Early Childhood Issues and Trends - Essay Example

Childhood education has become a field of contention over the recent years as it has been considered as the turf where women are dominant. It has become a norm for one to expect that their young child’s teacher will be a female. There have been recent trends that focus to improve the number of males in this field who have been disadvantaged due to potential stereotyping, fear and speculation of sexual abuse and other reasons. There is a stark disparity in the ratio of the male and female teachers in childhood education institutes and schools (Farquhar S. , Are Male Teachers Really Necessary?, 1997). It is not only such in New Zealand but all over the world. The reasons for such a disparity may well encompass a number of reasons such as stereotyping, a feminist blockade and fear of lawsuits. However, society is also a party to such discrimination when it comes to the thought of male teachers in a field that involves interaction with minors. The case of Peter Ellis is one that may perhaps be on the mind of all those who intend to apply for such a position (Farquhar S.-E. , 1998). Childhood education teaching staff hosts around two percent male members in the Australian (Males in Early Childhood-Australia) and New Zealand region (Farquhar S. , Men at Work: Sexism in Early Childhood Education, 2006). Such numbers are shocking especially in a world that is now considered to be quite liberal and encourages both men and women equally in almost every field and walk of life. However, when it comes to the thought of putting in a male teacher into a room full of tiny children, there are certain reservations. Not only at the part of parents but also when it comes to the female teachers themselves. Peter Ellis was a case that was raised in 1991 where this male teacher was accused of sexual abuse towards the children in his class (Farquhar S. , Are Male Teachers Really Necessary?, 1997). According to one study, after this case was filed and the conviction was handed out to Peter Ellis, there was a drop in the number of male teachers. There are individuals who believe that whether the man is guilty or not, his punishment is serving a purpose, acting as a deterrent for those who desire to enter the field with intentions to harm children. A study by Sarah Farquhar showed that about fifty five percent of those males who had entered the teaching profession were being looked into as potential or actual child abusers (Farquhar S. , 1997). Such behavior may perhaps be a result of the feministic approach to the field of teaching and is certainly playing its role as a barrier and perhaps even to push male teachers out of the field which some women would consider to be something only doable by females. Not only is this something to be alarmed about but such attitude leads to the courts convicting men on mere speculation on the part of others and may perhaps act as a deterrent for those who wish to do harm, but it is also a deterrent for those who wish to seek employment in such areas as teaching (Zohrab, 2002). Another factor leading to men overlooking the childhood education side as a potential job is that there is a natural stereotyping that females are better at such things than men. Females have naturally been looked at as the more caring of the two genders and considered to do certain tasks such as cooking, cleaning and child rearing and as such childhood education is also child rearing in a sense (Sumsion, Male teachers in Early Childhood Education: issues and case studies, 2005). Hence many feminists consider that this part of a child’s educational life is something that would be easier for a female to deal with and handle as females have more experience and a natural knack for such things. The feminist bloc in this aspect is so staunch and rigid that it is hard to make any major breakthroughs and though there are many men in the field in New Zealand, the ratio is however still ninety-eight to two percent. Even if men do decide and manage to enter into a profession of teacher young children they are not considered to be real men by society. Many are considered to be either gay or such and not fit to be real men. This may be because at such tender ages young children need to be looked after and nurtured and that is generally seen to be a women’s job and if a female does so then she is not considered to be acting outside her established limit and seen as a normal female. If men do something similar such as help to take kids to the bathroom and change their clothes and help them with food then they are not behaving in a manner that is of a typical man and so breaking the shell leads to labeling them as either girls or something similar (Sumsion, `A Feeling of Not Being Welcome: Subtle Discrimination in Early Childhood Education, 1999). Some men have even reported that if they are teaching young children and not married then parents as well as fellow staff members were more likely to consider them as gays. To have such a stigma is not something that every man is ready to face and so some prefer to teach at a higher grade level where caring for children is not brought to question. It’s also reported that teaching institutes and groups encourage men to teach at a higher grade level and act negatively when there is a look into the childhood education side. An employment opportunity is another majoring factor when it comes to the reasons why men do not look for jobs in the childhood teaching profession. The teaching pay scale is structured like a ladder with the primary education at the bottom and the older the children get the higher up the ladder the education level and so the higher the pay. Men will generally be seen more teaching at a university level or at colleges. Then high school and lastly they will be seen in minority at a childhood education level. Pay is relatively less at this stage and men are usually the sole bread winners in households so need to be able to sustain jobs that will be able to maintain and help run the house. With a pay that is given at a level of a primary education teacher it is hard to keep running a house and manage to feed a family of four or five on it. Perhaps if it was a bachelor then the amount of wages received would not be such a major issue but as a husband a job in the teaching profession is not rewarding. Benefits of male teachers in the childhood profession are certainly present and may perhaps be beneficial to a certain few than others. When in the case of single parent households where mothers are the ones rearing the child it is better for children to have a male figure to look up to. Male teachers can be those figures and even provide a positive outlook on men for children at a tender age (Advantages of Males in Early Childhood Education). Male teachers can also show young boys that it is not a blow on ones masculinity that they do something that is generally considered to be a woman’s domain. Male members on the teaching staff will even encourage fathers to take a more active role in their child’s education as they will feel that talking to a man is perhaps better than entering in a world filled with women. New Zealand’s education system needs to encourage the role of male teachers at every level of education and there is certainly a need to promote the notion that this is a job that can be done by both men and women. There are reservations about the threats of sexual abuse law suits that act as a sword over the neck of male teachers which needs to be removed. Proper evidence needs to be given to prove such a case. There may be some hesitation to allow men to work in a field dominated by women for fear that it will slowly oust women from a field which they have claimed as their own, however, as in every other profession there can certainly be a balance of the genders. Children can also benefit from such teaching experiences from male instructors (Mephand, Professional Development: What does it mean for early childhood teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2001). It cannot be proven as of now that there is any situation in which a male teacher out classes his female counterpart in childhood education. So fears of things that are yet to come are not solid enough to be given too much weight. Encouragement should be given to all members of society to participate in their own way to the education of children. Critically analyzing the current situation it is clear that there is a feminist regime that seems to have a hold on this particular profession and the trepidations that they hold that allowing men will lead to their downsizing is certainly not a valid enough reason to withhold such positions. Legislatures should take a look into this alarming situation and make an attempt to level the playing field. As far as the situation of labels is concerned, that is something that one will face I every walk of life and to deal with them is not something within the power of some single institution or government body. However, the problem of low wages is certainly needs to be addressed not only to encourage the male population to apply for such positions but also for the females who are teaching. A job that requires so much patience and effort needs to be rewarded with something on the same level. In conclusion, much needs to be done to encourage males to enter into a job occupation that deals with teaching young children, a lot of effort needs to be put into making it work. These efforts should not be marred due to fears and speculations on the part of some groups and this profession should be as gender tolerant as others are especially when there is a promotion of gender equality. Works Cited Advantages of Males in Early Childhood Education. (n.d.). Retrieved December 25, 2010, from Bravehost: http://www.malesinearlychildhood.bravehost.com/Advantages.html Farquhar, S. (1997). Education Weeky , 8 (284). Farquhar, S. (1997). Are Male Teachers Really Necessary? Opinion Paper, Auckland. Farquhar, S. (2006). Men at Work: Sexism in Early Childhood Education. Porirua City: Childforum Research Network . Farquhar, S.-E. (1998). Teaching: A women-only Profession? New Zealand Annual Review of Education , 169-180. Males in Early Childhood-Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved December 25, 2010, from Bravehost: http://www.malesinearlychildhood.bravehost.com/ Mephand, J. (2001). Professional development: What does it mean for early childhood teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand? Early Education, 27, 13-20. Sumsion, J. (1999). `A Feeling of Not Being Welcome: Subtle Discrimination in Early Childhood Education. Australian Journal of Early Childhood . Sumsion, J. (2005). Male teachers in Early Childhood Education: issues and case studies. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 20, 109-123. Zohrab, P. (2002). Sex, lies & feminism. Paraparaumu: Backlash. Read More