Male Educator Recruitment in Early Childhood Centres: Implications for Teacher Education

Abstract

The absent male educators in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes have created a gap in the momentum of success gained through fathers’ involvement in the early life of children. Worldwide, the gender imbalance trends in early childhood education and lower primary classes have been immemorial female skewed with men becoming extinct in the arena. Hitherto, copious studies testify of men’s involvement as fathers in young children’s early life as crucial for their social, emotional, and cognitive development. This chapter focuses on the importance of having male educators in the foundation phase of children’s care and learning, barriers to male involvement as educators in early care and learning centres, and how learning institutions can recruit and train male educators specific for the ECD. Male educators in the ECD have been confronted by stigmatisation, ridiculed, hit glass ceilings, and are viewed with hostility and suspicion. A preliminary exploration of literature from renowned published work that focuses extensively on various countries across continents will be covered in this review. This chapter envisaged strategies that could be employed in the recruitment, retention, and active participation of male educators in the ECD settings that will inform policy and teacher education.