Monday, April 2, 2007

Where have all the young men gone?

Jan Peeters, a visiting 'expert' tells the Early Childhood Council's annual conference that NZ is one of the 'worst' developed countries regarding men working in early childcare.
"NZ has 13,609 women & only 132 men working in its free Kindgartens, childcare centres & in homebased care. (2005 figures) Since the early 1990s the percentage of men.. has halved from 2% to less than 1%"
The clouds of the Peter Ellis scandal still hang heavily over the sector. His legacy shows men risk complete ruination when accused of molesting children in their charge. They face media hysteria, an unrelenting prosecution, a hostile justice system, plus a host of virulent psychologists & 'specialists' with a dim agenda. It's a gamble.

Imo, early childcare must be a vocational calling; men must first be passionately driven, committed and temperamentally suited. Very few fit the bill. Then there's the accelerating political correctness such as shunning war games & boisterous physical play, and the overwrought concern about giving cultural offense. E.g., some centres won't use play dough containing flour (food) as it allegedly aggrieves Maoris (rather odd; during my time helping at Kohanga Reo, no one ever objected to using flour for play dough or paste.) How many men are prepared to work in such a gingerly environment?

By contrast, Mr Peeters says 30% of Kohanga workers are men, but I doubt the comparison is valid. The kaupapa (underlying philosophy) of Kohanga is very different & unfashionably un-PC: men & women ARE intrinsically different; relationships are hierarchic not egalitarian; spirituality, often a curious blend of Christianity & Maori paganism, infuses the curriculum; plus the strict divisions of gender, age & seniority at rituals such as powhiri (welcome ceremonies) are inapplicable to mainstream institutions. Also, many (male) workers are themselves, students of the language. There's a saying: if you want to learn to speak Maori, go to Kohanga where everyone, regardless of age, is a student.

Ultimately however, new questions arise. With no legal impediments barring men or women in their job choice, do gender disparities across various career sectors really matter? Who else, apart from utopians & social engineers, cares about the skewed distribution of men & women in any given field? One can insist on equal opportunities, but can one always expect equal outcomes?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I tried.

When my little man turned 2 I took him to the local Playcentre for 3 months.

WhatI was TOLD was that men were strongly encouraged to be involved.

What transpired was the three loneliest months of my life. Women are simply going to be suspicious of men in a childhood environment, even when he's a Dad of one of the kids going there.

Two years on, I'm accepted, but I no longer go there other than to do "DAD STUFF" like working bees, sausage sizzles and the like.

Actual first hand involvement in childcare as a male is simply something the women are not comfortable with, and you end up feeling excluded to the point where you leave to job to Mum instead.