Class Participation
There’s a perceived problem in NSW schools: too few male teachers. A federal government proposal is being floated to amend the sex discrimination laws to provide “men only” scholarships to encourage more men to become teachers. Now that I’m working in the educational system myself, I get to have an opinion. Male role models can be few and far between for kids, and the schools may be a good place to start in providing access to exemplary men. Certainly, given the state of sports, with S(ex)MS cricketers, let alone the allegations presently under investigation in rugby, the behavioral ideals we’d instil in our children are unlikely to be found on the playing field these days. Politics doesn’t always offer the best examples either, but I don’t think unlevelling the playing field in education is going to help change that. The shadow minister for education, Jenny Macklin, is right that “the real barriers to men becoming teachers and staying in our schools are pay, career structure and status,” and giving out scholarships doesn’t change any of this. It may encourage a few more men to elect to pursue an education degree, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into more men at the front of the classroom. The educational system needs to be perceived as a talent pool, but more usually is seen as a dead end for dead-enders. It isn’t, any more than a liberal arts degree isn’t an education that provides skills applicable in business. If teachers are paid what they’re worth, that would help improve their perceived status in the community. I've considered this as a course of action for myself, at least to provide a place to go if my career stalls again, and the sad truth is that I can't afford it. I don't think I'd like it as a career either, or I'd have gone that way twenty years ago. But who says this is such a problem anyway?