The Challenges Faced by Male Primary Teachers

Cruickshank, Vaughan

doi:10.1007/978-981-13-0511-5_5

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 112 publications

(396 reference statements)

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“…Male primary teachers have reported that dealing with the negative perceptions of being a male in a gendered workplace (Gosse, 2011;Mills et al, 2004;Smith, 2008) was harder if they were supervised by a female principal. There is a need for female principals to increase their awareness of how negative societal perceptions of male primary teachers affect their male staff and what they can do to support them (Cruickshank, 2016). Thus, it would appear that while principals cannot change negative societal perceptions, they can be instrumental in creating and promoting a supportive school culture that does not perpetuate traditional gendered work roles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a measure of gender-related challenges faced by male primary teachers

Cruickshank

Pedersen

Cooley

et al. 2018

Australian Journal of Education

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Debate about teacher gender balance in primary education is a constant. This debate is fuelled by recommendations to increase recruitment and retainment of males into primary education. In parallel, 10-year trend data indicate a continual decrease in male primary school teachers. Although many factors contribute to the decreasing percentage of male primary teachers, one factor is the gender-related challenges they face in their profession. Previous research has identified some of these challenges; however, a limitation of these claims is contextual and individually bound data derived from qualitative research methods. Large-scale interventions have not been realised as current trends are unable to be generalised to the wider population of male primary teachers. Thus, the aim of this paper is to expand upon previous literature through discussing the development and validation of a scale which quantifies the gender-related challenges faced by male primary teachers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a measure of gender-related challenges faced by male primary teachers

Cruickshank

Pedersen

Cooley

et al. 2018

Australian Journal of Education

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“…This situation can actually advantage some men, with researchers such as Mills et al (2008) and Williams (2013) using the term 'glass escalator' to describe the 'invisible' forces that can lead to men being promoted into management positions faster than women. This effect can be seen in schools within countries such as United Kingdom (Jones, 2008;Skelton, 2012) and Australia (Cruickshank, 2016;Mills et al, 2008). For example, in Australia men hold around half of the leadership positions in primary schools despite only 18% of Australian primary teachers being men (Palmer et al, 2020).…”

Section: The Gender (Im)balance In Primary School Teachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing masculinities? Using caring masculinity to analyse social media responses to the decline of men in Australian primary school teaching

Hookway

Cruickshank

2022

Journal of Sociology

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Commentators have predicted that Australian male primary school teachers will be extinct within 50 years. Drawing upon sociological ideas about the emergence of ‘caring masculinities’, this article qualitatively examines popular Australian understandings about male primary school teachers, their importance, why they are declining and whether, and how, this gender imbalance can be addressed. The study analyses data from 541 comments posted in response to nine online media pieces on male primary school teachers in Australia. The article shows that commenters believe men teaching young children experience stigmatised masculine identities but misplace the cause of this as the result of women and anti-feminist ‘anti-male bias’ rather than the constraining impact of hegemonic masculinity. The article suggests that until more caring and progressive forms of masculinity are culturally and economically valued in Australia we will see little change in the numbers of men entering primary school teaching.

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“…But those that are directly negative are outnumbered by those purporting advocacy for more men in the classroom, especially variants of stories arguing that male role models are needed to help teach those boys alienated by the education system. Notwithstanding this positive narrative, the media primarily frame men in teaching in a problematic way that, as Cruickshank (2016) observes, is rightly manifest in teachers' anxiety regarding representation.…”

Section: Law and Ordermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But there is also a perception from male teachers that the media their profession in a negative light (Thomas 2011). In his mixed methods study of male teachers, Cruickshank (2016) found that many participants perceived the media as representing a primarily negative image of their role, describing the media as a "constant shadow" (Cruickshank, 2018, p. 7) on their lives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framing gender: Representing male teachers in the Australian and New Zealand press

Reid

Palmer

Murray

et al. 2019

Australian Journalism Review

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Over the past two decades the issue of gender imbalance in teaching has been the subject of media and political discussion. Researchers have yet to draw definitive conclusions as to the relationship between teacher gender and student achievement, but the notion that more men are needed in teaching persists, with calls for governments to enact ‘affirmative action’ policies. Despite this, surveys of male teachers have found that many believe they are portrayed negatively in the media and that they are under greater scrutiny than their female counterparts. In seeking to better understand this contradiction, this article examines 233 news stories covering the issue of men in teaching. Using framing theory, the authors found that despite a high percentage of stories carrying a positive angle, male teachers are predominantly framed in problematic ways. The authors argue that the news media is ideologically limited in its representation of male teachers, resulting in any advocacy being a counter-narrative to the prevailing logic.

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The Challenges Faced by Male Primary Teachers

Cited by 4 publications

References 112 publications

Towards a measure of gender-related challenges faced by male primary teachers

Towards a measure of gender-related challenges faced by male primary teachers

Changing masculinities? Using caring masculinity to analyse social media responses to the decline of men in Australian primary school teaching

Framing gender: Representing male teachers in the Australian and New Zealand press

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