The whole history of women entering the profession of teaching is very interesting. What I found particularly interesting were the reasons women were allowed to become teachers. The first reason, “Women are better teachers of young children because of their natural child rearing talents”, I wouldn’t argue too much against. While a women’s natural maternal instinct does not translate to her being a good teacher, I think it does help them in terms of handling and connecting with young children. The second reason, “Women minds are less distracted by worldly forces……..they can more easily concentrate on teaching”, reflected the inequalities and lack of opportunities women faced at the time. Women in those times were not all fully educated, and those that were did not have many opportunities outside of teaching. The perception that women were only suited to be teachers was very prevalent. Of course much of the acceptance of female teachers was the fact that women were paid much less and were very inexpensive to hire. The third reason, “They are also of purer morals”, is completely bogus. There is no empirical evidence or any logic behind this claim. Do any of these reasons help explain any disparity (if there are any at all) among male and female school teachers today (especially at the elementary levels)?
The evolution of bureaucracy in schools began the process of preparing students to enter the workforce. As schools became more bureaucratic, there was more emphasis placed on disciplining students and getting them accustomed to taking and following orders and a strict schedule and set of rules. The rationale behind this was that these were important “values to be taught to schoolchildren in preparing them to function in society” (p.152). I’m sure we all have experienced how this still occurs in all schools today, public and private. This idea that we all must follow a strict set of rules and give in to authority figures is prevalent in modern schools and education systems. In my opinion, this will always be a part of our school system given the fact that so much emphasis on education today revolves around preparing students to enter the workforce and helping the United States compete in the global market. Such Bureaucracy will unfortunately continue to be a major aspect of our schools. Are there any trends or signs of change that proves otherwise?
