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I will have to agree with rr06. I believe the reason that there are not a lot of males at the elementary level is because they choose not to be there. I think most males end up choosing to teach the high school levels. That my personal opinion. Let me know what everyone else thinks
I am a male teacher in elementary. We have 9 males out of 90 staff members. What I do notice is that all the men love the job and don't really complain. If there is a problem, we ask what can be done to fix it. We don't really engage in gossip about students or other teachers.
I honestly don't think many of the female teachers could teach at higher grade levels. I don't see any academic strengths from most of them. Some of them, I think, got into teaching because they didn't know what else to do. While male teachers are just as good as female teachers, many males want more challenging material and have a tough time getting excited about teaching basic knowledge. When they start in elementary, many move up because the material isn't mentally challenging.
As far as the predator thing, I don't really see that at all. Females have been in the spotlight lately and I see more questionable behavior from female teachers than any male teachers. We are more professional and keep a more businesslike relationship with students. With a male teacher, if the student initiates a side-hug, then that's ok. Other than that, besides a light hand on the shoulder in certain situations, there shouldn't be any other contact.
Female teachers do get more physical with their female students, but that's the nature of the business. I realize female students aren't going to come to me in an emotional time for a hug or to dry their tears. If someone has a boo-boo, I'm more likely to tell them to walk it off than to baby them. But I have a different relationship with the students, especially some of the male ones, that female teachers usually don't have. I play with them at recess, sometimes go to gym with them, organize games and invent school-wide academic competitions.
In my opinion, I think there should be a balance of males and females in elementary school. I've mostly said good things about male teachers, but female teachers have things that cater to students' other needs. Every place in Texas that I've been to is begging for more male teachers in elementary school. All other things being equal, the male will get the job and in some cases, the male will get the job anyway even if things are not equal.
Although we males are not represented very well (numbers wise) in elementary classrooms, I do not believe that we are discriminated against.
One would like to think this is true.
Prior to being offered my current position, I had applied for 3-4 other elementary positions (SpEd). Each time it came down NOT to my qualifications, or my experience, but WHY would a male want to teach at the elementary level. Was I aware of the "stigma" associated with being male and teaching at the elementary level.
My response was that I saw no stigma or negative lable associated with teaching at any level--which always got a strange look from the interviewer and something along the lines of--I must not be aware of the attention placed on males as teachers, especially at the elementary level.
Granted that was another state than the one I am in now. But I even had attitudes from admin and other teachers in Wisconsin as a substitute.
When I was in elementary school in the 1970s, there was only one male teacher. He taught fifth grade and I was in his class. There was also a male PE teacher.
There was a male teaching fifth grade at my son's school, but he did not have him as a regular teacher. They did group the kids for math and my son was in his class. It was the "high" math class. The teacher now teaches sixth grade math exclusively.
I went to elementary school in the 50s and I think there was one male teacher in my elementary school. I never had him, but I remember the stories about him being easy to get off the school work, so his class was supposed to be the *easy* one to pass. Kids joked about being able to get him to tell stories about his life rather than teaching. In my jr. high and high school, there were male teachers, but not very many.
My kids went to elementary school in the 70s. They only had one male in the elementary school there and both my kids had him. He was an excellent teacher, but somewhat of an *odd duck.* Some parents did not want their kids to be in his class. He taught 4th/5th grade - a combined classroom. I requested him for my kids because I knew that he was great especially for the kids who were bright, but not necessarily interested in all the academics. My ds was extremely gifted in math and science, but hated to read anything fictional. Mr. J was the only person who ever got him to read such books. My dd was extremely interested in drama and he used a lot of drama in the classroom. He taught in a private g/t program in the summers. In middle school and high school, there were quite a few male teachers, especially at the high school level in math and science, but in other disciplines as well.
My grandchildren have no male teachers in their elementary school at all. The psychologist on staff is male and we like him a lot - we have contact because my grandson is in special education and he coordinates the IEPs. I am not sure about the middle, jr and high school here since my grandchildren are still in k-4.
I taught HS math and there were many male teachers at the high school level. There were more in math and science, but there were also male English and History teachers. I really wish there were more men who went into elementary teaching and even preschool teaching. I team taught with a young male aide in preK and he was really great. The kids loved him because he did things we female teachers just did not do (like rougher games that the boys especially loved - he was controlled, but physical and they thought it was great). We also had a male teacher in another classroom who played guitar and sang. Unfortunately, the guys in preschool had to be very careful because they could get accused of sexual things even though neither of these guys would ever have thought of it, imo. We always had two teachers to help with toileting even if it was two women, but with the men it was more important, I suspect.
In my opinion, I think there should be a balance of males and females in elementary school. I've mostly said good things about male teachers, but female teachers have things that cater to students' other needs.
I would have LOVED for my sons to have some male teachers in elementary school. At the charter school that my son just graduated from there is a male PE teacher and a male music teacher. Every single classroom teacher is female.
When the adults in charge of the school are so overwhelmingly female then normal male behavior starts to be seen as pathological, instead of typical. It can be frustrating for little boys. They are not pathological but they are DIFFERENT from little girls and classrooms need to be managed with both boys and girls in mind.
My son came home one day and said "Mommy I just CAN'T be like the girls. I don't know how to do that." My heart broke. He was so frustrated. The teacher he had that year did not like for the kids to run around to much at recess. The teacher didn't like that they wound up DIRTY. Ugh....A man would understand.
I would have LOVED for my sons to have some male teachers in elementary school. At the charter school that my son just graduated from there is a male PE teacher and a male music teacher. Every single classroom teacher is female.
When the adults in charge of the school are so overwhelmingly female then normal male behavior starts to be seen as pathological, instead of typical. It can be frustrating for little boys. They are not pathological but they are DIFFERENT from little girls and classrooms need to be managed with both boys and girls in mind.
My son came home one day and said "Mommy I just CAN'T be like the girls. I don't know how to do that." My heart broke. He was so frustrated. The teacher he had that year did not like for the kids to run around to much at recess. The teacher didn't like that they wound up DIRTY. Ugh....A man would understand.
Ugh! That's terrible. I cannot imagine any teacher in my grandkids school though who didn't want kids to run around at recess or to get *dirty* I've taught HS math and changed to preK. In the inner city preK, we had to talk parents into allowing the kids to get dirty in the sandbox. I was surprised, but I understood that part of the problem with these parents and kids was sand in the hair, so we started having them bring bandanas and hats for that. Of course, preK kids get messy with all kinds of play including paint and other art supplies. We sometimes had to tell parents to make sure the clothes the kids wore could get messy.
I've worked in education for a few years. I just received my Masters in another education-related field and had to intern all during my second year. At the elementary school I interned, there was not a single male teacher, unless you count the counselor. The only other males were 3 male janitors. The middle schools I either taught or interned in averaged about 7 male teachers at each school. I can't count how many males were at my high school site, but I'd say maybe 20 percent of the staff was male. I think men prefer to work at the secondary level. Many males tend to become coaches and it's at the middle and high school level where they can make that connection with athletes. I don't think it's discrimination. I think it's just personal preference. In my area, too, I think males would be considered for education jobs before females because there just aren't that many--particularly at the elementary level.
In my experience... In my private school, all of the k4-4th grade teachers were female (except art). In middle school, it was about 50/50 for 7th/8th grade... but more like 80/20 for 5th/6th grade. In high school, it has been mostly male-dominant. This coming year, I'll be a senior and I will have a single female teacher out of seven.
In public school... I attended one k4-5 school in second grade... and there were no male teachers. The principal was male.
The school that I attended in 6th grade was k4-6th grade... I had a male teacher. I remember there being two male sixth grade teachers (out of five), a male 4k teacher (which I found odd), and I don't remember any other male teachers there. Though the district elementary honor band teacher was male... And I think the orchestra teacher might have been male as well, now that I'm thinking about it.
Oh... and PE... I only ever had three female PE coaches... That seemed to be more of a male thing.
There's just something weird to me about a guy teaching k4-2nd grade... and I don't know what it is... It just seems weird. =/
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