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.

My kids' infant school doesn't have any male teaching staff (staff turnover is very low there - jobs just don't come up) but have had a few male students of late. One quit after under a week - the class scared him off (they were "lively"), but the other - I think the only discussion I had about him being male with DD2 was me making a comment about someone on the TV that "blimey that's an impressive beard" and her shutting me down with "Mr X's beard is impressive-verer"

I've worked with male colleagues whose entire behaviour management strategy boiled down to "talk football and shout really loudly if required" and I've seen a female teacher who could achieve the impossible and stop DD1 mid-sentence (the child never ever shuts up) with one single raised eyebrow (I seriously need to get her to teach me that art). Worked with great male teachers and shite female teachers as well. I do think fawning over anything with a penis that deigns to enter a primary school is ridiculous, offensive to the great female teachers and that there's a disproportionate imbalance between males and females at senior management levels... teaching's not the only career with that level of imbalance though - ironically I'm career changing at the moment and retraining into a career with a similar sex imbalance and cult of the "oooh they're a male X so they must be awesome."

@PurpleDaisies funny then that when needed my DD's keyworker, who was her class teacher, helped her.
And the male keyworker in nursery may also make any boys who need help more comfortable.
Hearing of these schools with no male teachers does confirm my suspicions that it's easier to be a male teacher in a primary school where you are not the only one. I have certainly found the equivalent in tech jobs I've had - if I'm the only woman on a team I don't like it that much, but once there's a critical mass it feels more comfortable and attracts more women.
I've never been fawned over as a token woman but I imagine with closer to 50:50 there's less of that for male teachers.

funny then that when needed my DD's keyworker, who was her class teacher, helped her.

That’s presumably younger than primary school? In reception, that wouldn’t be done by a teacher, except in very unusual circumstances.

has 4 male teachers. 1 is head, 1 is deputy and the other 2 teach year 6.

That doesn’t surprise me!

It surprises me how so many people come on these threads fawning over male teachers in primary, yet get all funny and write, ‘AIBU to be bothered’ posts when their key worker at preschool is a man!

DD is year 6 at Primary. Her current teacher and the2 before are male

That’s presumably younger than primary school
No, in Reception, are you assuming younger because it's unusual to have continence issues in Reception? Unusual, yes, but not unheard of. If she was spotted as having had an accident and her class teacher was the closest and had to accompany her to get her to actually go, she wouldn't call out to a (likely busy) TA to swap with her so she didn't have to clean up DD.
In Reception DD was having accidents daily and was refusing to go and change herself without someone going with her at least every couple of days and failing to clean herself every couple of times i.e. needing help about once a week.
She still very occasionally needs help in Y1 in fact.

No, I’m not aware of key workers reception classes. I’m aware of continence issues. Those are dealt with by TAs.

(Obviously not all of those were occasions when the class teacher took her. But it happened).

I thought every EYFS child had to have a keyworker? We were told this. Two TAs and two teachers for a two form intake meant that each child had either a TA or a teacher as their keyworker. DD happened to have her class teacher.

Our reception doesn't have key workers. And it would be a TA dealing with continence issues. It would be rare for a teacher to leave the class she's teaching.

I expect its an area where different schools do things differently.

We have several male teachers in my school. Nobody thinks anything of it. Unfortunately, they always seem to gravitate towards key stage 2. I've been teaching here for many years and in all that time we've only ever had 1 male teacher in key stage 1.

Are you in Scotland drspouse?

I thought every EYFS child had to have a keyworker

Not in English LA schools.

No, I'm in England. Maybe the school just calls them keyworkers? They assign one to EYFS children in after school club too. Both my DCs did Reception in the same school and when they started we were given a leaflet explaining the keyworker scheme and that some DCs had the class teacher and some the TAs.
Anyway, DD was cleaned up by whoever was there, including her class teacher. Not often, but she was, I thought this was usual.

@squashed it depends what you mean by "leave" and "teaching". If it's a free flow session and the teacher is at the sand table where a child is that has a poo accident while the TAs are outside... Or one is dealing with a scraped knee anyway... Or has taken a child to the outside gate to be picked up early...

My sons have had male teachers in early years and primary and they were really inspirational for the children. Plus they provided excellent male role models. They had some great female teachers too but it was the male teachers that made the biggest impact on my sons as individuals during those years.

We have 2 male teachers in ks2. Dd2 had one last year. Was great at teaching and all the children loved him for that but was awful at communication and meeting the children’s emotional needs imo. Also showed shocking favourtism to two girls in the class. I’m sure this experience is not the norm however.

Hmm. I still remember my first primary teaching practice placement many years ago where the male deputy was in post after only 4 years teaching. He was the only man in a school of more experienced female teachers.

Young and inexperienced as I was, I remember being profoundly shocked that this (frankly less than stellar) teacher had been fast tracked into management, presumably on the basis of his sex.

I'm pleased that in recent years more men have been entering the primary classroom, and my DC have had some great male teachers over the years. Sadly, I'm not sure how much has changed in terms of equity of promotion though.

I'm the meh maths commentator.

I'M MEH ABOUT MATHS. that is pretty typical for every woman I know bar one. Reading, spelling, inferring, talking - we have much more interesting chats about this including my one maths girlfriend.
Just me. My opinion about me. My journey with Maths stuff

My point isn't about women per se regarding maths.

My point is two male teachers have waffled on and on that DS is an excellent Mathematical genius for his age. My DS has come gone excited, enthused, wondrous and questioning during those years with male teachers.
Then female teachers whom I ask how is his Maths and they say Yeah, he's doing okay in his Maths. And he comes home and school is boring and maths is dull.

The disparity isn't mine. Hence I commented. 100 years ago the exact same was said for girls against the mostly entire male workforce.

We must have equality.

My point isn't about women per se regarding maths.

@dungtwicebother, no, you told us you found maths meh like, ‘a typical female.’

My daughter is Y10 predicated a 9 in maths GCSE. She wants to be an actuary. She also likes to spend her Saturdays prancing around a gymnastics studio in a very sparkly leotard. I don’t think she’s ever considered one to be more typically female than the other.

I am genuinely baffled that after saying ‘im meh about maths (I’m a typical girl)’, you have followed with

We must have equality

Can you not see how ironic that is?

My point was that nobody ever says, ‘oh where are all the female football/cricket coaches to show my boys that women play these too.

This isn't true though is it? Why are we having the push to encourage more girls and women into STEM subjects? Women in these subjects are praised as being good role models because they encourage more girls and women to follow suit and show boys and men that women and girls are just as capable in STEM subjects.

Why is it ok to encourage women into typically male professions and to praise those that do as being good role models but it to do the same for men going into typically female professions?

My point isn't about women per se regarding maths

What would you infer from “I’m a typical girl and I’m meh about maths”? How are these statements consistent?

I'm not bothered what gender my children are taught by.
However I had 2 male teachers in primary a long long time ago...yr3 and yr5 equivalents... They are the only two I really remember from primary... By far the most influential.. Not sure if its because they were unusual or that they gave me a love of maths and nature.
My children have two male teachers at their school again in KS2. They are decent teachers, my kids love them, but outstripped by experienced older (female) teachers and a brilliant young lady who's only 2 years in but was born to teach.
I do find however that the male teachers are often latched on to by children who's dad isn't around... They are a great positive male influences for those boys and girls. For that reason alone I'm glad there are some at the school...