Male teachers are in short supply in Rotorua and a local principal wants to change the perception that it's a "woman's job".
Rotorua Principals Association president and Westbrook School principal Colin Watkins says Rotorua schools need to have a better mix of male and female staff to provide balance, for the benefit of students.
He estimates there are one or two male teachers at most of Rotorua's 36 primary schools.
There are about 500 teachers employed in Rotorua.
Mr Watkins wants to see more male teachers in Rotorua and around New Zealand but says he is fighting a public perception that teaching isn't a man's job.
He said the best way to change that perception was for as many male teachers as possible to spread the word about why their jobs were so great.
He said they could do that by word of mouth as well as through the media.
"I am a bloke in my mid-50s and there are not too many days I don't enjoy coming to work."
Secondary schools were more likely to have more male teachers, he said.
"Ideally, 50 per cent of staff should be male," Mr Watkins said.
"I think men are just as necessary at high school as they are [at primary]," he said.
He said more could be done by the Ministry of Education down to principals' associations to promote and advertise teaching as a man's job.
Mr Watkins said it was about bringing the balance to a classroom.
At his school there were 35 teachers, two of which were male.
Mr Watkins believed there were many reasons there weren't a lot of men in the profession but wanted things to change.
Mr Watkins said many men had been scared off by concerns about being accused of abuse - while comforting a child, for example.
Callum Tytler and Andrew Naidoo teach at Westbrook.
Mr Tytler said he believed some men had negative memories of teachers when they were at school while Mr Naidoo said the long hours outside of school was another negative perception.
However, both they and Mr Watkins said there were many more benefits than negatives to the job.
Mr Naidoo said male teachers provided male students with male role models. He said it allowed students to see there was someone at school who enjoyed playing sports, allowed boys to have someone to talk to and take on a father role while at school.
"We're fathers, mothers, doctors and nurses," Mr Naidoo said.
"It's a fun job, we can be everything," he said.
Mr Tytler said girls also needed male teachers because it also gave students the chance to see grown men enjoying reading books and singing and dancing.
The pair say teaching is a career that is always changing and is a rewarding one for all teachers.
Male drought in primary teaching
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