If you have ever wondered why there aren’t more male teachers in schools, especially at the lower elementary levels, one TikToker thinks she has the answer.
Caro Claire Burke (@caroclaireburkeee), host of the podcast Diaboical Lies, which, for the record, has a fascinating episode on capitalism that just might blow your entire mind, released a TikTok explaining her theories on why there are so few male kindergarten teachers.
And the underlying reason, she maintains, is the same one that is leading so many male students to struggle in their education β the lack of value that society places on men who are open with their emotions.
In her TikTok video, Burke bemoaned the fact that society is wringing their hands about how boys are “falling behind” and lacking male role models at school while completely missing the point that those two problems are intrinsically combined.
“What I find, just like, endlessly funny about this conversation is the way that people will talk about needing more male teachers as role models in these educational systems, without understanding that, like, the reason why there aren’t more male teachers is the reason why boys are falling behind, the same root problem,” she says in the video.
“You can’t solve one without solving another,” she concludes.
Why aren't There More Male Teachers?
Burke went on to explain her theory, which posits that because men are taught from a very young age to devalue anything considered “feminine,” they struggle β and often avoid future roles in education, especially at the elementary level.
“Little boys are taught at the earliest imaginable age that certain traits, behaviors, jobs, careers, ways of life are feminine, and when things are coded as feminine, they are taught to value them less,” she says.
Burke continued:
“The reason why we don’t have more male kindergarten teachers, preschool teachers is the same reason why we don’t pay those positions very well, is for the same reason why turnover is really high in those jobs, is the same reason why kids are rude to people in those jobs, is because their parents and society around them teaches them, from the youngest possible age not to value them,” she notes.
Burke believes that because education has been deemed “feminine” in our society and because boys are taught that anything remotely feminine does not have value, boys are not taking education seriously, actively dismissing it, and therefore are certainly not becoming teachers.
“If we wanted to have, like, a sincere conversation about this, what we would be saying is not that we need to solve the problem of little boys in these school systems by giving them more male kindergarten teachers,” she concludes.
“We would be saying we need to solve the problem that is creating a lack of male kindergarten teachers and these boys acting out in these school systems and also falling behind because they have been taught, either subliminally or outright, that education is feminine.”
Other Theories About Male Teachers
Many of Bruke’s TikTok followers agreed with her and added that further compounding the issue is that any males who do go into education are also frequently fast-tracked to administrative roles, where there is more money and power.
“There’s also the glass elevator,” described TikTok user @teacherpaywithk. “When you DO have male educators, they get fast-tracked to admin.”
Other commenters pointed out that, upbringing aside, there’s also a real concern from parents and caregivers toward male teaching staff, especially for younger students.
“I’m a young male teacher,” claimed TikTok user @innominate_exurbia. “I started working 1st to 3rd grade. The looks. The whispers. The gossip. No thank you. Got out after two years of thinking, ‘Is this the day a parent decides that I got to go and starts making stuff up?’ No thanks, bye bye.”
“I have a son who would be an amazing elementary school teacher,” added TikToker @harmonywill78.”I think you are somewhat right, but I also think there’s a stigma of being a creep if a man wants to teach children. He can’t even get a babysitting job outside our own family.”
Still, others, including Burke herself in a follow-up TikTok, pointed out that the stereotypes that appear to hold both male students and prospective male students back are one and the same: the patriarchy.
“This is a problem that patriarchy created,” summed up user @poopygrill221. “It pushes the idea that men can’t be nurturing or emotionally expressive… Your critique is completely valid, but it doesn’t dismiss the fact that patriarchy is the problem here.”
