Homepage For Men As Teachers
The inspiration for this group is the work of Brian Nelson of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Check out his site here.
The issue is this: women now make up over 75% of all teachers in the United States. Many of them are excellent educators who do a great job with young people.
But, is it possible that men provide a kind of guidance and role modeling--especially for young boys--that women teachers cannot? That is a tricky question, and I prefer not to pose it as an either/or situation. Suffice it to say that every individual teacher has different strengths and weaknesses, as does the possibility of effectiveness because of your gender.
However, by having such an imbalance in our teaching corps, we are de facto shifting the weight of influence toward one end of the spectrum. I wonder what the reaction would be by the public if 75% of the teachers in the country were male? And, what would the impact be upon our students?
Intriguing possibilities and hypotheticals to be sure.
For now, let's leave it at this: Here is a discussion group built around the unique issues and challenges of male teachers, recruiting more of them into the profession and cataloguing their unique gifts, assets and influences.
Have at it people.
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I am a Male Teacher
And I teach second grade. When other teachers have behavior problems with students, they always send them to me. Gee, I wonder why?
Yes. It makes a difference.
Thanks for joining NTN
And I hope that you will take some time, when you do have time, to share more about your situation and challenges as a teacher.
There are a number of young teaching candidates and novices who would greatly benefit from your experiences I'm sure.
I don't think gender matters
Yes there are more female teachers than male but I really don't think that it matters. If more males do come into the profession I don't believe that anything will change. Their were plenty of male teachers in my middle and high school and there was no difference to me when I walked in and saw that I had a male teahcer. I guess it has to do with what knod of environment you grow up in.
Well, I will disagree
Gender does matter.
It matters personally, and in all kinds of professional situations. The courts have said as much. But, common sense would tell us that, given a profession dominated by males, you end up getting a certain "culture" within the ranks. Think forestry, for example. Or the police.
A profession dominated by one gender does take on a distinct culture. It just does. Whether that is good or bad, or whether it is equitable or desirable can definitely be argued.
But, just saying that having a workforce where over 75% of teachers belong to one gender makes no difference is not tenable. Of course it makes a difference: to students, as well as teachers.
It may not have mattered to you, as a student, but we are looking beyond the individual here and trying to think about the system or culture in which teachers must do their work. When that culture lists to one side of the gender divide, it's best to acknowledge it.
Male or Female...
In my opinion, being a male or female doesn't make you a better teacher. Even though there are more females in the profession than males, it doesn't mean that women are better at being a teacher. Having a woman as a teacher is great for little girls and when the students need a more affectionate side. Having a man as a teacher is great for the little boys who don't really have that father figure in their life and when they need to be toughened up a little. With that being said, I honestly think that male teachers are a good asset to the teacher profession and it shows that they really have a passion for their job. It would be great if more male would think about teaching as a career.
male teachers
I have many friends who are in males that are in the elementary education major with me. I feel that these men are passioinate about teaching young children, and I find myself wishing I would have experienced a teacher like they would be. I feel that not only will they provide great role models for the young men in their classes, they will allow young girls to learn to trust males, especially if they do not have that positive male role model in their households. I think it is great that men are wanting to become teachers and I hope more continue to do so!
Male Teachers
It is strange to think that most of today's teachers are female. I myself am a female who is going into the profession of education. I think it is interesting though because my experience of male teachers was a very positive one. I loved all the teachers that I had that were male. This pattern was true from college to high school to middle school to elementary school. I think male teachers are a refreshing change.
I think females are extremely good teachers, most just have that nuturing quality. I think it is important to remember though that there are people that are made to teach and there are people who teaching is not for them. There is no need to discriminate against gender as long as the hired people are good teachers.
I think its interesting someone finally brought to our attention the lack of male teachers. And I wonder what is the real cause that a lot of men aren't passionate about this field?
I personally do not think
I personally do not think that your gender makes you a good teacher or not. We as a society have long been dominated by a mostly female education system and so a balanced system seems distant and perhaps hard to comprehend or envision. HOWEVER, I do believe that a balanced system would potentially be a good thing.
I think each gender brings a certain feel to the classroom. It always seemed that my male teachers brought a more laid back feel. This may be because they were coaches who got talked into teaching other classes. OR it may be a result of fewer interactions with male teachers and so I drew a conclusion based on my 2-3 male teachers. Women seem to bring a more caring and personal environment in a lot of cases.
Whatever it is, having more men in the field certainly could not be a negative thing.
male teachers
I completely agree that gender has no say in whether or not a person is a good teacher. In my day- which was not very long ago, I had good and bad female teachers and good and bad male teachers. personally some of my favorite teachers were male teachers. now, I did however have some horrible male teachers that were there to coach and their teaching was not a priority- people like that should not be teachers, ok maybe they can be physical education teachers but certinly not history, math, and English teachers!
I don't believe that we should steriotype all male teachers as boneheads that only care about coaching because like I said I had some really incredible male teachers! it all comes down to what your priorities are and how you perform in the classroom at the end of the day. if a teacher is passionate about teaching then they will do a good job no matter what their gender is.
Go Males!
I label myself as a feminist, and in my mind that means that women should have the same rights as males. It would be totally hypocritical for me to say that males won't make as good as teachers as females. I constantly get angry when people say that women can't do things that men can do, but this too makes me angry to think about all of the people who believe that men won't do a good job in this particular woman dominated profession. One of my closest friends dreams of being a kindergarten teacher. Every time he tells people that though, they automatically think pedophile. That is so unfair to him. They arn't giving him a chance. Talk about stereotyping!! I think people need to look at the inside, not the out, and stop this segregation.