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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by irv
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Hi Jerry,
I believe when the McMartin sexual child abuse scandal broke the airwaves in CA the climate changed forever for men working with young children. When I was a site supervisor for several years that did stop allegations to be made against me. I wasn't teaching with children at that time and still my life was turned upside down. I currently work in a child development center where cameras have been installed in every classroom, hallways, kitchen and parking lot. Even with this as protection for teachers it hasn't prevented suspicion of fowl play. And to make matters even worse, my director is a man. One would think HE would be sensitive and supportive to the concerns men would have working with young children. Instead he has from my perspective, perpetuated the negative image of men by his actions as the director.
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by irv
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Rick,
Thanks for your encouragement and supportive words, I almost forgot what that sounds like. Yes I do have the experiences in the field and make it a point to talk about the potential issues re: men to other men less experienced in the field. Full time college teaching in child development courses would compliment the skills I can bring to entire class of teachers. I've been doing this on a part time basis for 8 yrs.
Thanks again for your interest.
irv
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by Jerry
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Hi, Rick--You touch on one of the things that I think is critical to our work; identifying attitudes towards men in child care and helping people to become aware of their own biases. I developed a survey questionaire for one of my first classes at Pacific Oaks that I used to write a research term paper, and I found the results to be so interesting (I surveyed parents and staff at a local preschool and compared their attitudes toward men in child care with those of other child care workers), that I am looking at developing it into my master's thesis.
One other element that inspired me further was taking a class from Louise Derman-Sparks who, in writing her well-recognized work on Anti-bias Curriculum, discussed the importance of first examining our own biases and preconceptions about ethnicity, race, gender, etc., in order to develop a greater understanding and appreciation for the work that needs to be done in order to properly approach teaching others.
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by Jerry
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Hi, Irv. I am curious to hear from you the ways in which you have experienced a negative shift for men in ECE over the years. For instance, I remember that the mid-80's were a particularly unpleasant time because of high-profile allegations and charges against a few men in child care. But I am more interested in specific attitudes and more recent experiences of bias that you may have encountered that could illustrate the change that you describe.
To be honest, I've always been a bit privileged to be in charge of programs, or at least in a supervisory position, so that I rarely encountered challenges either from parents or staff regarding my presence in a child care setting.
Still, in my most recent academic experiences (2 years as a student at the community college level in 1999-2000), I encountered more resistance in class from classmates to the idea, for instance, of men changing diapers, than I have encountered from mothers and fathers.
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by Rick Crowley
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Irv,
Even though you have had a number of negative experiences, you have the unique opportunity to teach other men interested in entering the field to know what to expect or to be aware of. Your wisdom is needed to "mentor" someone before they get fed up and leave. I place a great value on experience...just hearing your story makes me "dig my heels in and press forward". Please know that you are appreciated. The only way to change the climate of negativity is to be involved in the change...if a change of direction is necessary for you, but to stay in the field of ECE...your skills may be under utilized. Find your gift and you will be rewarded in ways you did not expect.
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by irv
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Hello everyone,
As the climate towards men working with children remains as negative as it is, it will be very challenging to increase the numbers. I've taught in ece since 1977 have seen the tide of attitude change dramatically to where I have even questioned whether I want to stay in the field. When you feel like you have to watch your back at every turn because of your gender and then the potential risk of working with young children it provides for a very stressful experience. Haven't gotten to the low wages yet. So it should not be surpising it's the way it is. Along time ago I used to be so positive in the field. But when anough negative experiences get layered on top of another it can really change one's perspective.
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hey corbin!
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posted by gregory uba
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everyone, if this is the corbin i met at a training in pasadena (caltech), corbin rocks... he seeks out professional development motivated by his interest and enthusiasm... give him props and encourage him to hang in there!
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by gregory uba
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many men advocate for looking in non-traditional places... posting employment opportunity ads in sociology, history, psych, p.e. departments and not just in child dev and educ depts...
also, choosing entry-level male staff for professional development opportunities... often times the conference and workshop attendance is left to the veteran teachers, overlooking promising male staff that may only be assistants...
and of course, increasing father involvement in programs...
these are just to start...
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by Rick Crowley
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I agree that actions speak louder than words...I recently gave a presentation about Men In Child Care to a group of female teachers in a Catholic Pre-school and learned that the image of men is one of the greatest obstacles in their environment. They agree something should be done about recruitment, but when you ask them what it is that they are doing they don't have any real concrete answers. So I gave them some to think about. Namely, how does their own perspective of Men In Child Care affect their effort to recruit men into the field. Later this month I will have an opportunity to see what their response is. I beleive we need a network of men and women who are "Recruiters" that can be counted on to provide information to all levels of education to seek out qualified men and women into the field of Early Childhood Education. Sometimes when we look for one we find the other...
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RE: Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by Corbin Airitam
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I feel we need to market towards men who have an interest in working with young children. Such areas of marketing could be in social sciences, where there are men who are pursuing careers in psychology or social work. In addition to that, we can educate high school juniors and seniors who have an interest in teaching, mentoring, coaching, etc as a profession. There are a number of students in high school that have to complete intern and/or volunteer hours in their class. This is the perfect opportunity for them to get exposed and experience the benefits of working with young children. There are plenty of teachers and individuals providing support towards men in the field, but action speaks louder than words.
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Recruitment of men to work with young children
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posted by Jerry for Gary Cava
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How do we get men to consider/accept positions working directly with young children?
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