Finally, a call has gone out to encourage more men to join the teaching profession. Calling it a “man drought” Courier Mail Journalist  Lauren Martyn-Jones wrote that under a new proposal “Full university scholarships would be offered to male students to lure them into careers in the classroom”. (Brisbane Courier Mail 15 June 2018)
Matthew Zbaracki, an education academic with the Australian Catholic University said “there was an urgent need to address the gender disparity in teaching”, “with just 17 percent of classroom professionals being male”.
Dr Zbaracki called on the Queensland State Government to “step up” and offer “scores of scholarships to worthy male graduates to encourage them to become teachers” because it is essential to get the “balance right in schools and have both male and female staff especially with so many broken families…. having strong role models is essential”.
However, no-one has canvassed just why there are so few males willing to join the teaching profession.
A male teacher is in for a shock indoctrination when he joins his first school. Not only will he have to learn how to protect himself from the various allegations he may face that can range from “Miss, he swore a me; he yelled at me’ wouldn’t let me leave the room to go to the toilet; he pushed me”, or the  big ones, “he touched my breasts; he sexually assaulted me; he raped me”.
If the unfortunate male educator survives the classroom he has to negotiate his way through the whispers, giggles,  bad taste jokes and comments and outright rudeness and aggression, whilst watching every word he says in the confines of the teachers’ staff room. A sexual harassment complaint from a female teacher will spell the end of what was to be a promising career.
Until the State Government legislates to “get tough” with students who make false allegations and brings in measures to discipline those who enjoy misbehaving and disrupting the classroom and until the teaching profession examines its own behaviour and willingly accepts men into their midst, no amount of scholarships will encourage men to enter this toxic environment.
The latest gender disparity figures are even worse than this article quotes. Domanii Cameron reports (Courier Mail 3 Aug 2018) “Just 14.6 per cent of Queensland teachers are male”.
“At the first quarter of this year, there were 22,958 women teachers, but only 3946 men” and “the State Government employed 492 male teachers during 2017 – 18 compared with 3070 women.
Admin: Men’s Rights Agency