This paper is set in the context of concern about the decline in the numbers of males entering the primary teaching profession in the United Kingdom and focuses on the views of male and female primary teacher trainees as to the factors which in¯uenced their decision to enter the teaching profession. Findings of this study reveal that females in training claim to have been motivated by the perceived intrinsic aspects of primary teaching whereas place a greater emphasis on perceived extrinsic aspects. Males in training report an awareness of the feminization of primary teaching but consider a male presence in primary schools to be important. Males are also aware that they may have to confront societal negativity about choosing to work with young childrenÐ females have no such concerns. The paper discusses these and other ® ndings in terms of wider issues relating to the gendering of work and draws conclusions which may be helpful to policy-makers or institutions recruiting to courses of initial teacher training.

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This paper reports the findings of a study which examined the factors influencing the choice of primary teaching as a career option among A-level students and how these factors differ between males and females. The views of males were of particular importance given the current disquiet in relation to recent trends in the recruitment of males as primary-school teachers. The paper reports that primary teaching is highly regarded as a career by all sixthformers, in that it is seen as performing a moral service to society, as being mentally stimulating and as likely to offer a high degree of job satisfaction. However, primary teaching is seen as lacking in salary and status. Male sixth-formers are aware that males are in a minority in primary schools and assert the value of a male role in younger children's educational experience. Most are also aware that they may have to confront societal negativity about males working closely with young children. This perceived negativity manifests itself in three ways. Firstly, primary teaching is seen as an occupation already dominated by females; males are much more gender-sensitive when it comes to career choice than are females. Secondly, contemporary male teenage culture sees teaching as inherently unfashionable and males indicate that a desire to enter primary teaching could evoke derision from their school peers. Thirdly, the currency of child-abuse awareness in recent years has made males wary of close contact with young children. Female sixth-formers do not report concerns about any of these factors. The paper proposes that halting the decline in numbers of male primary teachers is a task which requires the intervention and contribution of a variety of agencies and bodies, and suggests that the content and dissemination of career information on primary teaching could be reviewed.

School self‐evaluation allows staff to review the quality of their work in relation to local contexts. In this article, Peter Neil, senior lecturer in education, Alex McEwen, professor of education, and Karen Carlisle and Damian Knipe, both research assistants in the Graduate School of Education at Queen’s University, Belfast, discuss a research project focusing on the process of self‐evaluation carried out by staff at a special school in Northern Ireland. The project involved the participants in the completion of a research journal over a four‐week period. The authors describe the ways in which the outcomes of the project were fed back to staff and the impact the project had on a range of issues, including teaching and learning and the school’s professional development agenda.