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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Men are put off a career in early
childhood education by perceptions they are all sex abusers, a conference has
been told. Speakers at the Men in Early Child
Care summit in Christchurch yesterday said negative coverage on incidents
such as the Peter Ellis-Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre case stopped men
entering early-childhood work because they feared being labelled child
abusers. Ellis was convicted in 1993 of
sexually molesting children at the civic creche where he worked. Ellis, who has always maintained
his innocence, served two-thirds of a 10-year jail sentence. In 1992, just 2 per cent of the
early-childhood workforce was made up of men. In 2005, men made up less than 1
per cent of the sector. Education Ministry figures from
2005 show there were just 132 men working in early-childhood education,
compared with 13,609 women. Researcher Sarah Farquhar told the
conference that although media coverage helped to place the issue of men in
early-childhood education in the spotlight, it tended to focus on the
negative. "There has
been lots of media coverage, but mainly about sex abuse," she
said. "They don't pick up on all
the great things men are doing, but the one thing men are scared of is being
accused of child abuse. Even items that try to say positive things still have
that thread running through them." However, many delegates at the
summit were optimistic that the sector was beginning to put the Ellis case
behind it. David Baxendell
has worked at the Edmonds Smith Street kindergarten in Woolston
for 25 years. He was one of the first men to
train for early-childhood teaching in Christchurch. He said the Ellis case cast a
shadow over his profession. "I didn't feel that people
changed their attitudes of me necessarily, but it did make me change a little
bit in terms of what I would do with the children and making sure I did
certain things, like changing them, where people could see me," he said.
"It is a shame we can't seem
to get away from the Peter Ellis case, though. It has had an effect on men in
early-childhood (education)." Baxendell said he hoped the sector was
shaking off the Ellis tag. "I think it is moving on now.
Things like this conference are a great step. It is great to see so many men
in the sector getting together like this. Hopefully, we can continue to move
forward," he said. North Shore Community Centre
worker Adam Buckingham said the positive aspects needed to be highlighted:
"It is a very rewarding job and every day is different". "Men can be nurturers but can
also bring different teaching styles, which can help children. We need to publicise those things." Farquhar said she hoped that men
in early-childhood education were starting to receive more positive coverage
and that the sector's leaders would become more supportive. "I think there is a change in
the view and hopefully important people like the Ministry of Education and
Teach New Zealand will recognise that," she said. |
