In Scotland, only a meager 4 percent of the early education workforce are men. On the bright side, according to John Kemp, chief of the Scottish Funding Council, which will administer the Men in Early Years Challenge Fund: “Diversity and representation are vital to ensure caring is not seen exclusively as a female role, and that all children have access to positive male role models." An increase of men in childcare is strongly needed to provide kids different perspectives and crucial role models to look up to.
“Surely by 2018 we should have realized that an appropriate gender balance in a team of educators is vitally important to prepare children for the real world in which they will be living and working," said Patricia Chrisholm, owner of the Highland Flying nursery in Edinburgh. A difficult situation when, at a time of serious concern over the lack of teachers (female as well as male), Scottland is pressing ahead for an expansion of free nursery hours for families.
Classroom with Teacher in the Beamish Museum (Wikimedia Commons)
