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PC and Paperwork

Entry 539, on 2007-05-23 at 18:11:36 (Rating 2, News)

I followed a discussion in a newspaper today about why so few men are teaching. The proportion of males in the lower levels of education is less than 10%. Explanations include low pay, the risk of being labelled a paedophile, excessive political correctness, and lack of respect for the profession. But are these ideas justified?

I'm sure they all are to some extent, but many are probably more imagined than real. I don't think teachers' pay is too bad. My wife teaches and gets paid about the same as me, but that could be just because my pay is so lousy! That's one of the disadvantages of working at a University, I suppose.

The paedophile issue is certainly there, but the actual number of cases of this type is relatively low, I think. Of course, when it does happen, the publicity is extreme, especially when there's good reason to believe the person accused is innocent, which is often the case.

The political correctness and bureaucracy would probably be the main reason I wouldn't teach. Actually, that's not true - I wouldn't teach because I couldn't be bothered disciplining a bunch of out-of-control kids. But PC and paperwork would rate up there pretty highly. My wife always seems to be involved with documentation, grading, and other largely pointless exercises. How can all this paperwork improve education when it means there's less time for the primary task of teaching and lesson preparation?

I'm not sure about the respect thing. There seems to be a range of attitudes there. Some people actually have a lot of esteem for teachers and others just consider them a bunch of people who can't get a real job. There's an old saying that those who can, do; those who can't, teach. There is an element of truth in that. I know that some people teach because their area of expertise has so few other possibilities, but others teach through choice and both types of person can be genuinely good educators.

Of course teaching is an extremely important profession. I know myself that the very few good teachers I had (I can only remember about 3 in my primary, secondary, and university education) made a huge difference to my direction in life, my attitudes, and the way I think. The best examples were a science teacher who gave me my enthusiasm for science, and a lecturer I had for paranormal psychology who introduced me to skepticism.

So its unfortunate that teaching has got to this point, I'm sure the quality is lower, not because there aren't enough men, but because exceptional people of both sexes are discouraged from pursuing it. I can say one thing for sure: if I had the choice between teaching and unemployment, I know which I would take!

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