Males needed in classrooms - Mico president bemoans lack of role models for boys
Published:Wednesday | May 11, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Keisha Hill, Gleaner Writer
Dr Claude Packer, president of The Mico University College, has called on teachers and school administrators to change the manner in which they instruct male students.
Packer said more men are needed as teachers. The Mico, a leading teacher-training institution, has a student ration of 7 females to one male.
"If you look down the line, schools are dominated by women. Many of these boys have no role models, no fathers in many cases, so it has to come from the schools, sometimes including the principals and the teachers. Women are doing great things in schools and we thank them, but only a man can talk to a boy in a man's way. No woman can do it, no matter how she tries," Packer said.
"Persons forget that boys have to be nurtured in a particular way, just as how you nurture the girls. The boys can be left up to do whatever, but the girls, you monitor. So we forget to monitor young boys, so they fail, and they are never given a second chance," Packer said.
The Mico president said some teachers do not recognise that males ought to be taught differently.
"It only means that boys learn differently from girls. So, in the adolescent years of 16 and 17 there are different interests, maybe sports and not necessarily academics. This doesn't mean that they are not bright," Packer said.
He said some teachers, in effect, do not understand how boys develop, how they learn, and how they can nurture them.
"Boys like hands-on and they are more interested in tearing down things and building them back. I am advocating that we need more males in our schools. There needs to be a balance, and that is what we are trying to attract here," Packer said.
Packer said teachers must also familiarise themselves with the technological age and communicate with their students via these various mediums, including the Internet, social media, and by telephone.
"A teacher must be multi-talented. If you stand up in front of them with the chalk, they won't listen to you. If you are teaching math, you have to tie it into something that they can associate with in their daily lives."
PUMP doing well
He said the young men who are involved in Mico's Pre-University Men's Programme (PUMP), aimed at assisting young men to get back on track with their educational pursuits, are doing extremely well.
"When a young man can come here, and before you know it, he starts the Mico Rugby team. A young man who comes here starts a school in 'Jungle' (Arnett Gardens) teaching remedial classes for CXC. A young boy who has never played music in his life comes here and can play the piano and is now playing at General Assembly," he said.
Packer said the fact that they have been able to have a positive impact on the lives of the young men in the programme suggests, males can achieve excellence but he argued that they are being marginalised early.
"We want to say to these young men that they do not have to be teachers for the rest of your life. That is not the vision of The Mico. You come to the teacher training, you give some years in teaching, and you can move on to the fields that you can contribute significantly. We are giving you a start," Packer said.