Male teachers....

[fireheart17]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...-1226273194577

The article itself is surrounding breaches of teachers professional conduct here in the state. What's troubling me is the sentencing from the Teachers Registration Board. There are four cases referrred to here out of ten. 2 are female, 2 are male. The 2 female cases wound up getting off lightly to some degree, whereas the 2 male cases seemed to have harsher punishments. The disabled case I think should have had a harder punishment than the inappropriate relationships.

That's some background. Now here's the point that I was wanting to discuss.

Male teachers seem to be looked at with a mixture of skepticism, fear and anger. Not all male teachers are pedophiles. Not all female teachers are innocent. I'm familiar with the Mary Kay Letourneau case. There have also been some cases down here that I'll dig up eventually.

What I'm wanting to discuss is, should there be more male teachers within our schools and if so, how to encourage more young men to study or continue teaching?

I think that we do need more male teachers in our schools, it's not just a "woman" thing.

[DrFaroohk]

This is one of those areas I feel like sometimes there's some brainwashing going on. K, some guy nails his teacher. He's probably like, hellz yeah! But then suddenly he's got everyone - teachers, school staff, police, councelors, parents, friends, family, all over his ass being like "Are you ok dude you were RAPED! It was AWFUL YOU HAD A TERRIBLE THING HAPPEN!"

[linguist]

i absolutely believe that there should be more men in teaching, not just because there should be equality in all professions for both men and women, but also to lessen and eventually remove the stigma that most men face when they enter traditionally female dominated professions. and yes, i know women face it when they enter traditionally male-dominated fields, but it seems that society is becoming more accepting of that (note i said more; i know discrimination still exists, and we've got a long way to go).

i'm facing this myself in my chosen profession, or at least i will be soon enough. i'm currently finishing the last of my prereqs for nursing, and have applied for nursing school in the fall. i've heard horror stories about men basically being denied hands-on training during ob-gyn and labor and delivery rotations, not through any fault of the school, but because patients refused to let them come near them. apparently any man who wants to be a nurse in such a setting must be a sexual predator. and don't even get me started on the looks i get when i tell people that i'm thinking of a specialty in pediatrics.

[crashhelmet]

I used to be a high school teacher but had to give it up so that I could afford petty, trivial things like "food" and "rent."

I had students that had crushes on me. It was one of the most frightening experiences someone could go through. All it took was an accusation of impropriety and my career would be ruined. I'd be convicted in the court of public opinion before I even had a chance to defend myself. To help myself feel "safer" I set up video cameras in the classroom to record everything.

Back to your questions, the biggest influence for people to become teachers is other teachers. More specifically, that "one teacher" that takes an involvement in their students' lives and encourages them to be what they can be.

It often results in an increased love for that particular class, which inspires the kid to major in it, and then teach it. Or they go for an actual education degree so they can teach that class.

The other aspect to recruiting future teachers is the pay. Starting pay for a teacher in California when I graduated was $30k a year, 15 years later and it's only $35k. I was living in Silicon Valley, where the cost of living was egregious. I'd teach during the day and work a multitude of odd jobs at night. I played gigs as a musician, bounced at strip clubs, repossessed cars, and worked as a cook before getting offered an entry level job as a computer tech.

If you want to make money as a teacher, you need to get your Masters Degree. On the flip side, if the Republicans kill the Department of Education, you may never get anyone majoring in Education again.

So yeah.... They need the inspiration and they need the money.

[AdminAssistant]

i've heard horror stories about men basically being denied hands-on training during ob-gyn and labor and delivery rotations, not through any fault of the school, but because patients refused to let them come near them.

I'm much, much more comfortable with a lady gyno than I am with a male. The male gynos I had at first weren't as understanding about cramps or my fibrocystic breast disease. And when/if I have a kid, I'd rather have a lady obstetrician. Sorry.

[Andara Bledin]

My first check was a male gyno, and he was as good as any woman would have been. It likely helps that I was only slightly more conscious of my lack of clothing than he was.

^-.-^

[linguist]

I'm much, much more comfortable with a lady gyno than I am with a male. The male gynos I had at first weren't as understanding about cramps or my fibrocystic breast disease. And when/if I have a kid, I'd rather have a lady obstetrician. Sorry.

that's all well and good, except i'm not studying to be a gyno, or any type of m.d. i'm studying to be a nurse. the doctor would be doing most of the work, i'd be i the room assisting--running i.v.s, monitoring equipment, taking bp and pulse, etc. and gyno/l&d are required rotations to receive an rn license. patients' discomfort (just for being who i am, not for anything i've actually done), could cause a delay in my graduation and licensure. take 'male' out of the equation and replace it with race, would it still be acceptable?

"the black gynos i had at first weren't as understanding about cramps or my fibrocystic breast disease. and when/if i have a kid, i'd rather have a white obstetrician. sorry. "

doesn't sound so nice when put that way, and yet it more or less amounts to the same thing. discrimination due to factors beyond my control.

[AdminAssistant]

I reserve the right to discriminate who gets to see or touch my breasts and vagina.

[Rebel]

The main problem that male gynos have to face is the years and years of society telling women to watch out for the bad man that will touch her in her special place. I apparently actually growled like a dog when my mum had to have me checked out by a male doctor due to an infection when I was 4 years old.

I will admit that my initial preference for a gyno would be a female one. That said, if there are none available, I would take a male gyno.

[linguist]

I reserve the right to discriminate who gets to see or touch my breasts and vagina.

that's fine, as long as you realize that it is discrimination and it is prejudicial. what are you going to do if there aren't any female doctors or nurses around, wait? i mean, seriously, there is absolutely nothing remotely sexual about breasts or vaginas in a clinical setting, and to assume that any male who comes near them in such a setting has nefarious intentions is just silly, and may do you more harm than good in the long run. my mom had to have be catheterized while in the hospital a couple of years back, and at first requested a female nurse to do it despite being told that the male nurse working the floor at the time was the best bet for the job. after her nurse tried and tried (and tried some more), causing a lot of frustration and even more pain, she finally relented and let the guy in to do his job. he got it in on the first try with almost no pain.

[Mishi]

<snip> and don't even get me started on the looks i get when i tell people that i'm thinking of a specialty in pediatrics.

One of the best nurses I have ever had was a guy, and he specialised in pediatrics. He was a great bloke and I hope he's doing well.

I prefer merit-based equality not numbers-based equality. If employment is based on filling a gender quota rather than getting the best people for the job then it's not true equality.

[jackfaire]

Admin's point had nothing to do with feeling like the guy is a perv and everything to do with feeling like a guy without the requisite parts couldn't truly understand where she is coming from.

Like never having experienced menstrual cramps himself she likely feels he would tell her to buck up and get over it.

Honestly I find the opposite to be true it was a thing me and my ex noticed female doctors tended to be more understanding of guy problems and vice versa because they weren't biased by their own experiences.

Sometimes if your dealing with someone that has experienced what your going through in some way will insist your experience is exactly like theirs and try to treat it that way.

"Oh your Dad died well so did mine so let me tell you what worked for me because it will definitely work for you"

"Uhm your dad died in his 90s when you were 50. Mine killed himself in his fourties when I was 20."

"What's your point?"

As to the original point seriously the porn industry does not help. They push heavily the teacher/student dynamic and every guy supposedly is turned on by a girl in a catholic school girl's uniform.

Also teaching is one of those professions that was originally male dominated and somehow became the opposite and known as the opposite. It used to be women only taught until they had kids of their own while men would continue teaching until they were too old to do so.

Interesting to note is that K-12 is now seemingly female dominated in some areas, not mine, and College up is male dominated.

[Gravekeeper]

I used to be a high school teacher but had to give it up so that I could afford petty, trivial things like "food" and "rent."

I had students that had crushes on me. It was one of the most frightening experiences someone could go through. All it took was an accusation of impropriety and my career would be ruined. I'd be convicted in the court of public opinion before I even had a chance to defend myself. To help myself feel "safer" I set up video cameras in the classroom to record everything.

That's it in a nutshell. There is absolutely no incentive for a man to become a teacher in North America and specifically in the US. Not only is the pay ass in the US, but any student can at any time completely and totally destroy your life. It doesn't matter how ridiculous or unfounded the accusation is either, if you are a man, it will destroy your life because the court of public opinion will immediately side against you. Even if you are proven innocent a week later, your reputation is already destroyed and you'll likely be let go by the school district anyhow. Then even if you win a lawsuit against them for false dismissal they won't rehire you. Nor will anyone else.

Considering how much work teachers do just to be teachers, nevermind GOOD teachers that leave a lasting impression, the pay, benefits and risks associated with the job are not even remotely worth it.

For some reason teachers in North America, and specifically in the US have essentially lost their social standing over time. Its no longer by and large considered an admirable profession. Now you're a whiny liberal union member thats apparently just rolling in cash ( hah. ) and wants more. -.-

If I became a teacher in the US tomorrow, after you factor in the cost of living in the US, I think I'd actually make *less* money than I do as a CSR.

[jackfaire]

Not only is the pay ass in the US,

Parts of the US. The pay is Ass in parts of the US. All my teachers at my public high school drove nice cars, no not Ferraris or Mercedes, but nice cars and own their own houses. Plus they didn't have to work summers.

I think I'd actually make *less* money than I do as a CSR.

I make half of what teachers in my area make and have to work year round. I could still make ends meet.

[HYHYBT]

Remember, in making those calculations, that they often have to spend their summers doing continuing education (or some similar name), which isn't cheap, to keep their certification.