Men in Early Men in Early Childhood Childhood Education Education

(Singapore)(Singapore)

By

Esther Ho

 

Man enough to teach children – Sunday Times on 22nd July 2012

“Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports figures show that as of December last year, there were just 40 men among a total of about 6,800 childcare teachers.”

1. The slow growing numbers of male teachers in this profession over the years.

2. Curiosity about men’s interest in this profession.

3. To gather feedback from the men in the profession and the challenges male teachers face.

4. The psychological and social support needed for men in this profession.

Rationale of the Project

1. To conduct a survey of the men in this profession.

2. To form a local network consisting of pre-service and in-service male teachers.

3. To raise awareness of the challenges and support needed to sustain men in this profession.

Objective of the Project

20 participated in the survey

No. of years in this profession:

11 years and above: 3

6-10 years: 2

2-5 years: 5

0-1 year: 10

Summary of the survey

Overview Profile of Male Overview Profile of Male TeachersTeachersYears of Experience

Total number of Male Teachers

Age Group Qualification

0-1yr of experience 10 18-58 yrs old

Undergoing Diploma in Teaching course/Obtain DPT

2-5yrs of experience 5 23-47 yrs old

Undergoing Diploma in Teaching course/Obtain DPT

6-10yrs of experience 2 27-41 yrs old

Undergoing Diploma in Teaching course/Other cert

11yrs and above 3 43 yrs old Degree/DPT

1. Passion for working with children

2. Exposure to church ministry that led to an interest to work with preschool children.

3. To make a difference in the lives of the children by providing a male figure in the predominantly female environment.

4. Enjoyment of interacting with children

5. Strong interest in children’s holistic development and in providing children with a good foundation from their early years.

6. To nurture children from the very beginning as most of the crucial development , such as character molding, starts from preschool.

Reasons for choosing to work in this profession:

1. Male teachers can be a role model for boys and girls in their early developmental stage. It gives them confidence in relating to both genders

2. Male teachers can provide an alternative for boys who have problems relating to female teachers.

3. Male teachers can provide a fatherly figure for boys to gain their identity; this is especially beneficial for children in single-parent families

Benefits of Male Teachers

4. Male teachers can offer differing perspectives with regards to teaching methods, tools and management policies and creating a balanced learning environment.

5. The presence of male teachers can enable greater involvement from fathers in the centre as they can relate better with the same gender.

6. Male teachers are more inclined to engage in a higher pace of physical activities

Benefits of Male Teachers

With female teachers

- Conflicting perspectives in working with children

- Unaware of the restrictions for male teachers such as carrying out routine care; thus, female teachers have to cover some of the male teachers’ duties

- To be extremely careful in being too close to female teachers or girls (e.g., hugging girls). Thus, in the Asian context, male teachers might appear aloof and less caring

Challenges as Male Teachers

With parents

- Distrust and worries about safety security

- Stigma that male teachers are sexual predators/pedophiles

- Male teachers’ disciplinary action may be considered too rough.

- Male teachers need to prove to parents that they can do as well as females in all child development areas

Challenges as Male Teachers

With children- Not allowed to show affection like hugging a crying

child. Children may feel rejected or feel that male teachers are aloof, and this makes it difficult to bond with the children. Eventually, it leaves male teachers to take on the role of hard, insensitive disciplinarians which is not the ideal image for children.

- Getting children to understand that male teachers are unable to bathe them

- Male teachers face challenges in handling children with behavioural issues

Challenges as Male Teachers

Getting the Getting the panel to share panel to share

their journey as their journey as a teacher…a teacher…

Looking Looking Beyond…Beyond…

Thank you Thank you