In South Africa there are few male teachers in the Foundation Phase (FP) of schooling, where children are aged between five and nine. FP teaching is traditionally considered to be a 'woman's job' and essentialist gender discourses play a central role in impeding men's participation in the profession. These discourses are based on polarised…

The teaching of young children (aged between 5 and 9) or Foundation Phase (FP) as it is known in South Africa, is highly gendered and is labeled a 'woman's' job. Globally there have been calls to lessen the gender disparity within the profession by increasing the participation of men. However, apprehensions about men teaching young children can…

This article focuses on how male and female primary school teachers' account of the suitability of male teachers in early years or Foundation Phase (FP) of schooling. We draw from an in-depth qualitative interview-based study to examine how ideals around hegemonic masculinity have effects for the characterization of FP within traditional feminine…

In this article we argue that eliminating the divisions of labour between men and women could work towards counteracting gender inequality within professions. Globally women are over-represented in the teaching of young children in the early years of primary school, or Foundation Phase (FP), as it is known in South Africa. We are concerned to go…

This article presents elements of an ethnographic study of gendered identities among boys and girls in the early years of primary schooling. Foregrounding group work in mathematics as a key arena for the production of young masculine identities, this article goes some way to addressing what is absent from sociological portrayals of young children,…