I think that gender has played a large role in teaching today. When public schools first became mainstream, it was primarily taught by male teachers with the opportunity not given to women until years later. When normal schools were open to women, they were seen as far less prestigious than colleges or academic high schools that were mainly available to men. Women teachers were sadly hired on the basis of sexism, with women being paid significantly less than male teachers, receiving less than half of a male teacher’s salary. Women who were teachers at this time were also controlled by extremely strict rules, regulations, and expectations.
Men started to leave the profession of teaching in order to pursue "better" opportunities and more prestigious jobs. This made the number of female teachers increase as most men were leaving the profession. It seems as though during this time, teaching was seen as almost an unimportant or less significant job. As more job opportunities opened for men, teaching was pushed towards women under the impression that they are not worth the same level of recognition or respect as men.
I think that a lot of these old concepts are still somewhat rooted in teaching today. However, despite this long history of sexism that female teachers have faced in the past, women have worked very hard to overcome these stereotypes and to show that teaching is actually one of the most admirable and difficult jobs one can have. Today, the teaching profession is still dominated by women, which I think stems from the stereotype from the past that teaching is only a women’s profession, but that is simply not true. Anyone can teach, no matter who you are.
Hi Lauren!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think the old concepts of female teachers in history can still relate to how teachers and the career itself are viewed today. Though most people can agree that teaching is one of the most important jobs in the world, it is interesting to see the underpaying trend for educators in our country. While educators are receiving the same amount of schooling as many other careers in the country, it is very common for people to not respect the career itself. While we ask the question why, I believe the history we have learned in this module plays a tremendous role in that. It is engraved in our society that teachers are not worthy enough for the respect and pay that they deserve, a familiar idea that commonly involves women. Yet, when we look at other countries around the world, teaching is a highly respectable and well-paying job. Our history is one key to understanding why the career stands in its current position today.
Hi Jazmin!
DeleteI agree, it is very interesting that teaching is known for being a very difficult and hard-working profession, and yet it is still very underpaid. I agree that this has to do with the unfair foundations that teaching is built upon. I hope that this changes one day and that teachers start to get the recognition that they deserve.
-Lauren
Hi Lauren!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree that a lot of the old concepts around teaching are still seen today. I actually have personally been told by someone that I should not become a teacher because it is seen as an "easy" job for women. This really saddened me because it felt like I was being told that I was studying education because it is "easy." I'm sure that everyone in our class and all the teachers out there would agree that studying education is NOT easy by any means. I find it so confusing that teaching is not seen as a prestigious career because without teachers, there would be no one to educate and aid in the advancement of society. Sadly, the reason why teaching is not very respected is simply because it is a career dominated by women. I really hope that someday teachers will be given their props!
Hi Pogue!
DeleteWow, I can't believe someone told you not to teach because it is an easy job! That is so far from the truth. I am glad you did not listen to them and that you are still pursuing it! Yes, I definitely agree that studying education is not easy. I have heard countless times that Education is "the easiest degree" and that we don't do anything substantial, but in reality it takes a lot of hard work! It is so true that no one would be where they are without teachers. I think that the teaching profession definitely deserves more recognition!
-Lauren
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your whole blog post. It bothers me that women were not allowed to attend the same prestigious schools as men were. How the men in this era decided to ignore the correlation between that and the education level gap is beyond me. Once more opportunities and prestigious jobs became available to men, an influx of female teachers started to appear as teaching became seen as a less significant job, which is a little ironic to me, in the sense that educating the youth is educating the future which involves males. what confuses me is if they really thought women weren't educated well enough to teach children why would they leave such a critical job in their hands? That to me just further shows how money-hungry the government is and has always been. Using more female teachers at this time ensured more dispensable money all around.
Hi Kady!
DeleteI completely agree, you make excellent points. It is very ironic that men dominated the teaching profession and then fled once more "prestigious" opportunities came about. It's completely unfair that teaching was looked up to when men were teachers, but once more women became teachers it was looked down upon. The way that female teachers were treated in this era was honestly disgusting. Although far from perfect, teaching has definitely come a long way and I hope that teachers continue to gain more respect and appreciation.
-Lauren