Girls Like Teaching, But Boys Reluctant

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30560, 1 October 1964, Page 3

Girls Like Teaching, But Boys Reluctant

(.Veic Zealand Press 4«ociation»

AUCKLAND, September 30. Teaching is a popular choice of occupation among form 6 schoolgirls, but not among boys. The teacher recruiting officer of the Auckland Education Board, Mr A. M. Nicholson, said today one ’of his greatest r problems was attracting better qualified male applicants.

There was no great difficulty recruiting girls for the training colleges, Mr Nicholson said in a paper presented to the Education Boards’ Association conference. Girls liked working with children and found teaching financially rewarding. It also offered useful and profitable employment after marriage. Mr Nicholson said 1000 sixth form boys and girls had been asked by the Education Commission to choose from 44 vocations. The girls overwhelmingly placed teaching as the ideal choice with primary about equal with secondary, but

boys did not even place primary teaching in the first 10 vocations and put secondary teaching fourth. “As far as women teachers are concerned,” said Mr Nicholson, “the problem is not so much one of recruitment as of full utilisation after they are trained, particularly in the case of married women. “In the recruitment of men teachers the position is vastly different. “The stubborn fact remains that primary school teaching is not highly regarded as an occupation by boys in the sixth forms.” INTOLERANT STAGE A form 6 boy was at an age which was a little intolerant, event contemptuous of younger children and was looking forward to participation in an adult world, Mr Nicholson said. Even in the post-primary field a teacher who had become accustomed to teaching form 5 and form 6 pupils was reluctant to “go back.” as he instinctively regarded it, to teaching the younger boys of form 3 and 4. With how much greater reluctance did a boy of 17 or

18. on the verge of manhood. contemplate association with children from five to 13, said Mr Nicholson. Status was important and the qualification for teaching and the length and nature of the training were significant factors. LOWERED REGARD The teachers’ colleges, with entry qualifications lower than university entrance and a training course of only two I years, inevitably fell far bellow the universities in public 'estimation, said Mr Nichol- ‘ son. The raising of the status of headmasters through salary increases, the suggested up-grading of training college lecturers, the ra®pg. when possible, of <Bh§ational entry qualifications to university entrance and the introduction of the threeyear training period would improve the public image of the prjmary school teaching service and assist teacher recruiting. He said recruitment, as a permanent scheme, of more people up to the age of 40, who had been in other occupations, was not being fully exploited.