(no subject)

[hnpcc]

I'm generally all for programs that improve maths ability in primary and secondary school, especially given Australia's current decline in these areas. And this program does sound like it's good - encouraging primary school kids into enjoying and learning mathematical concepts. Not necessarily in that exact order.

And yet I found myself reading:

Mr Hanson and another teacher, Shane Ezard, were this year hand-picked to take part in an innovative education department program — the Primary Maths Specialist Trial Project — that aims to help build maths confidence in teachers and students. About 80 teachers from 27 Victorian schools are involved.

and wondering why both the selected teachers named were male. I mean, there aren't that many men teaching at primary school level any more. So it does seem kind of odd that in a heavily female-dominated profession the two selected teachers to go and learn how to teach maths confidently were both male. Nothing against either Mr Hanson or Mr Ezard - I'm sure they're both fantastic teachers, and seriously good luck to them (again, I'm all in favour of maths being fun! And of having men teach at all levels, including primary school incidentally) - but I'm kind of wondering how many of the 80 teachers were female and why none of the female teachers from Corio either volunteered or were selected to go.

I really hope that in the next round at least one woman puts her hand up to make maths fun, even if she herself was intimidated by it at school. Because mathematical ability is not gender-based, but you can certainly socialise people - even unconsciously - to believe that it is. And once you've done that you find an awful lot of girls closing off career options for themselves without even realising they've done it.

Edit: OK I missed the final paragraph:

Back at Corio South, assistant principal Amanda Hay says she has noticed the confidence of teachers grow as they embrace the maths message from Mr Hanson and Mr Ezard: "

"The work Andy and Shane are doing is helping teachers continue their own learning. Our teachers are lifelong learners, and you can't be a good teacher and help children to learn if you are not a learner yourself."

Which is great, but still makes me wonder where all the women were not going on the course in the first place. Still. More maths, more fun, good overall.

Also:

Adding to the angst is the prediction that demand for mathematics and statistics graduates is expected to grow in Australia by 3.5 per cent a year until 2013.

Hm. I have a first year pass in maths and a grad dip in Biostatistics. Probably not really enough to let me change fields, no. Heh. Presumably in 2013 there will be enough people and a sudden glut on the market or something. Like in biomedical diagnostic labs in the early 1990s.

Comments

[dalmeny]

I am sleepy, but I wish to say that I agree.

[sand-l.livejournal.com]

Yup, me too. Bet it's not a confidence thing from the female teachers, if australia is anything like here, it doesn't really matter how good the male staff are, they get cherry picked because they're a minority at the younger end of the profession...rant rant rant...
There's a shortage of maths and science here so they make it much easier for those types of peeps to get started. Hey, failed bankers! Come on down, you can teach our future generation with hardly any training.
meh
Thanks for the reminder that there's a silver lining to not being able to teach ;0)

[hnpcc]

Part of the problem is that a lot of the people who go into teaching do so from a social/Arts background. I'm not sure why they're as drawn to teaching - it may be as simple as "hm, now what?" compared to maths/science degrees where people tend to be told about the fantastic range of high paying occupations available (or convinced that becoming an indentured labourer while doing a PhD for four years will be a fantastic career move. Either/or.) Part of it is almost certainly the loss of social status in teaching, which is directly proportional to the percentage of women doing it (see also: Chemical Engineering, which is now "girlie" engineering).

I don't actually mind having mid-life people come across to teaching - they're more likely to be interested for vocational reasons, as they feel like they've already proven themselves in other fields. Also, they've got more experience. Which is not to say that people with vocations should not study teaching at University!!

[hnpcc]

Oh and I meant to add, I don't actually mind providing they get trained properly. Because otherwise you're basically setting people up to fail, or at least to have a really rough start.

[sand-l.livejournal.com]

Nope I've no problem with peeps coming across to teaching after working in the 'real' world, in some ways I think it's better especially in secondary Ed. But primary teaching is v specialised & I do have a real problem when they take short cuts in the training process there...