A job for the boys

46 Teach Nursery

Nursery manager DavidStevens explains howmen can be encouragedinto working in the early years...

n People are suspicious when they encountermen seeking to work with children. There is apervading myth that many men arepaedophiles who want to harm children – it’sone which, I’m happy to say, the LEYF ischallenging.n Childcare is perceived by some individualsand cultures as a ‘woman’s job’. I remembermeeting someone I knew about 17 years ago.I had not long qualified and he asked me whatI was doing. I told him I was a nursery nurse,and he replied, “Is that in a garden centre?”When I told him that I worked with children, heasked, “Are men allowed to do that?”

n Intimidation and inhibitors within the sector.Being the only man in a nursery can bedifficult, especially if you’re faced with parentswho may not want men looking after theirchildren.

The stereotypes of why I, as a man, mightwant to work with children, that the role waslow-paid and the fact that I knew I would beworking in a female-dominated professiondidn’t bother me; but it’s safe to say not allmen would feel the same. So, how can weencourage more men to begin a career in theearly years – and, perhaps as importantly, whyshould we?

That final point will probably not come as asurprise to many – the early years is atraditionally female-dominated industry, afterall. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t askthe question: why aren’t there more men inchildcare? In my opinion, there are four main reasons:n Low pay. Of course, the reason goodpractitioners begin a career in the early yearsis because it offers men and women alike thechance to make a positive difference inchildren’s lives, not because they’re seekinggreat financial rewards, so I don’t believe thisis the most important factor.

After I’d had several jobs in retail, and aperiod of unemployment, I foundmyself with no real idea of what I

wanted to do in my life. As luck would haveit, I was given the chance to start a City andGuilds course in Childcare as part of a jobcentre scheme. It really appealed to me, as itseemed a challenging and interestingprofession, which I felt would both be veryrewarding and give me a sense of purpose.

Unfortunately, the City and Guilds coursefolded after five months, but undeterred Ienrolled to do my NNEB. It made me realisethat childcare was a profession that I reallydid want to work in, and I’m glad I stuck atit. I have worked for the LEYF for 16 yearsnow, 10 of which I have been a nurserymanager. I started work at my currentsetting, the Angel Community Nursery, 16months ago, and it’s the first setting in whichI’ve worked alongside three other men.

FOR THEboysAjob

Teach Nursery 47

2%of staff working withunder-fives in the UK aremale and, despite effortson the part of theGovernment to encouragegender equality in thework force, that numberhas remained static.

Facts and figuresStriking a balanceWithin my setting we have four male staff, aswell as three female LSAs, a nursery officer andan apprentice. We come from a wide mix ofbackgrounds, experiences and ages, which Ifeel leads to a diverse melting pot of ideas andactivities, not to mention a great atmospherewithin the nursery.

I also believe that having a gender-balancedteam is key to encouraging men to start out,and stay, in childcare. When our maleapprentice joined he was expecting to be theonly man in the nursery. I know that he hasfound that being in a nursery with other men Source: Children’s Workforce and Development Council

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Having a gender-balancedteam is key to encouragingmen to start out, and stay, inchildcare

DAVID STEVENS

has provided him with additional support andhelped his confidence. One man in a female-dominated team may feel isolated, intimidatedand therefore leave. The LEYF hasacknowledged this in the manner in which ithas changed its deployment policy – maleapprentices are now consciously teamed up toaid their progress as practitioners andencourage them to remain in the sector.

The response from parents at my settinghas been extremely positive. We certainlyhaven’t experienced a mass exodus of childrenleaving the nursery, and parents comment thatit’s nice to see more men in a nursery as rolemodels for the boys (at which point I add,“...and for the girls”). I’ve also noticed that dadsdon’t feel so intimidated when attending coffeemornings and parents evenings (indeed, dads’workshops can be another way ofencouraging men who may be interested inworking with children to take the next step).

Most importantly, having a balanced teamgives children a choice of who they want toshare their play with – a choice of men and achoice of women. As Gemma, one of ourLSAs, noted, “The children may go to a manfor a specific area of play and may go to awoman for another; it’s nice that they have thechoice and that they can relate to both menand women”.

Equal opportunitiesHaving access to male members of staff canbenefit children in a number of ways. In myexperience, men can bring a different approachto planning and overseeing learningexperiences and can encourage (safely

managed!) risk-taking. Clearly, femalepractitioners can, and do, promote this too –the female staff at the Angel engage in ‘roughand tumble’, kicking footballs with boys andgirls, and keeping a watchful eye on thechildren who climb the small trees in ourgarden – but a male perspective can introducesomething new.

The presence of male staff can also helpaddress issues of gender stereotyping.Stereotypes in relation to men and womenbeing identified with certain jobs, are formed atan early age. I’ve always believed in followingthe children’s lead and supporting their playregardless of their gender, and having maleand female staff on-hand to join in whateverthe activity – for example, at my setting, duringa ‘hairdressers’ role-play, a child asked if theycould wash the deputy manager’s hair, towhich he agreed – can support this approach.We aim to provide as many real lifeexperiences as possible, and as a result wesee boys and girls experiencing a wide varietyof activities, regardless of whether they’re beingled by a male or female members of staff.

This brings me back to choice; a lot of workis being done to challenge such genderstereotyping, especially to encourage womento enter professions which have traditionallybeen male-dominated professions, such asconstruction and engineering. Perhapschallenging gender stereotypes in the earlyyears, with the aid of gender-balanced staffteams, will lead in turn to more boys growingup with a drive to work in childcare.

Research carried out backin 2009 revealed that 55per cent of parents withnursery-aged childrenwanted them to haveaccess to a male childcareworker, with 66 per cent ofsingle parent womensaying that their childrenwould benefit from havinga man involved in theircare and development.Source: Children’s Workforce andDevelopment Council

Facts and figures

of men interviewed for arecent poll of 1,000believed that ‘the generalpublic don’t trust men tocare for babies as much asthey trust women to’.Source: The Fatherhood Institute

55%

2/3

AYDEN JAMES, A MALE PRACTITIONER AT LAVENDERS DAY NURSERY IN

BEDFORD, OFFERS HIS THOUGHTS ON WORKING IN A NURSERY...

Second opinion

ON STARTING OUT

“I did quite a lot of work inthe youth sector when Iwas younger with mymum, and I realised I hada talent for working withchildren – and after doingsome freelance work invarious nurseries, I knewthat it was the profession I

wanted togo into.

Watching children developis very important to me –seeing them smile andlaugh, seeing them happyand running around. Plus,as I’m soon to be a father,working here is the idealpreparation!”

ON WHAT MEN HAVE

TO OFFER

“Female nursery nursesare very caring, verynurturing; with malenursery nurses, the sameapplies, but I think we’re abit more ‘out there’ – weplay more, and in a

different way. Having amale practitioner helpschildren to see that it’s

not just women that cancare for them, too – andthat you don’t have to bea woman to be caring,which is important for theboys. It gives them apositive role model.

ON BEING PART OF A

PREDOMINANTLY

FEMALE TEAM

“Although I’m the onlymale practitioner atLavenders, I don’t findthat to be a problem – thechildren are alwaysexcited that there’s a malepractitioner working withthem. I definitely plan tostay with Childbase andprogress my career.”

David Stevens is managerof Angel CommunityNursery, a setting run bythe London Early YearsFoundation. For moredetails, visit leyf.org.uk

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