NSW Public Teachers union think push for male teachers is offensive

The teachers’ union is opposing the government’s plan to tackle an urgent shortage of male teachers because it says recognising men as a minority in the profession would be ­offensive to gay, disabled and Aboriginal people. TAKE OUR POLL

• ‘Feminisation of curriculum’ keeps male teachers away
• Number of male teachers in NSW plummets to new low

The teachers’ union is opposing the government’s plan to tackle an urgent shortage of male teachers because it says recognising men as a minority in the profession would be ­offensive to gay, disabled and Aboriginal people.

The Education Department has identified recruiting men to teaching jobs as a key focus area, after shocking figures ­revealed the number of males in classrooms has plummeted and experts warned the trend was bad for kids.

But the NSW Teachers Federation said in its response to the strategy that the inclusion of men as a focus area was “disappointing” and that it was seeking an urgent meeting with the department to discuss its “serious concerns”.

The number of male teachers nationwide has plummeted but the situation in NSW is dire.

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In a memorandum posted on its website last month, the union singled out the use of the phrase “you can’t be what you can’t see” in the department’s document as inappropriate.

“The Federation considers the appropriation of the phrase to be highly insulting not only to women but to Aboriginal people, people with a disability, LGBTIQA+ colleagues and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) considering the origins of the term,” it said.  

The phrase was coined by US activist Marian Wright Edelman to describe the difficulties of getting more women into management roles if there were few examples to follow.

A push for more male teachers had overwhelming support in an exclusive Daily Telegraph poll yesterday that showed 86 per cent of 600 respondents supported the idea.

The Telegraph revealed this week the proportion of men in primary teaching had plummeted to a new low of just 17.4 per cent of the teaching workforce last year, down from 19.5 per cent in 2012.

The problem is worse in Western Sydney, where males made up 14.6 per cent of primary school teachers last year.

The NSW Department of Education has developed a recruitment strategy to attract more men to the teaching profession.

A department spokesman yesterday said the federation was consulted about the recruitment strategy and that it was “designed to include Aboriginal people, staff from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with a disability, LGBTIQA+ staff, along with bolstering the number of male teachers and women in leadership positions.”

The federation also said male teachers should not be a focus of recruitment because men were over represented in school management positions.

State Education Minister Rob Stokes yesterday said he wanted to ­encourage more male teachers into the profession, particularly in our primary schools.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes said more male teachers are needed as role models to younger children. Picture: Chris Pavlich

“At a time when more children than ever lack strong male role models in their everyday lives, it is impossible to calculate the impact that a male teacher can make in the life of a child,” Mr Stokes said. “Gender imbalances in any profession are never a good thing. Teaching is no different, and it is such a crucial role in our society that we need to encourage young men to consider the great life and legacy that a career in teaching can provide.”

The NSW Department of Education document, which was based on workforce data, said: “We have an obligation to address the gender imbalance in our teaching population, ­attracting and retaining more male teachers.

“Experts say it is crucial to have positive male role models in the classroom for both young boys and girls.”