Male NQT considering KS1

[Gudhai]

Hi all,

I'm currently a trainee teacher on final placement and I have secured a position for September as an NQT. The position was advertised as a KS2 position and tbf I have always seen myself as an upper KS2 teacher - however in the interview they asked how I would feel about KS1 position?

They won't be stating which teachers will be in which year group until June (I suspect I wil be in yr6 as I used to be an unqualified teacher in yr6 previously) but it got me thinking even though I've personally never seen a male teacher in ks1, I am doing final placement in ks1 at the moment an do enjoy it.

Do you know any ks1 male teachers, if so how are they generally received? Very interested in views from parents and teachers.

DD is in year 1 and has a male teacher. He is also newly qualified and I have had nothing but praise for him so far. DD really likes him too.

There's a very well-regarded male teacher in reception at our first choice school for DD. DH knew him years ago and I really warmed to him at the school tour.

A teacher is a teacher.
I’m expect8ng a male teacher to be just as com0etent as a female One. Why shouldn’t they??

On the other side, I do think that having a male teacher is early years wouod be a really good thing for children. A male role model would be a nice change tbh.

We aren't in the UK so our nursery is 3-6 yr olds, the teacher there is a man. Personally I think people give him more respect than they do female teachers (our kids use to be in a diff nursery with two female teachers) and parents question what he is teaching and why less. I think that's a shame as it is making him lazy.

I like having men working at the nursery though (there are other nursery staff that aren't teachers) they show kids that both men and women are involved in raising kids.

I'm the other side I'm female and doing a pgce to be a STEM teacher at gcse/alevel and unfortunately sexism is alive and well on this side too.

KS1 lacks male teachers, and that academic research suggests that this both exists and is exacerbated by societal perceptions

If women had accepted this attitude 100 years ago, they wouldn't be in many of the industries they work in now. Look forwards, not backwards. Don't perpetuate the stereotyping of male and female roles. Make a difference. That's what education is about after all.

You are just as capable of teaching KS1 children, you just have to adapt to their needs. Foundation Stage is much harder and if you have no experience there it would make sense to do your NQT in years 1-5.

Although saying that. our school does have a male reception teacher and he did his NQT year in that class a few years ago. However, he is extremely competent and it would be rare to put anyone, male or female, into reception for their NQT year.

Male Y1 teacher for my DS plus one male teacher in the school nursery. Also my DD goes to a private nursery and two male full time workers and in her room there are two male supply workers, one of whom is also our babysitter.
All viewed positively by parents, don't worry!

My friends husband is a reception teacher & is like a big bear. The parents are a bit wary at first, but within a week they all completely love him and are upset when their children have to move up

My daughter't infant school had various male trainee teacher and they were all brilliant. DD's class came out all crying on the last day of one of the male trainee teacher.

Some moved into lower KS2 at the linked junior but that was more because there were vacancies compared to KS1 slots. Now the schools merged and I know that from next September teacher will move around more often.

I think male teacher are great, DD also had male nursery teacher and they bring so much into teaching and I like that their style is different to a female. Friends with boys also rated the male teacher very high.

Faire- we have 3 teachers in reception and one is often an nqt!

The now head of year started as an nqt 5 years ago and is amazing.

DS had a male NQT in reception - he was a mature student, probably early 30s so had life experience before retraining. The Head of KS1 is male in DS school and the Foundation teacher DS had has now settled himself as a Year 1 teacher so the school now has 2 female Foundation teachers but a 50/50 split male / female in KS1.

It's been great seeing so many male teachers in KS1, not only for the male students but also so the girls see that men can teach and have empathy skills etc. I would love to see more men at Foundation and in early years, not just in KS1, but I guess your initial reaction is partially about why we don't. The ones we have are that much older and are willing to stand up and defend their decision to move into this area in a way that I suspect 18 year olds are not.

My sons infant school has a male teacher in Year 2 - all the kids think he is amazing!

As you qualified in KS1 and 2 does it really matter? If the school offer you KS1 you could take it if you want and then if it doesn't work out you could go back to KS2.

If you plan to go onto headship at some point it's considered a good thing to have experience in all three primary stages (EYFS, KS1 and 2)

Thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate it.

Prior to doing this final placement I worked as an unqualified teacher in KS2 and always saw myself as a KS2 teacher but this placement and my new school's asking of whether I'd consider KS1 has made me think.

Good to know that any fears I may have around outside perception may, it seems, be limited to only a few on society.

Thanks

I am quite puzzled by your post actually.
I have never known a parent think a male teacher was a bad idea because it was KS1.
On the contrary, most parents are happy to have some male teachers to balance out the overwhelming majority of women.

I woudl be surprised if you were put in year 6. I am a governor and I knwo that the year 6 teacher is the one most carefully allocated, as SATS matter so much to the school. It is unlikely our school would put an NQT into that role.

We would also expect every single teacher to be willing to teach any class from reception to year 6, as at times flexibility is required. (although teachers have obvious strengths and preferences which the HT goes with as far as possible)

My daughter’s yr1 teacher is male. She loves him and he’s very highly regarded. We have two other male teachers and I’d be delighted with either one of them for my children.

I think you are misinterpreting the societal perception thing.

It isn;t that society doesn't want or like male teachers, it is that, because there are so many female teachers, they are surprised to find a male teacher and when they do assuem it is older kids/maths science.

That is not at all the same as saying that when they get a male teacher at KS1 they don't like it, on the contrary, they usually love it.

Unfortunately my dd currently has a male teacher that I am singularly unimpressed with. Maybe I was spoilt by her amazing teacher last year, but hey, he is very mediocre. But that is nothing to do with him being male!

Where have you been teaching that you did 2 year as a class teacher with no QTS? I thought that was illegal in state schools?

@steppemum I don't think it is when the school is an academy? May be wrong though

The best KS1 teacher my DCs had was male. I think it's a shame that most are female.

The best KS1 teacher my DCs had was male. I think it's a shame that most are female.

I am sorry but there is so much wrong with this sentence that I don't even know where to begin.

There are good teachers, mediocre teachers and bad teachers. Some of those are female, some male, and some young and some old.

Being male doesn't make you a better teacher. Being female doesn't make you worse.
Its a shame that most are female how to write off thousands of brilliant teachers all in one fell swoop.

I agree, it is nice to have some male teachers in a school. But in an interview with 2 teachers in front of me for a job, the job will go to the best teacher, regardless of their gender.

No problem at all with male primary teachers. The only issue I've seen a couple of times is a man getting into education because they think they're more likely than a woman to be fast tracked into SLT. I like ambition but only if the teacher is fully committed to the role they currently have, rather than always having an eye to the next step in detriment to the class that they actually are teaching.

Or perhaps it's paranoia on my part - think the elephant in the room is what some ppl think about men with being with younger children - again could just be my paranoia tbf.

Nah. That's not why there are very few men in EYFS and KS1.

IMHO it's due to a very widely-held and deeply-set prejudice, conscious or not, that the KS2 curriculum is more academically challenging while EYFS and KS1 is all finger-painting and story time. It's also why there are more men in secondary schools than there are in primaries. Attitudes are gradually changing as the importance of EYFS / KS1 in closing the gap for disadvantaged pupils is better researched and understood, of course, but the prejudice is there. It's then compounded by the fact that many primary schools place male teachers in upper KS2 as a behaviour management technique.

Keep in mind that most people on here are against stereotyping and thus gender norms. In the real world not so much, I know most people in my family would find it very odd to see a man working with very young children and possible question it or refer to him as a 'kiddy fiddler' or 'something not being right with him' to put it mildly. They are also quite homophobic, find racist jokes hilarious and have a few other traits I disagree with. In their areas this is the norm, as it was when I grew up, but where I live now it's not so much of an issue and I've worked at nurseries, after-school clubs and schools with men who have been great or shit at their job and solely been judged on their ability and not their sex, so I think in the right environment it can work.

DS had a male reception who was very popular.

I hate to sound sour grapes on this positive thread but if only men were as positive and as gushing about women entering traditionally male professions.

The reason that there are so few male teachers is less to do with suspicion than it is to do with KS1 being low status and low pay. As traditionally female occupations are.

So do it. Because the more men we have in KS1 the more it’ll go up in status.