Male Early Years Worker

[NewGrandad]

How would you feel about a 20+ yr old male, over 6 ft, 16 stone or so being appointed as a trainee early years worker in your child's nursery?

Thanks all. The worker in question is my son. And it's something he's wanted to do since he was a teenager but was too immature at that time to follow through. He has now got another opportunity and is looking forward to it.

He was asked the question at his interview about how he would react to a parent objecting to a male EYO so was just wondering if it was really an issue.

BTW I'm proud of him.

He will mainly surrounded by people raving about how marvellous is it that a man is working with children rather than people complaining.

Nobody applauds when well qualified women become teachers and teaching assistants.

That’s great. I hope the role is everything he is hoping for.

My daughter's nursery had 2 men working in the pre primary school room and one of them was her key worker. One was tall, of large build and had a big bushy beard. The other was the complete opposite. Both were lovely and excellent at their job. No idea why their appearance would have meant otherwise!

Will he be sitting on any kids? If not, weight probably not relevant.

Really not sure what you are looking for here, OP ?
What on earth has his age, height or weight got to do with anything ?

Good luck to him though. I hope he enjoys it.

I'm intrigued now. It is the specific combination of Male, Tall and Fat that upsets you, or would two out of the three be enough to constitute a threat? Would you be ok with a 6', 16 stone woman, for instance, or would this man be perfectly acceptable to you if he just went on a diet?

Aw shit, so sorry - cross post fail! I am so glad the thread has given you the answers you were hoping for and even more so that your son has your support. Wishing him all the best!

He's not fat just well built. Does kickboxing. 😃😃

Good thread outcome! My ds had two male EY teachers and loved them but they were no different from the female teachers so nothing to differentiate really. Good luck to your son.

Just out of interest, what's his motivation for choosing childcare as a career?

I think some people's suspicions around males in the industry which is notoriously low paid is that there must be another motivation.

A nutty relative of mine had her dd at a nursery where a male staff member was brought in, she made a big issue about him not being allowed to care for or change her dd.

I'm not sure how the nursery dealt with that but as far as she was made aware, they agreed to her demands.

I think some people's suspicions around males in the industry which is notoriously low paid is that there must be another motivation.

Why is it only males that attract suspicion if they take low paid jobs? Factory work is very poorly paid as well.

Fair do’s to him. I think knowing what you want to do and pursuing it is admirable.

He may well come across a couple of parents who don’t “like the idea”. And that will be their issue based own their narrow minded prejudices, not something your son should worry about or feel ashamed over.

Good luck to your son. Its sad as i think men outside traditional male roles/ interests have so much prejudice.

i would be pleased if my ds's had a male worker/ teacher. Good role models and ds1 in particular seems to prefer men. I'm sad that his nursery and school have none at all.

Me DD2 had a male early years practitioner. He did brilliant forest school sessions and she wanted to invite him to her birthday party.

If he's good at his job, that's all that matters.

As someone who has been involved in running a nursery, should anyone object to him being there he is best to keep his cool and report it directly to management. I really hope he doesn't deal with any shite, though; great EY educators come in all shapes, sizes and genders.

Why is it only males that attract suspicion if they take low paid jobs? Factory work is very poorly paid as well.

I think it probably due to the common notion that many men (not all before I get jumped on!) avoid doing hands on parenting like nappy changing, feeding etc at home and this idea carries over into career choices. Factory work is probably better paid than childcare plus there's usually overtime available.

Men generally don't seem to tolerate screaming and crying children as well as females do. Again, general speaking, obviously there's a minority that can and do.

For me I think I wouldn't judge until I met him and go with the vibe I got from him then.

Low pay? Starting off jobs are certainly but as you progress then jobs can pay reasonable amounts but will never be mega pay. £30k is achievable in major cities as a nanny and many nannies start off in nursery.
As a nanny I have paid off my mortgage so the income is not what I would call low... just would not call it high either.

There is more to life than money, work life balance is important. Doing work you love is important, why be unhappy?

I work in a nursery and would be thrilled if the man you described was appointed to work with us. Children need positive role models, male or female.

Well good for him OP. I really hope it works out for him, it's the best job in the world.

I would love it, the more men that work with children the more it will become the norm.

My sons reception teacher is male and the kids love him!

It would be very odd if people still thought about male jobs and female jobs. But I suppose it’s possible there could be the odd weirdo out there. If he ever gets any crap for it, tell him to be polite but hold his ground. If someone wants an all-female nursery then they can go find one but that shouldn’t impact on him doing his job.

I think it’s great. Lots of kids don’t have a dad at home and will benefit from positive Male role models.
I hope there’s no paranoid parents that put him off his career.

I would love this! There is a severe lack of males in the field.
I was a nursery manager up till last year.

You're doubling down on the height and weight thing OP - why do you think that matters?