Search
Close this search box.

Our Position on Teacher Gender and What we Have Done

Search Entire Website
Men In Early Childhood Education National Summit. Minister Chris Hipkins standing centre. Dr Sarah Alexander (organiser) seated front left.

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.

We believe that the current gender imbalance in staffing in early childhood services hampers efforts to achieve high quality learning and care for children. 

What we have done 

We have been at the forefront of raising awareness of gender discrimination and developing arguments for men in childcare and teaching. 

We have taken action, including:

  • Supporting men to have a voice in the sector and raising awareness of issues
  • Undertaking a national survey on ECE sector participant views concerning bringing more men into ECE and what benefits (or not) this would have.  The survey revealed that it that better representation of men in teaching would:  be of benefit to 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 staying with their child and participating in the ECE programme.
  • Encouraging more men into early childhood teaching. We provide the “Men in ECE Invitation Award”.  Men need to be invited into ECE teaching.  This Award is one way our sector shows men that they are welcomed.  Find Go to the Invitation Award page to learn more.

Has this been useful?  Give us your feedback.

You are welcome to add a link to this page on your website. Copyright belongs to the OECE so please do not copy any content without our written permission.

Information provided is of a general nature. It is provided ‘as is’, and we accept no liability for its accuracy or completeness. See our Terms and Conditions.

Related Posts

NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education journal

Is There an Optimum Age for Starting School in New Zealand?

Research that uncovers what the best age for children to start school is at the national level. Considers cognitive development, age and school readiness. Read the full paper below. Or to order a pdf copy of the article go to the main NZIRECE Journal page.

Read More »
website ribbons

Rhythm Ribbons and Physical Movement

Rhythm Ribbons and Physical Movement. By Bronwyn Norman. Bursting out in the beautiful sunny Autumn/Ngahuru afternoon our tamariki were ready to embrace their environment and interact with each other by choosing materials and playing games. Fuelled by eating a healthy […]

To access this member only information, you must purchase Teacher Membership.

Read More »
The Office of ECE

Share This Information

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

The Office of ECE Login

Take Action!

Help spread this vital ECE information, join our free social and email groups and become a member of OECE.

pay parity funding policy

1. Share This Information

2. Follow Our Social Pages

3. Get Regular Updates

Sign up to our free newsletters.

4. Become a Member

Public Area Categories
Categories