Where Are All the Male Teachers and Why it Matters

Is it important for children to have both female and male teachers? What impact does it have on a child to only have female teachers in front of them in the class? There are arguably more male teachers in secondary schools, but what about primary schools? Where are all the male teachers and why it matters.

Male Teachers as Role Models in the Classroom?

My sons’ primary school teacher is retiring right around now. She’s been teaching for more years than she can remember and she has certainly earned her teaching stripes. It’s time to pass the baton on to a new teacher.

My eight year old told me he hopes her replacement is a male teacher. He is in group five and is yet to have a male teacher.

Role models for boys in the classroom are so important. So very important.

Read My Son Would Like a Male Teacher for His Class over on The Good Men Project to read why attracting males to the teaching profession is so difficult, and why it matters.

Also Read: A Quiet Child Gets Lost in the Noise of a Classroom

Personal Experience

As of January 2022 my youngest has two male teachers and one female per week. One of his male teachers is relatively new in the profession, having made a career switch. He is full of enthusiasm and truly invested in his class. The other male is a seasoned professional in his last year of teaching. Gender certainly doesn’t make for a better teacher, but as I watch my children, it is clear they gain different experiences having had a male in front of them in the classroom.

Over to You

Does/ did your child have a male teacher in primary school? Do you think it matters either way? What do governments and the teaching profession need to do to attract males back into the profession?