Finding mates : developing a male teacher support program

In 2003 a small support group was formed at the Bundaberg campus of Central Queensland University (CQU) whereby some 'at risk' male Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) students were linked with experienced male teachers from local schools. From this small network grew an idea for a male mentoring program. The next stage of this conceptualisation was seeking funding and then developing a more structured 'informal' program that was designed specifically to support all male teachers and, in particular, those beginning teachers as they move from being a university student to being an industry ready teacher in the knowledge economy. In this chapter we explore two main themes: the first theme is 'why a male mentoring program' highlighting some of the current research relating to the retention of male teachers and some of the issues that impact on male teachers differently to their female colleagues, providing the context this chapter and the second theme concerns the process of finding Mates. This chapter also sets out our initial thematic framework for categorising our preliminary data as to what 'concerns' male teachers in the contemporary workplace.