Constructing men who teach: research into care and gender as productive of the male primary teacher |
| |
| Authors: | Mark Pulsford |
| |
| Institution: | 1. School of Education, University of Sheffield, 388 Glossop Road, S10 2JA Sheffield, UKmjpulsford1@sheffield.ac.uk |
| |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that in order to begin loosening the ties that bind care and gender in primary education, we need to re-examine the knowledge sought and found by educational research about teachers. The focus is primarily on how we understand men who teach. Through an examination of two scholarly texts – Ashley, M., and J. Lee 2003 Ashley, M., and J. Lee. 2003. Women Teaching Boys: Caring and Working in the Primary School. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham. Google Scholar]. Women Teaching Boys: Caring and Working in the Primary School. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham] and King, J. 1998 King, J. 1998. Uncommon Caring: Learning from Men Who Teach Young Children. New York: TCP. Google Scholar]. Uncommon Caring: Learning from Men Who Teach Young Children. New York: TCP] – I argue that we must be mindful that our research can effectively produce and reiterate common-sense understandings of men that binds them to the hegemonic masculine ideal. It is argued that mixed-method qualitative research that untangles the layers of context influencing the lives of men who teach is important. The paper also suggests that the study of male teachers' emotions, as at once individual and social, and private and public, can disrupt the rational–emotional binary that cements care to gender and reveal new configurations of the gender order. |
| |
| Keywords: | male teachers primary teachers gender masculinities identities care emotions life history mixed-methods research |
|
|
