Real Men or Real Teachers? : Contradictions in the Lives of Men Elementary School Teachers [Paperback]

Paul Sargent Ph.D. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

What do men in American society experience as they attempt to lead gender-atypical lives? Sargent (sociology, San Diego State) addresses this question and others in this outstanding study, which will engage both casual readers and academics. Sargent interviewed 35 men, ages ranging from early twenties to late fifties, who made up three percent of the teachers in selected K-3 public school districts. He also kept a journal to track how his own values and preconceived notions about men may have influenced data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This lends credibility and precision to the study, while Sargent's internal discourse and side comments heighten the human interest quotient. A lengthy bibliography and index encourage further research. Recommended for all public and academic libraries, this is also an essential title for teacher education colleges. Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Men's Studies Press (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967179432
• ISBN-13: 978-0967179438
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,399,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Move Over, Christine Williams!, February 19, 2006

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Men or Real Teachers? : Contradictions in the Lives of Men Elementary School Teachers (Paperback)

I'm a big fan of Christine Williams' work. She studies men in predominately female occupations. She firmly states that unlike women who enter mostly male work spaces, these men are encouraged and promoted. She states that they face slight resistance, but otherwise they are privileged. Here Paul Sargent interviews male teachers in elementary schools and shows how the picture is not as rosy as Williams portrays it.

Male teachers are not allowed to hug students, though female teachers are. Male teachers get more disruptive students in their classes. Male teachers are coerced into handling the technology at the school. The idea that they are on easy street is proved false.

Williams writes that males are quickly promoted. Sargent says men are pressured to become principals even when they do not want to. Men are forced to be less affectionate to their students and it just fuels longstanding ideas that men are distant. Sargent paints a clear portrait of how gender rigidity is constantly maintained.

What I love is that Sargent's informants do not say males need affirmative action. They say that would encourage men that don't belong in the profession. They said changing media images and increasing salaries would be the cure.

Though Sargent doesn't point this out, the male teachers interviewed are such liberal humanists. Williams first noticed that these men are not gender radicals or workplace pioneers. Still, you could tell that the men Sargent interviewed wanted to be seen as teachers without a gender. They were reluctant to see things in masculine or feminine terms. The informants were just a step away from crying out, "I'm not a man, I'm a person!" I know many 21st century postmoderns want to avoid labels and identity politics, but the apoliticality or desire not to investigate group dynamics was quite a surprise to me.

Sargent does not treat men as a monolithic group. He brings up sexuality, parenthood, and class matters at times. Still, near the end of the book when he wrote that many of the informants were men of color, I became surprised that race did not come up more.

This book is quite academic. Lay readers may have problems swimming through the sociological and gender studies terms. Still, this is a rewarding book for those who will take the time to peruse it.