Posted on 10/20/2007 5:59:25 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
It takes a big man to teach small children.
At 6 feet 5 inches tall, Josh Reineking towers over his kindergarten students at Stephens Elementary School, but it's actually his large heart and patient, steady manner that keep his lively charges learning, and in line.
It doesn't hurt that he finds it easy to laugh, and thinks on his feet. Oh, and he also doesn't mind folding up like a Swiss Army knife to fit in a kindergarten-size chair.
"My friends, my friends. Hands up for a message," Reineking says quietly and firmly as his class of 5-year-olds begin squirming and shoving shortly before recess.
Fourteen pairs of arms shoot up, and hands are folded above little heads. The early symptoms of an imminent scuffle disappear as all eyes are on Mr. Reineking, waiting for instructions.
"OK, you can begin to line up at the door. Brooke, I think your jacket's under the table. Dee'aijah, good job at being friends with Lenard today. I like to see that. And, my friends, look at how Likhith has cleaned everything up around up his table. Good job, Peter, staying in your space and lining up," he said.
Reineking has a reputation as a highly successful young teacher, but as a male elementary classroom teacher he is in a shrinking minority, both in the Madison district and throughout the nation.
That's a loss both to students and to school districts, many observers believe.
Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, said in a recent phone interview that male teachers who provide a good role model have never been more important with increasing numbers of students coming from single-parent homes. But the numbers of those male teachers are at a 40-year low.
Teacher, role model
Bob Arnold is a veteran teacher who grew up on Madison's east side. As a young man he ran his father's bar, Arnold's Breeze Inn on East Washington Avenue, and went back to school in his early 30s when a friend in education said she thought he'd make a wonderful teacher.
He has spent his entire career at Lowell Elementary, moving from third grade to second grade to first grade.
"It's such a crucial year," he explained.
Arnold said it's important to be a good male role model, but he focuses first on being a good teacher.
"They need someone to look up to, someone who can teach them and nurture them at the same time," he said.
He agrees that there may be more students today from single-parent families who may not have a lot of men in their lives, but he thinks there are other issues that have had a more profound impact on the classroom.
"These days I think more kids have deeper problems than they used to have. There are more mental health issues. The public just doesn't know what these kids have gone through from birth," he said. "But then again, you see kids who are so resilient, so hopeful."
A 40-year low
According to NEA data, the ratio of men to women in teaching has been steadily dropping over the last two decades. Recent NEA research shows that just 24.9 percent of the nation's 3 million teachers are now men, and the percentage of men teaching at the elementary level is now about 9 percent, compared to an all-time high of 18 percent in 1981.
Nationally, even at the secondary school level, the ratio of men to women is dropping, and has fallen to its lowest level ever or about 35 percent of the total number of middle and high school teachers.
Figures from the Wisconsin Education Association Council tend to reinforce those figures, with the total number of male teachers at about 26 percent in 2003, compared to 42 percent in 1986.
A count of male classroom teachers in a recent Madison school staff directory suggests that just under 9 percent of the classroom teachers at Madison's 31 elementary schools are men.
Weaver said that the NEA is working to identify, recognize, recruit and retain more male teachers, with an emphasis on elementary and minority teachers.
"We want to get more qualified men into the profession, and keep them in the profession," he said, but admitted that it can be a tough sell.
He said that there are probably many reasons for the drop in the number of male teachers, but that chief among them is a social climate that devalues the work of teachers. That manifests itself in wages that haven't kept pace with other jobs requiring professional degrees and "a sense that a teacher's salary can't support a family."
A money factor
In Madison, a teacher starting out with a bachelor's degree will make $32,568, while he or she will make a starting salary of $35,584 with a master's degree, Bob Nadler, head of human resources for the Madison district, said.
According to the NEA, it's no coincidence that states with the highest salaries tend to have the highest proportion of male teachers, and states like Mississippi, which ranks 49th out of 50 states for its teacher pay, has the lowest percentage of men in the profession.
But it's not just money that puts a damper on men going into elementary education: Teaching grade school students has traditionally been seen as women's work.
"Oh, yeah. I knew it was not going to be many guys," Reineking said as he recalled beginning his University of Wisconsin School of Education primary grade education certification program.
"But it really hit me when I went into my first class and looked around. So many girls," he said with a laugh.
John Burkholder, principal at Midvale Elementary in Madison, graduated with a degree in elementary education in 1984. At his first school in the Los Angeles area, he was one of two men on the elementary school staff. The other man was a custodian, and a huge Denver Broncos fan.
"I had always been interested in hockey, and had played and coached hockey so football wasn't really my thing. But that year I spent an awful lot of time talking about the Broncos," Burkholder recalled.
He said it could be lonely when he went into the teachers' lounge and didn't have a lot of common ground outside of school with his all female colleagues.
"Sometimes I'd ask, 'How 'bout those Oilers?'" He admitted it wasn't much of a conversation starter.
"Being one of two men in the building, I did basically have a private restroom. That was a plus," he laughed.
Burkholder says he has always believed that teaching is the best job in the world for the right person.
"Helping turn kids on to learning is an amazing thing," he said. "Don't get me wrong. I love being a principal, too. But if the money were equal, I would certainly still be teaching."
Career nurturing
John Matthews, executive director of Madison Teachers Inc., Madison's teachers union, noted that over 30 years ago he went to bat for a male teacher who wanted to teach kindergarten in Madison.
"In the early 1970s the then-superintendent refused a male teacher the right to transfer to a kindergarten position because 'males couldn't provide the nurturing which kindergarten pupils need.' I challenged that and the Sup' said that a male with a mustache wasn't acceptable. I challenged that, too, and the person received the transfer," he recalled.
The NEA's Weaver, who began his teaching career in elementary school back in the 1960s, said he believes that men in the primary grades can carry a presence into the classroom that may help with discipline or help students settle down.
Karen Sieber, principal at Stephens, said that Reineking "has that calm demeanor, and I think he really makes his kids feel safe, welcomed and connected." She said he also makes and keeps strong relationships with his students' families.
Reineking doesn't raise his voice to manage his students. In fact, his voice gets quieter and quieter when he wants total attention, and when he combines it with a stern, powerful look, even the most rambunctious of his students tend to sharpen up and cooperate, even if they drag their feet a bit.
Reineking is the first one to say learning to manage his class didn't happen over night.
"Oh, yeah, the first week we'd manage to get about one thing done a day," he admitted with a laugh. "You just build on those relationships and expectations, day after day. I have had some great mentors among my colleagues here, and they've helped me learn what works."
He said he's learned on his own what doesn't.
John Corcoran, a longtime second grade teacher at Mendota Elementary on the north east side, said, "When I first went into teaching, I figured the younger the students, the easier it would be. Oh gosh, was that ever wrong!" he said with a laugh.
"I remember thinking second grade ought to be a piece of cake. You just tell them what to do and they do it, right?" he said.
"I consider myself a teacher who wants to help kids have a fun and active time learning, but I don't see that as a male or female thing," Corcoran said. "Every morning is a fresh day, a new start. I ask myself, 'Are the kids learning? Are they meeting the standards? Are they feeling like school is a happy, safe place to be?' I consider that success."
Yep. Kids used to call that person, "Dad." Another vanishing species. :(
Same author. Not sure why this wasn’t added to the first article. (Yeah, right.)
We hold back, say male teachers
Susan Troller — 10/20/2007 7:41 am
A love for children is the best reason for anyone, male or female, to go into teaching, educators say. But misinterpreted, that affection can be problematic — and that’s particularly true for men.
In an environment where any word, gesture or — especially — touch can be considered suspect in terms of being sexually charged, many male teachers say they must be extra careful in the way they interact with their students.
John Burkholder, principal at Midvale Elementary and a former elementary school classroom teacher, said he is careful not to initiate hugs with his students.
“If they hug me, that’s OK, but I don’t encourage it,” Burkholder said. “I initiate high fives, instead.”
“As a male teacher, you try to make certain you are never alone in your classroom with a student, and if a student comes in you have the door open, and stand in the doorway. Sometimes you see that a kid really needs a hug. That’s when I send them to see our female psychologist, or our social worker,” he added.
Adam Zingsheim teaches a combined grade 4 and 5 class at Mendota Elementary, and is in his third year of teaching.
An ardent athlete and sports fan, he says teaching, along with coaching, is his dream job.
“I think it’s probably one of the only things you do in life where you get as much as you give,” he said enthusiastically.
But he is cautious about his physical contact with students.
“For us, it’s a handshake. That’s something we want to model with our students,” he said.
Like Burkholder, he said he errs on the side of caution when it comes to having students in his room after school.
“The door is always open,” he said. “And I’m very careful even with the words I choose. You want to tell parents, ‘You have a wonderful daughter. She is brilliant, she’s beautiful’ but I want to be careful.”
Veteran first grade teacher Bob Arnold said that while he’s very conscious of current concerns about physical affection is the classroom, he has to be himself, and recognize the needs of his students.
Whether it’s a quick hug, or a pat on the head or shoulder, “a lot of kids crave physical affection,” he said. “I don’t let (these concerns) affect my teaching style.”
My two oldest had a fantastic male kindergarten teacher, a former semi-pro baseball player. He was conservative, strict, taught to the top of the class, and had little time for BS.
Therefore, parents either loved him or hated him. Personally, I wish he could have taught my kids all the way through high school!
the nea does not want men in classrooms...it is much easier to change the boys nature to a more feminine perspective and demean and lessen their self esteem and self worth with lib/dem women teachers with an agenda!!!
Good article ping.
Strangely, no calls to address this blatant indicator of discrimination have been heard from the academic community (tongue only half in cheek. Guys can have a tough time working in a female-dominated environment)
Ping
Go to any teacher’s union representative and you will find the answer. In Minnesota, the slightest suggestion a male teacher may have looked down a girls dress or touched her in any way results in a legal actions against the teacher.
At least in Minnesota, it is dangerous to be a male teacher up to and through the 8th grade. Not worth the hassle.
Teaching doesn’t pay anything and you can’t take any actions against bad kids, so what person, man or woman, would want to teach? Women will take the jobs because they will work for less money and still consider it a “good” salary. But most men will not accept a teaching salary because it is not high enough. There are many reasons why the education system is messed up but one of them is that it is run by women and they are doing a lousy job.
Look around. It's bigger than the NEA...the whole world is suffering from the attempt to eliminate White males.
When our culture/society/civilization completely collapses...people will say, "What Happened?"
Even females have to be very, very careful. I’m hesitant to do anything other than occasionally pat a kid on the shoulder. I’ve had several hug me, and it makes me happy to know they like me, but I’m scared to death to hug them back.
The teacher talked politics to a kindergarten class?
In my school years, I noticed that once I hit high school it was damn-near a 50/50 split of male and female teachers. In college I had more male instructors than female.
I think USArmySpouse just meant that as a qualifying adjective...that he wasn’t trying to indoctrinate them with PC crap in kindergarten...which DOES happen in many classrooms.
Like those E85 commercials where the guy asks the kids if they’re vegetarian and HALF raise their hands...
Notice no male teachers commented on this directly for the article. That is because it is pure NEA spin. The Peace Corps has never been a place to make money, but it is 41% male. The real reasons that guys don't become teachers are that they are not welcome by the ed schools, not welcome by the teachers' unions, and not welcome by the school administration. Once they pass these gauntlets, they have to be on active guard against any hint of perceived impropriety, since any allegation is likely to result in being blacklisted by the school district and a forced resignation and blot on one's resume: the administration usually finds it is easier to presume guilt rather than innocence.
In short, male teachers are discriminated against at every turn. That is the real story and the elephant in the living room. You can be fairly sure that an article on male teachers is just so much bias and spin if it misses something as big and as obvious as this.
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