Failing to attract males in foundation phase teaching: an issue of masculinities

Drawing on a qualitative interview-based study, this article foregrounds the perspectives of a group of male pre-service teachers at a South African university for choosing not to specialise in the teaching of young children. Male pre-service teachers in this study associate with teaching older learners in the senior phases, constructing it as more appropriate for men, with greater intellectual capacity and a higher status profession in contrast to the feminised caring roles associated with teaching young children in the Foundation Phase (FP). They disassociate with the FP of teaching, engage in oppositional and gendered discourses, claim power and construct a version of masculinity that has inequitable gendered effects. Understanding why men choose not to pursue the FP of teaching is a key issue of masculinities and power. Drawing attention to such issues becomes necessary in order to counteract positioning males and females into gender-specific roles within professions and in the context of this study, to attract more males into the largely feminised FP of teaching.