Thursday, September 22, 2011

Male kindergarten teachers can be hard to find



9:21 AM, Sep 22, 2011  |   comments

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Written by
NBC Universal
NEW FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Music fills the air in Paul McManus' classroom at Consolidated School in New Fairfield, Connecticut.
It comes naturally because he was a music teacher for the first 20 years of his career, but now, he's a kindergarten teacher. He is one of just a few dozen men teaching 4- and 5-year-old children in Connecticut.
"It was a little bit controversial in New Fairfield. The thing that was good for me is that I'd already taught here for 20 years," McManus said.
He fell in love with this age when his children were in kindergarten. He calls it a very special time for parents and children and relishes in the fact that he gets to relive it year after year.
Consolidated School principal Wendy Seeley calls McManus' class a magical place.
"His classroom is a community of learners and they become fast friends and take care of one another," Seeley, who is a teacher turned administrator, said.
Paul is among the 3 percent of kindergarten teachers in the state who are men, according to the Connecticut Education Department. The numbers are similar across the country. Neither McManus and Seeley can understand why there aren't more.
"It shouldn't matter at all and I would like to have more men in the elementary school," Seeley said. "Many of our children need good male role models and they don't have a lot of them."
Meanwhile, kindergarten is changing drastically from a play-based environment to an academic bent. Ten years ago, students were expected to master 15 sight words. Seeley said state standards increased that number to 75 for this school year.
McManus has taken all the changes in stride, incorporating traditional play into the new push toward academic achievement.
"I still have blocks in the corner and they have sight words on them. So you can build with the blocks and you can pick up a block and say, 'I-T spells it' and continue building with the blocks," McManus said.
Regardless, this 35-year-veteran has found a home back in kindergarten.
"This is it, I found the place where I'm supposed to be," he said.
(Copyright © 2011 NBC Universal, All Rights Reserved)
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SALANDER/BLOMKVIST: CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES Linda Stein moderates a panel with Jimmie Briggs, Michael Kimmel and Shelby Knox

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FOR GENDER JUSTICE
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SALANDER/BLOMKVIST: CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES
Linda Stein moderates a panel with
Jimmie Briggs, Michael Kimmel and Shelby Knox
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011
2–4 PM IN THE AFTERNOON
AT THE
THE ELIZABETH A. SACKLER CENTER
FOR FEMINIST ART
IRIS AND B. GERALD CANTOR AUDITORIUM, 3RD FL.
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200 EASTERN PARKWAY, BROOKLYN, NY
FREE WITH MUSEUM ADMISSION - 1ST COME 1ST SERVE BASIS
LIMITED SEATING: KINDLY RESPOND BY EMAIL TO
HAWT@HaveArtWillTravel.org
DIRECTIONS: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/directions.php
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Masculinity, Complex conference

October 21-22, 2011
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Ave
Elebash Recital Hall

RSVP to rsvp@masculinitycomplex.com

To view the conference program click on the following link http://masculinitycomplex.com/
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Fatherhood Lowers Testosterone, Keeps Dads at Home A new study finds that levels of testosterone, the "macho" sex hormone, drop in new fathers


Fatherhood Lowers Testosterone, Keeps Dads at Home

A new study finds that levels of testosterone, the "macho" sex hormone, drop in new fathers
By Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience and LiveScience  | September 12, 2011 | 1
Father consoling his daughter.Image: Dreamstime
Men may not go on a hormonal rollercoaster with their pregnant partners, but once the baby shows up, their bodies biologically transition into "daddy mode," suggests a new study finding that levels of testosterone, the "macho" sex hormone, drop in new fathers.
"Men are, to a certain degree, hardwired to take care of their kids," study researcher Lee Gettler, of Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, told LiveScience. "This is important because traditional models ofhuman evolution have portrayed women as the gatherers that take care of the kids and stay behind."
The hormone drop makes sense, the researchers say, since high testosterone tends to boost behaviors linked to competing for a mate, risky activities that may conflict with the responsibilities of fatherhood. [History's 12 Most Doting Dads]
In fact, the biggest testosterone drops were observed in fathers of newborns and those highly invested in child care.
The finding that fathers are hardwired to care for children adds to previous cultural models of human evolution, which traditionally depict the mother as being hardwired for hands-on child care.
Studying fathers
The study followed 465 men participating in the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, started in the Philippines in 1983, when the participants were 1 year old. At age 21.5 (in 2005), the researchers tested the single male participants' testosterone levels when they woke and when they went to sleep. The measurements were repeated at age 26 (in 2009), when about half of the participants had become fathers.
Men who stayed single showed a small age-related decline of about 12 to 15 percent in the male sex hormone, while the testosterone levels of new fathers — those with a baby between 1 month and 1 year — on average dropped about 30 percent. Hormone levels in fathers of newborns (1 month and younger) dropped four to five times lower than levels in single men levels and twice as much as fathers of older children.  
"Newborn babies come with really intense physical, emotional and psychological changes," Gettler said. "We kind of see men's biology responding to that, in line with what we would expect in men trying to transition into this new role of being a father to a newborn."
Testosterone effectsAs to the effect of the lowered testosterone, the researchers can't be sure. There could be effects on libido and muscle mass, though they are probably mild, since the participants' levels are still within the normal range.
"The reason sex life changes is a lot more complicated than that a father's testosterone levels go down," Gettler said. "The reality is there's not a terribly strong relationship between testosterone levels and libido."
Lower testosterone could influence the amount of time a man spends with his family, essentially by tempering his urge to go out and reproduce. Higher testosterone has been associated with increased risk-taking and competition with other males. This could be why testosterone levels are even lower with increased child care investment.
"When fathers make this choice, this active decision to be involved, testosterone reacts to that by going down even further," Gettler said. "Their bodies respond by saying, 'This is where we are focused now, we are focused on the kids.'"
The finding may also explain why having a partner and becoming a father are good for a man's health and longevity. This could be somewhat mediated by the changes in testosterone levels. Some researchers believe testosterone lowers immune function: Higher testosterone levels may interfere with the immune system's ability to fight off infection. If this is true, lowering testosterone could be an investment in men's health.
The researchers plan on following up with these men at around age 30.
The study was published today (Sept. 12) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.
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