Inviting Men into Early Childhood Education

Inviting Men into Early Childhood Education - Scholarship Scheme a First for NZ

It will not be rare to see men in early childhood teaching and childcare roles if a new initiative by NZ’s national early childhood network, ChildForum, sparks mens' interest.

The proportion of men to women working in early childhood education was higher 20 years ago than it is today. Only 2% of early childhood educators are men, compared with a high of 2.3% in 1993 and a low of just 1% in recent years.

While there are many equal employment initiatives aimed at getting women into traditionally male dominated jobs, the same emphasis does not appear to have been placed on getting men into jobs like early childhood education traditionally seen as being for women.

ChildForum’s chief researcher Dr Sarah Farquhar said it was time to try something different to bring men into early childcare and teaching and address this very serious issue for children’s care and early education.

“There are some remarkable initiatives in other countries to raise the level of male participation in teaching but gender diversity just hasn’t got onto the policy agenda here in NZ yet,” said Dr Farquhar, who represented NZ at an international conference on Men in ECE in Berlin last year.

“We see early childhood education as providing an important foundation for children’s learning, future prospects and the success of New Zealand society and yet we continue to fail to role model gender diversity and include men in children’s care and early education.”

Under the new initiative, men considering a career in early childhood education and accepted into training would be awarded an ‘invitation’ grant or a training scholarship. In addition, ChildForum is offering a gift membership to men under the scheme giving them access to information, research, and resources online to assist them in their first year of study.

The initiative is designed to show men they are wanted and valued in the early childhood education sector and that it is a possible job choice for men.

A leading training provider the NZ College of Early Childhood Education has already agreed to support the initiative and, through ChildForum, is offering a minimum of 10 scholarships for men accepted into its August intake for the Diploma of Teaching (ECE) field-based teacher education programme. The scholarships are worth $4,450 each.

Adam Buckingham, president of EC Menz, a group for men working in ECE, said the initiative is a welcome one.

“EC Menz has lobbied for initiatives to increase numbers of men teaching in early childhood education, so this is great news,” he said. “It is a great step to move towards gender diversity in early childhood education. This will benefit children. As more men work in the sector, more children can experience male teachers working alongside women.”

A national survey of opinion in the early childhood sector conducted by ChildForum last year showed there was enthusiasm for more men to be involved in early childhood teaching. The survey revealed that most considered this would benefit children’s learning and social development, raise quality within the sector in various ways including improving staff dynamics by having a mixed gender team, and help Dads feel more comfortable about staying with their child and participating in the programme.

Dr Farquhar said it was also important to encourage men to undertake training because trained staff are more likely to stay in the profession and develop further.

Early childhood education services, organisations, teacher education providers and individuals keen to show their support through sponsorship of a male student teacher or by providing training scholarships are asked to register with ChildForum at admin@childforum.com or go online to www.childforum.com for further information. Interested men can apply anytime to ChildForum and scholarships and invitation grants will be awarded to eligible applicants as sponsors come forward.

ENDS

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