Preschool teachers ignore Ellis case

The Southland Times
April 14 2007

Making a difference
by Sophie Speer

Invercargill early childhood education teacher Mike Richards loves his job and could not imagine doing anything else.
Switching from pizza-maker to teacher about nine years ago was the best decision he has ever made, he reckons. The rewards were just as great for him as for his female colleagues.
Yet he's a statistical rarity.
Nationally there is a huge shortage of male early childhood education teachers, with just 132 men, and more than 13,000 women.
In 2005, male teachers made up less than 1 percent of the total teacher numbers, dropping from almost 1.5 percent in 1998 and more than 2 percent in 1992.
Mr Richards said he could not understand why more men were not entering the workforce, but thought false perceptions played a large role.
"(Children) need role models.
(They need to know) that men are okay and safe to have cuddles with.
That it's okay to come to a bloke if they hurt themselves."
With the long hours many parents were working, children were losing the male role models, which was a tragedy, he said.
"Some dads are working two jobs and just don't have time to spend with their wee ones."
The father of four said he had not been the victim of any sideways looks or nasty comments from parents or members of the public for being a male early childhood teacher, although he thought it helped he was married with children.
"It's never bothered me, I have had nothing but enthusiasm, motivation and encouragement from other teachers and parents," Mr Richards said.
Male teachers bring a different perspective to learning, and it was important for children to be exposed to that, he said.
Female teachers were often more cautious, whereas men were a bit more adventurous – while still staying safe, and create different games and scenarios, he said.
Boys require a different type of teaching and need active games to burn off their extra energy, but Mr Richards always made sure the girls got involved, too.
Pillow fights and rugby tackles were just some of the ways he kept the children active, he said.
"For too long boys haven't been releasing their energy and we (male teachers) know how that feels."
Last month, he was involved in the first early childhood education male teacher summit, held in Christchurch as part of the Early Childhood Council's annual conference.Called the "Kiwi Men Can Do Anything Summit", it focused on the issues surrounding the small numbers of male teachers and developing strategies for getting more men into the job.
The actions of a small minority have tainted the reputation of all male teachers, which was something they focused on at the conference.
"People kept bringing up (Christchurch early childhood teacher convicted of sexually abusing children) Peter Ellis until someone said 'stop'.
He doesn't need to ruin it for everyone," Mr Richards said.
He said for many the job can be isolating, being the only male teacher in a centre, or in training, but being able to get together with other teachers was encouraging and positive.Signs have been put up at Mr Richards' workplace, Kew Pacific Island Early Childhood Centre, encouraging fathers to give the job a go.
"I don't think people actually realise they can do this job. Men would be surprised at how much enjoyment and satisfaction you get out of this job," he said.
Mr Richards trained at the southern campus of the Dunedin College of Education after speak-ing with a student there and deciding it was something he wanted to do.
His first job was in Nelson at Grove St Kindergarten, before moving south to work at Kew Pacific Island Early Childhood Centre.
He said the centre was great because they have a strong focus on whanau and family.
"To me it's not a job, it's a lifestyle." He loves that every day is different and brings new challenges.
"I love the freedom of the job, and working with the kids. These kids at this age are so cool."
Because there is no set curriculum, the teachers can work with the children's specific interests.



Radio NZ
April 2 2007; 09:25

Call for childcare centres to make men feel more welcome

The Early Childhood Council says childcare centres must try to make men feel welcome and accepted if they are to increase the number of male workers.
A council conference in Christchurch at the weekend was told that men make up less than 1% of New Zealand's 13,000 early childhood workers or helpers.
The council's chief executive, Sue Thorne, says childcare staff are sometimes initially suspicious of male colleagues and can worry about how parents will react to a male teacher.
She says they need to accept that men can be positive role models.
Ms Thorne says a change in government policy and the way teacher colleges target male students is also needed.



Ministry of Education
April 1 2007

NZ's potential in early childhood education
Press Release

New Zealand is one of the worst countries in the developed world when it comes to numbers of men working in early childhood centres, but has the potential to be one of the best, says a visiting early childhood education expert.
Co-ordinator of the Resource and Training Centre for Child Care at the University of Ghent (Belgium) Jan Peeters said New Zealand's male participation rate of less than 1% compared 'very badly' with countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Scotland and Norway (which has achieved almost 10%).
Mr Peeters was in Christchurch this weekend (ending 01 April) to address the annual conference of the Early Childhood Council and to take part in a New Zealand 'working party' tasked with attracting more men into the New Zealand early childhood sector.
Mr Peeters said that based on what he had seen whilst in the country, 'New Zealand has, despite your recent bad performance, the potential to lead the world when it comes to the participation rate of men in early childhood education'.
Countries most successful in getting men into early childhood education had involved concerted action by Government, the teacher trainers and the centres, Mr Peeters said.
'This is because centres on their own cannot attract male teachers who do not exist. Teacher trainers train new teachers for no purpose if centres do not welcome them. And Government cannot succeed with policy if the teacher trainers and centres are not committed to delivering.
'That is why I am so optimistic about New Zealand. The workshop I have just attended was remarkable by world standards. You had senior people from Government, your Universities, and your childcare centres all sitting around one table as equals and all focussed on how to get more men into the sector.
'It would not happen that way in most countries. It was all very egalitarian, all very practical, very down-to-earth, very "this is the problem, now what do we do to fix it."'
Mr Peeters said his other reason for optimism about New Zealand was 'the seemingly astonishing achievement of your kohanga reo in attracting men to working in their centres'.
'I am told it has achieved about 30%' of its teachers being male, with about half of these qualified and half in training.
'That would mean that in New Zealand you have an approach to attracting men that is world leading, that is worthy of international study.'
It had been interesting to hear how kohanga had attracted so many men to early childhood teaching, because 'many of the techniques are exactly what international research suggests should be done'.
'I am told that from day one they encourage fathers to be involved with children at their centres, fathers are involved in managing the centres, and they recognise that Maori men have a special role with children that compliments the role of women.
'They identify what individual fathers can contribute to centres as soon as they can, then once they are doing volunteer work they encourage them to train as teachers. They also recognise the importance of grandfathers, and encourage them to take an active role.'
Mr Peeters said men brought 'major benefits' to the centres where they worked.
'They provide positive male role models for both boys and girls. They teach boys it is part of the male job description to be gentle and nurturing. They provide reliable male figures for children who do not have access to father figures.
'And they provide a new source of labour for a sector that is short of trained teachers.'
New Zealand has 13,609 women and only 132 men working in its free Kindgartens, childcare centres and in homebased care. (2005 figures) Since the early 1990s the percentage of men in the sector has halved from two to less than 1%.
Mr Peeters was brought to New Zealand by the Early Childhood Council to address its annual conference (held in Christchurch from 30 March to 01 April) and to attend an Early-Childhood-Council-convened workshop tasked with devising an action plan for getting more men working in New Zealand's early childhood education centres.
Those attending the workshop came from the three main parts of the early childhood sector: Government including the Ministry of Education and Chair of Parliament's Education and Science Select Committee Hon Brian Donnelly; senior teacher educators including those from the universities of Auckland and Canterbury; and leaders from service delivery organizations such as the Kindergartens, Kohanga Reo, the New Zealand Childcare Association and the Early Childhood Council.
The workshop devised an outline plan for getting more men working it the early childhood education sector and committed to developing a more detailed plan in the coming months.



The Press
March 30 2007

Men scared of abuse label opt out of child care
By Arwen Hann

Men are put off a career in early childhood education by perceptions they are all sex abusers, a conference has been told.
Speakers at the Men in Early Child Care summit in Christchurch yesterday said negative coverage on incidents such as the Peter Ellis-Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre case stopped men entering early-childhood work because they feared being labelled child abusers.
Ellis was convicted in 1993 of sexually molesting children at the civic creche where he worked.
Ellis, who has always maintained his innocence, served two-thirds of a 10-year jail sentence.
In 1992, just 2 per cent of the early-childhood workforce was made up of men.
In 2005, men made up less than 1 per cent of the sector.
Education Ministry figures from 2005 show there were just 132 men working in early-childhood education, compared with 13,609 women.
Researcher Sarah Farquhar told the conference that although media coverage helped to place the issue of men in early-childhood education in the spotlight, it tended to focus on the negative.
"There has been lots of media coverage, but mainly about sex abuse," she said.
"They don't pick up on all the great things men are doing, but the one thing men are scared of is being accused of child abuse. Even items that try to say positive things still have that thread running through them."
However, many delegates at the summit were optimistic that the sector was beginning to put the Ellis case behind it.
David Baxendell has worked at the Edmonds Smith Street kindergarten in Woolston for 25 years.
He was one of the first men to train for early-childhood teaching in Christchurch.
He said the Ellis case cast a shadow over his profession.
"I didn't feel that people changed their attitudes of me necessarily, but it did make me change a little bit in terms of what I would do with the children and making sure I did certain things, like changing them, where people could see me," he said.
"It is a shame we can't seem to get away from the Peter Ellis case, though. It has had an effect on men in early-childhood (education)."
Baxendell said he hoped the sector was shaking off the Ellis tag.
"I think it is moving on now. Things like this conference are a great step. It is great to see so many men in the sector getting together like this. Hopefully, we can continue to move forward," he said.
North Shore Community Centre worker Adam Buckingham said the positive aspects needed to be highlighted: "It is a very rewarding job and every day is different".
"Men can be nurturers but can also bring different teaching styles, which can help children. We need to publicise those things."
Farquhar said she hoped that men in early-childhood education were starting to receive more positive coverage and that the sector's leaders would become more supportive.
"I think there is a change in the view and hopefully important people like the Ministry of Education and Teach New Zealand will recognise that," she said.