Male (primary) teachers - an endangered species!
Mar 9th 2004, 1:16 pm
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Male (primary) teachers - an endangered species!
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...594363557.html
Teaching for balance: males only need apply
By Orietta Guerrera, Margaret Cook
March 10, 2004
Alphington Primary School teacher Joel Pairman, pictured with his prep-year one class, loves the career he has chosen, but as a male primary teacher, he is one of a rare breed.
Picture: Craig Sillitoe
Joel Pairman knew he had chosen the right career on his first teaching round. "It hit me: this is so exciting," he said.
Eighteen years later, now a prep-year one teacher at Alphington Primary School, Mr Pairman has not lost his enthusiasm, particularly for working with younger students.
"I love music, literature and fantasy, and developing children's imagination," he said. "The infant grades are perfect for that."
As a male primary school teacher, Mr Pairman is one of a rare breed. Only one in five primary teachers and fewer than half of all secondary school teachers are male.
But this could be about to change, with the Federal Government set to introduce an amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act which would allow schools to offer teacher training scholarships to men only.
The coalition partyroom yesterday backed the planned amendment, which will be introduced in the House of Representatives today.
Education Minister Brendan Nelson said Australia would pay a heavy price if the shortage of male teachers was not remedied.
"It will do this country no good if we spend the next decade hand-wringing and clinging to misplaced, but well-guided ideological purity; if we produce a generation of young men who are disengaged, who are disillusioned and who feel ill prepared for the future," Dr Nelson said.
But the Opposition said yesterday it would not support the proposed amendment, despite its concerns about the lack of male role models for young boys.
The Democrats have also indicated they are unwilling to see the discrimination act watered down.
Opposition education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said that changing the law would not fix the problem.
Instead Labor would target men in a national campaign to attract young people to teaching; part of its five-point plan to get more men into primary schools.
"The evidence shows the real barriers to men becoming teachers and staying in our primary schools are pay, career structure and status compared with other professions," Ms Macklin said.
The Australian Primary Principals Association, while agreeing more needed to be done, also pointed to the need for improved work conditions, salaries, and career structures to encourage men to take up the profession.
The Australian Council of State School Organisation, the national organisation for parents of government school students, said the amendment needed to be part of a wider community strategy to provide male role models for boys.
"There do need to be more male teachers, particularly in primary schools, so we'd support it (the amendment) as long as it was used with considerable discretion," president Judith Bundy said. "We wouldn't want women to be excluded."
But the Sydney Catholic Education Office, which last year lost an application for a temporary exemption from the law so that it could offer scholarships to men only, welcomed the proposed amendment.
The office's director of schools, Brother Kevin Canavan, said he had been searching for a way to encourage more men into teaching, particularly in primary schools, where the gender imbalance was getting worse.
"In an ideal school situation, young people would be educated, influenced and trained by both men and women," he said.
However, he too said that male-only scholarships were only "one small step" to attract men to the profession.
Mr Pairman suggested targeted traineeships, particularly in specialist areas; higher salaries, better career prospects and an advertising campaign to promote the joys of teaching would help attract more men to teaching.
"Schools are microcosms of society, and we must reflect what happens in it," he said. "It's important children are taught by men and women."
OzTennis
Teaching for balance: males only need apply
By Orietta Guerrera, Margaret Cook
March 10, 2004
Alphington Primary School teacher Joel Pairman, pictured with his prep-year one class, loves the career he has chosen, but as a male primary teacher, he is one of a rare breed.
Picture: Craig Sillitoe
Joel Pairman knew he had chosen the right career on his first teaching round. "It hit me: this is so exciting," he said.
Eighteen years later, now a prep-year one teacher at Alphington Primary School, Mr Pairman has not lost his enthusiasm, particularly for working with younger students.
"I love music, literature and fantasy, and developing children's imagination," he said. "The infant grades are perfect for that."
As a male primary school teacher, Mr Pairman is one of a rare breed. Only one in five primary teachers and fewer than half of all secondary school teachers are male.
But this could be about to change, with the Federal Government set to introduce an amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act which would allow schools to offer teacher training scholarships to men only.
The coalition partyroom yesterday backed the planned amendment, which will be introduced in the House of Representatives today.
Education Minister Brendan Nelson said Australia would pay a heavy price if the shortage of male teachers was not remedied.
"It will do this country no good if we spend the next decade hand-wringing and clinging to misplaced, but well-guided ideological purity; if we produce a generation of young men who are disengaged, who are disillusioned and who feel ill prepared for the future," Dr Nelson said.
But the Opposition said yesterday it would not support the proposed amendment, despite its concerns about the lack of male role models for young boys.
The Democrats have also indicated they are unwilling to see the discrimination act watered down.
Opposition education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said that changing the law would not fix the problem.
Instead Labor would target men in a national campaign to attract young people to teaching; part of its five-point plan to get more men into primary schools.
"The evidence shows the real barriers to men becoming teachers and staying in our primary schools are pay, career structure and status compared with other professions," Ms Macklin said.
The Australian Primary Principals Association, while agreeing more needed to be done, also pointed to the need for improved work conditions, salaries, and career structures to encourage men to take up the profession.
The Australian Council of State School Organisation, the national organisation for parents of government school students, said the amendment needed to be part of a wider community strategy to provide male role models for boys.
"There do need to be more male teachers, particularly in primary schools, so we'd support it (the amendment) as long as it was used with considerable discretion," president Judith Bundy said. "We wouldn't want women to be excluded."
But the Sydney Catholic Education Office, which last year lost an application for a temporary exemption from the law so that it could offer scholarships to men only, welcomed the proposed amendment.
The office's director of schools, Brother Kevin Canavan, said he had been searching for a way to encourage more men into teaching, particularly in primary schools, where the gender imbalance was getting worse.
"In an ideal school situation, young people would be educated, influenced and trained by both men and women," he said.
However, he too said that male-only scholarships were only "one small step" to attract men to the profession.
Mr Pairman suggested targeted traineeships, particularly in specialist areas; higher salaries, better career prospects and an advertising campaign to promote the joys of teaching would help attract more men to teaching.
"Schools are microcosms of society, and we must reflect what happens in it," he said. "It's important children are taught by men and women."
OzTennis
