Mary Thornton

Students' Reasons for Wanting to Teach in Primary School

Despite the introduction of training salaries for Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) students, a substantial increase in enquiries (Tabberer, 2000) and some reported increase in the actual number of applications for primary teacher education courses (Campbell, 2000), recruitment overall has declined significantly, from 24,994 applications in 1994 to 9,875 in 1999 (Gates, 1999). Higher entry qualifications will not readily be imposed on a smaller pool of applicants if the educational characteristics of those applicants remain at the same level (generally considered to be low: House of Commons, 1997). Specific subject-knowledge for teaching may be enhanced by increased emphasis on first degrees and thus recruitment to primary PGCE courses, through the discriminating allocation of training salaries and as an outcome of the Secretary of State’s description of the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree as a ‘sub-degree undergraduate course’ (McAvoy, citing Hansard, 2000), but the PGCE neither ensures adequate coverage of shortage subjects nor the whole curriculum competence required of most primary teachers (Thornton, 1998). Despite the introduction of training salaries for PGCE students, starting in September 2000, recruitment of ethnic minority and male students remains low (Barnard, 2000, reports just a 5 per cent increase in applications from men and a 5 per cent increase in enquiries from ethnic minorities) and there is strong evidence that the teaching profession in England is becoming increasingly feminised (Howson, 1998).

Reducing Wastage among Men Student Teachers in Primary Courses: A male club approach

This paper describes the establishment, in one English university, of a club for male students training to be primary (elementary) school teachers, and the outcomes of research undertaken with the clubs target group. The club was a device by which to reduce the high wastage rates amongst male students. Field notes, interviews and a questionnaire survey of volunteer male students, not all of whom attended the club, enabled identification of key features relating to: (1) their training course, (2) general perceptions of their chosen career, and (3) the success and failure rates among these students. Although the sample was small, and generalisations cannot be made, interesting issues were raised, many of which parallel the findings of other researchers, some of which are worthy of further research, and all of which should be considered by policy makers wishing to increase male recruitment to primary teaching.

Educational Approaches in Autism: What we know about what we do

There has been little attempt to relate well‐known educational approaches in autism to increased psychological understanding about the condition. This paper addresses that gap. Four discrete educational approaches to autism (Higashi, Lovaas, Option, TEACCH), and two ‘eclectic’ approaches (SPELL, one LEA specific), are explored within the context of four psychological interpretations of autism. Our purpose is to better understand how the different educational approaches in autism align with, or diverge from, the core purposes of teachers, namely to develop independence and critical thought to the optimum level possible for individual pupils, irrespective of their underlying condition.

Staff Gender Balance in Primary Schools

57 I the media the lack of male teachers and male role models in schools has been cited as a cause of particular concern (Maynard, 2002). Headlines such as ‘Failing boys “public burden number one”’ (Dean, 1998), ‘Gender gap widens to a gulf’ (Cassidy, 1999) and ‘How to improve his stories’ (Rundell, 2001) accompany the news that girls’ exam results have not only caught up with those of boys but in some instances are surpassing them. The government has called for more men in teaching, especially in the early years, as role models for boys (DfEE, 2000). Latest figures show that just over 13 per cent of primary teachers are men (DFES, 2001), but applications from men for postgraduate teacher training in England are up 356 on last year. The Teacher Training Agency’s target is for men to make up 15 per cent of primary trainees in 2002–03. However, there is a remarkable lack of clarity in the literature about what impact men, as teachers and as role models, may have on the perceptions and educational experiences of male and female pupils and their school-based achievements. It may seem obvious that the male/female teacher balance within a primary school may have important implications for the effect the school has on its pupils’ educational outcomes. However, given the weight and extent of educational and school-based research into boy/girl achievement, government policy to raise standards, and TTA strategies to recruit more men (1996), it is remarkable how rarely teacher sex has been addressed as a variable in school-based educational research and school improvement initiatives. To address the issue the research explored the relation between the proportions of male and female teachers in primary schools and pupil achievement at the end of Key Stage 2.

Men into primary teaching: who goes where Dilemmas of entry, survival and career prospects

Original article can be found at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t725445575--Copyright Taylor and Francis / Informa --DOI : 10.1080/03004279985200201

Entrances and exits: changing perceptions of primary teaching as a career for men

The number of men in teaching has always been small, particularly in early childhood, but those that do come into teaching usually do so for the same reasons as women, namely enjoyment of working with children, of wanting to teach and wanting to make a difference to children’s lives. However, in two separate studies, the authors have shown that on beginning teacher training in 1998, and at the point of leaving the profession in 2005, men and women tend to emphasise different concerns. This article will explore those differences and seek possible explanations for how men’s views of teaching might be changing over time.

Men, Pre-service Training and the Implications for Continuing Professional Development

Abstract Through a case study of male students undertaking primary (elementary) initial teacher education (ITE), this article explores the views and concerns of men about operating (successfully or not) within a female dominated professional field. It is a context in which the discourse of male dominance is inverted, temporarily, in order to better understand socioeconomic and cultural constraints that, for these men, contribute to gender disparity and inhibit their inclusion in the educational workplace. The article concludes with a discussion of professional development as an arena in which these constraints might usefully be addressed

Diversity and social integration on higher education campuses in India and the UK: student and staff perspectives

This paper reports findings from the first year of a UK‐India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), ‘Widening participation: Diversity, isolation or integration in Higher Education?’ Over a three‐year period this project will explore issues of diversity and integration, social cohesion and separation, equality and discrimination as experienced by students and staff on higher education (HE) campuses in India and the UK. Initial findings suggest that separation of groups on the HE campuses studied is pervasive and ubiquitous. While some such separation may be for supportive reasons, convenience, or inertia, at other times it is due to overt discrimination on the grounds of race, region, nationality, caste, class, religion, age or gender. However, most respondents said that greater integration was both desirable and possible.

Widening access, widening participation, widening success: An Indian Case Study

Multiple deprivations are widespread in rural India. Literacy levels remain stubbornly low, albeit gradually improving. Caste, class, religion, gender, age and disability all impact on access to education, participation and successful completion. The education of girls remains problematic given the higher value attached to sons, especially in rural communities; their frequent confinement to the home on reaching puberty; the cost of dowries (despite being outlawed); trafficking of adolescent girls and/or early marriage. The education of tribal communities and other scheduled castes in rural communities, despite principles of free education and equality of access, are inhibited by poor facilities and availability of provision; by economic circumstances and past family experiences and histories. Against a cultural and familial history of poverty, illiteracy, child labour, early marriage, increased abandonment of the elderly and extensive and entrenched patterns of discrimination, one NGO has developed a holistic and integrated approach to supporting some of the most disadvantaged groups in a poor rural area in West Bengal. This approach appears to fundamentally change, for the better, the life chances, educational outcomes and economic prospects of the target communities. While there can be no direct transfer of strategies between the two countries this paper will explore possible explanations for such success and what lessons, if any, might be learnt by educationalists working towards widening successful participation in education in England. Ghandi: intolerance is a form of violence

Subject specialism, gender and status: the example of primary school mathematics

Original article can be found at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t725445575--Copyright Taylor and Francis / Informa --DOI : 10.1080/03004279685200311