Standing in the Gap

“So I sought for a man among them who would
Make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me
On behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it;
But I found no one.” NKJV Ezekiel Ch. 22 v. 30

There is a common saying, “Where have all the good men gone”, that is ringing throughout our country today. These cries are not coming from our Armed Forces or from the political establishment in Washington D.C. They also have nothing to do with men in business or industry. Even law enforcement and rescue services seem to have no lack of “heroes”. No, these cries are coming from our education system, particularly early childhood education. According to the National Association of Education, currently only nine percent of elementary school teachers are men. In a country that values equality amongst the sexes, why such a huge discrepancy? There are several common factors that are keeping men out of the classroom: low pay, threat of sexual harassment charges, low career opportunities, and the stigma of it being woman’s work. On the positive side there have been four factors identified that seems to keep men in the teaching profession: men that have previous experience with children, the desire to be a good role model, a positive working environment, and men who are parents.
First, we’ll examine the teacher pay problem. According to the American Federation of Teachers in their 2005 Survey and Analysis of Teacher Salary Trend, the average salary for a teacher was a median of $47,602. While a first year teacher’s median income started at $31,753. This may seem like very little, but again, according to the American Federation of Teachers 2005 Survey, teachers still made six percent more per year than the average American worker.
So, why the big gripe about pay? If one wanted to make a lot of money there are many career choices available to pursue to make that type of money. Pay alone cannot be the determining factor as to whether or not a man teaches. I personally work in the retail industry, which is a very large industry. As a manager for Target, my pay is very competitive yet still falls below the national average for teachers. The difference here is actually teaching not for the money, but because it is the profession that satisfies the most. Being happy with one’s career is essential in life and knowing that teaching accomplishes this is crucial to personal development and the development of the students in the class room. Having the desire to work closely with children is far nobler than wanting to earn that top CEO salary.
This leads me into the next aspect of the lack of men in education: the growing threat of sexual molestation. A lot of men are aware of the awful amount of child predators out there and seem to think that working with closely with small children will somehow lead to being suspected as having inappropriate relations with these children. So, out of fear, less and less men are willing to face these challenges. But the men who see this as a chance to provide positive role model to children are not as easily turned away. I remember my tenth grade American History teacher, Mr. Blackmon. Other than my two math teachers and the coaches that conducted physical education, Mr. Blackmon was the only other male teacher that I had in high school. His impact on my life has lasted for almost fifteen years. He was able to make history come alive for his students. He was always available for questions and it was easy to see his passion and genuine concern and care for his students. It is teachers like Mr. Blackmon that bring the aspect of role models to the forefront, more specifically, the aspect of male role models. The need for male role models is increasingly urgent as it seems that society as a whole is leaving young boys behind. For example, my oldest son is six and I have two daughters ages four and three. I can recall picking up my son at school while having my daughters with me and the teachers at my son’s school seemed to more excited over the prospect of my daughters attending in the near future than the fact that my son was already a student. It seems to me that we tend to let the boys do their own thing while showering attention upon the girls and positively enforcing the girls to do their best. It is though the pendulum has swung far back the other way and our boys are being left behind. I realize that the parents have a major role to play in this also, but as there happens to be more and more single parents raising children, it is becoming more and more crucial that we have strong male role models within out school system. Yet forcing the male teachers into this role of disciplinarian can have its’ drawbacks by making the male teachers seem almost impersonal and not very good at building relationships with the students.
Another often cited reason for the lack of male teachers is the lack of career opportunity. Most men are not happy being in a work environment that has no career advancement. In the retail industry where I work, career advancement is a huge factor in most people’s decisions to go into retail. The fact that they can advance in position and pay is very appealing. Yet, having a positive work environment is also crucial to advancement. Most teachers teach because they love to teach and the male teacher is often the same. A lot of schools provide excellent working conditions but the isolation of male teachers is what is problematic. It is projected that within this decade, almost two million teachers will be retiring from our school system and add to this that approximately forty percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years and you definitely have the beginning of a crisis on your hands. So, encouraging more men to teach seems to be essential to education. By not isolating male teachers and providing them with the necessary resources to train and teach their work environments will improve dramatically and more men will look favorably upon teaching.
Of course this leads us into the whole realm of teaching as being a “woman’s’ job.” This has really only come about recently in our nation’s history. Early American school teachers were predominately male. Yet the vast majority of teachers today are female and many have referred to this as the “feminizing of education” . As a father myself, I can certainly attest to this assumption with male teachers, but as with stereotypes, we must be careful not to lump all male teachers into certain groups. The obvious benefit to having male teachers that have children themselves is that these men are often more mature and have more patience when dealing with children. This is not to say that single male teachers are less likely to be able to relate to children, it’s just easier for fathers to do what comes natural to them. I know from personal experience that when dealing with children, I have more patience and understanding now that I am a father. This aspect can lead men into the education system and give them the same satisfaction with their students that they have at home being parents. In spite of the fact that society views women as more nurturing, a father who nurtures is often regarded on the same level as a mother if not looked to with a little greater respect.
If women are doing such a good job educating our children, then why should there be such a strong pervasive concern about the lack of men in Early Childhood Education? Why are there articles after articles and research upon research trying to figure out just what the problem is? Perhaps women teachers have been going at it practically alone for long enough. Men have seemed to desert the classroom leaving only a remnant behind as a lasting legacy to what was once primarily a male role in society. Also, I believe that we owe it to our students to present the best possible application of education that only comes about when male and female teachers unite together in order to teach children not only basic education but also basic social skills.
According to Proverbs Ch. 22 V. 6 we are to “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”. We are failing our children by teaching them that men have very little to no place in teaching except as a stepping stone into higher administration positions. This does a disservice to students as they do not have the interaction that they need in order to formulate correct social skills to operate in society. Although in my personal opinion, I believe that this is simply a symptom of a larger problem that is originating in the home itself and is simply spilling over into the school system. Male teachers are very much needed and can definitely have a tremendous impact on their students, their schools, and their communities. It is disheartening to think that most children can count the number of male teachers that they had on one hand. Perhaps our society will find a way to fix this problem over the course of time and this is a problem that has to be corrected soon as the future of our country is hanging in the balance. If we are to continue to be a diverse nation and lead by example we must be willing to produce these effects in the classroom and not just by higher grades or “no child left behind”. It will definitely take men and women working together to come up with a solution.