You’ve heard the saying, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” This idiom has been around far too long, demeaning the profession of teaching. It exists in direct contradiction to our society’s participation in the global race for technology, innovation and advancement. Higher education is sought after as a commodity to springboard members of the population into profitable careers. The necessity of going beyond a bachelor’s degree is prevalent in an increasingly competitive world. Although our world of collegiate academia is highly esteemed, primary and secondary education is dragging behind, left to battle with unchanged systems of the 1950s. Old-fashioned gender roles and ideas will never disappear as long as it is still applied to the teaching industry.
Despite the fact that one cannot get into a good university without a sufficient secondary education, the latter is still minimized and educators treated as though they could not cut it in the real world and have thus “resorted” to teaching. Clearly, there is a double standard. We expect primary and secondary education to prepare young adults for collegiate education and yet support the idea that their teachers are at the bottom of the totem pole. Is it any wonder males, traditionally viewed as society’s bread-winners, generally do not want to be teachers? The starting salaries for teachers are often equivalent to entry-level jobs, and the highest salary, which requires an average of 15 years’ experience, is the same as the beginning salary for other fields of study, such as computer science.
From a financial standpoint, the payout of almost any other industry with the same level of educational requirements is higher than the educational field. Searching even further into the conditions of educators reveals legislation suppressing educators and outrageous employment conditions. Then there is a world of frustration battling with local and state bureaucracies, including superintendents who are paid between $100,000 and $300,000, who micromanage the teachers who make $24,000-$50,000. If the pay and conditions of secondary educators were not enough to deter males from teaching, the low esteem and frequent legal accusations from students and parents surely put the nail in the coffin.
In many Asian countries, education is viewed as the most important aspect of life. High school students are at school by 7 or 8 a.m. and usually do not get home until 10 or 11 p.m., depending on how much effort they put into their education. Most stay up until 1 or 2 a.m. doing homework before going to bed. They do this Monday through Saturday and almost year-round. Because education is so important, educators are treated with high respect, are paid well and receive good benefits. This results in 50:50 male-to-female teacher ratios in in most Asian countries.
The United States is falling lower and lower on international rankings for primary and secondary education, especially in science and math. This will not change if teacher pay and prestige continues to be belittled. We are damning the rising generation by demeaning the source of their education and obstructing those who may have changed their lives as teachers.