1. Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Most students will end up being educated by primarily female teachers. In the middle and high school years, they will probably have a few male teachers. Both males and females bring different approaches and techniques to learning styles. Experiencing both male and female teachers may be best for students so that they can experience the advantages that both sexes bring to the classroom and a wider variety of teaching methodology. Because research shows that young boys may learn, best with male teachers, the educational field has been stepping up efforts to recruit male teachers.

Research conducted by MenTeach, a nonprofit organization that promotes the recruitment of male teachers, suggests that low status and pay deter males from entering education. “If you started paying teachers $150,000 per year, you'd see a lot of guys going into the field,” admits Bryan Nelson, founder of MenTeach. Other key reasons behind the male-teacher shortage, according to MenTeach, is the stereotype that teaching is “women's work,” as well as possible fears of lawsuits around accusations of sexual abuse of children. A majority of male teachers interviewed confessed to serving a dual role in the classroom as both educator and role model, especially in low-income districts with single-parent homes that typically lack a male influence. “Some kids connect better with male teachers,” says teacher Dan Brown, who chronicled his year at the Bronx's PS 85 as a NYC Teaching Fellow in his book The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle. In some cases, others at the school ask male teachers to play disciplinarian. Flory believes that though males tend to be structured in what they do, they are more willing to use creative means to engage students. He now trains female teachers to use music in teaching as he did; for example, he brought a guitar into class on Fridays as a reward for good behavior.

Brian Hendrickson, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Hillcrest Middle School, in Trumbull, Connecticut, polled his students to find out how they feel their male teachers differed from their female teachers. The results: male teachers tend to use sports analogies, such as “Standardized tests are the Super Bowl of knowledge.” They are more tolerant of chitchat and are more likely to integrate active learning methods, including competitions and games, into the curriculum. They also tend to be funnier.

“Men tend to give more direction in their approach to sharing knowledge,” says Stephen Jones, a longtime educator and the author of Seven Secrets of How to Study. “They want to appear to be the expert. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to collaborate with students and incorporate their ideas,” Jones says. Therefore, men who are teaching mixed classes must incorporate collaborative and direct instruction to meet the needs of all students.

Questions

1. Why do students usually have few male teachers in the middle and high school years?

2. Why are schools experiencing a significant male teacher shortage?

3. Why is it good for students to experience both male and female teachers?

4. What research was conducted by MenTeach?

5. What are the possible ways of attracting more male teachers?

6. What dual role do male teachers serve in the classroom? Why?

7. Why do some kids connect better with male teachers?

8. What do female teachers usually practise while dealing with a disciplinary problem?

9. Which teachers are more willing to use creative means to engage students?

10. Which teachers are more likely to collaborate with students and incorporate their ideas?