by Brian Warriner
It is
September, and by now, the school year is in full swing. Young girls can see
themselves in their female teachers. However, what about the young boys who do
not get to see that reflection? In elementary school, I had one male teacher,
my Spanish teacher at Parkwood Elementary School in Jacksonville, NC. For most
of my elementary school education, I had female teachers. There were male
teachers in the schools I attended. However, I did not have them as teachers. However,
in middle school and high school, I had male teachers.
Nevertheless,
I wonder what happens through a developing young boy’s mind when he is assigned
to a male teacher. How does it help them develop into better people? What are
the benefits of having a male teacher in your elementary school education?
This
was a topic of discussion in my Educational Psychology Class; it is something
that bears looking at with open eyes. I remember the few years I spent working
in an elementary school as a paraprofessional. I started in middle school, then
was assigned to elementary school. I worked in pre-K for a few months before
moving to a different position. I was assigned to a different grade level/
class for specials. When I had the free time and was still on the clock, I
would check if anyone needed extra help towards the end of the day.
Now I
had a difficult time because the students thought I was an easy mark and would
bait me into conflict. However, I would not engage until they became an issue.
I would simply remove them and write them up. Sometimes the teacher would back
me up. Nevertheless, there are some things I will not tolerate, and that is
when a student who was a problem child shouted out in class, “Hey, Mr.
Interested in Men, You’re Gay!” I called for him to be removed and was told by
my principal at the time to overlook it. I told her I wouldn’t because when a
student is attacking me verbally, I can handle it, but it is a disruption to
the classroom, which I will not tolerate; something needs to be done about the
student. There was a time I had to restrain a student because he was going
after a group of students. I was banged up from that. I did what I could to
make sure that bullying did not take place in my presence. And to teach the
students how bullying is wrong and what it does to people.
After
I was fired from the district in 2011, none of the students remembered me; they
saw me but did not say anything. At the time in school, I was one of five men.
There were three teachers, two of whom were vice principals, and I was one of
them. Sadly, I did not make much of an impact on my students. When I was let
go, I saw it as the closing of a chapter. I entered a new career as a massage
therapist.
The Purpose of Male Teachers
Opening
the teaching workforce not just in the United States but worldwide is very
important. I learned that when I started working in public education. That
being male and in elementary school is important. When you look at an
elementary school workforce, it is predominantly women with a few male staff
members. They can be in the administration or support staff, like I was. I had
people encouraging me to go into education, because there is a need for more
males in education, especially in elementary school. I had even started to take
classes to go that direction, maybe. I did want to become a foreign language
teacher, but honestly, my Spanish and French skills were not the best. I would
have had to have had many more years of speaking and learning, even to teach.
Then I thought about English, creative writing, and poetry. I would have been
that eccentric English teacher who would have dressed in 17th-century dress
when teaching Shakespeare, or like Edgar Allan Poe. I make learning fun and do
everything that I can to bring out the best in my students. Unfortunately, that
was not to be. However, I did go on to be a teacher in adult education. Things have
a way of coming full circle.
The
benefits of having a male teacher as part of the workforce include, but are not
limited to, being role models, diversity in education, especially when you
include males in the LGBTQIA+ Community and males of color. It helps foster positive
relationships between teachers and students, and engagement with families,
challenging stereotypes, and improving child outcomes (Cole, 2019). I believe
that everyone in education, regardless of the binary, wants our students to
feel seen, comfortable, and safe in the classroom. That we prepare them for the
next step in their educational path. Some teachers, when they think about
retiring or quitting teaching, hear a student tell them about the impact they
made, making it worth it. I made sure to remind my teachers how much they
impacted me and why I am an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ Community, Education, and
my writing career, as well as my love for music and art. Whether or not they
know it, they do make an impact on the lives of our children.
For
little boys who struggle to see positive forms of manhood and masculinity in
the world, having a male teacher in their lives who shows them that anything is
possible can be incredibly beneficial. If you can learn and apply it, the doors
open for you regardless of your background. However, the positive male role
model can also apply to little girls who do not have a father figure in their
lives or a positive male role model. The circumstances depend on the situation
at home.
The Need for More Men of Color in the
Teaching Workforce
This
does ask the question of the role male teachers play in the development of boys
in their classroom. But the need for male teachers is evident—especially men of
color. The presence of men of color in the class gives male students a positive
role model. Black/ African American men make up 2% of the country’s teaching
workforce, while overall 7% of the total workforce is Black/ African American
(Callahan, 2020). In contrast, 12% of the teaching workforce is Hispanic/Latin
(Zippia, 2021). However, 9% of the teaching workforce is Hispanic/Latin Male. According
to the statistics on Zippia, having a black teacher, regardless of gender, for
at least one year in your elementary school years, is less likely to drop out
in high school and consider college.
The
need for our male students to see someone like them in the classroom, and
someone who can have an impact on their development, is crucial. When a little
black boy or a Latin boy has a teacher in elementary school, they can see that
their lives can have a purpose. They can see a different side of being a man. One
that is caring, understanding, and shows them a different way to be a man. That
is tough and soft at the same time. The disciplinarian and the nurturer, that
they may not have at home.
I say
that because some children live in a single-parent household, live with their
grandparents or another family member, in a low-income household, or foster
care. They do not have a positive male role model in their lives. The little
boys can have a positive male role model in their lives. One can say the same
thing about little girls.
There
is a group that aims to put men of color into the teaching workforce and build community,
mentoring both new and seasoned teachers. There is a Profound Gentleman Cohort
Program in 40 states nationwide. Their blog posts are filled with information,
and if you are a man of color and an educator, check them out and reach out to
them. Their blog post, "Teaching a Black Boy to Be a King Is Easier Than
Teaching Them to Be a Thug," caught my eye, and I found it impactful. It
is worth a check out (Profound Gentleman, n.d).
Having an LGBTQIA+ Teacher
Imagine being a scared,
closeted kid in elementary school, and you have a lesbian music teacher who
took you under her wing. You connect with a teacher you did not have who is
also a lesbian and she takes you under her wing. In my elementary school years,
I had three lesbian teachers who all had an impact on my life. When I was in
high school, our librarian was a lesbian, and my music teacher from elementary
school was also the drama club director. I learned about my sexuality and the
acceptance of my sexuality just by having them in my life. This is who I am,
and nothing will change that.
Right now, we have so
much anti-LBGTQIA legislation like the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill in Florida. Where
you can out a student to their parents, you cannot discuss anything or display
anything LGBTQIA If the topic comes up, you are to shut it down. If you do not,
then you are arrested and your teaching license revoked. There is a literal straight
washing of the LGBTQIA Community. Many educators have pushed back and are
willing to lose their license to protect their students. I do want to state that
many teachers are trying to teach their students to write their names on their
work, teach the new math, and keep arguments from breaking out in their
classrooms, teach their students about LGBTQIA, and how to be LGBTQIA. Enough
with that crap, students are safer with an LGBTQIA Teacher than they are with
clergy.
When I worked in public
education, I knew which students were LGBTQIA. I made sure to look out for
those students. If I saw bullying, I would take action to check on the person
being bullied. However, I would not out them in any way because coming out is
something that the closeted person should get to decide who, what, where, and
when they want to come out, if ever. Only 9% of the teaching workforce in the
United States identifies as LGBTQIA+ (Zippia, 2021).
Being an LGBTQIA+
Educator, you are there teaching your students whatever subject matter. Nevertheless,
you reflect who they came to be just by being in their lives. You are not
showing them how to be whatever; you are being present and authentic. I say
this because children know that there is something about themselves that is
different. Whether it is the hue of their skin color, or what they like to play
with. Society is too busy labeling them by their gender and denying them the
opportunity to play and explore the world. When I was working in Pre-K, a dad did
not like that his kid picked a flower or something he thought was too girly for
his boy for his cubby label. I thought to myself, really, dude, you think a
flower is going to make your kid gay? I was told to bite my tongue and fix.
When I wanted to educate dad. I just fixed it. The one teacher did it, in a teacher’s
way of educating him on the curriculum, was about letting the students pick
what expresses their personality.
Encouraging Boys to be Teachers
Hearing
what my 11-year-old nephew wants to do when he grows up was music to my ears.
He wants to enter the Air Force to fly fighter planes, then become a
fourth-grade teacher. It made me happy, because I am a teacher, and his dad, my
brother, is a high school history teacher. This got me thinking, how do we get
more boys to become teachers? Granted, it takes a special person to become a
teacher, especially if you work in a special school district where the students
are people with mental, physical, cognitive, and emotional difficulties. You
need to be understanding and caring about those in your charge.
In Delaware,
there is a program where high school boys are interning in elementary schools. The
Teacher Academy is a program where high school seniors intern with elementary school
teachers. The program aims to get more males in the front of the classroom. It
is hoped that increasing the chances of little boys seeing someone who looks
like them in a profession will encourage them to become teachers. There was one
senior in the group who was not considering a career in education, but after
this program, decided to become a high school social studies teacher and coach
wrestling (Heubeck, 2025).
Programs
like the Teacher Academy are aimed at getting more males into the teaching
workforce. Especially more males of color, this, as I stated before, breaks the
gender barrier of teaching being too feminine. When the truth is, we have male
teachers, just not enough male teachers, when you have a teacher that looks
like you. Especially for a little black boy, it is important to see yourself in
the world doing things that make an impact. As well as the little brown boy,
the Asian boy, and all the other little boys out there. It does make a difference.
Support
these Male Teachers on Instagram
1. Dan
Shutes- mr_shutes
2. Gabriel
Dannenbring- gabedannecbring
3. Zay-
zaytheeducator
4. Nicholas
Ferroni- nicholasferroni
5. Tell
Williams- mrwilliamsprek
6. R.
Ramos- somarr27
7. Thomas
Curcio- t_anthony_29
8. Juan García - profegarcia.ai
In conclusion, we need
all teachers from early childhood to college. Regardless of your level, you can
make an impression on your students. We need more males, regardless of their
skin color and identity, and we need to encourage more males into the teaching
workforce. Remember, teachers make all careers possible.
References
Cole, K. Plaisir. Reich-Shapiro, M. and Freitas, D.
(2019)
Building a Gender
Balanced Workforce Supporting Male Teachers| NAEYC.naeyc.org. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/sept2019/building-gender-balance-workforce-supporting-male-teachers
Callahan, A. (2022, June 10). Why Black Male Teachers
Matter.
American Federation of
Teachers.
https://www.aft.org/news/why-black-male-teachers-matter
Zippia. (2021, January 29). Teacher Demographics and
Statistics [2022]
Number
of Teachers in the United States. www.zippia.com
https://www.zippia.com/teacher-jobs/demographics/
Profound Gentlemen-Supporting Male Educators of Color.
(n.d). Profound Gentlemen
https://profoundgentlemen.org/
Heubeck, E (2025, January 27). Why Boys Don’t Want to
Become Teachers
And What Schools Can Do About
It. Education Week.
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