Male teachers in primary school

[anawee23]

Hi Ladies,
Just wondering if you would like to give me your opinions on male teachers in primary schools and whether you think there are enough of them, feel free to be honest and straightforward.

I am currently training to be a teacher and have the task of researching and discovering what parents and adults in general think about Male primary school teachers and whether there is a connection to the bad publicity and the fact that there are less than female teachers?

I have done all my research regarding statistics and facts and figures, but would love to know how the general public and parents feel about this matter/topic.

Thank you for participating, I look forward to reading your replies.

Oh how I wish there were more male teachers in primary schools.

I am actually disappointed that ds didn't get the (one) male teacher as a classroom teacher. He used to do one of the P4 class but for the last couple of years has been doing the "McCrone" time, ie providing cover for the other teachers and doing things like PE and French.

Ds is in P6 now and I doubt he'll get him for P7.

The reason I'd have liked ds to have him: purely because it is good for kids to see that not all primary school teachers are female.

At dd's school there are a number of male teachers. I only know one quite well and he is excellent, the kids love him, he is a brilliant teacher. Also, I think that it probably benefits the overall climate, less risk of cliqueness/bitchiness if there is a better male/female mix, but that is just an assumption. I grew up abroad, in a rural area, all the primary school teachers were male somehow, was never an issue. Good luck with your training.

the paedo stuff is utter nonsense.

men don't want to enter teaching (in general) because it has become feminised and is therefore (now) poorly paid. teaching used to be a male profession when it was actually valued. two 'e's to get into teacher training? it's a disgrace, really.

male primary teachers are rare as hen's teeth. parents practically fight to the death to get their kids into the class with the male teacher.

we have three male teachers. one is utterly fabulous and i'd fight to the death to get my kids into his class. one is retiring in the summer (dd1's current teacher). and one has a number of slightly unusual tendencies wrt pre-pubescent girls, facebook, and over-familiarity. i rate two of them. the third i don't trust at all. at. all. but that's based on a year of having dd1 in his class last year. not enough to call paedo, but definitely enough to say 'you need to think about how this stuff looks to the daily mail, chap.' and he's a rubbish teacher, more to the point. interested in his own popularity rather than actually educating.

DD's school has one male teacher in Yr 6, he is as fab (have observed his lessons) as the rest of the staff! I do wish there were more male teachers though as I think it's good for small children to have lots of positive male role models. DD1 is very shy around men she doesn't know and I am sure that this is because the only man she spends time round is DH and his mates/dad, there are no other male role models in her life, which is very sad.

I think you're going down a dead-end with the thrust of your research.

You shoud be speaking to men, not women, and asking them why so few men want to be primary teachers. Far more useful.

1/3 of our teaching staff are male

That's very unusual in most areas.

I have never heard a parent say that they do not want a better balance of male and female teachers in primsry.

pointy - exactly. but none of the dads are queueing up to train as teachers, are they?

a really interesting research project would be to target 'A' level students. and careers advisors. i'd be willing to bet that there aren't many of those 14+ careers types recommending primary teaching as a career for young men. the odd one will, doubtless. but i bet only if prompted by a particularly vocational adolescent boy.

primary school - 0 men about 45 women
primary school - 1 man (ht) about 35 women
primary school (infant) - 0 men 16 women.
primary school (junior) - 2 men (inc ht) - about 45 women
primary school - 3 men about 25 women

they are just my dc's schools so far.

we are moving again in the summer and i think out of the two new schools, there is 1 man and about 60 women across both. there might be another couple, but they weren't visible on walk-round, and as someone said earlier, it is used as a usp...

My DS is at a school with 6 teachers, all female, including the headteacher. TBH I would love for him to have a male teacher, as I think he would respond very well to an enthusiastic man.

I think it's very unfortunate that so few men go into primary teaching, and I know that, certainly in Scotland, there is a big campaign to get more to sign up.

I wish there were more male teachers in primary schools.
In my DDs school, not a male teacher in sight.
Last year my DD had a supply teacher that was male, the whole class loved him, and said his lessons were more exciting & fun.

Many men go into secondary rather than primary because of career opportunities

you do find slightly more in secondary. presumably because it is 'specialist' subjects, rather than a general curriculum. more kudos attached to math and sciences. still way more women though.

was pondering this earlier. i was chatting to the mother of a young man i know last night who would be perfect as a primary school teacher. he graduates high school this summer, is a straight 'a' student, and volunteers as a dance teacher at a local dance school - helping to run a 'b-boys' dance class for 5-7yo boys. utterly perfect. motivational, capable of nurture and instruction, etc etc.

he's going to do pre-med as he wants to be a surgeon. i'm sure teaching hasn't ever crossed his mind, despite the fact that's what he does in his spare time...

DS (yr1) has a male teacher this year who has been very popular with all the pupils.

He is the only male teacher in the infant school (not sure about juniors as thats in a different building) and sadly he is leaving at the end of this acedemic yr

They do have footie coaches brought in to do PE which are all male.

no need many many more male teachers

Around a third of the teaching and support staff are male at dd's school although I am aware this is something pretty unusual.Tbh I don't think it even registers much of the time that the teacher or TA is male tbh because they aren't so rare. There is a male teacher or TA in each class and dd is just as happy with either tbh.
I think the boys in particular benefit by having positive male role models with the school being in an area of high deprivation lots of the children are lacking a male influence in their lives.

There is a male teacher in DD's school (prep, girls school, 1 class per year). He is the Y6 teacher (and deputy head/head of juniors) and he is much loved by the girls. He comes and teaches the odd lesson in eah year group, including in the infants and even int he preschool. He is a popular teacher, he is always ready to join in with any activity the school throws at him - which in an all girls school and as the only male on the teaching staff can be frankly challenging!!! He did very well at the bling day last year :) DD is looking forward to having him as her teacher in a couple of years.

There are no male teachers at the infant school I work at (state infants, coed, 3 classes per year). There is just one male teaching assistant, and both the caretakers are male and also play a ver active role in the day to day life of school - they are always around and speak witht he children all the time.

I would like to see more male teachers at primary level.

We have recently appointed a male Headteacher (he used to be Deputy/Y6 teacher) who is universally popular with girls and boys alike. We currently have two male teachers (Y6 and Y1) and next academic year there are going to be at least two more in KS2. We are also lucky enough to have a male TA at the moment, who is having an amazing effect on a couple of boys with more challenging behaviour issues.

I think everyone would agree the school feels healthier and more balanced as a result of a more gender-balanced staff!

ps single intake school, too (although about to become two form entry) - so they are not all that vastly outnumbered.

pps state primary, btw

we need some! has been lacking for years. i think we have one at the moment but he comes and goes :S

boys need male role models

1 head, 1 deputy and 2 class teachers in our school. All very good and the kids love them.

My best teacher ever at school was male. He taught me in primary 6. He was fantastic.