Reflections on my Research Proposal
In my proposal, I set out to look at masculinity through the lens of the feminization of teaching, however, I did not find that road of research to be useful to find sufficient information on my chosen subject. Masculinity in Canada has not been widely studied, nor have many accounts of male teachers from 19th century British Columbia been explored. However, I found my research of newspaper articles to be fruitful and useful in analyzing masculinity within teaching. Therefore I was unable to unearth precisely what masculinity’s role in the feminization of teaching was beyond being entirely oppressive towards femininity.
Furthermore, I found in my research that during the 19th century in British Columbia, Canada it is doubtful that teaching would have been referred to as “women’s work” as there was a clear preference for male teachers which demonstrated society did not deem educating rowdy children as a job suitable to be entrusted to a woman rather than a man.
Proposal
In my research, the question I endeavour to answer pertains to the role of masculinity within Canadian education, more specifically what that role was while public schooling was gaining momentum in the late 19th century. Many sources regarding gender and education in Canada focus on the ‘feminization’ of education and the various opportunities that teaching provided for women; there is less research done, however, on the subject of masculinity and the history of male teachers, which is why it may be necessary to delve into research on the feminization of teaching, and the roles of motherhood in order to analyze what is and is not written regarding masculinity, the father’s role, and the male teacher’s role. My research focus will be on what role masculinity played within education in public schools; what society thought of men choosing to teach, as opposed to working jobs more ‘appropriate’ for their gender during the Victorian era, they were doing what would have been considered as ‘women’s work’; and what exactly was the role that men played in the public school system as teachers and how did that differ from the role women played as teachers. Furthermore, I hope to explore the question: what role did masculinity play in the feminization of teaching in Canada?