For International Men’s Day, we want to celebrate our fantastic practitioners who work with the younger children in the Robert Gordon’s College community.
Last month, Mr Macpherson published an article in the TES calling for boys to be encouraged to take up careers in the HEAL professions (health, education, administration and literacy), in the same way that we encourage girls to go into STEM. Across Scotland, only 11% of primary teachers and 4% of Early Years Practitioners (EYPs) are male. Yet if we want to promote positive masculinity in society and break down gender stereotypes, having good male role models at a young age is critically important. To try to change the narrative around this, we are celebrating our staff who do amazing work with our youngest learners in the RGC Nursery, Junior School and Out of Hours Care. We asked them about the career pathways that they have taken, and what they value in their roles at RGC.
"When someone new hears I am an Early Years practitioner in a nursery with 3, 4, and 5 year olds, the response is one of shock and surprise."
Mr D Sim, Early Years Practitioner, shared: “Construction, engineering, transport, agriculture, science, technology, accounting - these were the careers available and promoted when I was 18 and ready to leave S6 and enter the job world. None of them excited me. I had never experienced that eureka moment - the spark of interest where I knew what I wanted to do - and, to my detriment, this resulted in 15 years of muddling through jobs and opportunities that were simply to pay the bills.
“I found my greatest joy in being around my family, which included an ever growing collection of nieces and nephews, and it was these experiences that sparked my interest in childcare and education.
“As an 18 year old, I would never have even considered a career in childcare or education, not to mention the hidden perceptions and harsh jokes that would come from expressing this to my friends. Even now, almost 20 years later, when someone new hears I am an Early Years Practitioner in a nursery with 3, 4, and 5 year olds, the response is one of shock and surprise. Without them even asking, there is a sense that questions and judgement are being passed, with preconceptions of male nursery workers at the forefront of their minds.
“This has to change. Positive male role models for our youngest children can only improve their wellbeing, relationships, and outlook on the world around them. Males in childcare and education need to be celebrated and encouraged. The pathways into these careers are incredible, offering endless opportunities for both professional and personal development, and more needs to be done to highlight these to prospective students.
“I am proud of what I do and want other males to share in my passion of working in early education. It is, without a doubt, the most rewarding role I will ever have - and the most fun. From building volcanoes to playing football, searching for lost pirate treasure in the sand, and creating life size chalk drawings of dinosaurs, there is never a dull moment. I challenge you to join me and help change the stereotypes surrounding HEAL careers.”
"I believe that children benefit from being able to interact with male practitioners, as it allows them to see that males can be nurturing caregivers too."
Mr Watson, Junior School Teacher, said: “In a profession often dominated by women, I take pride in offering a different perspective, style and helping to serve as a positive male role model for all of my young learners. I believe that children benefit from being able to interact with male practitioners, as it allows them to see that males can be nurturing caregivers too.
“I recall being 16 years old when I was told that I was, reluctantly, being sent to a primary school for my work experience placement. I also remember having very negative thoughts about this as a career, seeing primary teaching as something that was not becoming of a male. Instead, I aspired to become a police officer or a firefighter - something that wouldn’t force me into the STEM fields, like many of my friends, but would also allow me to keep my naive view of a ‘manly’ job. However, after only a couple of hours into my work experience placement in a Primary 1 setting, I quickly realised that teaching was where I was supposed to be.
“Seeing the small steps and big steps that students take in their daily social, emotional and academic lives made me feel good about myself and created a genuine desire to help others. I feel that my role as a male primary teacher has been invaluable to children in many of the different settings that I have been privileged to work in. For some of these children, I have been the only male role model they had encountered up to that point. I, like many of my colleagues, would love to see this change.
“For me, being a male primary teacher is such a rewarding profession, from the relationships that I have the opportunity to build and to the lives I have the chance to positively impact.”
“Do you think Paul minds being the only man on the course?”
“No, he’s probably used to it.”
Mr Keane, Out of Hours Care Manager, highlighted: “This was a conversation among the other people on my current Childhood Practice course at the start of the term, of which I am the only male. The truth is, I’m now used to being one of the few men working in childcare. I can’t blame other men for not working in childcare, it’s not something that I had ever thought about, and I accidentally found it as my career. After school, I studied sports science - a heavily male dominated course - and I only started working in the after school club at RGC once I had finished my studies and was looking to get into sports development. But I quickly discovered that I really enjoyed working in childcare, and the more time I spent in the sector, the more aware I became of the importance of promoting males working in childcare.
“Working in childcare is incredibly rewarding - and more importantly, a lot of fun! Who wouldn’t want to play a game of football, draw some pictures, and maybe read a book at work? I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a profession that excites me. No day is the same, and it’s guaranteed that at some point everyday, I’ll have something to laugh uncontrollably at!
“But outside of that, there is the stigma of being a male in childcare. It’s now common for me, when somebody asks what I do for work, to see them shocked and not fully understanding. Sadly, this is a reality shared by the majority of males - not just in childcare, but also working in schools in general. The only way this will change is if the work is put in to remove the stigma and actively promote these roles to males.
“The first step in this is for those of us already working in the industry to keep showing the importance of males in schools and to encourage the next generation to feel empowered to join us. For this to happen, there also needs to be a shift in mentality and education about the positives of having males in our workforce. We are an important part of a child’s development, and at a time when social media is portraying questionable male role models, we are on the frontline of helping the boys in our schools see positive role models. We can make a difference.
“If you had asked a 10 year old me if he thought I would be doing what I do for a living, he would never have guessed it. But why can’t 10 year old boys want to work in HEAL?”