The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Jim Parsons and Natasja Larson

Teaching is painful, continual and difficult work to be done by kindness, by watching, by warning, by precept, and by praise, but above all by example.

—John Ruskin

Natasja’s favourite teacher was a junior high science teacher—a man. Jim’s vocation arose because he was encouraged to write by his Grade 10 and 11 teachers—both men. These singular influences of male teachers on the lives of children are repeated across Canada everyday. Experience, culture and research repeatedly show that male teachers can and do have an influence on children.

In The Karate Kid, Miyagi tells Daniel Larusso: “No such thing as bad student. Only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do.” Miyagi’s influence shapes a young man’s life. The movie In and Out, based on the actor Tom Hanks’s accidental outing of a gay teacher during his acceptance of an Oscar for Philadelphia, shows the influence of a male teacher (played by Kevin Kline) on the success of a student. In The Emperor’s Club, William Hundert (Kevin Kline again) inspires students (using Roman and Greek history, of all things) over 34 years to do great things. Dead Poets Society shows how an imaginative teacher, John Keating (played by Robin Williams), influences conservative prep school boys in the late 1950s through poetry and personal concern for students. Teaching was both literature and life.

Mark Edmundson’s wonderful Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference is a tribute to Frank Lears, Edmundson’s high school philosophy and psychology teacher. Until Mr. Lears’s class, Mark had never finished a book. Lears wasn’t an authority figure, but he was articulate, brought Vietnam War protesters to class, read Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Camus’s The Stranger aloud in class because students resisted homework, and he listened to students. Edmundson, who had never finished a book prior to Mr. Lears’s class is now a professor at the University of Virginia. He credits Lears with giving him a life.

Jim knows exactly why he became a teacher. His own Mr. Lears, George Petresek, not only told him he was creative and a good writer, but proved it by giving him the space, practical encouragement and opportunity to write. Had he not, Jim never would have dreamed of going to university.

But things change. Visit a school today and one sees that there are fewer Lears and Petreseks than there once were—fewer male teachers in general. Research also bears out the fading influence of male teachers. And now, as entire communities, we may be paying. Fewer men are becoming teachers and of the ones who are, few are becoming elementary teachers.

The teaching profession has noticed the lack of males, but seems unsure of how to encourage more men to enter teaching. As the demand for male teachers grows, so does the list of reasons why men don’t teach: low pay, low status and stereotypical beliefs that teaching is women’s work. And, more recently, a heightened fear among male teachers of being accused of sexual abuse. The result? Teaching is saddled with a mounting image problem when it comes to attracting men.

Sadly, the morphing of the profession is occurring at a time when male teachers may be most needed. How many single-parent families live without a single male role model? An article in the Christian Science Monitor (MacDonald, 2003) quotes a female teacher as saying: “Men show boys what they could become. And girls need to see a nurturing male in order to see what kind of men they’d like to have in their lives.”

Natasja found this true. She didn’t have a male teacher until junior high school. Her junior high science teacher was her favourite because he was fair to everyone, consistent and never played head games. He tried to connect with everyone by getting to know them. He was approachable and considerate. Obviously, a woman can have these qualities, too, but there was something else about this male teacher—no one ever fooled around because they didn’t want to upset him. Natasja hates to admit it, but she thinks men command good behaviour in ways women can’t—especially in junior high, where students seek models to emulate. Her experience tells her that it’s important for boys and girls to have both male and female teachers.

Natasja’s personal observations mirror both Canadian and American research. In the United States, a National Education Association (NEA) 2002 survey, “The Importance of Men Teachers and Reasons Why There Are So Few,” reported that more than 97 per cent of respondents believed in the importance of men working with children in elementary education. Administrators, parents and teachers who participated in the study suggested that having a male on staff enriched the educational experience in ways an all-female staff could not.

Some respondents suggested that men teach differently: unlike some female teachers, males expected less serenity, have more tolerance for noise, active play, movement and talking in class. In fact, young boys may suffer when codes of conduct reflect the sensibilities of an all-female faculty. Specifically, boys play with each other in more rough and tumble ways, and women set rules based on how they would like to be treated if they were playing, (MacDonald, 2003).

Right or wrong, study participants said that male teachers could mean better discipline in schools. Some students, especially young males, participants said, connect better with male teachers. Though it is perhaps an overgeneralization, participants noted that boys accept male authority better than female authority. Such a comment carries more than a touch of gender incorrectness. However, perhaps it is true that elementary boys are less worried about political correctness than they are about growing up in a confusing and difficult world.

The small number of male teachers in Canada is astounding. According to Statistics Canada, the percentage of male teachers dropped to 35 per cent in 1999–2000 from 41 per cent in 1989–90. The percentage of male teachers is even lower among younger grades. Canada is not alone. In Ireland, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported in 2001 that women made up more than 80 per cent of primary school teachers. These numbers encouraged a worldwide call for more men teachers.

In the United States, at the National Education Association’s 2002 representative assembly, NEA members approved a measure to “identify, recognize, recruit and retain” more male teachers, with an emphasis on elementary and minority teachers. NEA research suggests that only 21 per cent of that country’s three million teachers are men, bringing the ratio of male to female teachers to a 40-year low. The percentage of male teachers in elementary schools in the U.S. has fallen regularly since 1981 (when it reached an all-time high of 18 per cent). Today, only nine per cent of American elementary school teachers are men. Likewise, the percentage of males in secondary schools stands at its lowest level (less than 35 per cent).

Why? NEA lists several reasons: a belief that teaching is women’s work, low salaries, a perception that teaching is not an adequate way to provide for their families, and the philosophy that men teach the subject and women teach to nurture and develop children. Consequently, males tend to gravitate toward secondary schools, leaving a critical shortage of male teachers at the elementary level.

In Canada, the lack of male teachers is not a new phenomenon. Teaching, once a predominantly male occupation, saw an influx of women with the rapid expansion of public education during the early 20th century (Jull 2002). Prior to the 1900s, women taught in dame-schools where girls learned to be proper and grow up to be teachers. The lessons took. By the 1900s, most elementary school teachers were women. In truth, children and society benefited. Those courageous female teachers, who often lived and tended their prairie schools alone, became models for independence and female empowerment. Because women were seen as good nurturers, the number of female teachers at the elementary level grew, and elementary education gained a new face—a feminine face.

The historical movement of women to teaching was a positive change. Most of Canada’s first education systems were hierarchical and patriarchal in which male administrators held positions of authority. In 1872, British Columbia’s superintendent of education, John Jessop, announced that women should be educators of young children. How pragmatic: women could be hired at lower wages, thus saving taxpayers the cost of an expanding school system. On the up side, the change reflected an acceptance of women working outside the home and emphasized women’s abilities to nurture and educate children. On the downside, it took years before women gained pay equity with men. Furthermore, because women were paid less, typically held lower ranks and were supervised by males, the secondary role of women was reaffirmed. And, as cost-beneficial as they were, if young women married they either left the profession of their own accord or were let go. As a result, women rarely gained seniority or administrative responsibility. Teaching’s perpetuation of such social injustice and inequity has continued: to this day, women are primarily teachers, while men occupy jobs in upper management, including school administration and government ministerial positions (Nova Scotia Department of Education, 1999).

After the Second World War, the concept of the teacher expanded to include the role of caregiver, a function more commonly associated with women, and the number of men teaching in lower grades continued to decrease. Bradley (2000) notes the continuation of this trend. “The CTF [Canadian Teacher’s Federation] found that males made up an extremely small percentage of the teaching force in the kindergarten to grade three range.” The higher the grade, the more acceptable it was to have male teachers in the classrooms, especially in “masculine” subjects like science and math. This role change, from caring to delivering information, became more acceptable for men. Thus arose the myth, noted earlier, that men teach content and women teach children.

Could it be that elementary schools are now too feminized? Is the lack of men really a problem? The weight of the evidence suggests that it is. Furthermore, interviews with teachers themselves suggest that teaching in elementary schools carries stereotypes and suspicions. Perhaps even teachers believe the vocation is gendered.

If this is true, it is unfair to male teachers, and they are quite rightly concerned as it becomes obvious that concerns about their teaching are founded less on evidence and more on groundless assumptions. That questions about the suitability of male teachers at the elementary level even exist discourages males in the profession and dissuades more from entering. There is an “issue of sexual orientation and child sexual molestation for those men teachers working with young children” (Skelton 2003). In what other professions do males have to justify their existence and purpose?

Another significant drawback of teaching as a profession for males is that many do not see the occupation as a viable way to provide for a family. Typically, males have been the financial providers for a family, especially when women take maternity leaves and stay home to raise children. Although this trend is changing, it is still the norm. Even within dual-income marriages, women more frequently subordinate their careers to the family and husband (Dickinson, 1996).

Despite much current research on the significance of a teacher’s gender on students, “no empirical research has found a link between a teacher’s gender and student achievement” (Kenning 2004). Studies focus on issues such as the possible impact of male teachers on single-parent, mother-only families. In some cases, teachers spend more time with a child than the child’s parents. Robert Felner (2004), dean of the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development, notes how crucial it is to change preconceived attitudes that keep males away from teaching. He believes that male teachers powerfully influence how young boys without fathers at home behave, connect to adults and form views of school.

What messages does a lack of male teachers send to young male students? How can the lack of male teachers not affect their views of the importance of education? Without male teachers, will young boys even aspire to consider teaching as a profession? In our view, fewer male teachers now means far fewer male teachers in the future.

Interestingly, it is not that men don’t like teaching elementary school. Elementary men teachers report that they are as happy, content and fulfilled by their jobs as women. Studies note that male teachers are satisfied and rewarded by a teaching career. Wiest, Olive and Obenchain (2003) studied male K–2 teachers and found that once men entered K-2 teaching, their main job satisfaction came from feelings of moral responsibility and personal satisfaction.

The profession needs to review the influence of male teachers on children. We believe that, if children have only female teachers, they may lose something intangible. If men want to teach but are discouraged, they miss great opportunities to make differences in students’ lives. Even if male teachers provided nothing other than a male role model, some children who need to see positive, strong men in nurturing roles would benefit.

Finally, we need to reinstate the belief that teaching is a career worthy of both men and women. Children without male role models as teachers will find it difficult to believe that men can or should be teachers. Gender balance allows children to believe there are no boundaries to what they could do as boys or girls. Schools should be models for society—places of social justice and equity. Teachers need to embody the ideals of teaching—be they male or female. The healthiest work environments include a mixed-gender staff in both administrative and teaching positions.

So, we are left with the dilemma: If Alberta is to hire the best teachers, should gender play a role in hiring? And if so, is it fair? If we knew what fringe benefits might attract men to teaching, should we use them? Is it enough for a teacher—man or woman—to have a sense that they are doing a worthwhile job?

If we decide that we should recruit more male teachers, what strategies should we use? Salary is an issue and, in the U.S., studies have shown that states with higher salaries have more male teachers. Initiatives to recruit young men into teaching in high school and to help them consider teaching early in their academic careers have also been successful. Secondary school surveys, career counselling and college preparation courses can help boost enrolment.

As well, teachers who love their work need to talk about teaching to their male students. The NEA asked teachers in the U.S. why they decided to become teachers. Thirty-two per cent said that the influence of a teacher in elementary or secondary school influenced their decision. Most notably, teachers under 30 years of age gave this reason with greater frequency than did teachers over 30 (39 per cent versus 31).

Finally, one positive possibility we have not explored is that the definition of teaching is broader than it was. For example, we traditionally believed teachers work in schools. However, understanding teaching as a vocation might allow us to think more broadly. Banks, law enforcement agencies, churches, legal institutions and other organizations have an educative function—they need teachers. Although this may bode ill for schools, it may be that male teachers are not dying but instead are moving to other locales.

One can only hope the following story will take place someday. A man joins a golf foursome. After exchanging names, they ask each other their occupations. One says, “I own a gas station.” The second works in insurance; the third is a policeman. And the fourth says, “I teach.” The first three turn to the fourth and say: “Thanks. We wish we were doing something as meaningful as teaching children.”

References

Bradley, J. G. 2000. “Male Elementary Teacher Candidates: A Narrative Perspective on their Initial Career Choice.” McGill Journal of Education, 35, no. 2: 155. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from Wilson Education Abstracts.

Dickinson, A. 1996. “The Financial Well-Being of Women and the Family.” American Journal of Family Therapy, 24, 1: 65. Retrieved December 29, 2004, from ERIC.

Edmundson, M. 2002. Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference. New York: Random House.

Jull, S. K. 2002. “Locating Gender Bias and Systemic Discrimination in Public Schooling Bureaucracy.” Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 48, no.1: 47. Retrieved December 9, 2004, from Proquest.

Kenning, C. 2004. “Shortage of Male Teachers Worsens in Elementaries.” The Courier-Journal (November 22, 2004). Retrieved December 29, 2004, from http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/11/22ky/A1-male1122-10197.html.

MacDonald, G. J. 2003. “Too Few Good Men,” (Learning In the Classroom: Special to the Christian Science Monitor ) July 15, 2003. Retrieved January 5, 2005 from July 15, 2003 edition—http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0715/p13s01-lecl.html.

National Education Association. n.d. “Wanted: More Male Teachers.” Retrieved January 5, 2005, from http://www.nea.org/teachershortage/03malefactsheet.html.

Nova Scotia Department of Education. 1999. “Statistical summary 1998–1999.” Halifax, N.S.: Planning and Research Division.

Skelton, C. 2003. “Male Primary Teachers and Perceptions of Masculinity.” Educational Review, 55, no. 2: 195. Retrieved December 9, 2004, from ERIC.

Wiest, L. R., M. L. Olive, and K. M. L. Obenchain. 2003. “Men’s Perceptions of Their Experiences as K–2 Teachers.” Equity & Excellence in Education , 36, no. 1: 82. Retrieved December 9, 2004, from Academic Search Premier.

Films Cited

Dead Poets Society. Directed by P. Weir. (1989; Burbank, CA: Touchstone).

The Emperor’s Club. Directed by M. Hoffman. (2002; Hollywood, CA: Universal Studios).

In & Out. Directed by F. Oz. (1997; Hollywood, CA: Paramount).

The Karate Kid. Directed by J. Avildsen. (1994; Burbank, CA: Columbia Pictures).

Philadelphia. Directed by J. Demme. (1993; Burbank, CA: Columbia Tri Star).

Jim Parsons has been a professor in the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta for almost 30 years, where he has taught secondary social studies curriculum and instruction students. He is currently the university’s Director of the Master of Education in Educational Studies program as well as working with AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) teachers across Alberta.

Natasja Larson is a graduate student with experience teaching children and adults. She taught Grades 4–6 with Elk Island Public Schools and has taught Computers in Business for Continuing Education at NAIT. She is currently working as the Program Administrator for the Master of Education in Educational Studies Program.