- 00:01
- My workshop is called Pride and Prejudice
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- and it's about parents' perspectives
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- of men working in early years.
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- It's based on some research
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- which is gonna be in my fourth coming book
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- with Simon Brownhill,
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- and it's based on a survey that we did
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- of parents of children in early years settings
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- to ask them what they think about the overall principle
- 00:24
- of men working with early years,
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- whether they have any concerns about that
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- and exploring some of the fears
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- and different attitudes parents have.
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- Overwhelmingly, parents are supportive
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- but interestingly they also a significant minority
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- of those people who supported the idea have fears
- 00:50
- and concerns about men working with early years
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- and it's interesting to explore that.
- 00:55
- You know, what's prompted those fears and worries
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- 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,
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- to feel that this isn't an appropriate role for men,
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- so what is it in terms of our gender
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- that makes us as a society feel
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- that men shouldn't be involved
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- in working with young children?
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- 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
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- in our organizations and I think it's about building trust
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- and awareness with parents, that we can trust men,
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- that it is an appropriate role for them,
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- and that it's for the benefit of children
- 01:48
- and for society in general.
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- Less than two percent of the early years workforce
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- 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
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- 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
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- and indeed for those women who are currently working
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- 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
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- and with training organizations
- 02:25
- to encourage men to apply for these jobs.