The Guys, and the rest of us…

A history of framing the teaching of young children as a matter of ‘natural’ female aptitude has led a number of researchers and educators to oversimplify men’s experiences as a foil or antidote to the ills of schooling. Of course, it’s all much more complex than that. Along with my colleague and frequent co-author Christine Mallozzi of the University of Kentucky, I proudly present The Guys, and the Rest of Us. In this qualitative study of men, women, and ‘feminisation’ in early education and care environments, interview data (N = 4) are discursively analysed to provide a more nuanced understanding of how male and female careworkers construct and orient themselves in relation to masculinity and maleness.