Analysis of policy/ legislation

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20^th April 2018

There has been very little push for the government to address the inequality of male teachers in early childhood. In fact, since the uproar in the early 1990s after the Peter Ellis convictions there was a significant drop in the number of male teachers working in the industry and this is only now starting to climb steadily. At a Governmental level there is policy for employer’s obligations and employees are covered by collective agreements or employmentcontracts. There does not however seem to be any policy to address the vast gender imbalance in the workforce which could be beneficial to recruit more male’s. The government seems to be more focused on the number of children attending Early Childhood Education (ECE).

The VulnerableChildren’s Act (VCA) advocates for the protection of children while attending services and sets a guideline for teacher’s interactions for children however does not provide protection for teachers from allegations against them. The Governments 10-year strategic plan highlights the focus on raising the number of qualified teachers in centres to 100%, this however also does not address the gender disparity.

Williams (2012) notes the inclusion of male representation in advertisment from the Ministry of Education and Teach NZ around 2006 which specifically targeted men in their recruitment drive. This paticular advertising and recruitment seems to have died off. Unions play a huge part in looking after teacher’s rights and wellbeing. NZEI the teacher’s union is pushing for equality in their vision statement which provides a diverse and inclusive workforce that enables men and woman to have the same rights and expectations in the job.

Every person is entitled to an equal and fair opportunity in life and through the workforce. One needs to be treated with respect and not discriminated against, something that is a foundation of the Human Rights Act. With the appointment of a new government and a total review of the education act it seems a fantastic opportunity to address the vast gap of men in the ECE sector. This would provide an incredible opportunity for the Ministry of Education to make sweeping changes and implement recruitment drives whether they be incentive based or other alternatives.

References

Williams, A. (2012). Accentuating the positive. Men in early childhood education . Early Education, 51, 22-26.