The teaching profession is one of the most female-dominated in the United States. Among elementary school teachers, 89 percent are women, and in kindergarten, that number is almost 97 percent.
Many sociologists, writers and parents have questioned whether this imbalance hinders young boys at the start of their education. Are female teachers less understanding of boys’ need to horse around? Or would male role models inspire boys to learn their letters and times tables? Some advocates point to research that lays out why boys ought to do better with male teachers.
But a new national analysis finds no evidence that boys perform or behave better with male teachers in elementary school. This challenges a widespread belief that boys thrive more when taught by men, and it raises questions about efforts, such as one in New York City, to spend extra to recruit them.
“I was surprised,” said Paul Morgan, a professor at the University at Albany and a co-author of the study. “I’ve raised two boys, and my assumption would be that having male teachers is beneficial because boys tend to be more rambunctious, more active, a little less easy to direct in academic tasks.”
We should aim for more teachers not because of academic success but to promote more social interaction for children with men in teaching positions. All students benefit in ways you cannot test for when teachers are diverse.
I had more male teachers then most and it may be a small sample of 30 vs 20, but still I have the impression that women are just better at teaching in general…
Having a penis doesn’t make you a better or worst teacher, but it would be nice if boys had more men teaching them so that they can feel they belong in school and that learning is a thing for them as much as it is for girls. I feel like if the same observations were made about women, it would be received very negatively and seen as being sexist. Having men teaching shouldn’t be seen as them being better at their job than women just like such isn’t the point of trying to have more women in some work environment.
That’s a funny bit of progressive cognitive dissonance. Obviously representation is important, and it’s critical that kids see people like themselves in all roles, not just the stereotypical ones… but also, why wouldn’t women be able to figure out how to effectively teach boys in school, they’re just as capable as men are, it shouldn’t matter!
a widespread belief that boys thrive more when taught by men
I have a feeling this “widespread belief” is actually primarily held by the same WASPs who project those stereotypes of gendered behavior onto boys in the first place.
I also find it not at all ironic that “give men more money than women to do the same job” is the solution that people who buy into that belief apparently advocate.
male teachers when i was hs were washed out from thier field of study, teaching was thier last chance at a job least alot of them are. you can tell by the way they teach, not very good because they rather be somewhere else.
