Troubling the male role modelling theory: male teachers as role models for girls?

ABSTRACT

The teaching of young children or Foundation Phase (FP) teaching as it is known in South Africa continues to be regarded as ‘women’s work’. Lately South African research has focused on encouraging men’s participation as FP teachers. In this paper, we offer a critical examination of how South African primary school teachers ‘embrace’ the need for men in FP by drawing on discursive strategies that view men as vital male role models for young girls. This contrasts more common role modelling discourses which call for male teachers to act as role models for boys. One argument put forth was that male FP teachers could help shape acceptable ways of ‘doing girl’. Secondly, a ‘daddy’s girl’ discourse was used to construct male teachers as favourable role models for girls. Lastly, male teachers were considered as role models in order to expose girls to alternate, non-violent and caring masculinities.

KEYWORDS:

• Male teachers
• role models
• young children
• girls
• masculinities
• femininities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is based on the research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation of South Africa [grant number 98407].