Traditionally, teachers in kindergartens are dominantly female, but now

游客2024-11-06  7

问题         Traditionally, teachers in kindergartens are dominantly female, but now male teachers are exceptionally popular in China. The following two excerpts provide opinions on male teachers in kindergartens, in the US and China respectively. Read them carefully and write your response in NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly both excerpts, and then
        2. give your comment on whether it is a good idea to hire more male teachers in a kindergarten.
Excerpt 1
        In recent years, education experts have converged on one big idea: Teachers matter. Studies show that years of good teaching can set a student on a good path, while years of bad teaching can do the opposite.
        Yet only a fraction of our teachers are the best and the brightest of their generation. Here’s a simple idea that could dramatically improve the teaching quality: Hire a few good men.
        Teaching now remains a female-dominated profession. This is especially true for younger children. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2% of kindergarten teachers are men.
        Why should this concern us?
        First, men represent an underutilized talent pool. If we could attract more males to teaching, school districts would have an easier time hiring outstanding individuals. The point is not that men are better teachers, but that highly qualified men are far less likely to apply for teaching jobs.
        Second, boys in particular benefit from the presence of male role models in the classroom. If we want to do something about boys’ often sluggish classroom performance, more male teachers could be a useful step.
        Our children deserve the very best teachers we can find, whether men or women. We need to be more creative in letting young men know that they should consider teaching as a profession.
Excerpt 2
        One year ago, Hai Jun was hogging media attention for being the first male kindergarten teacher in Shenyang, but he quit earlier this month.
        Many suspect that his departure was caused by traditional bias against male pre-school teachers, which has forced many of Hai’s male colleagues to leave.
        "It seems that few of these young graduates can withstand the bias no matter how enthusiastic they were in the beginning,’’ says Wang Ying, deputy head of a Shenyang-based nursery school.
        But even as male teachers find the going tough, there is a clamour for them in many places, such as South China’s Guangdong Province. Some kindergartens in the province, convinced that a male presence would be healthy, beg fathers to volunteer in their schools.
        According to statistics released by the Guangzhou education department, only 14 out of 28,422 kindergarten teachers in the city were men at the end of last year.
        It is generally agreed that having a male teacher is conducive to developing a child’s character and balance women-dominated kindergartens.
        Not a few parents complain that their boys behave like sissies since they imitate their teachers. A male kindergarten teacher surnamed Ma says that the kids love him and that he has won much acclaim from both parents and female colleagues.
        "Male teachers play an important role in cultivating children’s boldness and help develop a strong will," says Wang, referring to the growing demand for male teachers.
        However, that is one area where males fear to tread in China Traditionally men were considered careless, clumsy and not suited to take care of children.
        "Fundamentally, it’s the traditional concept that has forced these men to give up," says Sun Hongyan, deputy director of the Beijing-based Research Institute for Children.

选项

答案                                                                 Kindergartens Need a Touch of Masculinity
        The two excerpts mainly discuss male teachers in kindergartens. In the US, education experts believe that male teachers can make a great difference in improving the education quality as more male teachers would make it easier to employ highly qualified men and are helpful in cheering boys up in classroom. In China, male teachers in kindergartens are having a tough time while at the same time in great demand. Having more male teachers, as believed, can contribute to the development of children’s character and change the highly unbalanced male-female ratio of teachers in kindergartens. As far as I am concerned, the popularity of male kindergarten teachers is a good sign that helps to better the comprehensive education in kindergartens and that reflects the trend of gender equality.
        First and foremost, having male teachers in kindergartens is beneficial to the comprehensive education of children. Unlike female teachers who are patient and loving, male teachers add more masculine features to kindergarten education as a whole. For example, male teachers can teach children sports that are apparently helpful to both the physical and psychological development of children. Furthermore, male teachers can also teach children to be stronger and tougher when faced with problems. In a word, male teachers serve as a very good complementation of female teachers and help to better the education quality of kindergartens in general.
        Secondly, hiring male teachers in kindergartens also reflects the trend of gender equality. One important feature of social development is that people are no longer supposed to be confined to particular career choices because of their genders. Hiring more male teachers helps to establish a sense of gender equality for children at an early age and helps children to realize that one can take the job he or she loves, regardless of the gender.
        To conclude, having male teachers in kindergartens is beneficial not only because it helps to build a comprehensive kindergarten education, but also because it helps to promote the concept of gender equality.

解析         材料给出了两段选文,主要探讨了中美两国幼儿园男教师的问题。
        选文一中提到,美国教育专家认为雇佣一些优秀男教师能极大提高教学质量(could dramatically improve the teaching quality),原因在于目前幼儿园男教师非常少,不利于吸引人才(highly qualified men are far less likely to apply for teaching jobs),男孩子在课堂不活跃(boys’ often sluggish classroom performance)也是个问题。
        选文二中提到,在中国,幼儿园男教师的处境艰难(going tough),但与此同时对幼儿园男教师需求很大(a clamour)。社会普遍的观点是男教师有助于培养孩子们的性格(developing a child’s character),平衡幼儿园里女教师占主导的失衡状况(balance women-dominated kindergartens)。但由于社会存在对男教师的传统偏见,很多男性不得不放弃这个职业(forced these men to give up)。
        综上所述,题目给出的两段选文共同探讨了幼儿园男教师不足的问题,都支持增加男教师在幼儿园的比例。
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