University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, December 5, 1989
11
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Textbooks for the spring semester
Elementary education draws few men back to classrooms Only 9 men at KU plan to teach school in the lower grades
By Tracy Wilkinson Kansan staff writer
"They would be boring, routine," he said. "There wouldn't be a variety from day to day. I enjoy working with kids. I'd rather work with children than adults. I want to try to shape their minds. I try to make them better adults."
Albury said he was not satisfied with the idea of having one of the traditionally male-oriented majors such as business.
Steve Alburty is returning to elementary school to help mold the lives of children, but he will be one of few male role models in primary grades if current trends hold up.
"I stand out," he said. "Especially on the first day when they call out names. It's kind of like a joke from day one, but I'm not trying to be funny. They get kind of a different viewpoint from me."
Albury said he was the only male in any of his education classes.
Evelyn Swartz, professor of curriculum and instruction, said she was only aware of a few men in the elementary education classes.
"Right now Steve is the only one in my classes," she said. "We have had more, but traditionally it has been a recent time when we have seen more men."
Nine men are elementary education majors. A total of 144 men are in the School of Education. In 1979, 27 men _were elementary_ education majors and 250 men were in the school
Swartz, said that she had seen a change in both attitudes and numbers of men going into the occupation in the past 20-25 years.
Mark Kincannon, St. Louis, Mo., senior, said he began his studies at the University in architecture but changed his mind halfway through his junior year.
"Nationally, it has become an acceptable career for men," she said.
"I had just decided, 'This isn't for me.'" he said.
Kincannon said that he had had his first taste of teaching by giving swimming lessons for eight years and that he liked it.
An 'acceptable career'
all* "The only guy teacher we had in elementary was the gym teacher."
he said
Kincannon said that was part of the reason he decided to teach elementary instead of secondary students.
"I think more and more guys will come to elementary," he said. "Maybe for that same reason."
Albury said another reason he decided to enter elementary education stemmed from the male teachers he had in grade school.
"I didn't really like either one of them," he said. "They were not exactly models, but they did influence me."
I stand out, especially on the first day when they call out names. It's kind of like a joke from day one, but I'm not trying to be funny. They get kind of a different viewpoint from me.'
Steve Alburty Elementary Education Major
Albury said he wanted to improve on the way he was taught in fifth and sixth grade.
"I want to help them be ready for junior high," he said. "I remember that being a really scary transition. I want them to be totally comfortable with themselves and who they are — not just academically and who they are, but also for the scary times they're going to face in junior high, high school and beyond."
Kincannon said it gave him a
kissing to son call him respond to
his phone.
"It's fascinating to teach a kid something and to know they have something to show for it," he said. "It's great to see the kid doing something that you've just taught him."
Albury said he thought there needed to be more men in elementary education.
Male role models needed
"Now that the divorce rates are up, many kids don't have a male role model until they reach junior high or high school," he said. "That's not to say every family is broken, and all kids are raised by their mothers. But the fact is that a majority of elementary school teachers are female."
Swartz agreed with Albury about the necessity of a male role model.
Tom Christie, Lawrence resident, is one of three male teachers at Deerfield Elementary School, 101 N. Lawrence Ave. He said there was a need for more men in the field of elementary education.
"Each year there are fewer and fewer men in the group," he said. "And I can't think of a profession, besides maybe being a doctor, that is more important."
"That is true," she said. "You do want the male role model, and not just in the role of principal. But you don't want to overgeneralize that."
Christie estimated that of the 70-85 KU students who had observed or student taught at Deerfield this year, only two or three were males.
Christie said one potential method for making education more attractive would be to expand public awareness for the need to raise the level of teacher salaries.
"There's something wrong when you pay garbage workers more to pick up garbage than you pay a teacher of America," he said. "We need those people, and that service, but this is the future."
Raising the salary of a teacher, Christie said, would in turn raise the quality o the profession as a whole.
"We need to work to get salary up to where we can attract some quality people," he said. "If it's not a profession you are going to make some money in, you are going to lose a lot of the people who would make the money." We need to get better until we work out to get better."
Salaries too low
Nationally, Christie said, teachers' associations are growing rapidly.
"Men and women make the same amount of money," he said. "For most people, it is a second income. For some, it is a fewer and fewer in the group."
Christie said he thought teaching, especially in the elementary school range, was one of the few, if not the only, non-discriminatory occupation.
"Maybe that is what it takes," he said. "Getting together as a group is the only way we're ever going to make any changes."
Yearbook picture make-ups will be taken on a first-come, first-serve basis between Nov. 27 and Dec.8 at these times:
Monday & Thursday: 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
and 4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Tuesday & Wednesday: 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
and 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
All pictures will be taken in the Rotunda of Strong Hall $3 sitting fee will be waived with purchase of yearbook
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