Grade schools seek men
to fill positions
Megan Finnerty
Features
Editor
As graduation approaches and many seniors line
up job interviews, the job outlook is especially good for one group
of Purdue students, even though the economy looks rough.
Educators nationwide are preparing for the coming
elementary teacher shortage as baby boomers start to retire, and many
principals hope that jobs traditionally held by women will be filled
by men.
Bob Foerster, the principal at Happy Hollow Elementary
School in West Lafayette, said that although the job market right now
is good for all qualified and talented teachers, the demand for male
elementary teachers is always high.
"What is important is that male and female students
can identify and relate to their teachers and see good role models of
both men and women professionals on the job at all ages of their school
experience."
He said that people often assume that he is a high
school teacher and when they learn he is an elementary principal, they
say that they wished they'd had more men as teachers.
For the millions of elementary students in the
state, there are 24,454 female elementary teachers in Indiana compared
to only 4,203 male elementary teachers, according to Peggy Arney of
the Indiana Department of Education.
For Paul McKowen, an elementary teacher at Happy
Hollow, those numbers are discouraging. He said that in his 33 years
of teaching, he has met students who needed strong male role models
and he fears that students are often in junior high or high school before
they encounter these men.
"A few of the students I have had do not have a
male figure in their lives, or the male figure in their lives is a non-caring
figure who has made poor choices," he said. "Hopefully, a few students
with negative impressions of men will see (in me) a different type of
male, someone who is caring, mild and non-violent."
And there is more good news for men pursuing careers
in elementary education. According to the Indiana Department of Education,
the ratio of female to male elementary teachers is almost six to one,
but the ratio of female to male elementary school principals is almost
one to one.
Foerster said one reason the number of male principals
is so high relative to the group's numbers could be because being a
principal requires additional degrees and work hours, and so less time
at home, making it unattractive for some educators who want to stay
at home with children.
McKowen said that while he was getting his teaching
degree from Purdue, his professors often approached him about getting
his administrative degree, but he wasn't sure that his professors said
the same things to the women in his classes.
But while men and women in elementary education
receive the same salaries and are the same ages, there are stereotypes
these men must combat.
And though the men interviewed said traditional
sex roles are less important, things are changing slowly. For example,
in the fall of 2000, Purdue's School of Education reported that there
were136 men majoring in elementary education in contrast to 978 women.
Foerster said he thinks men believe they will not
be paid as much as women and that there are negative cultural stereotypes
about men working with younger children that keep many men out of the
profession.
Kyle Hamstra, a junior in the School of Education,
also attributed the low numbers of male elementary teachers to stereotypes.
"It takes a strong individual to see through stereotypes,"
he said. "It may be easy to conform to the 'norm,' but I can't wait
to engage myself in a career that I love and look forward to every day."
McKowan said that many people, even him, had thought
of elementary teaching as being a "woman's field" and that he had to
overcome that while studying at Purdue.
Purdue does not have a section of the curriculum
to prepare male elementary education majors for the stereotypes, but
it does address appropriate behavior, dress and interaction.
Jerry Peters, head of the department of curriculum
and instruction for the School of Education, said his school teaches
all its students to respect, praise and relate to children.
"We are responsible for students' learning and
if there is a culture out there that has stereotyped men as not being
suitable for teaching children, then that is a cultural problem and
society must work together to address it."
But it still makes McKowan sad that male teachers
must be vigilant about how they interact with their students.
"There have been times I would have liked to have
hugged a student, for example when a relative of the child dies…
but I force myself not to," he said. "Sometimes, I have said to a child
that I wish I could have hugged that child good-bye. Men just have to
be extra careful."
|
