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The
Christchurch Civic Creche Case |
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Wilson Kiriona can’t
understand what the fuss is all about. Never before has his job as a
kindergarten teacher attracted so much attention. So what's the big deal now,
he asks, that both teachers at Taitoko Kindergarten are men? Wilson, who has worked
at the two-teacher kindergarten in Levin for the past four years, was joined
by relieving head teacher Garth Armstrong this year, sparking some interest
in the media. The local
Horowhenua-Kapiti Chronicle did a story on the unusual all-male teaching
situation. Holmes came along for a visit and then Rourou - leaving Wilson a
little suspicious about the reasons behind all this publicity Just over 1 percent of
all kindergarten teachers are men so the Taitoko situation is indeed an historic
situation worth noting. In fact Garth and Wilson
say that working with men makes little difference to the way they teach or
the way the children relate to them as teachers and vice versa. "I think we [male
teachers] have a different style of working. We have a relaxed style, but
that might just be our own individual style rather than anything male or
female," Garth says. He says the parents
seem comfortable with the situation, possibly because they're used to Wilson
anyway. "Working in early
childhood education is like working in a goldfish bowl anyway - everyone can
see you and what you do. You get used to that." Wilson says those who
tend to find the situation uncomfortable are often older female kindergarten
teachers, who are not used to having men in the profession. The all-male teaching
team may end up challenging the profession and its attitudes for the better.
"Maybe they'll take us more seriously. Sometimes it feels like we're
more of a token gesture," Wilson says. The "touch"
issue is a biggie in early childhood, particularly since the Christchurch Crèche
case involving Peter Ellis, who was jailed for sex offences against children
in his care. "For me, it always
sits there - that one day there might be an accusation," Wilson says. Garth says
child-initiated contact is an unavoidable part of the job. But male teachers
need to be aware of safe practices and know how to protect themselves as well
as the children. This was one of the
good things to come out of the Ellis case: the profession was made to look at
itself and define what safe practice is, Garth says. But other factors are
also discouraging men from the profession, such as the low status of teaching
in the early childhood sector, compared to the other sectors. Being a truly
female-dominated profession with low wages is another reason. But the move towards pay
parity in the kindergarten sector may help with the latter. "Without pay
parity it would be difficult for me, even as a head teacher, to support my
family," Garth says. "Hopefully with pay parity, it will make the
profession more attractive to men." |
