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Why are there still so few men within Early Years in primary schools views from male trainee teachers and male leaders

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The Working Lives project a window into Australian education and workforce participation

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Cruickshank 2018

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McDowell, Joanne. (2018) ‘Men’s Talk in Women’s Work: Doing Being a Nurse’,

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Does gender matter A cross national investigation of primary class room discipline

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Very useful information

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Think back to your early childhood days in primary school. Now I know for some of you this may be farther back than you may want to think about, but please bear with me. When you think of those care-free days, were you taught predominantly (or even totally) by females? Now, fast forward to today and think of who primarily teaches young children today. Has anything changed? Or do women still make up the majority of Britain's primary school teaching workforce? In short, yes, they do. In the year 2015/2016 less than 13% of primary school teachers in the UK were male (DoE, 2016). There are various explanations that try to illuminate why this could be, the most frequent given that primary teaching is seen as a job only suitable for women. Characteristics such as 'caring' are seen as central to the role, and Western society mainly still envisions that it is only women, and not men, that possess such characteristics (MacDougall, 1997). The almost total absence of male teachers in many UK primary schools has led to the suggestion that the girls' repeated better academic performance (in contrast to the underachievement of boys) may be a result of the feminisation of the teaching profession which has provided boys with too few male role models (Dee, 2007). One main area of discussion surrounds that of classroom management, namely discipline, with thoughts that more men are needed in order to enforce 'tougher' discipline, as women are stereotyped to have a more 'liberal' style (Martin and Yin 1997). Others however, disagree with this claim (Skelton et al, 2009), and indeed have found empirical evidence to the contrary, that women also use 'tough' discipline (Read, 2008). Such issues have led to an on-going debate about whether there is actually any need for more male primary school teachers at all (Carrington et al, 2007; Harrop and Swinson, 2011), whether they can actually bring anything different to teaching that women cannot offer and question what more male teachers would actually do for the children in terms of their academic achievement (Beaman, Wheldall, and Kemp, 2006; Carrington et al., 2008). One way to address the aforementioned questions is to explore how male and female primary school teachers actually interact with their students in the classroom.

I have recently conducted research in 5 Hertfordshire Primary schools, collecting data from both male and female teachers across several days of teaching to look at such interactions. One interesting finding is that both male and female teachers use what are stereotyped to be 'masculine' strategies (e.g. aggression; unmitigated orders and direct criticism) to carry out discipline (Read, 2008; see Mills and Mullany, 2011, p.53). However, both men and women (more so the men) also use 'feminine' or more 'liberal' styles (e.g. mitigated directives and criticism; use of positive sanctions; hinting via hedged statements) to discipline their students, often with great success. So both males and females often use stereotypical 'gendered' language style of 'the other'. So what does this tell us? I think it strongly points to the need to move away from the stereotype that women linguistically behave in one way and men another, especially as language is something we use to perform our identity within any given context (masculine, feminine, professional etc.). Performing one's identity means that we are not passive puppets in our identity construction (Butler, 2004); rather we actively and routinely perform them through language. Therefore we can perform various identities depending on our context (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet, 1999), so within the workplace, professionals perform their job role via the linguistic repertoire of said occupation. In the case of teaching, what these teachers are doing is making use of speech styles that are the most effective in their milieu. They are ' doing' being a good teacher, and gender should not be seen as a prerequisite for this effectiveness. Teachers must adapt their styles accordingly to both the situation in the classroom and also to each individual child and what will work best with them. This is what makes an effective teacher, and this is far more important than emphasising teacher gender. Recruiting efforts should stress the competencies that all teachers share (i.e. instructional skills) and not employ stereotypical role-model arguments as they so often currently do (e.g. men are needed to provide tougher discipline).

So, do we need more men in primary school teaching? Undoubtedly, yes. But this is not because of the existing assumption that they can offer something women teachers cannot, which can be seen as gender bias. Instead, qualified male teachers are needed in order to tackle the deficit as Britain, like so many other countries, is experiencing a shortage of primary school teachers. Furthermore, pupils need to be taught by a wide range of teachers that are representative of the pupil cohort which includes not just men and women, but also teachers from a range of ethical and gendered backgrounds. However, this may not be an easy task. Primary school teaching still remains seen as 'women's work' and this can often act to deter men from taking up the role. Women have long been rightly told that they can be what they want to be - that they can enter into traditional 'men's work, to not let their gender prevent them from doing so. However, we have not seen the same push for men. Men who enter into so-called 'female' professions often report challenges to their masculinity - they are often labelled by society as gay, unmanly, or even as sexual predators (Cross and Bagihole, 2006; Simpson, 2004; Isaacs, and Poole, 1996; Williams, 1995). Such attitudes can only be tackled if the long-standing assumptions that men and women cannot, or should not, undertake certain roles because of their gender are challenged. Jobs, and all that they entail such as language and characteristics needed, must be de-gendered. Current research, including my own (McDowell, 2018; McDowell, 2015a, 2015b) may enable us to take a step towards this goal, and act as a future aide to encourage more men to become primary school teachers.
Read 'A teacher-led masters programme...'
References

Beaman, R., Wheldall, K. and Kemp, C. (2006) 'Differential Teacher Attention to Boys and Girls in the Classroom', Educational Review, (3), pp. 339-66.

Butler, J. (2004) Undoing Gender. London: Routledge.

Carrington, B., Francis, B., Hutchings, M., Skelton, C., Read, B. and Hall I. (2007) 'Does the Gender of the Teacher Really Matter? Seven to Eight‐year‐olds' Accounts of their Interactions with their Teachers', Educational Studies, 33 (4), pp. 397-413.

Carrington, B., Tymms, P. and Merrell, C. (2008) 'Role Models, School Improvement and the 'Gender Gap' - Do Men Bring Out the Best in Boys and Women the Best in Girls? ' British Educational Research Journal, 34 (3), pp. 315-27.

Carrington, B. and McPhee, A. (2008) 'Boys' 'underachievement' and the feminization of teaching', Journal of Education for Teaching, 34, pp. 109-120.

Cross, S. and Bagihole, B. (2006) ''It never struck me as female': Investigating men's entry into female dominated occupations', Journal of Gender Studies, 15, pp. 35-48.

Dee, T. S. (2007) 'Teachers and the Gender Gaps in Student Achievement', The Journal of Human Resources, 42, pp. 528-554.

Department of Education (2016) School Workforce in England: November 2015. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/533618/FR21_2016_MainText.pdf [Accessed June 2017].

Eckert, P. and McConnell-Ginet, S. (1999) 'New generalisations and explanations in Language and Gender Research', Language in Society, 28, pp. 185-201.

Harrop, A. and Swinson, J. (2011) 'Comparison of Teacher Talk Directed to Boys and Girls and its Relationship to their Behaviour in Secondary and Primary Schools', Educational Studies, 37 (1), pp. 115-25.

Isaacs, D. and Poole, M. (1996) 'Being a man and becoming a nurse: Three men's stories', Journal of Gender Studies, 5, pp. 39-47.

MacDougall, G. (1997) 'Caring - a masculine perspective', Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, pp. 809-13.

Martin, N. K. and Yin, Z. (1997) 'Attitudes and Beliefs regarding Classroom Management Style: Differences between Male and Female Teachers'. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, Austin, Texas.

Mills, S., and Mullany, L. (2011) Language, Gender and Feminism: theory, Methodology and Practice. London: Routledge.

McDowell, Joanne. (2018) 'Men's Talk in Women's Work: Doing Being a Nurse', in B. Vine (ed.) The Handbook of Workplace Discourse. London: Routledge. pp. 361- 372.

McDowell, Joanne. (2015a) 'Masculinity and Non-Traditional Occupations: Men's Talk in Women's Work', Gender, Work and Organization, 22 (3), pp. 273-91.

McDowell, Joanne. (2015b) 'Talk in Feminised Occupations: Exploring Male Nurses' Linguistic Behaviour',Gender and Language, 9 (3), pp. 365-89.

McDowell, Joanne and Klattenberg, Revert (in-press 2018) "Does gender matter? A cross-national investigation of primary class-room discipline." Gender and Education (forthcoming).

Read, B. (2008) ''The World Must Stop When I'm Talking': Gender and Power Relations in Primary Teachers' Classroom Talk', British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29 (6), pp. 609-21.

Skelton, C., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Hutchings, M., Read, B. and Hall, I. (2009) 'Gender 'matters' in the primary classroom: pupils' and teachers' perspectives', British Educational Research Journal, 35, pp. 187-204.

Simpson, R. (2004) 'Masculinity at work: The experiences of men in female dominated occupation', Work, Employment and Society, 18, pp.349-68.

Williams, L.C. (1995). Still a Man's World: Men who Do 'Women's Work'. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

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Doing 'being' a primary school teacher: Does gender matter?

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Think back to your early childhood days in primary school. Now I know for some of you this may be farther back than you may want to think about, but please bear with me. When you think of those care-free days, were you taught predominantly (or even totally) by females?

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Employees are the backbone of the companies they work for, as well as the industries that they are employed in.

But which industries see a higher total of men or women in their workforce.

New research by RS Components has revealed that only 28% of those employed in the education sector are male.

Gender equality is important in all areas of society and in recent years, there's been a huge emphasis on gender in the workplace. Whether this is down to the gender pay gap or the roles of women in the workplace, it's now more important than ever for companies to have equality at the forefront of their minds.

Using data from the Office for National Statistics on the breakdown of men and women in UK industries for the past year, RS Components revealed that the Education sector is one of the worst industries for having an equal gender split, with 72% of those employed in Education being female.

More specifically, research shows that only 2% of the UK's early years education workforce is male and that the gender imbalance is more commonly seen in early years and primary school education.

The number of male primary school teachers remains at an all time low, with just 15% of nursery and primary school teachers in England being male - in nearly one in every four primary schools in Greater Manchester there are no male teachers whatsoever. Teachers, unions and charities are now urging young men to see through the traditional perception of primary school teachers and sign up to teach younger children.

However, those males who are working as primary school teachers, have previously spoken of their fear of being perceived as suspicious for working with young children as a reason for not building a career in the early education sector. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the lack of male representation in the classroom is due to the lower pay and lower perceived status of primary school roles, leaving primary school students with a lack of male role models.
James Bowen, the National Association of Head Teachers' director of policy, said:
"It's important for all children to experience positive male role models, and to understand that men can be interested in education, science or reading, just as much as in football."

The gender imbalance is slightly less unequal in secondary school education, with around 38% of teachers in state secondary schools being male. However, there is a still a trend that male teachers are more likely to specialise in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and PE when compared to women, which may in par explain the lack of female representation in STEM students.

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Research also suggests that male teachers are more likely to be employed in high ranking roles within a school such as Head Teacher, as women in education more typically see their role as vocational and prefer teaching to administrative or managerial roles, even though the pay grade is low.

Moving forward then, in order to try and rebalance the gender split in the education industry government states such as the Department of Education to discuss strategies to recruit and retain more male teachers. Particularly in primary school roles, steps need to be taken to remove stigmas of 'suspicion' of male primary school teachers, as well as making primary school teacher roles more appealing, removing perceptions of lower status and dispelling the myths of the feminine nature of education roles.

Equal male and female representation at all teaching careers events, and in school and university events that teacher training organisations are involved in, will ensure that there are more of, and stronger male advocates for any males considering a career in the education sector.

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education gender split revealed: only 28% of education sector are male

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Education Gender Split Revealed: Only 28% of Education Sector are Male

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Employees are the backbone of the companies they work for, as well as the industries that they are employed in. But which industries see a higher total of men or women in their workforce. New research by RS Components has revealed that only 28% of those employed in the education...

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Catherine Palmer, Vaughan Cruikshank, Murray Drummond & Donald Rei (2019): Male primary school teachers, masculinity and identity work in regional Australia, Sport, Education and Society, DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2019.1578207

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Does the gender of the teacher really matter Seven to eight year olds accounts of their interactions with their teachers

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Lack of male role models

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Professor Janet Moyles Anglia Polytechnic University, School of Education, Rivermead Campus, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ
j.moyles@apu.ac.uk

and

Dr. Susan Cavendish

University of Leicester

cav@leicester.ac.uk
Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Leeds, 13-15 September 2001
This paper is a Draft only: not to be quoted without authors' permission. The authors would welcome feedback on this draft article

ABSTRACT

Tutors on Primary PGCE courses have identified a problem: too few men enter primary education and those who do have a higher drop-out and failure rate than females. This research (partly funded by the TTA) sought to investigate why this situation exists and what might be done to redress it.

All Primary ITT courses were surveyed to gain quantitative data regarding retention and success rates, and a sample of Course Leaders was interviewed to extend understanding of why it appeared that a significantly higher proportion of male students than female students withdraw from, or fail to complete successfully, their initial teacher training courses, especially at undergraduate level.

From the investigation, it is clear that the issues are complex and subtle: ranging from lack of male primary teacher role models, through perceived difficulties with planning and written work, to the potential for being 'mothered', this session will both explore some of the major findings and raise some challenges to those leading ITT courses to improve the recruitment and success rates of male students.

Background to the project

Whilst recruitment of males into all phases of education has received significant focus, and several pieces of research have been undertaken potentially to improve the situation, the issue of retention and success has received less attention and yet must be of equal and parallel concern. Brief earlier discussion with tutors on Primary Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses suggested that retention and success are important issues (inter alia) because:

1. there is already an image (and a reality) of a female dominated profession and views that it is somehow less than 'masculine' to want to enter such territory;

2. if those who are recruited to courses promptly fail or enter the Induction year at lower levels of competence than many of their female counterparts, this will discourage potential recruits from perceiving primary teaching as a career worth pursuing;

3. too few males completing courses and moving on into primary teaching perpetuates a female dominated profession and could further deter recruitment;

4. if males who are recruited to courses fail to complete satisfactorily, overt and covert messages can be carried forward about the potential of males to 'succeed' on primary ITT courses;

5. ITT providers who find that male students require significantly greater support within diminishing resources may be deterred from extending their recruitment drives towards all minority groups;

6. time and money spent on recruitment of males students is wasted if they are not retained on the courses;

7. female students are, in themselves, likely to perceive the primary teaching profession as a female-only domain and, consciously or sub-consciously, influence young children in considering future careers in teaching;

8. current societal concerns about the lack of appropriate male role models for young boys may or may not be proven but it seems self-evident that, if boys do not experience being taught by male teachers in the primary school, it is unlikely that they will be able to perceive themselves in that role.

Currently, the provision of male teachers for primary school teaching is at a critical stage with a prediction that less than 10% of teachers will be males by 2020 if the current decline and failure to retain continues unabated. In 1998 it was reported that 39% of girls in secondary schools consider education as an option but only 9% of boys and it appears, then, that the future provision of teachers looks set to remain biased towards schools remaining a mainly female environment (NUT 1998) particularly in the primary sector but increasingly within secondary education.

Men are consistently over-represented in wastage figures from HESA, but these figures do not indicate why this situation exists. The issues are complex and sometimes subtle and the reported project sought to investigate some of these issues. Several researchers have indicated a downward spiral of figures for male recruits to the teaching profession but the solution remains unidentified. While some studies have investigated specific aspects important to males in higher education (for example Lewis: unpublished, c.2000) a coherent picture has not yet been drawn.

It is not easy to identify the true extent of the problem of recruitment and retention of males. Yorke (1999) points out that some students who 'withdraw' are really being refused permission to continue because of poor performance or failure of some aspects of the course. Other students, who enter the statistics as 'dropping out' may, in fact, be taking time out and then returning to their training at a later date.

Several studies have identified areas of concern relating to the male student. Thornton (1999) for example, suggests that male students are more likely to withdraw from courses owing to a lack of perceived commitment. While it is further suggested that better career guidance would ensure a higher level of commitment, it is unclear how recruitment itself would be affected.

Lewis (c.2000, unpublished study) investigated non-retention of male students on one PGCE course and reported that, compared to male students who complete their courses, non-completing students tend to have less pre-course experience with children in any type of environment such as cub groups or work as classroom assistants.

The importance of males having peers during their course work or male teachers during school experience, is unclear from the research literature. Thornton (1999) found that male students want support from other males, but they did not take up the support clubs offered. Lewis (c.2000) suggested that males like to mix with other males on the course in order to reduce a feeling of isolation. The question here, then, is what strategies actually work in order to reduce the isolation felt by male students. This problem does not seem so great for school practice experiences: many males had prior expectations of entering a female environment when embarking on their school practice (Johnson et al, 1999).

During 2000, the government set targets for recruitment but, as indicated above, this is only part of the answer to gaining more men in primary schools as retention of men will remain problematic unless the reasons for withdrawal and failure are identified and solutions found. This report studies other factors that might contribute to both recruitment and retention of males.

The Research Aims

This research was planned to be conducted in three phases, with this Phase 1 research undertaken during 2000, aiming to meet the following stated purposes:

To determine an overall picture of the recruitment, retention and success rates of male primary trainees in comparison with females since the 1997/98 cohorts;

To establish institutional based views on likely reasons for retention and success rates amongst male students;

To identify obstacles to successful completion and retention amongst male trainees;

To identify 'good practice' recommendations to ITT providers and disseminate Phase 1 information.

Two further phases will, if funding is achieved, examine the views of both students and partnership teachers to validate the findings of Phase 1.

Research Design and Methodology

The research is based on a comparative study collecting both qualitative and quantitative data by means of questionnaire survey (see Appendix 1) and in-depth interview (see Appendix 2).

The Sample

All teacher training institutions within England were identified using a list obtained directly from the TTA and addresses obtained, where traceable, for inclusion in the questionnaire survey. [Two (School Centred Initial Teacher Training Schemes) SCITTS were untraceable despite stringent efforts to locate them.] A sample of 20% of the returned questionnaires was used for the interview study.

Analysis

Questionnaire data

Closed factual information was entered as written or by nominal coding. Responses to open questions were coded using a descriptive coding scheme. Questionnaire data were entered on to an EXCEL spreadsheet and analysed using SPSS. General frequencies were obtained for all variables.

Interview data

All interviews were transcribed and responses analysed question by question to identify key concepts. They were then cross-referenced and followed through systematically until categories became 'exhausted'. This provided a series of sub-headings upon which the major themes and issues are predicated.

Research tools and procedures

Questionnaires

Questionnaires were distributed to a total of 63 teacher training institutions and 17 SCITTs. Reply paid envelopes were provided and a downloadable electronic version of the questionnaires were available from the internet. Several questionnaires were sent to those institutions running more than one type of course such as the PGCE and BA(Ed). Three reminders by post and telephone yielded the return of a total of 81 completed questionnaires from 48 institutions, thus representing a 60% coursereturn rate.

Questionnaires were designed to collect statistical information on the recruitment numbers of males and females for course intakes during the period 1996 to 1999. Figures were also collected for the number of withdrawals, retakes of assessed aspects of the course, and failures. It was found necessary to collect this information as data provided in the HEFCE and HESA statistics were incomplete. Some institutions sent incomplete data stating reasons of difficulty/impossibility to access the figures, or just refusal to take part in the study owing to perceived pressure of work.

As a broad survey of current practice on recruitment and retention of males, the questionnaires contained questions enquiring about strategies for recruitment of males, for making the courses male-friendly, school based support and consequently followed up and enquired about reasons for withdrawal from the course.

Interviews

From the list of institutions from which questionnaires were returned, a sample was drawn (n=25) for in-depth interview. In effect, the slow return of questionnaires together with a limited number of respondents offering to be interviewed, led to a self-selected sample. However, this sample still covers a range of different courses, age ranges taught on courses, high/low withdrawal and completion rates compared to intake, male and female course leaders and types of institution (so called 'old' and 'new' universities).

Course leaders from these institutions were then interviewed either by telephone or, in about one-quarter of cases, via e-mail communications. Late return of many questionnaires meant that some interviews were being conducted at the busiest time of the academic year for course leaders. The use of e-mail allowed more in-depth information being collected from those course leaders who had expressed difficulty in being able to identify a fixed time of availability for interview purposes. All telephone interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. E-mail interviews had the advantage of already being in print allowing for further communication to clarify any points that were raised. Tables 4.1 and 4.2 show the representation of different types of teacher training courses in the questionnaire and interview studies.

Table 4.1 Table to show the range of types of courses covered by the study

Type of Course

Interviews

Questionnaires

Table 4.2 Table to show the age phases of the courses covered by the study.

Type of Course

Questionnaires

3-8

15

5-11

37

7-11

14

Combined/other

15

N=81

Interview Questions

The semi-structured interview schedule was designed:

to extend and deepen understanding of the issues identified for this study;

to follow up and clarify responses to the open-ended elements of the questionnaire survey;

to build on findings from previous research.;

The main headings covered by the interview include:

1. Support required and provided;

2. Course expectations;

3. Responses to course delivery and content;

4. Primary schools, placements and female-dominated contexts;

5. Equal opportunities policies and practices.

In a brief final section, the issue of the course leaders' own views were sought on their levels of success or otherwise in retaining male students and attempting to ensure their success on the course.

FINDINGS

Findings from the Questionnaires

The returned questionnaires did not provide complete information as many respondents commented that the figures were incapable of being extracted from their databases. If the retention of students generally and males in particular is to be monitored then accurate records are essential. Interview responses show that not all aspects of the retention and success issues are fully represented on the questionnaire as pointed out by some respondents. Where students move to another course, they are not perceived to be 'lost' to the institution and, therefore, they are not counted as having withdrawn. This will affect the figures in this aspect of the questionnaire responses.

Non-retention rates

Table 5.1 shows the mean number of males and females recruited to the different teacher training courses over the period, for courses starting between 1996 to 1999.

Table 5.1 Mean Percentages of Withdrawals, retakes and fails based on the recruited intake

No. Males recruited

No. Females recruited

Males withdrawal

%

Females withdrawal

%

Males retakes

%

Females retakes

%

Males fail

%

Females fail

%

The mean intake of male students on to training courses is higher for the undergraduate courses compared to the PGCE and SCITT. This is also true for the intake of female students. However, the rate of withdrawal from courses is lower for these postgraduate courses, with only 14% of recruited males withdrawing from the course compared to a quarter from the undergraduate courses. It is noteworthy that the withdrawal figures for female students is lower, with only 14% and 11% respectively withdrawing from the two undergraduate courses.

Failure rates of all students is low as would be expected given that students with difficulty are likely to be counselled out of the training and encouraged to withdraw. However, even with these low failure rates the proportion of males who fail the course is higher than that of failing females.

A similar picture is seen with the number of retakes, with the B.Ed. and PGCE causing more difficulties for male students than the other types of course. With females, the biggest problem occurs with the B.Ed.(13%). The identified problem of recruitment and retention of males is clearly evident over the period stated. When the figures are inspected for the years separately, there is no clear improvement from 1996 to 1999.

Stage of course for withdrawals.

For all courses, the majority of withdrawals of students generally is during the first year. For courses of several years duration, the number of withdrawals decreases year by year. This trend is similar for both males and females.

Strategies employed by institutions for recruitment of males:

About half of the respondents to the questionnaire described strategies they had employed to try to improve the recruitment of males to their courses. These strategies include:

Involvement in TTA initiative or similar initiatives (12)

Attendance at career fairs and open days. (7)

Provision of taster days including presence of male tutors or teacher mentors (6)

Use of male characters in publicising literature (6)

Other (5)

Use of local publicity and visits to 6 th forms (3)

Grouping of male candidates for interview (2)

Use of male interviewers (1)

Strategies for making courses 'male friendly'.

When asked if any strategies had been employed in order to make the courses 'male-friendly' one respondent asked 'What is male-friendly' while 3 said there were more pressing priorities. One respondent said they provided equal support to males and females. Specific strategies that were described included:

Grouping by sex for parts of the course;

Grouping by mixed sex for parts of the course;

Provision of male tutor support;

Provision of male orientated specialist options;

Consultation opportunities with a male student representative;

Specific placements in schools with male teachers;

Use of male role models either on the course or in placements.

School-based support

Only 6 course leaders said they provided school-based support specific to the needs of males.

These strategies included putting male students with male teachers, responding to requests for male support, close monitoring of files and documentation, general encouragement, and giving specific advice.

Arrangements to establish reasons for withdrawal

Very few variations in practice were forthcoming from this questionnaire item. The majority of institutions rely on interview or counselling sessions with the student's personal tutor. Strategies described in order of frequency of response included:

Interview/counselling with personal tutor;

Meeting with course directors/leaders;

Completion of institution documentation;

Student documentation such as letters.

FINDINGS FROM THE INTERVIEWS

The main responses to each of the main themes and issues are presented first under a number of sub-headings. Indications then follow of ways in which institutions attempt (or otherwise) to address identified challenges.

Many of the differences (and similarities) revealed between male and female students on the teacher training courses are quite subtle and generalisations are difficult, or indeed inappropriate, to make. For every male for whom 'X' applies, there are equally females in whom the same trait or characteristic is to be found - a point emphasised by over half the respondents. As one respondent expressed it: ' The men who come on to the Primary PGCE course are not at all a homogenous group'. That said, several features of males' performance and responses to courses were identified as being different from those of females and these are described herein.

The majority of responses described are representative of all courses, irrespective of level, type or phase. Where features relate to specific courses, this is indicated in brackets. Where particular aspects of 'good practice' were identified to address students' perceived needs, these are as 'Good Practice' ideas in Appendix 3.

SUPPORT REQUIRED AND PROVIDED

Twenty-one of the 25 course leaders said that they had perceived no differences in support needs between male and female trainees. However, indirect questions on this issue provided some indications during the interviews that differences did indeed exist. In general, support for all students on courses is given if or when they ask for it. As women seek advice more readily than men, then they are more likely to receive support at an early stage, whereas problems experienced by male students are picked up much later mainly through coursework, during placements or in poor attendance. This difference may account for the higher incidence of re-takes and course failures for males.

Documentation

All but three respondents (1 SCITT, 1 undergraduate, 1 post-graduate) perceived that documentation (planning, assignments, paperwork requirements and general written workload on courses) is the main problem for male students, with planning being the most significant. It was generally perceived that males demonstrate a lack of care and attention to detail vital in teacher training today.

I think it's dashing it off - not taking the care and attention that a lot of women do..

Various reasons for this were offered by the course leaders:

Males are unaware

... they don't seem to understand the purpose ... don't see the need for well-ordered files...their files are thinner.

There is an inability to recognise how much preparation is needed, so they are undermining themselves.

Maybe some of the men are just not quite sure of the level and extent of planning that's expected ...

They don't see it as important - they think 'What's all the fuss about?' so it's only when they get a formal letter that they pull out all the stops.

Males don't stretch themselves and/or lack motivation

The effect of this behaviour has negative implications in their school experiences:

We get comments from schools about males and paperwork and 'We don't want a male this time'.

Seeking help and acknowledging problems

All respondents indicated that males do not seem to seek help or acknowledge their own problems as readily as females. Differences between males and females in their approach to learning on the course were described by the course leaders. Males were perceived as hiding their real problems or not admitting to have difficulties:

Females, however, suffer from lack of self-assurance or confidence:

...female students need more reassurance than males ...

[when evaluating their own teaching] ... whereas females tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive ... men tend to say 'It was wonderful - full stop!' ...

These male and female traits cause difficulties both for the students themselves and for the course tutors who act as personal tutors. The majority of course leaders felt that few males want to admit to problems and even when males do seek help, nearly a quarter felt that this happened too late for the problems to be redressed.

[about a student having financial and personal difficulties] ... if only he'd told us sooner, we could have ensured Student Support Services were brought in on it.

Things have often gone too far by the time we know about it and then it can be too late ... the student has left the course before we can advise or do anything ...

Half of the respondents felt that males sometimes needed support to overcome what was perceived variously to be 'arrogance', 'ambition' or belief in their own ability for 'fast tracking' through the profession.

In many cases, course leaders suggested that males were right in believing in their potential for fast track career progression simply because of the very fact that they are a minority group.

They quickly note how males tend to get on in terms of promotion ...

[males like to be] the centre of attention in a female domain.

There were indications in several responses that often 'arrogance' and other associated traits amongst males, were thought to hide a range of underlying other characteristics such as 'insecurity', 'shyness', 'personality' or 'vocational urge (lacking)'. Perhaps for these, and other reasons, 3 course leaders suggested that any perceived 'over-confidence' or 'insecurity' displayed by males at interview might be interpreted negatively by interviewers and work against them in terms of admission.

Age/Maturity

Undergraduate males are perceived by all but one course leader to be less mature than undergraduate females when they start the course and greater losses are experienced on all undergraduate courses in the first year.

Just over a third of course leaders suggested that differences in the need for support has more to do with age and maturity than with the sex of the student:

Others suggest that differences between males and females in their preparation for independent lives is an important factor:

[undergraduates] ... a lot of male students are less prepared for leaving home and living independently that female students.

...some of them [undergraduates] come across as irresponsible ...they have a much greater adjustment to living on their own and managing ...

Maturity for males might be considered to be beneficial in their approach to aspects of the course, but at least three course leaders, during interview, indicated that mature male students were likely to have 'other' problems, especially financial ones which might be a major reason for failure to complete the course rather than academic reasons.

Domination of teaching groups

Around half of the interviewees indicated that whilst males are always in the minority as far as numbers are concerned, they frequently dominate teaching groups. Opinions vary as to whether men recognise they are dominating and, even if they do, whether or not they perceive it as a problem. Course leaders made the point that:

Another (female) course leader asserted:

They're very good at speaking but they don't follow it through as well in their written work!

Only two course leaders (1 male, 1 female) suggested that positive action was taken on their courses to challenge such male dominance. On both courses the issues were discussed with students in relation to the context of the classroom and whether this 'dominance' would be acceptable from primary children.

In a majority of courses, men are also over-represented proportionately on student bodies, where frequently there is reported to be a 50/50 representation:

They [the students] get around it by saying 'Oh, we want to be fair, so we want a male and a female from each group' but there might be only one male in a group!

... they often have a very central presence and will speak out.

These views are counterbalanced by comments made by three interviewees that male students tend not to like 'performing' or 'participating' in drama or role play situations. The reasons for this anomaly could only be conjecture and further investigation would be needed in order to understand this more fully.

In the research, course leaders identified various ways of resolving some of the support issues (described above). A need for the provision of specific support systems was suggested but, on the whole, the responsibility appears to be left to individual tutors in their roles as personal tutors or school supervisors to try to meet the identified needs. Overwhelmingly, course leaders described the 'personal tutor' system as paramount to identifying and tackling the support issues. On SCITT schemes, this 'personal tutor' system was usually related to a person with a combined role of school-based mentor and member of SCITT personnel who handled the whole range of students' identified problems.

Courses, especially SCITTs and PGCEs, rely heavily upon the partnership system and teacher-mentors to identify, and support, students' professional needs but still retain the more personal support capacity within their own tutor group arrangements. A majority of course leaders emphasised the problems of doing this, however, and the stresses and strains, not to mention time constraints, on tutors. One course leader had found that:

... male trainees are starting to contact the few male tutors they have more, particularly in relation to school experience. We have no hours to make this a formal arrangement..

Problems associated with school experience are beginning to be addressed by the involvement of male teachers. Two course leaders described positive steps taken to bring in male teachers to talk to male students about primary teaching, a move which they reported achieved success in making male students feel more 'comfortable' about teaching in a female-dominated context.

Just under half the course leaders suggested that All students now seem to be having more problems coping with ITT courses than in the past. The amount of student counselling is reported as having increased significantly. Where an individual student's need is perceived to be financially or psychologically based, they are referred by institutions to Student Counselling Services. Course leaders have little knowledge, however, about how many men (or women) seek help although it was agreed that women more readily admit to their problems.

...males probably do have problems [not disclosed] but they have their own networks or they don't want to come and tell their tutor about it.

Difficulties of male students are picked up mainly through weaknesses in the 'outcomes' of their work, e.g. poor assignments, poor planning, poor examination results, school placement problems or poor attendance. Thus, it seems less that practices are overtly different for men on ITT courses but more that males and females differ in their uptake of the support systems available and disparate amounts of support are offered in response to what male trainees will accept.

Given that males are viewed as reluctant to openly seek help and support from the formal structures and support systems within the course, many course leaders feel that males are best supported by their peers in self-help groups. However, women are perceived to be more 'collegial' thinking than men and, while the establishment of self-help groups is recommended to all students, women are more likely to operate within such groups. In three-quarters of the courses investigated in this study, systems had been set in place early in the training course for these self-help groups to operate.

The interviews yielded a few examples of attempts to provide male support groups (n=5). In one case the support group was called a 'forum' because, the course leader reported, the male trainees did not like to admit to the need for support. Support groups have variously faltered through lack of attendance or 'gone underground'in terms of ceasing to be viewed as an institutional process, or subsumed in sports or leisure activities such as meeting at the local pub after a course session or on Friday nights when on school placements.

Meeting the challenges associated with helping males to cope with teacher training courses has proved problematic for course leaders. Equal opportunities policies appear to be drawn upon mainly in relation to accountability and to be seen to be doing 'right' by all students. There appears to be fear and uncertainty about what can be done to help male students that keeps them within the law and framework of equal opportunities.

Course expectations

Divided views were expressed on whether males and females begin training with similar expectations of the demands of primary teaching and ITT courses. One course leader reported that evidence from their evaluations of the course suggests that

'there doesn't seem to be any difference in expectations in terms of the academic content' .

The majority of the course leaders thought their institution's interviewing procedures make very explicit what to expect: others admit that, however hard they try to set appropriate expectations, few students are realistic about the extent of the primary teaching role. Three course leaders suggested that previous life and career successes gave male students a 'natural expectation' that they would succeed and it came as a shock when they did not.

Deciding to become a teacher

Half the respondents felt that female trainees to enter the profession take a longer-term consideration of teaching as a career, while many men make their decisions much later in their education. This late decision-making appears to concern these respondents yet there is evidence that changes in career are becoming more of a norm in our society than an exception. The issue of mature trainees described earlier in this report arises again here: the sense of 'commitment' from some mature males (mentioned in the previous section) may be something which enamours them to course interview panels, as they have often taken very conscious career change decisions, such as the male student who was reported to have left an extremely well-paid profession to enter teaching because he had realised the greater benefits to society, and children, of being a teacher! Conversely, the opinion was expressed by 3 respondents that sometimes men have been encouraged to expect they will succeed in primary teaching merely because they ARE male rather than being imbued with the 'necessary qualities'. As was mentioned earlier, the over-confidence of males at interview may have a negative impact on how they are perceived by the interviewers. The interaction of effects of the sex of the student and the maturity of the student on selection at interview is not clear.

Age phase of training course

Overwhelmingly, concern was expressed that so few trainees opt to work with very young children (3-7 year olds):

They want to do a PG course not realising that they have to do the EY component - very few males have wanted to be in a nursery environment.

However, there was also a sense that the majority of males are 'better off' in Key Stage 2:

Some explanation of the reluctance of males to teach in the early years phase comes from the wariness perceived to be felt by male trainees relating to: physical contact/sexual abuse concerns, toileting accidents, safety, negative reactions from parents, the media portrayal of the roles of males, and difficulties associated with carrying out a child development study which as a close focus on one particular child.

I don't know exactly why it is - whether they just feel that these children are going to be too small and too difficult to cope with or it's 'beneath them' ...

All course leaders expressed delight when males were able to succeed in early years settings, although they also show surprise

... we currently have this amazing male in a nursery!

This highlights the stereotypical view held by many tutors that males are better suited to KS2. It remains a possibility that males who do well in nursery practice do so in spite of the tutors' attitudes and support rather than because of it.

Mature males were very occasionally emphasised as being able to cope with younger children better because of their life experiences, particularly those who have children of their own.

It is recommended that tutors are advised to reflect on their image of the nursery teacher to assess whether they might be engaging in behaviour which passes on negative messages to males about the suitability of males in the nursery teaching role.

DISCUSSION

It would appear that training institutions need to keep accurate records of male and female applicants, course participants, failures and withdrawals in order to monitor the extent of the problem of male recruitment and retention. Institutions do not appear in general to perceive the issues of retention and success as a priority despite potential financial penalties. Significant concerns over 'legalistic' aspects of equal opportunities exist within courses and what constitutes 'equality' (rather than treating everyone the same) raises a number of issues, not least of which may be that ITT courses will have to consider how they can treat students equally but in a differentiated way. Many courses have not used strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of males because course leaders fear that they could be breaking the law by employing any positive discrimination practices.

Similarly, it would seem important that educational setting for 3-5 year old children should clarify their expectations about the roles and behaviours of male teachers working with young children, as for example expectations about physical contact and family/community attitudes can deter would-be male teachers.

Early and on-going monitoring of progression on any course appears essential in identifying those students, particularly male students, who need intervention but who do not openly seek it. Similarly, strategies are needed to help males students address weaknesses in terms of level of attention and detail in planning and written assignments. One solution may be through ICT as an area of perceived strength for male students. Courses should perhaps consider timetabled study periods within the institution, at set venues, in order to encourage male students to manage their study time.

Males students' progress in school needs closely monitoring by the training institution staff in order to ensure problems are identified early. It would be helpful for school staff to have some inservice training (prior to working with students) on the importance of identifying (rather than hiding) problems experienced by male students in particular. It is also important to emphasise what is appropriate behaviour towards all students, whether male or female, but also the particular difficulties faced by male students entering a female-dominated environment.

Both ITT and school staff need to be made aware of the subconscious assumptions made about males owing to their perceived arrogance and over confidence. Students self-evaluation should be encouraged to raise awareness of how their behaviour can lead to misinterpretation. Close involvement of the student welfare services with the students might help to encourage males to seek help at an early stage rather than to wait until withdrawing from the course becomes the only option. This strategy would be particularly useful in terms of financial help and advice for the mature student, and this perhaps offers a way into exploring male "personal" aspects of survival and success.

As both males and females are perceived to have unrealistic expectations about the demands put on them during an ITT course, initiatives for pre-course opportunities (to school students and undergraduates) to experience what life is like while in training may be useful in promoting greater understanding of the profession from the teachers' perspective. Such initiatives might include shadowing opportunities, use of a video or other media presentations about student life.

The impact of male and female role models is not clear from any evidence found in the literature or from this study. Research which seeks to investigate the importance of time spent by students with male and/or female role models appears to be overdue and vital. As female tutors out-number male tutors on ITT courses (by nearly 4:1), it is difficult to achieve a balance between male and female role models in all curriculum areas within courses, which may exacerbate some of the issues.

Limitations:

The research rests wholly on the perceptions of ITT course leaders and the hard-data available from institutions. Whilst the latter represents a clear picture of the issues within responding institutions, by no means all course data was available or all course leaders views obtained, despite all being surveyed. Similarly, it would now be interesting to have the views of both male and female students and of partnership heads and teachers in order to substantiate or challenge these course leaders' perceptions.

SUMMARY

The recruitment and retention of male students remains problematic for teacher training institutions and looks set to be so for the foreseeable future. The most frequent efforts to improve the situation were started as part of government initiatives rather than from self-perpetuating solutions. While some institutions recognise the need to develop strategies to keep males on their courses, others do not perceive it to be a priority. Institutional databases are incomplete and/or inaccessible in relation to retention and success data of males and females meaning that there is little pressure to respond. In addition, many figures in relation to undergraduate courses hide the true number of losses of male trainees as those who transfer to an alternative undergraduate degree course are not included in the withdrawal statistics.

Males do not readily seek help and so difficulties associated with their progress are not picked up in the early part of the course. Identification of problems usually comes from the assessed aspects of the course. They are perceived to be weak in the level of attention and detail in planning and written assignments and tend to be either very good or very poor in their work, with few in the middle band. Perceived arrogance and over self-confidence expressed by male students are thought, by some ITT staff, to hide underlying weaknesses. This trait can be misinterpreted by school staff, interviewers at selection and female students, thus affecting males' relationships with potential sources of support.

Maturity appears to have more effect than sex on the behaviour and success of male students. These effects can be positive and/or negative and lead to specific personal support needs such as financial advice. Males tend to expect 'success' and suffer more than females when they do not achieve it, thus affecting their motivation to stay on a course. Some male students have difficulty with self-motivation and this could impact on style or approach used on the courses. On the positive side, male students appear to be motivated in their chosen specialist subjects with good attendance, which is clearly an area on which to build.

Both male and female students are said to have unrealistic expectations about the demands of ITT courses, but especially males. Prior to course commencement, males spend less time than females considering whether teaching is the career path for them. Males have poor attendance and punctuality records which affect schools' attitudes towards offering them school experience placements. In addition, course leaders and tutors have a sense of males being better suited to KS2 than to the younger age group making some placements even more problematic.

School experience periods are perceived by course leaders to be the most problematic times for many male students. Some school staff are said to overprotect male students and this 'mothering' can affect their progress and hide problems until a later part of the course. The importance of specific attachments for male students to either male or female teachers in school remains unclear and needs further investigation. Males as a minority group appear to be welcomed into all-female schools as a benefit to children but male students are seen to have different support needs in school from females and staff can react either very positively or negatively to male students. There are reported incidents of sexual harassment against male students and the feminine culture of the staffroom is thought to lead to male students avoiding that location.

So, thrive, strive or survive? - All three, it appears from this brief but thorough study, that a minority of male primary ITT students fail to thrive or survive on courses. Neither are they thought, in many cases, to strive very hard for success, although some conflicting evidence was obtained.

The area is ripe for further study, particularly in relation to seeking the perspectives of students - both male and female - and partnership schools on the issue of the retention and success of men in primary ITT.

References

Johnson, J., McKeown, E. and McEwen, A. (1999) 'Choosing Primary Teaching as a Career: The Perspectives of Male and Females in Training.' Journal of Education for Teaching. 25(1).

Lewis, P. (c.2000) 'An Enquiry into Male Wastage from Primary ITE Courses at a University College and Indicators for Success'. Unpublished paper. Canterbury: Christchurch University College.

National Union of Teachers (1998) 'Male Student Recruitment' Paper. London

Thornton, M. (1999) 'Reducing Wastage among Men Students Teachers in Primary Courses: A Male Club Approach.' Journal of Education for Teaching. 24(1).

Yorke, M. (1999) Leaving Early: Undergraduate Non-Completion in Higher Education. London: Falmer Press.

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Male students in primary ITT: a failure to thrive, strive or survive?

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Professor Janet Moyles Anglia Polytechnic University, School of Education, Rivermead Campus, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ j.moyles@apu.ac.uk and Dr. Susan Cavendish University of Leicester cav@leicester.ac.uk Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, University of Leeds, 13-15 September 2001 This paper is a Draft only: not to be quoted without authors' permission.

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Just 14 per cent of the nursery and primary teaching workforce in state-maintained schools in England is male, according to the Department for Education.

Many small primary schools have no male teachers (or even any male staff) and so from a young age many children perceive primary teaching as exclusively female. As primary schools struggle to fill teaching vacancies, now more than ever we need to seek ways to address this gender imbalance.

So why is this and how can we break the cycle? It is important to be clear that we face both a recruitment crisis and a retention crisis. Too few males apply to become primary school teachers and once they begin their teacher training, many struggle to "fit in" in their placement school, which causes them to become more prone to drop out.

Recruitment is perhaps the harder of the two issues to solve. However, if we can find a way to retain male teachers, we can begin to equalise the current gender imbalance. This, in turn, would help more men to see primary teaching as a valid career option and to address the recruitment problem.

In my role, I work closely with male teacher trainees, and I think there's a number of key issues contributing towards high drop-out rates. Male trainee teachers frequently lack a strong relationship with their mentors compared to their female counterparts, as the mentors themselves tend to be female.

In addition, men can struggle to fit in with the staffroom culture of their predominantly female colleagues. Many male trainees reported avoiding the staffroom as they felt they had little in common with other staff and the conversations they have.

Finally, male trainees also felt that the higher up the school they climbed, the stronger a teacher they were perceived to be. If they were in key stage 1 or nursery, their subject knowledge would be seen as weak. We need to address all of these issues if we hope to support males during their training and retain them in the primary setting.

Firstly, it is vitally important that we improve the relationship between male teacher trainees and their mentors. One way of achieving this is by setting male trainees up in a "community of practice" so they can support each other. A male tutor can meet them as a group in their induction period and before they go into school so they feel better prepared and supported. The tutor would then visit them on their placements so that they have consistency, challenge and support throughout their training.

Secondly, we have to recognise how vital it is to have a good, supportive staffroom culture. The more we can make staffrooms welcoming for all, the more we can encourage male teachers to go in and have some "headspace" time in a place where they can reflect with others, share and glean ideas.

Some schools are working to address this already: some headteachers are introducing regular social gatherings for every teacher after school on Fridays in the staffroom and serving them hot drinks, cakes and sandwiches to encourage them to talk to each other, to wind down and to get used to using the staffroom as a place of support and reflection.

Other staffrooms in some schools have been refurbished and set up as large open spaces with bright and welcoming interiors and with workstations around the edge, to encourage all staff to use them regularly.

Finally, we also need to combat the perception that males can only be seen as strong teachers if they swiftly rise up the ranks by focusing on the positive aspects of teaching at all levels of the system. Overall there can be a great deal of negativity in the profession and this can become self-reinforcing. The fact remains that many teachers do greatly enjoy teaching and positive messages can have a great impact.

It is important to get this point cross by highlighting positive male role models and looking at what is going well and the joys and rewards of teaching. For example, at the University of Bedfordshire, we have produced a video of some recent male primary trainee teachers, focusing on their positive experiences. The video is being used both in recruitment campaigns and also to support mentors in understanding what causes male trainees "to wobble" and what they find most supportive from a mentor.

While much more work needs to be done to address the issue of the lack of males and male role models in the UK primary school system, if we can begin to understand their experiences better, we can hopefully support them better. This will allow us to reduce the drop-out rate and transform the image of the profession, attracting more male applicants in the future.
Maria McArdle is the PCGE primary co-ordinator and a senior lecturer in maths education at the University of Bedfordshire.

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So you want to get more men into primary teaching?

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Just 14 per cent of the nursery and primary teaching workforce in state-maintained schools in England is male, according to the Department for Education. Many small primary schools have no male teachers (or even any male staff) and so from a young age many children perceive primary teaching as exclusively female.

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Male primary teachers have spoken of their fear of being perceived as suspicious for working with young children and the lack of male role models for boys in schools.

Teachers, unions and charities are now urging young men to see through the traditional perception of primary school teachers and sign up to teach younger children.

Ex-teacher Julian Stanley, CEO of Education Support Partnership, a charity providing wellbeing support to education staff, said: "The concern of safeguarding is huge for men - it's about whether you can work with children and be viewed with suspicion.

"We have to stick to careful rules but it doesn't exclude you from creating strong relationships we want a balance still."

The number of male primary school teachers remains at an all time low, with just 15 percent of nursery and primary school teachers in England being male, according to the latest figures.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union blamed sexism.

She said: "Men are put off by the idea that they're supposedly not meant to work in jobs involving children, which is old-fashioned thinking we need to move beyond.

"Not everyone has what it takes to be a great primary teacher, but whether you can do it isn't to do with whether you're male or female."

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Male teachers ruling out primary school jobs because they fear being viewed with suspicion

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Male primary teachers have spoken of their fear of being perceived as suspicious for working with young children and the lack of male role models for boys in schools. Teachers, unions and charities are now urging young men to see through the traditional perception of primary school teachers and sign up to teach younger children.

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Skip to main content

1. Main facts and figures

in 2018, 85.9% of all teachers in state-funded schools in England were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)

by comparison, 78.5% of the working age population was White British at the time of the 2011 Census

3.9% of teachers were from the White Other ethnic group, the second highest percentage after the White British group

92.9% of headteachers were White British

three-quarters of teachers were women, and there were more female than male teachers in every ethnic group

Things you need to know

There were around 500,000 teachers in state-funded schools in England in 2018, including classroom teachers, headteachers, and deputy and assistant heads. The ethnicity was known for around 464,700 (93%) of them.

The numbers shown here are based on a headcount of the total number of teachers in England whose ethnicity was known, regardless of whether they worked part time or full time.

When part-time teaching is taken into account, there were the equivalent of 453,400 full-time teachers in 2018. Full-time equivalent numbers can be found in the tables included in the school workforce in England statistical release.

What the data measures

This data measures the number of school teachers (including headteachers) in state-funded schools in England. Data is broken down by ethnicity, gender and grade.

The data includes teachers employed both directly by the school and centrally by the local authority in all state-funded schools. These include:

nursery, primary, secondary and special schools run by local authorities

academies

free schools

The data doesn't include the following individuals:

teaching assistants

occasional teachers (on contracts of less than one month)

teachers for whom ethnicity is not known (accounting for 7.1% of teachers in 2018)

The data doesn't include the following types of school:

independent schools

sixth form colleges

further education establishments

The data was collected from schools and local authorities in November 2018 as part of the annual school workforce census.

The ethnic categories used in this data

The 16 ethnic categories used in this data are those listed in the 2001 Census. The categories are broadly the same as the ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census, except that:

the 2001 Census categorised Chinese people within 'Other ethnic group'

the 2001 Census did not list Gypsy and Irish Travellers or Arab people

Working age population statistics use the categories from the 2011 Census, which include the Arab and White Gypsy and Irish Traveller groups. The working age population percentages for Arab and White Gypsy and Irish Traveller people have been included in the 'Any Other ethnic group' percentage total, to make the charts more consistent.

Summary

This data shows that:

in 2018, 85.9% of all teachers in state-funded schools in England were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)

by comparison, 78.5% of the working age population was White British at the time of the 2011 Census

3.9% of teachers were from the White Other ethnic group and 1.9% were from the Indian ethnic group - by comparison, 5.6% of the working age population was from the White Other group, and 3.0% was from the Indian ethnic group

White Irish people made up 1.6% of teachers, and 1.0% of the working age population

Summary

This data shows that:

in 2018, around three-quarters of school teachers were women

in every ethnic group, there were more female than male teachers

among both men and women, 85.9% of teachers were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)

men from the White Other ethnic group made up 3.3% of male teachers, and White Irish men made up 1.9% (the next highest percentages)

women from the White Other ethnic group made up 4.0% of female teachers, and women from the Indian ethnic group made up 2.0% (the next highest percentages)

Summary

In 2018, there were around 428,100 classroom teachers, 49,500 deputy or assistant headteachers and 22,400 headteachers.

This data shows that:

White British people accounted for 92.9% of headteachers, 89.7% of deputy or assistant headteachers and 85.1% of classroom teachers (out of those whose ethnicity was known)

0.1% of classroom teachers were Mixed White and Black African, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this role

0.1% of deputy and assistant headteachers were from the Mixed White and Black African, and Chinese ethnic groups, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this role

White Irish was the only other ethnic group (as well as White British) with a higher percentage of headteachers (1.8%) than deputy or assistant head teachers (1.7%) or classroom teachers (1.5%)

Summary

In 2018, there were around 250,000 nursery and primary school teachers, 219,300 secondary school teachers, 25,700 special school teachers and 5,000 teachers who were centrally employed by the local authority.

This data shows that:

88.7% of nursery and primary school teachers were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)

White British people made up 82.6% of secondary school teachers, 86.2% of special school teachers, and 90.2% of those employed by the local authority

teachers from the White Other group were the next largest group in all types of school, making up 2.9% of nursery and primary school teachers, 4.8% of secondary school teachers, 5.4% of special school teachers, and 4.0% of centrally employed teachers

in every type of school, teachers were least likely to be from the Chinese or Mixed White and Black African ethnic groups

Summary

This data shows that:

there were around 22,400 headteachers in 2018, and over two-thirds of those (around 15,000) were women

97.1% of male headteachers were White (including White ethnic minorities), and 96.2% of female headteachers were White

7. Methodology

The data shown here is based on administrative data collected from schools and local authorities in November 2018 as part of the annual school workforce census.

The census collects detailed information on teachers, teaching assistants and other non-classroom based school support staff.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Estimates based on fewer than 50 teachers have not been included. This is to ensure that only reliable findings are shown.

Rounding

Total numbers of teachers in each ethnic group are rounded to the nearest 100. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Quality and methodology information

8. Data sources

Source

School workforce in England: November 2018

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

School workforce data is used to monitor the effectiveness and diversity of staff in schools, and informs policies on pay.

It's also used by other government departments, local authorities, external agencies and educational researchers.

9. Download the data

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Skip to main content in 2018, 85.9% of all teachers in state-funded schools in England were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known) by comparison, 78.5% of the working age population was White British at the time of the 2011 Census 3.9% of teachers were from the White

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Look at the gender equality section.

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PERSPECTIVES OF MALE PRIMARY TEACHERS IN ENGLISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS

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Conceptualising the value of male practitioners in early childhood education and care gender balance or gender flexibility

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How can an increase in male practitioners benefit childcare settings?

There are currently many local and national concerns regarding boys' levels of academic achievement in comparison to the achievement of girls across the education system. In a bid to narrow, and eventually close, the 'gender attainment gap' many local authorities are calling for more men to work within the early years sector.

In recent years, it has become widely more recognised and accepted that male practitioners and Early Years Teachers are present in nurseries and pre-schools across the UK, yet with 98% of the childcare workforce occupied by female practitioners, there is still a way to go in changing the gender balance of this career path.

Careers in early years are often considered to be a 'care job', where staff play with and look after children - a role socially viewed as ideal for a female staff member due to their caring nature and maternal instinct. Educational careers considered socially acceptable for men are more focused on teaching (particularly secondary), with a drive to develop to become a head teacher.

With an increasing focus on the quality of teaching within the early years, how can an increase in male practitioners support this, and ultimately the closing of the 'gender gap'?

Children can benefit from the different experiences and caring styles men bring to the profession - this can impact on reducing the levels of challenging behaviour.

A diverse workforce provides children with a more accurate reflection of the gender mix of their community and the world around them.

Men bring more play, active movement, entertainment and 'rough and tumble' play to the way they interact with their own children and this can be brought into the way they interact with children within their time in early years.

Nurseries and pre-schools, in many cases, are accustomed to working with mothers over fathers. Many women feel more comfortable working and communicating with other women and as such fathers may often miss out on information or feeling included in their child's time in early years. A male figure within the nursery or pre-school will support fathers in their involvement and understanding.

In a society where there are increasing numbers of single parent households, many children may not have a male figure in their lives, male early years practitioners can provide the experience of a positive male role model.

There is a possibility of gender issues within a workplace, as such, male practitioners can challenge the stereotype in relation to toys and activities.

A career in early years can be just as rewarding for males as it can for their female counterparts. Higher levels of qualification and progression opportunities are elements that are attractive to both genders, but what is it that brings male practitioners to the early years?

Nursery Manager Andrew Baker discusses how he came to his early years career almost by chance and the reactions he received from the children, staff and parents as he began his early years journey:

" I come from a very large family where my mum is youngest of 6 and my dad oldest of 6 so there is a lot of families and at the time when I left school there was a lot of children within my family and I was always the older cousin that was as my mother said you're good with children'... My next door neighbour was a tutor at a training centre, and with the support from my family, I went along to see what it was like
The children's response to seeing a male within nursery was unbelievable, they loved to see a father like figure you had preschool wanting to play football only with me, 'daddy's girls' settling with myself and nobody else, but still to this day some of the younger babies will cry if they see me as they are so used to spending time with females. With staff, I think being a male within a group of women certainly had its benefits, I would get treated differently as I would be let off if I didn't do something or, when I was younger, I would play on the fact (he's male he can't do two things at once). One of the strangest instances I had was recently at a conference where I was talking to two managers who really could not believe that I was male and a manager of as nursery. The one thing that stuck in my mind was when they said to me "what do your staff do if you tell them to do something?" They couldn't believe that a team of females would take any direction from a male manager. Some parents now are still amazed to see a male in childcare and will openly ask me why I work with children, but they love to see that father figure within the setting they are sometimes amazed but welcome it with open arms. But back again when I first started some parents asked for me not to be left alone with their child. For me not to do their nappy, asked if they could change keyworker. It was rare but it happened to me on more than a couple of occasions. In these matters, careful support and sensitivity are essential, both for the parent and the practitioner."
Rob Gilbert, a Qualified Early Years Educator began his early years career working in the kitchen of a nursery but identifies how he 'hasn't looked back' since he made the switch to working directly with the children:

" I was looking for more sociable working hours e.g. Monday to Friday daytime, which is rare in catering and the nursery seemed like an interesting environment to work in after having already worked in a school kitchen. I surprised myself how much I enjoyed working with the under 5s and even taking the food around the rooms. I began to engage with the children and found myself enjoying it. I then started doing some cover work in the rooms when staffing was tight and I wasn't needed in the kitchen and found that I enjoyed it more than my kitchen job and found it much more rewarding, so I made the switch and haven't looked back since.
Parents, children and staff responded positively. I was a face they recognised and we had other male practitioners working at the setting so it wasn't too unusual. Comments from the parents were along the lines of that they were glad of having a male influence on their child's care and development."
When asked what keeps them going to their nursery every day, both Andrew and Rob reference the children and how much of a privilege it is to be a part of the learning and development and setting their foundations for future learning.

It is clear to see that both men and women working in education at all levels share the same invested interest in ensuring that the children in their care make the best possible progress and have the best start in life, whilst their approaches, qualities and methodologies may have differences, their priority remains the same.

The views of parents and other staff members within the sector have developed over the years and it can be seen from the views of both Andrew and Rob that they are not only accepted by their colleagues, the children and their parents, but they are seen as a rare benefit to the setting.

A workforce that promotes a balance of male and female practitioners will provide children with the widest range of experiences, skills and opportunities that will only benefit their learning and development during their time in early years and see the gaps in children's attainment begin to narrow and rapidly close.

"Rob and Andrew are just some of the male practitioners Busy Bees are proud to have within their staff teams. Featured in the pictures are Rob from Busy Bees at Leeds Guiseley and Andrew from Tunbridge Wells Nursery and Montessori Pre-School."

Author Bio:

My name is Danny Lydon, I am a Childcare and Curriculum Advisor for Busy Bees Day Nurseries, and have worked for the company for over 8 years.

My role is to support Nursery Managers and their teams in developing their teaching practices to secure the best learning and development outcomes for the children in their care. I have progressed within Busy Bees where I commenced my career as an Early Years Practitioner working within a nursery team securing Outstanding Ofsted status while I was in my role as Room Manager. I progressed into the Childcare Team in 2012 and this is just one example of the career development opportunities afforded to me through working within a large Childcare organisation committed to offering children the very best start in life.
As a man in Childcare, this article is of particular relevance to me and to the sector at this time. During my professional career I have experienced similar challenges to those raised by Andrew and Rob, however, such a rewarding profession ensures that the benefits of working within Early years Education far outweigh the challenges presented. Busy Bees are fully committed to supporting and developing their practitioners, male or female, and here everyone is nurtured to achieve their potential and lead the sector to create the best learning environment for all involved. The future is bright for Early years Education and we should be proud to be men working in the sector.

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The influence of male practitioners in childcare settings

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There are currently many local and national concerns regarding boys' levels of academic achievement in comparison to the achievement of girls across the education system. In a bid to narrow, and eventually close, the 'gender attainment gap' many local authorities are calling for more men to work within the early years sector.