Oh brother, where art thou?
The vanishing male teacher in Ontario's elementary schools
by Shawna Fryer

An increasing number of children in Ontario are not only being raised by women, but being taught by them as well, statistics and experts say.

Single mothers head one in eight households in the province, according to the latest census. And recent numbers from the Ministry of Education show that only a quarter of Ontario’s elementary teachers are men.

“Children should have a cross-section of society in schools and having 15-18 per cent male teachers is not a good reflection,” said David Clegg, vice-president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.

The federation has just launched an initiative to address this issue. They will use focus groups and analyses of academic research to try to find out where the men are.

“We’ve been aware of the issue for quite some time, but now we need to better understand it” Clegg said. “It’s a concern for us.”

The number of male teachers is predicted to keep shrinking. According to a recent study by the Ontario College of Teachers, one in four teachers aged 55 and older are males. That statistic plummets to one in eight for those under 30.

Ontario’s faculties of education are only slightly more balanced in their gender ratios.

“It’s an issue that is hotly debated around this place,” said Dr. Allen T. Pearson, dean of education at the University of Western Ontario. Seventy per cent of their registered students are female.

Some people are not concerned about this lack of male educators.

“Do we want men who will present a certain idea of masculinity to young boys?” asked Margaret McNay, a researcher and professor at Western’s faculty of education. “Just getting men into primary schools could exacerbate the stereotypes.”

McNay headed up a study ten years ago to address the concerns she kept hearing about the need for more men in elementary schools. She wanted to know if they really were needed and why.

Research did not seem to support the popularly held notion that students need male role models. “The whole role model thing is doubtful,” McNay said.

Still, educators would like to see more balanced staffs in schools.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation takes this issue seriously for the same reason it wants to increase the number of teachers representing visible minorities. Clegg says public schools should be reflective of society as a whole.

“With the current shortage of males, we are not providing students with a realistic environment,” he added.

The federation is producing materials for high school guidance counsellors that promote elementary school teaching careers to male teens. Focus groups composed of OAC males revealed concerns about pay and current government policies in education.

Males who do choose to teach are more likely to pursue high school positions. Only 15 per cent of the applications to the elementary panel at Western were from males, compared to 40 per cent for the secondary level.

“I’d probably be frustrated by the lack of things to teach young children,” said Joel Gibson, 25, a University of Toronto faculty of education student training to teach high school science. “It would be a case of tolerating them.”

Another popular speculation about the absence of male educators concerns alternative job options. The current job market is hot in the fields normally dominated by men: math, science, computers and technology, and many men are attracted to the higher salaries and opportunities in business jobs.

“You don’t see a lot of teacher millionaires,” said Doug Ross, a 54-year-old teacher from Waterloo. “Other than pencils and erasers, the perks just don’t exist like they do in business. They have profit sharing, stocks in the company, trips to win, company cars. Things you won’t find in education.”

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario will be searching for more answers over the next several months. Meanwhile, the gender gap widens.