Poor pay and stigma fears keep men out of teaching careers

MEN are turning down teaching jobs out of fear of litigation, says the head of the Australian Primary Principals Association

School teacher Tony Doyle

MEN are turning down teaching jobs in primary schools out of fear of litigation, says the head of the Australian Primary Principals Association, who is calling for an effort to raise the status of the profession through higher wages and tougher entry standards.

"We need to address the issue which makes men think that primary school teaching is not for them because they are unnecessarily afraid of litigation," APPA president Norm Hart told The Australian.

"I think it is more the fear than the reality, but (there is) the idea that you can't touch a child in a primary school without the fear that someone is going to accuse you of pedophilia or child abuse, and I think men are more concerned about it than women."

Male primary school teachers are under represented in Australia, making up 19 per cent of the profession in 2010, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This number had dropped by 11 per cent since 2000.

"I think it is of a concern because young boys need good role models, and boys need some rough and tumble in their young lives," Mr Hart said.

Tony Doyle, 51, a primary school teacher for more than 30 years, says the stigma, which he blames on TV, has burdened his "noble profession". "It certainly never was something that you considered back in those times. I know a lot of teachers, male teachers especially, who are very circumspect now about where they work, be it at a single-sex or co-ed school," Mr Doyle said.

Low wages was another reason for the lack of male role models in the classroom because it prevented them from being the primary bread winners, Mr Doyle said. "We have to value teaching as an occupation, we have to reward it better and give people incentives to stay there It is a concern to society . . . that it is not deemed by many young men to be a career of first choice, because it's about attracting quality people." Child development experts fear the gender inequality among primary school teachers because children are at an age where they are learning to identify their sexuality and gender roles.

Melbourne developmental psychiatrist Sandy Ray says there is a push for more male primary school teachers.

"It is important both emotionally and socially," Ms Ray said.