Where are all the men?

 

Back in the Olden Days  - pre internet, mobile phones that were the size of small dogs, no OFSTED (!), no league tables – there were teaching degrees for budding primary school teachers that were four years long.

Four years!  Can you imagine that now?  There wasn’t a crisis of recruitment at that time so I guess the profession could take its time and get us properly prepared for the rigours of school.

Anyway, there’s a photo of my graduating year from that time and it shows about 80 of us standing looking very pleased with ourselves.  Nine of us are male.

Why do I mention this?  Well, the gender imbalance in the teaching profession is, yet again, in the news with some people who are ‘experts’ in the field saying that there needs to be more men in teaching and that it would give male students a role model to look up to so that the pernicious influence of the online misogyny sites will be less impactful.

Sounds reasonable, right? 

There is a massive problem with online hate platforms influencing male students.  If you’re a teacher in any sector you can see it on a daily basis.  If you talk to any group of students you’ll hear the echoes of the hatred that is being poured into the impressionable brains of boys.  Or, as a couple of my students recently told me, THE TRUTH!

The reason why I mention the ancient times of the past when Spud-U-Like was still a going concern in hundreds of high streets is that this was raised as an issue even back then.  I can recall our history lecturer lauding us young men for being brave to enter the primary profession since so few males did so.  Did it make us feel special?  Not sure.

But I do know that to us it didn’t seem to be much a problem but instead it made us think that perhaps we would be more in demand as teachers given that we were  such a rare species.

But, back to the present and the fact that this disparity has been around for at least the past 35 years and that absolutely bugger all has been done about it in all of that time.

And then onto the fact that there is absolutely no statistical data that supports the view that more men in the teaching profession, especially in the primary sector, makes the slightest bit of difference to the attainment of boys (or, indeed, girls).  Nor to their attitudes.

There never has been any data to suggest more men will somehow improve the educational outcomes of boys.  None, ever.  Nada. 

So why is there the repeated call for more men in teaching?  Well, it’s the easy answer, isn’t it?  It’s the easy answer to a complex problem i.e. that of the having a male teacher will significantly improves boys’ academic performance, motivation, or behaviour.

There is a plethora of reasons why boys underperform at school compared to girls and I will not go into it now because I want to write other blogs in the future and I can’t use up all my thoughts at once.  But it is not to do with a lack of men in teaching.

But there are valid reasons why men do not take up teaching as a profession, especially in primary schools.  These include but are not limited to:-

Low status – Teaching is seen as a bit wimpy, a bit girly and as something you do because you’re not ambitious enough, intelligent enough or enough of a git to do other jobs.  It is seen as a feminine profession especially in the lower years.  Many parents view male teachers in infant and junior roles with suspicion which leads to…

Fear of False Accusations – Some men fear being falsely accused of inappropriate behaviour, especially when working with young children.  This is a well-founded fear.  That vile term ‘paedo’ is thrown at male teachers with abandon because it’s really funny and it’s really cool to call men that when you’re an ignorant adolescent.  Never mind that false accusations are devastating for any person and their families in a very real sense.  Hence a very genuine fear.

Workload and Stress – ignore what the ignorant or jealous say, teaching is bloody hard work.  The fact that there is a teacher retention crisis bears this out.  Why destroy yourself physically and mentally in what is a largely thankless job?  The thing is that this is not limited to men, it is a problem affecting all teacher in all year groups.       

Crap Pay – okay, it’s not crap compared to many other jobs but it is compared to many other graduate jobs.  And pay has not been keeping up with inflation for many many years now so the profession isn’t exactly screaming attractiveness especially if you’re thinking of a mortgage and making babies with your partner. 

And what is being done about these real problems – 1 in 3 primary schools in England lack a male teacher and less that 35% of secondary school teachers are male, all down on previous years.

Well, nothing.  Words, yes.  Lots of words.  Lots of heartfelt newsy items about how important male teachers are but absolutely bugger all action from anyone.  The problems mentioned above can be solved or minimised with concrete action that won’t get snappy headlines or publicity  - better pay, better conditions, more actual support rather than blaming and more serious consequences for those that make false allegations.  It’s not hard.  It will cost money of course and so that’s where many start making excuses.  So, yes, nothing meaningful has ever been done.

And is it really important anyway?  Well, yes.  From a purely selfish point of view, I’d like more male teachers to talk to.  I have spent years being the only male in a staffroom with no one to talk to about manly things like, well you know, manly things like which colour Wine Gums* are the best or what are we going to do about our impending Male Mid-Life Crisis. 

Aside from those selfish issues, it is obvious that the best way for the educational industry to deal with the problems of the underachievement of boys is to employ really good teachers.  I see no reason why this should not include more male teachers if conditions are changed for them to feel able to do so.  I find it sad that, at the moment, a large proportion feel that they are excluded from being really good teachers.

*Green, obviously.**

**Or black