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http://www.jobsletter.org.nz/jbl19400.htm
The Jobs Letter
No 194, 9 October 2003
Wanted: Male Primary School Teachers
Can we get more men into primary school
teaching? More than 80% of primary school teachers in New Zealand
are women. The 4,433 men in the profession make up just 18% of all primary
teachers — a drop from 22% ten years ago. Marlborough Boys’ College principal
John Rodger says that while there is little evidence linking teacher gender
with student achievement, some parents have expressed concerned at the impact
on boys learning when they had come from a predominately female teacher
environment.
A report, commissioned by the NZEI has
found that there are three reasons why men are not joining the profession: 1)
men see primary teaching as a low-status job because it has a high proportion
of women; 2) primary teaching is perceived as being poorly paid; and 3) men
are concerned that as part of the job there will be physical contact with
children and that will put them at risk of being accused of sexual abuse. The
report refers to this as the “Peter Ellis syndrome” ... the NZEI itself
instituted a “no contact” policy for its members, after the Peter Ellis
Christchurch Civic Creche sexual abuse case.
One recommendation from the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) is to
offer scholarships to men in order to help correct this gender imbalance. But
Minister of Education Trevor Mallard is not keen on the idea. Mallard: “My
key priority is to have qualified teachers. I am yet to find a parent who
would prefer their child be taught by an inferior male teacher rather than a
better woman teacher.”
The low proportion of men primary teachers
is not unique to New
Zealand. In 1999 men made up only 23% of
the primary teaching workforce in the OECD countries that were surveyed. In Canada the figure was 32%, Britain 24%, New
Zealand 18%, Ireland
15% and the United States
13%.
Source – Press release New Zealand
Educational Institute 22 September 2003; The Marlborough Express 23 September
2003 “Male teachers ‘forced’ to be too PC”; New Zealand Herald 26 September
2003 Editorial “Male staff essential in our schools”
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