Recent reports have reminded us that around one in four primary schools currently have no male teacher. It’s not a new problem but, until recently, the efforts to improve the entry of men into the profession were struggling, and a sense of fatalism seemed to have taken hold. Where children are affected by separation of parents from all backgrounds and losing a relationship with a parent, the context is one where schools are working with a range of social and family situations that affect children’s confidence in and out of school. These home-school issues are key to closing the gaps in achievement, and we know some of the challenges we face are with boys in particular, especially those from poorer backgrounds.
That is now changing, and we are making efforts locally to bring about this change.
In Bradford where I am the council’s lead member for children, a group of schools in one area, Manningham, are using the graduate teaching programme to attract men seeking a career change. A rich range of experiences and support are available in these nine inner Bradford schools. Men can start as teaching assistants and that way get the ‘feel’ of the job and the range of options and experiences. The collaboration between local schools allows a range of settings and approaches to be tried within, what will soon be, Bradford’s first co-op schools trust. This route has become in effect an ‘apprenticeship’ for the salaried graduate teaching programme.
We now have a steady flow of men who are new to teaching and changing careers to go into local schools. One school has recruited six men through this route. The schools work to be ‘male-friendly’, with male staff in reception as well as Key Stage Two, and much work has been done in local early years settings as well. So men see other men in all roles, and staff development supports this: turnover of staff is seen as good thing in this respect, with career openings all year around and new leadership nurtured.
These male staff work closely with parents and carers; this, I believe, is hugely important and alters the relationship between home and school. For boys with special educational needs or tensions within the family, the positive male role-models really does matter. Many men now do much more of the childcare than is acknowledged but have in the past, frankly, felt been distant from ‘parenting’ support and close work with schools. These changes are helping improve relations with fathers.
The gender difference in outcomes is now narrowing; schools involved are also adapting the curriculum to engage boys.
The salaried, work-based training route is essential, as is access to experience, mentoring and support. The results seem to be spreading by word of mouth and seem set only to improve. There is a real opportunity to make progress here but I believe getting experienced male applicants with other life experience and careers is helping us meeting a real need and delivers committed teachers who would otherwise never enter the profession.
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Ralph Berry is lead member for children on Bradford city council. He tweets @CllrRalphBerry
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