieving 'balance' - do secondary school leaders sit around saying 'we must get more female teachers in' or 'this class needs a woman'?

Thought not.

[Janeymoo50]

My favourite ever teacher was a man, Mr Thorn, never forget him. 7 years old (over 40 years ago!) and he read to us during last lesson every day, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory etc.....I didn't have a dad, it was lovely (looking back now) to have such an amazing male influence.

[GetSomeCatsOut]

Added to which, makes disproportionately represent females at secondary senior management level but interestingly this doesn't appear to be a matter of concern.

It is a shame.

[SoupDragon]

Why do we 'need' male teachers in a primary setting?

Because there are currently very few of them.

[PtolemysNeedle]

What do you think they can do that female teachers can't?


I think they can provide a role model that boy children can identify with.

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

We 'need' male teachers because we need all our jobs to be open to all our citizens. It's as simple as that. And if you can't see it, you can't be it.

Do I think male teachers are better or even different? No. But its still important tnat men are represented.

[TTWK]

It seems acceptable to be casually sexist in a way that the equivalent prejudice in say racism wouldn't be expressed.

50% of primary school kids are male but only a tiny percentage of teachers are male. If a school had 50% black kids and no or only 1 black teacher, I can well imagine parents delight (both balck and white parents) when another black teacher was recruited.

So I don't think your argument holds water.

And with so many kids of both sexes having no male role model in their lives, the need for male teachers in primary is even more pressing.

[MadHenLady]

It's not the job of a school to make up for the lack of male role models at home though.

A teacher should be a teacher because they are good at teaching children, not because of their sex or gender

Although, does this actually influence teacher training/PGCE/job applications?

For instance, is it easier for a man to get on a PGCE course than a woman?

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

Yy I absolutely agree re overrpresentation at secondary level - that's wrong. And sexist. But that doesn't mean that it's ok to have no men in primary schools.

[PurpleDaisies]

I can't imagine explicitly stating a class 'need' someone of Asian heritage though, or that an individual who is black should be appointed for this reason alone

The police often try and recruit candidates from minority backgrounds so they reflect the diversity in society. They still have to meet the same standards as the other candidates, as do male primary teachers.

To suggest male primary school teachers are recruited just because they are in possession of a Y chromosome would be pretty offensive.