Last night I was at a school Governor's meeting where we were discussing information relating to the appointment of a new head teacher. When we got to essential attributes, I observed that churches always seem to want the Archangel Gabriel for their new minister. One of the staff governors commented that many of the teachers had responded to that by saying they wanted Johnny Depp. Since I was taking the minutes, I recorded "Archangel Gabriel meets Johnny Depp" (now I may be a getting old but Johnny Depp isn't my hunk of choice! How about Sean Connery, Martin Shaw, Trevor Eve... ).
I was intrigued by the assumption that a head teacher will be male, in much the same way that most churches assume ministers will be male. How would people define their ideal female head teacher? Virgin Mary meets ... (insert name)? Or their ideal female minister? Virgin Mary meets Geraldine Grainger perhaps?! What d'you think?
Comments
I've been a governor at our local school for 12 years now! I'm onto my fourth headteacher.
Two male; two female.
Male 1 - thought he could protect all his staff from the changes in education by doing everything himself.
Female 1 - came in and discovered that he had swept everything under the carpet. Panicked. Didn't know what to do and ran around like a headless chicken.
Male 2 - so-called "Super-head" Dictator sent in to turn the school around. Succeeded and left before he had to face up to the fact that the changes weren't embedded.
Female 2 - his deputy. Bit of a mother hen. Finds it difficult to step back and trust others to get on with the job.
I'm not sure that I want a 13 year old virgin to do the job, thank you!
Thanks Tim. I'm not suggesting we should have that, just wondering what stereotypes people work with... People seem to want omni-everything (if that isn't too tautologous) or plaster saint coupled with swoon factor.
Interesting that your two males were 'superheroes' and your two females 'hens'!!! Maybe it's a job for chicken licken? Or little half chick (now there was a weird concept if ever there was one)
I'd settle for Nigella Lawson. Whatever the job. Oh, and forget the Virgin Mary bit.
Sean Connery or Martin Shaw over Johnny Depp any day. But you forgot Richard Armitage in his Guy of Gisburn incarnation!! (The only possible reason to watch Robin Hood.)
My sons told me when they were 6 that they couldn't possibly be teachers when they grew up, because teachers were ladies. Then they said, actually we could be headteachers, because they are men!
Doesn't matter how much cooking their Dad does or how much DIY I do, these stereotypes still find their way in somehow.....