Reaction to "A Public Education Primer"

"A Public Education Primer" covers an overview of the US Education System using data from the Center of Education Policy, including everything from who and where are the students, who controls public education, how well students are achieving, and what the public school teaching force is like to name a few. After reading this article, I question why it is that nine out of ten teachers are white, and almost eight out of ten are female. Furthermore, I can directly relate it to my subject field (dance education) as well as who the majority of who my students will be.


Many are aware that after the Civil War, it was common for teachers to be white females. As mentioned before, nine out of ten teachers are white and eight out of ten are females. Is this culturally influenced? Even though women have equal rights and may choose to perform any job they wish, why still teaching? We have equal rights but I still feel strongly that women would have a rough time in a "man's job" like construction. Similarly, it is immediately assumed that a male who is an elementary school teacher is a pervert or petifile. Why is that? As much as we would like to say we are all created equal in the US, not everyone is treated equally, especially in the workforce.


I am a dance education major, and although there are only a few of us in this new major, we are all females. The dance department as a whole is comprised of 99% (a rough guess) females and 1% males. Once again, this seems to be a female major. Why is that? From personal experiences, the straight guys who are dance majors are constantly having their sexuality questioned by others. In today's society, many men and women are against homosexuality, and the fear for being thought of as gay turns many away from this major. Male friends of mine are also disinterested to attend any sort of dance performance with me. Not necessarily because people may think they are homosexual for going, but because it is not something that interests them. I suppose this is the same as how I am not interested in sports. So this brings me to my next question, does it have to do with the way we are brought up? As a little girl I was given dolls and dress up clothes to play with, whereas my male cousins had trains, cars, and batman. It makes me wonder as to whether or not my likes and dislikes would be different if I was taught otherwise as a child. I feel society influences their children which shapes their beliefs on what is appropriate for males and females.

Moreover, I can expect to teach a class mainly comprised of females, but I hope that this will change. Is there an effort to help this change? I feel it is important to educate males about this subject, even if they wish not to dance.