A while ago a TEDTALK was given by Ali Carr-Chellman where she presented about the epidemic of losing boys in school. It’s a compelling argument backed by some interesting statistics. I’m including a screencap presented in her talk. It compares the numbers of boys to every one hundred girls. In every category she displayed boys were at least two times the number of girls.
For whatever reason (and there are a few) boys are more likely to be in special education, drop out of school, get suspended, or be diagnosed with an emotional disturbance. These are staggering numbers. There’s absolutely no other way to put it. This topic also stems from discussions I’ve had about the amount and types of students that qualify for special education services, as a whole.
Ali also discusses the roles of men in elementary school and how it continues to dwindle in those numbers. Could that be considered controversial? Yup. Do I agree with her assessment? Yup. That point can’t be underplayed when it comes to boys in elementary school.
Male teachers are important at elementary levels because they are. For me, it’s a gut feeling. I teach in a school where we have 4.2 male teachers (one is only there for a couple of periods). This is the most amount of male teachers that I know about in any of the elementary schools within our district. And just to be clear, this is not right or wrong–it’s just the way it is. Yet four is considered a TON which is kind of a shame.
Watch the video. Draw your own conclusions. Expand your knowledge base. Don’t be oblivious.
