Men are largely absent from the early childhood teaching profession and the OECE’s position is that the current gender imbalance is unacceptable (See About Us). We offer the Men in ECE Invitation Award, we advocate that government sets a target of 10% ECE qualified male teachers in the ECE workforce before or by 2030, and request that the Ministry of Education review teacher recruitment and retention and put in place policies that support incentivising services to engage male staff and subsidise access to field-based training.
This article explains why male teachers must be able to carry out all caregiving tasks, including nappy changing, and sets out how men can respond if an employer says they cannot, and how services can respond when parents request “only female staff.”
Why children need male teachers, how gender identity shapes their learning, what the research shows, and how services can address discrimination or parent concerns. It also highlights men’s experiences, pathways into ECE, practical advice for encouraging male youth, and scholarship opportunities.
The OECE’s position on teacher gender. Our position on teacher gender is that men must be recruited into early childhood teaching as well as women.
Time to Involve Men in Early Childhood Teaching The Findings of a National Survey. Report Published 2012. Prepared by Dr Sarah Alexander. Alexander, S. (2012)
Teacher gender diversity is not on the Ministry of Education policy agenda for early childhood education. August 25, 2016. Wellington. New Zealand Police attempts to
Men Who Teach Young Children NZ. ECE Symposium. Wellington, 15 August 2016 * Before giving some background to the main issues and challenges that lie
Guest speaker: Dr David Brody (Israel), author of “Men who Teach Young Children“. Introduction by Dr Sarah Alexander (NZ). The Symposium was held on 15
There was NZ representation at the International Conference “Men in Early Childhood Education and Care” held in Berlin in September 2012. Dr Sarah Alexander represented
EC-Menz Summit Theme: “Lifting the Lid on Gender Issues in Early Childhood Education” Held 7th-8th March, 2014. Wellington City, New Zealand. Conference Mihi Whakatau /
Male Teacher Target in Norway. By Dr Sarah Alexander. April 21, 2013. In Norway children aged 1 – 6 years attend the same institution (not
Do Men Teach Differently? February 28, 2013. Prof. Dr. Holger Brandes from the University of Applied Sciences in Dresden, Germany, along with Markus Andrä, Wenke
Campaign to Get Men To Take Up Early Childhood Work. By Dr Sarah Alexander. February 27, 2013. As money was available for use on gender
Who are the Men in ECE Teaching? In this paper the following data and analysis is presented on who are the men in ECE teaching: An
Sexism in Early Childhood Education. By Sarah Alexander, Lance Cablk, Adam Buckingham, David Butler and Russell Ballantyne. Published in 2006. Wellington. This report provides a
What is it like to be a male in one of the few occupations which has not experienced a significant change in gender balance in
The Original Massey University Research Study of Male Teachers (1997) “A Few Good Men or a Few Too Many? A study of Male Teachers” by
Of Puppy Dog Tails – Article published in the journal Delta 49(2), pp. 405-416, 1997. This paper reviews how equal the opportunities for men in
Teaching – A Women Only Profession. The statistics on teacher gender show a continuing downward trend in the participation of male teachers across secondary, primary
Below is an outline of the Contents of the published proceedings of the very first Men in Early Childhood Teaching Summit in New Zealand, called
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