Male Teachers at Primary Level

[Cb21]

Hi Folks,

I am just enquiring and interested in Public opinion on this matter. I am a guy who is currently looking at doing my PGCE and QTS in September. As a guy I am wondering what your opinions are of having male teachers in the classroom. Do you have experience of such? Do you have male primary teachers in your DD'S school?
Most of what I have read from such related articles is from many years ago and I'm just looking for an upto date and current opinion. I would appreciate all views positive and negative (as I know there may be some) but I want a rounded view of public opinion. Thanks a lot.

Do they, green?

Can’t imagine what gender has to do with it. Being a good teacher is what matters.
That said my children like the Male teachers and teaching assistants in their primary school, probably because it’s a bit of a novelty. They’re only about 10% of staff discounting the Headmaster.

I remember being in P4 (Scotland) and finding out that my P5 teacher was going to be a man. I was genuinely terrified. I’d never had a male teacher and they somehow seemed, by default, to be scary.

However he went on to be my all time favourite teacher! We had similar interests and the same sense of humour. To this day I feel he was the only teacher that “got” me and took time to talk to me /push me on academically (I was in all the top groups do most teachers simply left me to it however he took the time to challenge me which I loved).

Now I’m a PS teacher I think there is a drastic shortage of male teachers. My son’s school has none. My school has one.

My two dcs have had ONE Male teacher in primary.
We need more. Different way to approach things, different behaviour. It did my two dcs (both boys) a lot of good!

I've seen many a mediocre or poor male teachers hired or promoted over stronger female candidates. Go for it, OP- you'll be a head in by 2030 if you play your cards right.

My boys (Nursery, Y3) dad walked out on them and is so selfish that it makes my blood boil. They need all the good male role models they can get. I'm pretty much desperate for decent male role models for them.

All classroom teachers in their Primary are female from what I've seen during assemblies,- where each teacher introduces their class for awards etc.

However, the deputy is male and he is absolutely amazing. So hands on. Present during all assemblies to congratulate each child. Goes on all the big school trips, teaches some lessons (not sure which, think it's maths & computer coding in the higher years) greets us all outside the school every morning, one of those people that just makes you smile. I really hope both my boys have classes with him, they'd love it.

In all my schools the male teachers were always my favourites - not because of crushes etc, even the much older ones, I just found them far more friendly and approachable.

I would love to see a Male teacher at DDs school. We were all delighted when a Male TA started in Sept. I think he is on a year out before teacher training.

It's weird but we had several male teachers in my infant and junior school in the 70s. So I cant pinpoint when it became a female thing.

The DC’s primary school had an entirely formal staff until about 4 years ago. The boys had literally no male role models at school and DS’s very boy heavy class (18 boys, 6 girls) had some discipline issues. I punched the air when a male teacher was appointed as his class teacher and deputy head. The school also now has 3 make teaching assistants and a male IT technician and “brought in” PE teachers from the local rugby league development squad. This has hugely changed the ambience of the school for the better. The world needs more male primary school teachers!

The boys definitely react differently to a male teacher

Yes, they do, because initially they see them as higher status (thank you, patriarchy) at least until they work out whether or not there will be any consequences to disobeying them.

We seldom get males applying for jobs, governance involved in the PTA, or attending parent workshops in primary.

In secondary it appears men are more involved generally.

Never selected anyone based on their sex. It is the quality of their teaching and how they will fit in that counts for me.

I think it's a great thing, 3 in primary I work in, they do years 1,2 and 6

I think all schools should have at least 1 male teacher

Dds school has 6 male teachers out of 15 & a couple of TA's.
I don't have direct experience of the teaching ability of the ones she's never had but rather like the women expect there is a mixture of excellent & ok but not amazing.
I think it was an active decision by head after a couple of years of loads of maternity leave. She wasn't overly impressed when I pointed out shared parental leave as a possibility 😂😂😂😂

I think all schools should have at least 1 male teacher

That’s rather arbitrary!

What if they were crap?!

However, the deputy is male and he is absolutely amazing. So hands on. Present during all assemblies to congratulate each child. Goes on all the big school trips, teaches some lessons (not sure which, think it's maths & computer coding in the higher years) greets us all outside the school every morning, one of those people that just makes you smile.

You do know that most of that will just be set out in his job description?

It's important not because male teachers necessarily do anything different but because it means children know that men can wipe bottoms, give cuddles, be caring, and teach at the very basic level that young DCs need and that requires patience to teach the alphabet again and again every year till retirement. Many DCs think men can't do these things if they don't see their own dads do them.

I hate the fawning. It should be that if you’re a good teacher you will get the job. Sadly, you, as a man, only need to be competent.

All this BS about children needing good male role models. What children actually need are good role models. The sex of the teacher is irrelevant.

In my primary school, there was only one male teacher and he was the best teacher I ever had. So patient, kind, really cared about the kids in his charge along with being great at his job but also just had an innate air of authority, not that he needed to use it often.

Go for it!

I am male and qualified as a primary school teacher, though haven’t worked in the classroom for nearly ten years. Firstly, I would discount what a few people have said about getting preferential treatment as a male. IMO it’s nonsense. Depending on where you are in the country, getting a teaching job as an NQT can be anywhere from tough to extremely tough. Being male may give you the advantage in a case of two otherwise equally matched candidates, but that rarely happens. 99/100 best teacher (from interview/CV experience/lesson observation) will be given the job.
It can be a really good job, but the time commitment is as heavy as people say. My NQT year I worked flatout 8-5 (minus 10 mins for lunch) plus a couple of hours at weekends but still felt I was skimping on work here and there (when you see your colleagues still at school doing their wall displays at 6pm and then talking about doing detailed marking until 8pm etc) so decided that it wasn’t for me as the pay couldn’t justify that lack of work-life balance entailed to give the kids 100%, which for me would have meant a 50 hour+ working week (not commuting, coffee breaks/lunch breaks, sitting at a desk chatting - actual full on work - and teaching is often a tiring job). Summer and winter hols are great but the rest of the time I found too full on for the compensation on offer. But if you are passionate about teaching and pretty long hours don’t bother you too much it’s great - male or female!

Depending on where you are in the country, getting a teaching job as an NQT can be anywhere from tough to extremely tough.

Maybe ten years ago?

Or, ‘piss easy’ as I’d describe it in the south east where we keep advertising and advertising and can’t get anyone who wants to come and teach.

We have a male teacher and a male student teacher at the moment kids love them and they do a wonderful job just like the female staff. I'd love to see a more equal mix of staff much like everywhere else. I wonder how many men who would have been wonderful teachers are off doing a more 'suitable' job for a man it's a shame.

@Cam77, in my experience, parents and especially governors are always keen on employing male teachers especially if they currently have an all female staff.

Somewhat ridiculously, having a penis is viewed as a valuable skill alongside being a talented artist or pianist.

All this BS about children needing good male role models. hmm What children actually need are good role models. The sex of the teacher is irrelevant.

I don't think that's true at all. Boys and girls need to see good male role models. They need to see, as a pp said, that men can be nurturing, supportive, do art and reading and music as well as maths and science. It's massively important. In an ideal world everyone would have those role models even apart from school but we don't live in an ideal world.

All this BS about children needing good male role models
Children know what a man and a woman are. If they never see men caring for young children, they will think men can't. Why is that BS?

IMO, Primary schools need more male teachers.

Male teachers are male role models, they form an important link for the children of single mums, and for the children who have less-than-ideal dads, especially boys.

Being male is definitely a bonus as a teacher.

I worked as a TA for a while, and some of the best primary teachers I have known were male.