βοοκ

1. As it currently stands, less than 13% of the UK’s primary school teachers are
male. A lot of this is down to the fact that primary teaching continues to be
seen as a job only suitable for women. “Feminine” 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 – who possess such qualities.
So here lies part of the problem. While women have long been rightly
told that they can be what they want to be – that they can enter into
traditional “men’s work” – and to not let their gender prevent them
from doing so, we have not seen the same push for men. Indeed,
men who do 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.
This almost total absence of male teachers in many UK primary
schools has led to the suggestion that girls continue to outperform
boys in the classroom because of the “feminisation” of the teaching
profession – which has provided boys with too few male role
models.
It has also been suggested that more men are needed in the classroom to
enforce “tougher” discipline, with women stereotyped as having a more
“liberal” style when it comes to classroom management. But recent
research actually shows that women also use “tough” discipline, just like men.
Talk the talk
Although previous research has examined “teaching” from a gender
perspective, male teachers’ linguistic behaviour – how they interact with the
children they teach – remains largely ignored. And with this in mind, I
have recently conducted research into three London Primary schools –
looking at how male and female primary school teachers actually interact with
their students in the classroom.
Collecting data from both male and female teachers across several days of
teaching, it was shown that both men and women use “masculine” strategies
to carry out classroom management. This includes the use of direct orders and
strict discipline.
As it currently stands, less than 13% of the UK’s primary school teachers are
male. A lot of this is down to the fact that primary teaching continues to be
seen as a job only suitable for women. “Feminine” 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 – who possess such qualities.
So here lies part of the problem. While women have long been rightly
told that they can be what they want to be – that they can enter into
traditional “men’s work” – and to not let their gender prevent them
from doing so, we have not seen the same push for men. Indeed,
men who do 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.

2. This almost total absence of male teachers in many UK primary
schools has led to the suggestion that girls continue to outperform
boys in the classroom because of the “feminisation” of the teaching
profession – which has provided boys with too few male role
models.
It has also been suggested that more men are needed in the classroom to
enforce “tougher” discipline, with women stereotyped as having a more
“liberal” style when it comes to classroom management. But recent
research actually shows that women also use “tough” discipline, just like men.
Talk the talk
Although previous research has examined “teaching” from a gender
perspective, male teachers’ linguistic behaviour – how they interact with the
children they teach – remains largely ignored. And with this in mind, I
have recently conducted research into three London Primary schools –
looking at how male and female primary school teachers actually interact with
their students in the classroom.
Collecting data from both male and female teachers across several days of
teaching, it was shown that both men and women use “masculine” strategies
to carry out classroom management. This includes the use of direct orders and
strict discipline.