Head of the Class: A Survey of Male Attitudes Toward Teaching in Early Childhood Education

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Head of the Class A Survey of Male Attitudes
Toward Teaching in Early Childhood Education

• McKenna M. Keenan

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Overview

• Persuasive Purpose
• Literature Review
• Theory
• Methods
• Findings
• Discussion

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Persuasive Purpose

• The purpose of this study is to identify the
  attitudes and perceptions of male early childhood
  educators, currently working in the field, about
  their chosen occupation. Little previous
  research has been conducted on this topic, thus
  the information gathered here will contribute to
  the sociological knowledge as to why men chose an
  occupation that is typically female therefore,
  men are a minor in their profession.

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Literature Review

• Importance of men in Early Childhood Education
• Barnard (2000)
• Farquhar (1997)
• Scarcity of men
• Clyde (1997)
• Santiago (1999)
• Emergent issues for men
• Cooney and Bittner (2001)
• Rodriquez (1997)
• Recruitment and retention of men
• Cooney (2001)
• Farquhar (1997)
• Why men choose to teach?
• Santiago (1999)
• Rodriquez (1997)

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Theory

• Masculinity
• Kimmel (1992, 1997, 2006)
• social construction theory
• Cohen (2001)
• Williams (2001)

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Methods

• Procedure
• www.surveymonkey.com
• 27 question survey
• Open and closed ended questions
• Demographic, job satisfaction, career choice
• October 5, 2006- November 2, 2006
• Participants
• www.menteach.org
• 28 participants
• Ages 30-69 average age 48.39 61 over age of 50
• Racial/ ethnic identity
• Level of education and training

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Findings
Table 1 Age and Race of Early Childhood
Educators

• Table 1
• Teaching Experience

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Findings
Table 2 Age and Years Teaching Ages 0-8 for
Early Childhood Educators
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Findings

• Male presence in schools
• Location

Graph 1 Location of School
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Findings

• factors affecting decisions to enter the field
• Administration dissuade ECE
• More opportunities in ECE
• Signing bonuses
• Hiring more males
• Salary
• Influences

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Findings

• Graph 2 Social Factors Influencing Male
  Educators

Positive
Positive
Negative
Negative
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Findings

• Mannerisms and accusations
• Why became a teacher?
• I wanted to impact children's lives in a
  positive way. In many families, there are no
  males. With families becoming split, and the
  mother raising the children, many children need a
  male influence in their lives. Studies show that
  if a child has a male role model, then the child
  will benefit from it later in life.
• Why ECE?
• I am a kid magnet. When I decided to go back to
  school, the requirements for elementary school
  were restrictive both with money and time. I
  enjoy the freedom of ECE.

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Findings

• any stereotypes and/ or biases
• Negative Some female colleagues have assumed
  that I would not want to diaper children or would
  not want to work with babies, just because I was
  a male.
• Positive I've been lucky in that I haven't
  faced anything but positive biases in my work. If
  anything, I'm beginning to feel like it's just
  one more benefit I get simply for being male.
  People frequently say, It's so good they have a
  male presence in the room.
• benefit children differently than females
• We have a different level of communication along
  with a different approach to working with
  children. We may be filling a void where there is
  no positive male role model.
• New research
• Debate, discussion on these issues is what is
  necessary to professionalize us all and identify
  fears involved with difference and our own bias.
• This is an issue of diversity and of improving
  the lives of children and families.

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Discussion

• Provide a new, diverse, and positive role model
• Age
• Lack of male educators
• Discrimination
• State of ECE profession
• Our society is beginning to recognize both the
  inevitability and the value of racial and
  cultural diversity. But another dimension of
  diversity is valuing the interests and talents of
  both sexes, of recognizing the contributions that
  both women and men can make to children and to
  one another in their work with children (82).
  Cooney (2001)
• Children first

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QUESTIONS?

• Thank you.