Lucas_Dad

In a nutshell (my original draft post was much longer!), my wife was interviewed for a teaching job. She unfortunately got the "bad news" call. It was between her and another man. They chose the man. Why? Simply because they wanted a man in the job. THAT WAS IT. The person that called has given some BS about the school having lots of women teachers and they wanted to redress the balance. Er, isn't this just a little bit a case of sex discrimination?

Can we afford a lengthy legal battle - not really. In truth, not at all. But perhaps with a bit of research and evidence we can write something suitably strong to someone. At the very least, someone somewhere needs a slap!

For now I and she because as we all know (don't we?) that is the temporary solution to everything!

eddie007

The reality is that There is a shocking lack of male role models in many of our local primary schools..... As a parent I would support any school that, when faced with two candidates of equal standing chooses to employ the man .....

If you feel the process was unfair then your wife may have the right to appeal the decision.....in the public sector..... It won't cost lawyers....

Sometimes we have to accept that we don't get a job, for whatever reason... Disappointing... But it's a fact of life...

Sorry if that sounds unfeeling.... But sometimes life is unfair....

Sherlock Holmes

Sad but true. There was (and perhaps still is) a chronic shortage of male teachers in primary education in England. I have no real view on this but there is a percieved need by the establishment to have males in the young end of the school system.

eddie007

My understanding (very limited) of the Australian rules... Is that you have to show that under similar circumstances they would have acted differently...

For example.... If they had identified a concern that they had too many male teachers and STILL appointed a male teacher, not the female...

Lucas_Dad

Hi cheers for the reply - and no I don't think it is at all unfeeling - and to a degree I completely agree! Sometimes, in life, sh!t happens, as they say. We have both had knockbacks and can accept them when their based on sound & fair reasons.

I have disagree about male role models in schools though. I was an IT Manager in a school in the UK, there were very strong and inspirational males that worked there and we were very lucky for that. I really miss working there actually. I feel that I leant a great deal about education in general and had my eyes opened to how inspiring & challenging (in both positive and negative ways) young people can be. It was often the case that students felt more inspired and led by a good female teacher, than a poor male one who happened to be a nice guy, worked hard, and was for sure a role model in many respects. For sure personality helps in many situations, not least in the classroom, but an honest stand-up man may not necessarily deliver the best lesson.

I believe the role of a school is to educate, present facts and help students develop their own attitudes and opinions. Perhaps to provide moral guidance by behaving in certain ways, but not to teach them as such. This is what (should) come from home, from family. If I was aware that a primary school was all female, but my son will emerge into high school with the best possible grades he can achieve - that's my choice every time. To employ a man simply because he is a man is quite simply wrong.

knockoff nige

But how do you know they did that? They wouldnt have interviewed any women if they had a male candidate who was keen. They interviewed women in the case of the male not being good enough, by interview standards atleast.

Lucas_Dad

I agree with this too. It would be great to have more male teacher teaching at primary level. For whatever reason, it is generally not a path males want to take though.

To expand on my previous post, the school I worked but (but just left to come here) had a teacher of a certain subject. He was popular, delivered snappy lessons, did charity work with his students, was fair in his dealings with all students, joined in with school events and was generally consistent. Sounds like a good role model doesn't he?

Sadly, his snappy lessons consistently found his students under-achieving, or just plain failing his subject. All teachers in the UK are given targets. To the best of my knowledge this guy fell well short, year after year.

So what's the preference - regardless of gender - the one who gets the grades or the one where little johnny comes home as says "I like him, he's nice". In my perhaps fairly limited experience (I worked in education environment for 8 years) you do not see two equally matched teachers. So go and look at priority no. 1 - can they teach, can they teach well, and will the child achieve the best that he/she can?

Back in the UK our school required candidates to actually teach a lesson as part of the interview process. Here, they rejected my wife in favour of a man based on a 20-30 minute chat. That's kinda lame.

Lucas_Dad

The person who called my wife to let her down, actually said (I cannot quote verbatim, but this is pretty accurate) - "Of all the people we interviewed it was between you and the man. We chose the man because we have a large no. of female teachers and sought to redress the balance".

So yes, it seems their choice was purely gender based. Perhaps the person was just plain stupid - they could have given some other reason and we would have been none the wiser - but said what they said they did (I'm sounding like Yoda now...!)

knockoff nige

Nope, sorry, don't agree. They said what they said because they chose the male candidate who proved to be competent. If they felt he wasn't competent I doubt he'd have got the job. It's true that the only chance your wife had was if he didn't prove to be a capable teacher, but I guess you need to understand their position.

Plus, this male teacher might actually be better than your wife but the interviewer decided on an honest answer to all candidates and thats that he only had to show he was good enough and no-one else stood a chance after that.

Tuxtrip

Maybe your wife should phone the school and ask if being a woman was the only reason for her not getting the job. Perhaps they felt he was better for the position for other reasons but just did not say so. Re-balancing the man/woman teacher ratio in our schools cannot be easy with the whole sex discrimination cloud hanging over every appointment, so a poor choice of words on their part. It is disheartening to miss out on a job, but there will be an even better one out there. Put your positive energy into finding it and you will soon forget the disappointment of missing out on this one.

Kim67

Sorry to hear that your wife hasn't found a job - has she put her name down for supply teaching for next year at a few schools in your area. Quite a few mums I know do this and they have as much work as they want here in Brisbane.

Agree with everyone that's said good male teachers are hard to come by and if a school finds one, they will snap them up. The kids love male teachers and skipping silent reading for a quick game of touch footy can be just what the doctor ordered after being cooped up in a classroom all day.

JoeBloggs80

I wouldn't burn your bridges by 'giving someone a slap'. They obviously recognised your wifes qualities, so you'd be better off thanking them for their honesty and asking them to bear her in mind next time they have a vacancy.

Lucas_Dad

Yes... I can be a bit of a bridge burner to be honest.... I've made myself to sound like a proper bra-burning feminist* too but it just seems to be a such a clear case of ignorance, you know.



* and we all know that bras are for wearing on our head and dancing stupidly around the house whilst child giggles at your silliness.

Lucas_Dad

Fair point. As it happens the only reason they gave was the gender-bias one. But indeed proving that the other guy is incompetent and not fit for the job would be very difficult.

This however - "If they felt he wasn't competent I doubt he'd have got the job." - I'm not so sure about that (impossible to prove, of course). There are plenty of duffers in the school she is currently working in, very lame discipline, high levels of staff "sickies", and one deputy there recently re-hired a teacher with a proven track record of being awful. It happens, sadly.

knockoff nige

I think you're making too many assumptions and should probably move on. The teacher they rehired might have been at a time when applicants were scarce. Maybe not, but not fair to assume the one they just hired is probably a rubbish teacher.