Male teachers still a rarity in elementary classrooms

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SPRINGFIELD — Most elementary schools in Clark and Champaign counties have only a handful of male teachers on staff, but men can be valuable in the classroom as role models for children, according to experts.

About 8 percent of elementary school teachers in the area are male, according to a Springfield News-Sun analysis of Ohio Department of Education data. Twenty-five percent of teaching staff across all grades are male.

“It’s just historically been that way,” said Sally Brannan, chair of the education department at Wittenberg University. “It’s our cultural view in the United States.”

At Wittenberg, about 18-20 students graduate from the early-childhood program each year, but only one to two are males, Brannan said. Wright State University has an average graduating class in early childhood education of about 100 students, with up to four males a year, said associate professor William Mosier.

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