{"id":13453,"date":"2017-02-15T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T17:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=13453"},"modified":"2017-03-01T09:28:27","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T17:28:27","slug":"where-are-the-men-the-ongoing-gender-problem-in-early-childhood-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2017\/02\/15\/where-are-the-men-the-ongoing-gender-problem-in-early-childhood-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are the men?: The ongoing gender problem in early childhood education"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s this idea that something is inherently wrong with a man who wants to work with children. But to work with children, a male in early childhood education (ECE) must accept that he will be making less income and know that he will be working in a field that isn\u2019t viewed as respectable by some. While he will be valuable in his field, society often sees the role of an early childhood educator as unnecessary. There\u2019s no doubt: his skills and abilities will be undervalued.<\/p>\n

Considering the patriarchal society we live in, it\u2019s a bit hard to believe that a male would need to break into a predominantly female field. But that\u2019s exactly what men have been doing. Registered dental assistants, nurses, and early childhood educators are just three examples of careers that are still considered \u201cwomen\u2019s work\u201d despite a gradual increase in the number of men joining their ranks.<\/p>\n

Our society being what it is, men bring credibility with them. And that means jobs like ECE aren\u2019t \u201cwomen\u2019s work\u201d at all; they\u2019re respectable career choices. With talk of unions, a demand for an increase in wages, and a more rough-and-tumble style of play, men are changing the face of while keeping it what it always was\u2014nurturing.<\/p>\n

But if men in ECE are so important, where are they?<\/p>\n

GETTING PAST GENDER NORMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDadthusiasm\u201d may not be a widely used word\u2014and it\u2019s definitely a made-up word\u2014but the men who exude dadthusiasm genuinely love being around their kids. These positive male role models are unafraid to show off pictures of their kids, tell stories, and just generally gush. They rush home to support sick partners or children and take an equal part in raising their kids. So why is it so hard to believe that there are men out there who would like working with children?<\/p>\n

Camosun College Social Science chair Daniel Reeve says that he associates the primary values of ECE with children having a balanced\u2014and varied\u2014perspective on what it is to be nurtured and cared for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s a fair bit of research that suggests that children need to see caregivers who identify as male or female who are nurturing and mothering,\u201d says Reeve. \u201cAnd it\u2019s especially important for children to see typically male characters as nurturing and loving, because that has long-term benefits for the children. I think it\u2019s important, in terms of socialization, for children to see adults\u2014of whatever gender identification\u2014as caring, nurturing, loving, playful. You know, whatever quality you need for children to be raised in a healthy way. Not just one gender-identified group, but from a variety of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our February 15, 2017 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Local early childhood educator Steph Butler, who is a recent graduate of Camosun\u2019s Early Learning and Care (ELC) program, says that even though there are advocates for men in ECE, there are a lot of reasons why men would shy away from the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked to other male ECEs,\u201d says Butler. \u201cNot that I knew them\u2014it\u2019s just because, over the years, Camosun students have brought up the subject of gender in the field of ECE, and there are three or four of us that can always come in and out, and I\u2019ve been a staple. I\u2019ve got their viewpoints of why there\u2019s just so few. One of the things is it\u2019s never really an option. No one really goes, \u2018Oh, yeah\u2014you can be an early childhood educator.\u2019 I remember when I was younger and I did career and personal planning, it never came up. The things I got were police officer, janitor, and teacher. But nowhere in there was early childhood educator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butler says that even though most of the men he\u2019s talked to over the years love kids, few of them considered becoming an early childhood educator.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my friends that are dads love their children,\u201d he says, \u201cand, literally, were like, \u2018Yeah, given the choice, I would take pat leave and let my wife go to work, so I could hang out with my son or daughter.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditional gender roles teach children different things. Girls are taught to be nurturing, submissive, and quiet. Boys are taught that they are entitled to what they want\u2014and to hide that they have any emotional capacity past anger. So is it impossible for men to be nurturing, caring, and loving? Reeve sure hopes not.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think not only is it totally possible, it\u2019s vital and extremely important that children are raised by men or women or whatever their gender identity who demonstrate a variety of characteristics,\u201d says Reeve. \u201cI\u2019m not so quick to identify characteristics with gender, and I\u2019m not quick to replicate those in my children. It\u2019s important for young children to have experiences with men and women in a variety of emotional capacities. It\u2019s important, especially I think for young boys, to have the capacity and the environment to express a wide array of characteristics that maybe traditionally were associated with being \u2018girlish,\u2019 but that construct is not meaningful anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeve says that it\u2019s important to liberate our kids from the gender constructs that we\u2019ve made as a society, and he hopes that with men entering ECE we\u2019ll become more aware of some of those constructs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve made progress in allowing women to play hockey. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ve made as much progress allowing boys to experience activities that were traditionally gendered,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I\u2019m trying to avoid saying is, \u2018Yes, you need men in there so they can teach these kids to be rough-and-tumble.\u2019 You do, but that\u2019s not the only quality that men can and should bring to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

LACK OF DIVERSITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

As it stands now, diversity in ELC isn\u2019t the norm. Camosun College offers priority seating for those with indigenous ancestry and teaches students to be inclusive, but the industry continues to be filled with white females.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really want to be inclusive,\u201d says Butler. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018You need to be inclusive,\u2019 and they teach you how to be inclusive. But I remember sitting there and being like, \u2018Our program in and of itself is not inclusive. There\u2019s only one male here in the program. There are no male teachers, and there are not a lot of teachers of colour represented in the faculty in this program. This is a program run by all females, all white, and all of them [from a] middle-aged demographic.\u2019 But the program itself was teaching how to be inclusive; I got my specialization in inclusive care. It did teach inclusion, it just didn\u2019t practice what it preached. At the same time, it probably couldn\u2019t. There are just so few male ECEs that there probably weren\u2019t enough male ECEs who then went back to school, got their master\u2019s, and were able to teach at Camosun, to be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eryn Krieger is a second-year ELC student; in his first year in the program, two male ECEs spoke with his class. Krieger is hopeful that times are changing, but he says that the lack of men interested in joining ECE is disheartening; he, for example, is the only male in his program.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, myself, I haven\u2019t had any experiences with younger students that were interested, or younger men that are interested in joining the program,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cI\u2019ve only met people who have already graduated. I think it\u2019s kind of a commentary. Not all of my friends are necessarily your stereotypical males; I think a lot of them would be perfectly suited to the job and would make great educators, but I think there\u2019s such a huge economic stress on them, and a lot of social stigma and stereotypes that they probably don\u2019t feel comfortable in confronting and challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krieger says that ECE is not something that very many males are encouraged to look at when trying to figure out a career, which he says is a social problem. He feels there are many benefits to males being in ECE.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrime rates, recidivism rates, just how it would affect society if we did have positive male role models for children\u2014I think it could change a lot,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I think a lot of countries in the world already know that, and that\u2019s why they do spend a lot of their money on early childhood programs and making sure they\u2019re quality programs. They know there are economic benefits to it, there are social benefits to it, there are cultural benefits to it. There\u2019s no reason that you wouldn\u2019t want to invest in that. I can\u2019t think of a reason not to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camosun ELC program leader Enid Elliot agrees that there are benefits to having men in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor children, it\u2019s wonderful to have men working with them, partly because it\u2019s just wonderful to have a different kind of energy,\u201d says Elliot, \u201cand I think we could probably talk about all the different issues around gender roles and things like that. But as it is now, children need to have a diversity of relationships, and I think men can offer perhaps a different type of relationship, or a different perspective on the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliot says that she doesn\u2019t think people understand how difficult it is to be a good early childhood educator, and that the lack of understanding contributes to a lack of respect for the line of work, as well as the low wages early childhood educators get paid. She says that she wishes she could take people to well-run programs and show how an early childhood educator has to be thoughtful, flexible, creative, and energetic\u2026 and also how it\u2019s not just women who can do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people think it\u2019s babysitting,\u201d says Elliot, \u201cwhich is really, I think, a dismissal of children and their amazing abilities and their intelligence. To just assume that anybody can do this job, and that somehow it\u2019s also innate in women that they can do it, as opposed to men? I\u2019ve been doing this over 40 years, and I find it discouraging at times that people would assume that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSOMETHING MUST BE WRONG WITH HIM.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

One big obstacle stopping men from wanting to become early childhood educators is the wages. The lower pay for what has historically been women\u2019s work means that men are less likely to sign up for the job. Elliot says that might change if the wages go up a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, they shouldn\u2019t be low for women, either,\u201d says Elliot, \u201cbut I think maybe women are more used to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliot also points to the aforementioned stereotype that if a man enters this line of work, his motives should be questioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s so prevalent now, but I think maybe in our society, we have a bit of suspicion of men who might want to work with young children, and we don\u2019t want them working with babies and toddlers and there\u2019s a worry about that, although we have a couple of wonderful men in child care who have worked with infants and toddlers. But on the whole, I think there are probably social and economic factors that work against men in our field. The perception is, \u2018What is he doing, working with children? Something must be wrong with him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering that the first five years of a child\u2019s life are fundamentally important in the development of a child\u2019s brain and future abilities, having a diverse group of people for children to look up to\u2014and relate to\u2014is important. When asked what he gets out of working with younger kids, Krieger says that although it sounds cheesy, it\u2019s the joy of learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children are always pointing stuff out to me that I had no clue about,\u201d says Krieger, \u201cjust things that they\u2019re passionate about\u2014say, dinosaurs, or different types of trucks, like a cement mixer and how that works\u2014stuff that I don\u2019t even think about, every day, that they\u2019re so passionate about. They really just remind me how to look at the world with curiosity, and the love for learning that they naturally have, which I think is what we need to cultivate, especially as educators. I think it\u2019s just helping them figure out what they\u2019re passionate about and finding out how you can extend that for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The role of an early childhood educator is vital, and it\u2019s encouraging to see men slowly entering the field. Early childhood educators work closely enough with children to spot behavioural challenges and learning difficulties. An increase in the number of men in ECE means that children might get the opportunity to test their physical capabilities a little more often, and it gives men someone to talk to. It can help break down gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles. It can show the children of today that men can be sensitive and that work doesn\u2019t have to be so segregated. And it can give men the chance to see the world through the eyes of a child\u2014a chance that women have long had as early childhood educators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s this idea that something is inherently wrong with a man who wants to work with children. But to work with children, a male in early childhood education (ECE) must accept that he will be making less income and know that he will be working in a field that isn\u2019t viewed as respectable by some. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-february-15-2017"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13454,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13453\/revisions\/13454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}