How Does Gender Affect The Teaching Profession?
Today as we walk through halls of schools K-12th grade, we typically see female educators. Women have historically been known to fill the role of an educator, but now, there has been an increase in male educators within schools. More middle school to high school level, you will see male teachers, yet in all levels of education it is not rare to see a male hold an assistant principal or principal position, even most school board positions are filled by men. At times, men being in higher positions than women in the eduction system can affect the way the educators interact with the students and how the materials are taught. I believe if the typical roles were switched, where there were more women in higher valued positions, the teachers would be taught to care for the students and to relate to them by making their learning environment a safe place. Women are traditionally nurtures and motherly figures and if each teacher adopted a characteristic to help their students, their job could potentially be more enjoyable and the students would feel content. Another way to view the affects of gender in the teaching profession is that both genders do not receive equal respect within the classroom. Since students are used to having a female teacher, when they get to be older and are exposed to male teachers, usually a coach having to teach history or science, they do not give them the same respect as they would a female, because either the teacher tries to be "cool", or the students just are not sure how to interact with a male instructor.
Hi Jacy,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your insight on this topic and you shared some really great ideas! I liked how you pointed out how education has a predominately a female majority, except when it comes to higher positions such as board members or superintendent. The concept almost seems paradoxical because the people largely in charge of major decisions about education are not as commonly seen in the classrooms. Not only does the lack of male educators actually in classrooms affect decisions made about schools, but also student's ideas about their teachers. When you mentioned that students may not show as much respect towards a male teacher, as compared to a female teacher, it made me wonder if that could be related to society's influence over how male educators are perceived? There are many changes that need to be made within our country's schooling system, the representation of male teachers in the classroom is one of them.
Hey Jacy, you bring up some intriguing topics that I had not thought about before. Especially when you mention the idea of students not respecting, and knowing how to interact with, male teachers. During my schooling the first male teacher I had was my sixth-grade math teacher, who coached and taught my older brother. Due to my preconceived notions about him and what I had heard I never fully got the idea out of my head that he was just a coach. As well because of this, and likely that I had his class in eighth period, the students in my class were always rowdier and would talk back more often. I wonder If I had been taught by a male teacher earlier in my schooling I might have reacted to him and his teachings differently.
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