Lack of male teachers.

[Deleted]

It's not been all that disproportionate for me, as far as I remember.

Primary school - all I remember are female teachers, but I can only remember my main class teacher.

Secondary school - mixed. I remember female teachers in basically every class. We'd get new teachers every 2 or 3 years though, mainly intended. New class teacher, too.
first two male class teachers, then a female one. Male teachers in German, R.E., physics, biology, maths, chemistry, art, music, P.E., social studies, geography, ... that's plenty of male teachers I remember from my own classes. I also had female teachers in these classes in other years at the same school, the only classes I can only remember having female teachers there are English and French. But there was a male English teacher, I would have had him in class if I hadn't transferred when I did.

Grammar School (only L6) - male teachers in: French, Politics, Geography, P.E., Maths GCSE....... female : French, R.E., English GCSE (I had to do English and Maths GCSE, because I didn't have any GCSEs, so I had to do the repeat class... which was very cool, we were like 5 students and our Maths teacher was a really cool dude who was also the school team's Rugby coach and would teach in the school tracksuit most of the time. First we'd chat for a really long time and he'd rehash some stories from the team or other funny stuff, then we'd do practice papers or ask questions if there were any. It was like having a private teacher.)


Last school (3 year school, I only transferred for the last 2 years), there were no small kids, people would be at least 16 usually.
More male teachers: I had male teachers in English (also my class teacher), French, P.E., Maths, R.E., History, Social Studies
female teachers in Biology, German, Art......

I think that's it. I didn't even realize that I had so many more male teachers in my last school. But they didn't seem too worried about lawsuits or allegations. Our English teacher would talk grades in private, just him and the student. He also had us over at his house for a class meeting once, because he lived out of town and at the first class meeting he couldn't drink because he had to drive ;-) His wife cooked us a big dinner and his kid was running around all excited and trying to get us to play with her. He was pretty young though for a class teacher, we were his first real assignment.

One teacher was known for having married a former student only a few years earlier, though. She was like 25 or more years younger than him, but they only made it official after she had already graduated. People would speculate of course, but it's not like anyone "knew" when the relationship started. He still taught there, I didn't have his class though. If I remember correctly, she had a baby or she was pregnant, but we'd just gossip a little bit, she'd already graduated, they were married... nothing to see there. (I think she was in school once for a small party or just to pick him up, "psst.. that's her!" someone would go, that sort of thing)

I graduated about 10 years ago, maybe it was still different back then.

[Deleted]

Whilst listening to the radio the other afternoon I heard a political activist being interviewed about the lack of female politicians in Ireland. She was asked why women weren't involved in politics, her response was to state women are actively discouraged from politics. Going on to state that men are to blame for the current European economic situation. The host (I think it was on 96fm) asked her about why there is a severe lack of male teachers internationally, her response was that men just don't want to be teachers. Now she was clearly a nut, but nuts get their voices heard more often than not.

Well at least in my eastern european country I would say women in politics it's double standard. I do not care what gender you are, just do your job. But here they have women organisation under the same political party. And more then often when they run for spots in set party they promote themself via their sex, as in "women of this party, you know who you are going to vote to, it's your duty". But if the male counterpart would say "guys vote for me not for a women" it will be sexist and wrong, right?

Hence gender ratio's and "spots" are a bad idea. If you are good for that job, then do it. If you get discriminated then yes, there is a problem!

[TheHeroicKnight]

we dont need male teachers, males arent as rationel as women. why do you think mens care about dumb stuff like cars and guns and sports? the last thing we need are those republican men to dumb our kids down with creationism,

Infracted

[Korgoth]

If I wanted to sit around going nowhere all day Id be a teacher!

I dont.

[TheHeroicKnight]

If I wanted to sit around going nowhere all day Id be a teacher!

I dont.

I lick you, you got the right idea.

[Deleted]

If I wanted to sit around going nowhere all day Id be a teacher!

I dont.

Great benefits, decent pay and lots of time for a family. Nothing worth while there.

[caractacus]

Great benefits, decent pay and lots of time for a family. Nothing worth while there.

If you think you will have lots of free time and down time you are greatly mistaken.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svddCT666eI Gives you a little glimpse at the time and effort involved

[TheHeroicKnight]

Great benefits, decent pay and lots of time for a family. Nothing worth while there.

plus teachers unions, which are good for the economy.

[Korgoth]

Great benefits, decent pay and lots of time for a family. Nothing worth while there.

Maybe this speaks to a difference in Ambition between men and women. There is no room for advancement as a teacher. You will be doing the same job day in day out until you grow old and have to retire. You are quite literally going nowhere. In fact the teacher's unions seems to protect going nowhere above all else; and fights angrily against any kind of merit based system where a good teacher could excel over a bad one.

[Slybak]

Actually the movement toward a female dominated high school staff has only been in the past 30-40 years tops.

And compulsory education beyond the grades 6 through 8 is not much older than that. What's your point? That women didn't dominate high schools until they became a public service for the masses? And, if so, that runs counter to my argument... how?

And please don't make historical claims toward education. Most of your information is quite astonishingly wrong and biased. For example, claiming that women organized the profession?

Most teachers were women, and therefor women did the work in professionalizing the field.

Try perhaps reading up on some of the more influential educational theorists and policy makers.

Being a theorist working at Columbia's Teachers College is not the same as being a delegate for the AFT or NEA when it comes to implementing standards of professionalization and politically organizing people within the profession towards that aim.

[TheHeroicKnight]

Maybe this speaks to a difference in Ambition between men and women. There is no room for advancement as a teacher. You will be doing the same job day in day out until you grow old and have to retire. You are quite literally going nowhere. In fact the teacher's unions seems to protect going nowhere above all else; and fights angrily against any kind of merit based system where a good teacher could excel over a bad one.

you could become leader of the teachers union?

[Sumatran]

In America any male who wants to be (or even just happens to be) around kids is automatically assumed to be a pedophile.

It's a fucking sad truth.

[TheHeroicKnight]

In America any male who wants to be (or even just happens to be) around kids is automatically assumed to be a pedophile.

It's a fucking sad truth.

What's wrong with that?

[Deleted]

What's wrong with that?

Maybe because the vast majority are not? But if you show only bad examples in the media each day for years, everyone just assumes that they are the majority when in fact they are not. But what is news worty in a positive news right?

[yurano]

if you look at higher ed the m/f teacher ratio kind of shifts - I think it's simply because more women enjoy working with kids / toddlers (yeah we could look at female dominated preschools as well) while men who enjoy teaching would rather skip the social aspect and just give lectures. *shrug*

I would also say that men tend to be more career driven. Men in teaching tend to pursue professorships instead of teaching. Where as women dominate teaching K-12, men dominate teaching post-secondary.

[Talokami]

This is my opinion on it, for the record.

I think part of it stems from women are seen as more "nurturing" than men, so people feel more comfortable with women being around children all day and educating them. It's probably the same reason as to why nursing is female dominated, although that is changing. For a lot of Western societies, having a grown man alone with children all day makes people suspicious and uncomfortable. Which is bullshit on both sides of the coin.

[TheHeroicKnight]

Maybe because the vast majority are not? But if you show only bad examples in the media each day for years, everyone just assumes that they are the majority when in fact they are not. But what is news worty in a positive news right?

I think we should sacrifice our freedom in order to be safe. If there's even the slightest possibility that a teacher could be a pedophile, we should ban him from ever teaching.

[Simulacrum]

I think we should sacrifice our freedom in order to be safe. If there's even the slightest possibility that a teacher could be a pedophile, we should ban him from ever teaching.

By this logic, nobody would be qualified to be a teacher...

[Puck]

I had a male 30 year old Math Teacher in Highschool. He was soooooo hot, I ended up learning a lot just because I wanted to hear everything he said.