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The theory of womanly schools suppressing boys behaviour is
becoming frighteningly more real as I walk around a different school
- an international school where the corridors and classrooms are very
much male dominated.
Primary school children are reasonably pushed in sport where out
of breath pupils and those injured are encouraged to carry on. A Year
6 teacher demonstrates how to muscle out a player using the back or
shoulder while successfully keeping possession of the football.
The dry sense of humour of one Year 5 teacher expresses his regret
that the classroom's electronic sunroof doesn't close fast enough -
since he was looking forward to "trapping things in there...
like animals". A raw of laughter follows. And then there
was the nuttiness of a lower Key Stage 2 supply teacher who dared to
fight children with imaginary lightsabers and ask them to fake a
death with a dramatic fall to the ground as a literacy lesson
starter. Even more unconventional and less lady-like was when he
showed a Youtube video, featuring a fart as the punchline, for no
other reason than it was funny.
All of my observations as a TA over a week of school showed
that male teachers are absolutely essential to pupils at primary
schools - not just as academic and social role models - but as
contributors to a balanced school culture with both male and female
influences.
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