- 00:01
- My workshop is called Pride and Prejudice
- 00:04
- and it's about parents' perspectives
- 00:07
- of men working in early years.
- 00:09
- It's based on some research
- 00:10
- which is gonna be in my fourth coming book
- 00:13
- with Simon Brownhill,
- 00:15
- and it's based on a survey that we did
- 00:17
- of parents of children in early years settings
- 00:19
- to ask them what they think about the overall principle
- 00:24
- of men working with early years,
- 00:25
- whether they have any concerns about that
- 00:27
- and exploring some of the fears
- 00:29
- and different attitudes parents have.
- 00:38
- Overwhelmingly, parents are supportive
- 00:41
- but interestingly they also a significant minority
- 00:45
- of those people who supported the idea have fears
- 00:50
- and concerns about men working with early years
- 00:52
- and it's interesting to explore that.
- 00:55
- You know, what's prompted those fears and worries
- 00:58
- and anxieties that they have?
- 01:06
- I think it's the role of the media in portraying men
- 01:09
- as potential abusers of children maybe,
- 01:13
- but also, what is it that prompts parents
- 01:17
- and that includes men and women,
- 01:19
- to feel that this isn't an appropriate role for men,
- 01:22
- so what is it in terms of our gender
- 01:24
- that makes us as a society feel
- 01:27
- that men shouldn't be involved
- 01:28
- in working with young children?
- 01:30
- So I think we need to promote positive images
- 01:32
- of men working with children in nurseries and preschools.
- 01:36
- I also think we need very strong leadership
- 01:38
- in our organizations and I think it's about building trust
- 01:42
- and awareness with parents, that we can trust men,
- 01:44
- that it is an appropriate role for them,
- 01:46
- and that it's for the benefit of children
- 01:48
- and for society in general.
- 01:49
- Less than two percent of the early years workforce
- 01:51
- in England are men and so we've got a long way to go.
- 01:55
- We have to let men know that this is an appropriate role
- 01:59
- for them and that they can build a career in it.
- 02:01
- We have to let parents know that it's acceptable
- 02:03
- for men to come in
- 02:04
- and indeed for those women who are currently working
- 02:07
- in the workforce, they have to be accepting
- 02:09
- and supportive of men,
- 02:10
- particularly those who are in leadership currently,
- 02:13
- so we're doing some work with the government.
- 02:15
- We're doing work generally to try
- 02:18
- and raise the awareness of it through the media
- 02:21
- and we're trying to work with careers advisors
- 02:23
- and with training organizations
- 02:25
- to encourage men to apply for these jobs.
