Goodbye, Mr Chips?

Even in roles traditionally seen as male or female - such as mechanics or beauty therapists - it is no longer unusual to encounter a member of the opposite sex.

Yet the same cannot be said for teaching.

Bournemouth Borough Council has 463 female primary school teachers compared to just 77 males, and 240 female secondary school teachers and just 156 male.

The figures for Borough of Poole echo this trend, with 429 female teachers in first, combined and middle schools, compared to just 92 males, and 131 female teachers in secondary schools, compared to 87 males.

Dorset County Council has 2,511 female teachers working in its schools compared to just 1,020 male teachers.

And it's not just a regional problem. Just last week Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced a drive to recruit more men as primary school teachers to provide role models.

But why is teaching - particularly at primary school level - still seen almost exclusively as a woman's domain?

Mike Welsh, Dorset spokesman for the National Association of Head Teachers, said easier opportunities for career breaks and equal pay made the profession more attractive to women.

But he added: "This government and the previous government were looking at making starting salaries more attractive for young people who are looking at getting on to the housing ladder.

"Over time it improves, but starting salaries are still relatively low, so I think that's one of the issues where men find they want to go to a better paid job initially."

Julian Churchill, deputy head at Heatherlands First School in Parkstone, is the only male teacher among 42 staff.

"It seems to be the lower end of primary that's very female-dominated," he said.

"Perhaps because it's not considered macho enough. Also, young children are very tactile and perhaps females feel more confident with that.

"It's sometimes a status thing - men tend to work at the higher end of secondary schools."

However, times are changing, with more men gradually coming forward to train as teachers.

This year's intake on Borough of Poole's School-Centred Initial Teacher Training course included 10 males out of a class of 25, while nine men have enrolled in next year's class of the same size.

Marilyn Leah, the course's professional co-ordinator, said young men's lack of experience with children was the main reason for the apparent lack of interest in teaching.

But she added: "I think it will change over time. Men are getting more involved with young families, seeing themselves as partners in bringing up children and beginning to feel much more confident around young children."

Stuart Farris, 33, is one of those men. He is a student on the current course and wants to teach key stage two - six- to 11-year-olds - when he qualifies.

But he understood many men did not see teaching as a favourable profession.

"My own experience, and that of others on the course, is that the traditional role of the person who looks after young children tends to be female - primary school is very nurturing and the traditional nurturer in the family is female.

"Also these days you hear stories about undesirable people working in schools and I think there's still a stigma.

"These children are very hands-on, very tactile - they will grab on to your legs and things. A lot of males wound find that very odd because you think, What if someone saw me doing this, what would they think?'"

While more men are slowly coming round to the idea of teaching in primary schools, the environment remains predominantly female.

So what effect does this have on our children?

While most experts are agreed a single-sex environment was not detrimental to a child's school education, there were concerns it could distort their view of life in general.

"It's so important for children to have positive role models," said Marilyn Leah.

"There are a number of children in one-parent families where Mum is the parent - it's a female environment.

"They have David Beckham, they have TV heroes, but it's real men in their own context. So if they have male teachers in class, that begins to address that balance, simply by having men around with their way of acting, their humour, their idiosyncrasies.

"It's very much to do with communication, social skills and their view of themselves - that's very much a part of education."

Julian Churchill agreed: "It's what I call the hidden curriculum - it's the life issues side of things.

"Often they will see things at home their dad will say and they will see if you agree with these views.

"It doesn't affect the children's long-term development, but sometimes it's nice to have a balance."