10:23am Tuesday 7th July 2009
We desperately need more male primary school teachers and thanks to the recession, more men are now applying for the job.
Ruth Cambell talks to one teacher who may be earning half of what he used to but finds life in the classroom hugely rewarding.
STUART ELLIS used to be in charge of a busy department of 200 people, managing a large number of key accounts for the insurance firm Norwich Union. Today, he is working in a classroom of 24 ten and 11-year-olds, examining the properties of 3D shapes and helping them design and research the construction of African shelters.
He is in no doubt which job is more difficult: “This is probably the most demanding job I have ever done.
“Managing a department of 200 people is easy compared to the multi-faceted nature of working in a classroom,” he says.
Stuart, 42, who now works for about half the salary he earned in the financial services sector, is a rare breed – one of only 13 per cent of primary school teachers in England who are men and the first to teach at his North Yorkshire primary school.
There is now such a shortage of male primary teachers that the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) is running taster courses for men in an attempt to redress the balance.
The agency says almost half of primary school children have no contact with a male teacher, while a recent survey shows 83 per cent of parents and 76 per cent of boys want more men teaching in primary schools.
There are signs the gender imbalance could be starting to shift. Teaching is a recessionproof career and, thanks to the current economic crisis, it has never seemed more attractive.
Even Gordon Brown said recently that if he left politics he would probably go into teaching.
Inquiries to the TDA have risen by 40 per cent since last April, when fears of recession first began.
At the same time, there has been a small, but significant, one per cent year-on-year rise in the number of males entering primary school training, from 1,976 four years ago, to 2,344 this year.
Stuart’s arrival at Fountains School, in Grantley, near Ripon, was welcomed by parents and children alike. One mother, who has two boys at the school, said: “My older boys, now at secondary school, had all female teachers, who were great. But I did worry that they might, at the back of their minds, consider education a bit girly, or not cool for boys.
“The gender balance is important. It’s good to have positive male role models in school.”
Primary school teaching didn’t seem an attractive proposition to Stuart when he first left school. He feels many men have been put off in the past because of a lack of career progression and fewer leadership roles. “That is one of the key factors,” he said.
But he was surprised at how rewarding the job turned out to be: “Once I got into it and started to learn how to teach I absolutely loved it and have developed a passion for it.
“You can make a difference to young people’s lives and in that way it is very fulfilling.”
Having initially left the financial services sector after 13 years to train as a Methodist minster, he enrolled on a flexible teacher training course as a way of helping him understand how children learn and to enhance his ministry work.
After qualifying in 2004, he began to teach part-time and will move to full-time teaching next year: “The more I have grown in experience and hopefully competence, the more I recognise it is another way to fulfil a vocation, in a way I hadn’t expected.”
Recent Government figures show girls consistently outperform boys in primary schools.
But despite parents and children saying they want more male teachers, Durham University research shows a male teacher’s presence does not in itself improve boys’ grades. The quality of teaching, not the teacher’s gender, is what counts.
Stuart would agree. Being the only male in a teaching and support staff of 12 is rarely at the forefront of his mind. “When you are working with professionals it doesn’t make a difference.
Each teacher brings his or her own approach and men and women bring different things.”
Headteacher Jill Pemberton is in little doubt that where male teachers really make a difference is as role models: “It is important for both boys and girls to have male role models. Men make up 50 per cent of the population and children need to experience that balance.”
In a survey of more than 800 men, the TDA found half said male primary school teachers were fundamental role models for them. Many said they were more likely to approach male teachers with issues of bullying and problems at home.
Stuart believes this is significant: “The gender balance can help the dynamics of the school. It has been beneficial in my experience, certainly where boys may not have a strong role model in the home. They are looking for someone to be able to relate to, and might find it difficult to talk to female members of staff.”
HE does recognise that boys have different learning needs. They can get bored easily if a lesson doesn’t grab them, he said. And once they switch off, it is difficult to switch them on again.
“In terms of catching children early and getting them engaged with learning and excited about their potential, being a role model can be beneficial,” he said. Sometimes pupils have told him that it’s good to have a boy teacher.
His work experience is also useful: “Children are always interested in hearing about previous roles. People with commercial backgrounds have lots to bring to the classroom,”
he said.
Graham Holley, chief executive of the TDA, said it is vital teachers are representative of the communities they work in: “We need more men to become primary school teachers to redress the current gender imbalance and ensure the healthy development of children today,” he said.
It remains something of a challenge. As well as facing the usual, well-publicised, pressures of Government targets and excessive workloads, men wonder how and where they will fit into a career that doesn’t fit into the stereotypical view of work that males should do.
Stuart was the one male on a recent North Yorkshire County Council training course for 20 leading teachers. “You do sometimes get used to being the isolated male. One male in a group that size is fairly typical,” he said.
Teaching offers more opportunities now, though, than it did when he left school.
He said: “Things are a lot more positive now.
There is a great range of opportunities to develop skills.”
Graham Holley agrees, adding: “Primary teaching offers a wealth of opportunities for career development and it’s a stimulating and challenging job. Not everyone can be a sports star or TV star, but they can be a ‘star’ in the classroom and help inspire thousands of young minds.”
Stuart points out that if you are motivated by money the job is not for you: “You don’t come into teaching with the aspiration of becoming financially affluent.”
He feels the rewards are much greater than that. For Stuart, the job is about helping young people grow and flourish and feel good about themselves: “You are able to positively influence their development and see them meet their potential What motivates me most seeing the faces of children when they have suddenly managed to do something they couldn’t do before.
It really is a privilege to do this job.”
■ The TDA provides taster courses for men interested in teaching on teach.gov.uk/talent for information.
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