“Going going.....” why are males underrepresented in pre-service primary education courses at university?
Keywords:
Gender, Nurturance, Primary Teachers, Caring, Social Constructionism, MasculinitiesAbstract
This sociological qualitative study identifies reasons why female pre-service teachers believe
males are underrepresented in primary education courses at Australian universities. The
findings of the study suggest that the nineteenth century naturalistic discourse of nurturance
continues to sustain the notion that primary school teaching is a female profession. The study
argues that this socially-conservative gender discourse remains essentially unchallenged and
maintains a significant negative influence on males’ willingness to take up a career in primary
teaching.
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References
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Connell, R. (1985). Teachers' Work. Sydney: Allen and Unwin Pty Ltd.
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in the classroom, Sex Education, 1, 1–17.
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Skelton, C. (2001). Schooling the boys. Buckingham, Open University Press.
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Smith, J. (2004). Male primary teachers: Advantaged or disadvantaged? Paper presented to the
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Steedman, C. (1985). The mother made conscious: the historical construction of a primary
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Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures
and techniques. Thousand Oaks, Sage.
Taylor, S. (2004). Gender equity and education: what are the issues now? In B. Burnett, D.
Meadmore & G. Tait (Eds.), New Questions for Contemporary Teachers: Taking a Social-
Cultural Approach to Education (First ed., pp. 87-101). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education
Australia.
Vogt, F. (2002). A caring teacher: explorations into primary school teachers' professional
identity and ethic of care. Gender and Education 14 (3), 251-264.
Wadham, B., Boyd, R., & Pudsey, J. (2007). 'Boys will be boys and girls will be girls': Gender
and sexuality in school. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education.
Weber, M. (1947). The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. New York: Free Press.
White, J. (2003). Changing conceptions: young people's views of partnering and parenting.
Journal of Sociology 39 (2), 149-164.
Williams, C. (1993). Doing "women's work": Men in non-traditional occupations (Vol. 3).
Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications Inc.
Wolcott, H. (1994). Transforming Qualitative Data: Description, Analysis, and Interpretation
(First ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Wolcott, H. (2001). Writing Up Qualitative Research (Second ed.). Thousand Oaks California:
Sage Publications Inc.
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1345.4Feature%20Article1Sep%20201
0m
Acker, S. (1999). The Realities of Teachers’ Work: never a dull moment (London, Cassell).
Allan, J. (1993). Male elementary teachers: experiences and perspectives, in: C. Williams (Ed.)
Doing Women’s Work (London, Sage).
Barth, F. (1969). Ethnic Groups and Boundaries. Boston: Little Brown.
Belenky, M. (1992). Bringing balance to the classroom or workplace. Paper presented at the
Wisconsin Women's Studies Conference, Preconference Workshop, Greenbay Wisconsin.
Berger, P., & Luckman, L. (1967). The Social Construction of Reality: Allen Lane Penguin
Press.
Bessant, J., & Watts, R. (2002). Sociology Australia. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Blaise, M. (2009). What a Girl Wants What a Girl Needs: Responding to Sex, Gender and
Sexuality in the Early Childhood Classroom. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 23
(4), 450-460.
Clark, M. (1989) The Great Divide: The construction of gender in the primary school. Canberra:
Curriculum Development Centre.
Cohen, L., Morrison, M., & Morrison, K. (2002). Research Methods in Education (Fifth ed.).
London: Routledge Falmer.
Connell, R. (1985). Teachers' Work. Sydney: Allen and Unwin Pty Ltd.
Connell, R. (1987). Gender and Power. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Connell, R., Ashenden, D., Kessler, S., & Dowsett, G. (1982). Making the Difference: Schools,
Families and Social Division. Sydney: Allen and Unwin Australia Pty Ltd.
Cushman, P. (2005). Let's hear it from the males: Issues facing male primary school teachers.
Teaching and Teacher Education 21, 227-240.
Foster, T., & Newman, E. (2005). Just a knock back? Identity bruising on the route to becoming
a male primary school teacher. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice 11 (4), 341-358.
Foucault, M. (1972). The Archeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock.
Francis, B. & Skelton, C. (2001). Men teachers and the construction of heterosexual masculinity
in the classroom, Sex Education, 1, 1–17.
Goffman, E. (1959). Presentation of the self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday Anchor
Books.
Haywood, C. & Mac an Ghaill, M. (1996). Schooling masculinities, in: M. Mac an Ghaill (Ed.)
Understanding Masculinities (Buckingham, Open University Press).
King, J. (1994). Uncommon Caring: Primary Males and Implicit Judgments, Viewpoints.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills CA: Sage.
Lingard, B., & Douglas, P. (1999). Men Engaging Feminisims. Pro-feminisim backlashes and
schooling. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Lorber, J. (1994). Night to his day: the social construction of gender. In Paradoxes of gender
(pp. 13-36). New Haven: Yale University Press.
Maguire, M. (2005). Textures of Class in the Context of a 'Class-crossing Teacher'. Sociology
39 (3), 427-443.
Maykut, P., & Morehouse, R. (1994). Beginning Qualitative Research: A Philosophic and
Practical Guide (Second ed.). London: The Falmer Press.
McCann, P., & Young, A. (1982). Samuel Wilderspin and the Infant School Movement. London:
Croom Helm.
McMillan, J. (2004). Educational Research Fundamentals for the Consumer (4th ed.). Boston:
Pearson Education.
Ricoeur, P. (1976). Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning. Fort Worth:
Texan Christian University Press.
Skelton, C. (2001). Schooling the boys. Buckingham, Open University Press.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). State Policies Towards Languages - Linguistic Genocide,
Language Death, or Support for Languages? Linguistic Genocide in Education - Or
Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? Mahwah New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Smith, J. (2004). Male primary teachers: Advantaged or disadvantaged? Paper presented to the
Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Melbourne, December 2004.
Steedman, C. (1985). The mother made conscious: the historical construction of a primary
school pedagogy. History Workshop Journal 20, 149-163.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures
and techniques. Thousand Oaks, Sage.
Taylor, S. (2004). Gender equity and education: what are the issues now? In B. Burnett, D.
Meadmore & G. Tait (Eds.), New Questions for Contemporary Teachers: Taking a Social-
Cultural Approach to Education (First ed., pp. 87-101). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education
Australia.
Vogt, F. (2002). A caring teacher: explorations into primary school teachers' professional
identity and ethic of care. Gender and Education 14 (3), 251-264.
Wadham, B., Boyd, R., & Pudsey, J. (2007). 'Boys will be boys and girls will be girls': Gender
and sexuality in school. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education.
Weber, M. (1947). The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. New York: Free Press.
White, J. (2003). Changing conceptions: young people's views of partnering and parenting.
Journal of Sociology 39 (2), 149-164.
Williams, C. (1993). Doing "women's work": Men in non-traditional occupations (Vol. 3).
Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications Inc.
Wolcott, H. (1994). Transforming Qualitative Data: Description, Analysis, and Interpretation
(First ed.). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Wolcott, H. (2001). Writing Up Qualitative Research (Second ed.). Thousand Oaks California:
Sage Publications Inc.
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Published
2017-08-04
How to Cite
Lovett, T. (2017). “Going going.” why are males underrepresented in pre-service primary education courses at university?. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 6(2), 347–356. Retrieved from https://www.iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/49
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