'What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.' Cicero
Five years ago, in August 2012, I wrote my first blog about men in childcare. It was prompted by a LEYF male colleague, David Stevens who said we should not just concentrate on increasing men into childcare at LEYF (8 per cent of LEYF workforce were male) but open up the debate.
At the time he was managing a nursery with four male staff out of a team of five. People were amazed and we received lots of comments about men in childcare which both reflected a positive approach and the usual stereotyped anxiety that men saw as a barrier to entry. These included poor pay, lack of promotion opportunities, poor status, fear of accusations of abuse and paedophilia, discomfort at working in such a highly female work environment and an expectation that one man can address the shortfall of positive male roles in so many children’s lives. In fact, reading the list, one would wonder why any man wanted to work in the sector?
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