|
NZ Herald
September 23, 2003
'Ellis syndrome' puts men off teaching
by Alan Perrott, education reporter
additional reporting: NZPA
Fear of falling victim to the "Peter Ellis
syndrome" is stopping men from becoming primary school teachers,
according to a study.
Researcher Ian Livingstone sayss men are reluctant teachers because they fear
being seen as potential child abusers, and the industry is also considered
low paid and of low social status.
His report, Men in Primary Teaching in New Zealand, was commissioned by
the primary teachers' union, the Educational Institute, and presented
yesterday at its annual conference in Wellington.
It found that fewer than one in five primary school teachers are men and the
number of men entering training is not keeping pace with the number leaving
their jobs.
Women primary teacher numbers rose by 13 per cent between 1992 and 2001, but
those for men fell by 9 per cent, the report says.
By contrast, 43 per cent of secondary school teachers are men.
The NZEI hopes the study will help encourage measures to reverse male flight
from classrooms and stop the trend of a worrying number of pupils not
encountering a male teacher until secondary school.
"It has to be a concern that some children's only male role models are
policemen," said NZEI president Bruce Adin.
But simply increasing the number of men accepted for training was not the
answer if that meant dropping standards, he said.
"That would just set us up for more problems."
Mr Livingstone said the school environment should reflect the greater
community.
"If the adults in primary education are more representative of their
communities at large, then the message ought to go to children - both boys
and girls - that learning and academic achievement isn't just a women's
thing. It's something for everyone."
Paul Baker, chairman of the Association of Boys' Schools, has backed the idea
of men-only teaching scholarships.
"Rightly or wrongly, some boys respond differently to male and female
teachers," he said.
"For a lot of boys, the messages they need to hear about succeeding come
through clearly only from other men."
But Education Minister Trevor Mallard yesterday said giving men preference
through scholarships did not appeal.
"My key priority is to have qualified teachers. I am yet to find a
parent who would prefer their child to be taught by an inferior male teacher
rather than a better woman teacher."
Men-only scholarships are illegal under Human Rights Law, says a Ministry of
Education spokeswoman.
"We can only discriminate positively when it can be proved that a group
is disadvantaged - for example Maori," she said. "A case could be
presented for Maori scholarships because, as a group, Maori are
under-represented in terms of educational achievement."
The male-teacher statistics reflect an international trend toward increasing
female dominance at primary level, but are exacerbated in this country by the
child-abuse case against Christchurch Civic Creche worker Peter Ellis.
Child health researcher Dr Sarah Farquhar says the paranoia over physical
contact with children is not helped by the NZEI "no contact" policy
instituted after the Ellis case.
The policy was negative and did nothing to dispel distrust of male teachers.
She said the NZEI should be playing a leading role in rehabilitating the
image of men teachers and encourage families to get to know their children's
teachers.
Little research had been done on the issue, but the lack of men in schools
might contribute to the academic achievement gap between boys and girls and
over-representation of boys in statistics for truancy, suspensions and
stand-downs.
But Dr Farquhar fears little will be done to reverse the trend "because
positive recruitment policies will be seen as benefiting men over
women".
Mr Adin said good male teachers were in demand.
"Now any men becoming teachers who are hardworking and have ability can
really fly," he said.
"They are a sought-after commodity because there's not enough of them.
"The world's their oyster really."
The 'Peter Ellis syndrome'
It doesn't happen much, but a child did
come up behind me and sneaked her hand in my pocket. I had confiscated
something and just put it in there. I nearly died of shock, I really did. I
even felt guilty!
- experienced male teacher
About two-thirds of our kids come from
solo-parent homes, and most of those solo parents are mothers, so for these
kids, girls and boys, where do they get a positive, emotional, supportive and
warm relationship with an adult male? It does not happen.
- male principal
I have come to not even like a child
coming at me now. I am sort of on alert.
- male trainee
|
