In many western countries concern with boys’ education has spawned a concern about a lack of male teachers in primary schools (see for example, Education Queensland, 2002; for discussion see Jóhannesson, Lingard & Mills; 2009; Mills, Francis & Skelton, 2009). This debate is based upon two interrelated assumptions. The first is that boys are currently underachieving in schools. The second is that male teachers can act as role models for boys in ways that address this failure. Both of these assumptions have been widely challenged (Francis, 2008; Francis & Skelton, 2005; Cushman, 2008: Martino, 2008; Mills, Martino & Lingard, 2004). However, the debate has being taking some interesting turns in relation to issues of race and ethnicity. Those who have critiqued the ways in which many within schools and the policy arena have engaged with the boys’ debate have argued that in considering boys’ supposed underachievement questions have to be asked such as ‘Which boys are we talking about?’ (see for example, Mills, Martino, Lingard, 2007). When such a question is asked it usually becomes apparent that boys from particular ethnic or racial backgrounds are the most likely to be being failed by the school system (see for example Sewell, 1997; Noguera, 2003; Francis, 2006; Martino, 2003). In the UK it is boys from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, in the US boys from Afro-American backgrounds and in Australia from Indigenous (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) backgrounds who have been the most disadvantaged boy in those countries. This focus on particular boys has led to a more a complex argument about the need for more male teacher from particular backgrounds to act as role models for boys, and sometimes girls, from similar backgrounds. This paper explores the issue of male teachers working with Indigenous students in Australia. Whilst the context is very specific the analysis has a broader reach given other current research being undertaken on male teachers from marginalised backgrounds (see for example, Maylor, 2009). The paper seeks to identify issues facing Indigenous male teachers who enter a profession that is constructed by Indigenous students, and many of their parents, as ‘white’. It addresses the issue of Indigenous role models in Australian primary schools. It also teases out some of the complexities in relation to the recruitment and retention of male primary teachers from marginalised ethnic or racial backgrounds. These issues all resonate with those being discussed in other locations.

The research in this paper is drawn from a larger study exploring the experience of marginalised male primary teachers in the UK, Canada and Australia funded by the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council. Brian is an Australian Indigenous primary teacher working in an Indigenous school. The paper provides an in-depth account of his experiences in the teaching profession with a particular focus on a boys’ program that he is responsible for in the school. The paper draws on observational and interview data. Classes taught by the teacher were observed and several lengthy interviews were conducted with him about his reasons for entering teaching and exploring his occupational experiences. The approach taken here is one found in Mills, Haase & Charlton (2008) and is well established within qualitative methodologies in education.

The expected outcome of this research is that analysis of such teachers’ experiences can help to inform debates about the role of men from marginalised backgrounds in primary school education. The research, as other research in this tradition and on this topic, will also contribute to discussions and policies about the ways in which to diversify the teaching profession. Potential outlets for the research are the British Journal of Sociology of Education, Oxford Review of Education, Pedagogy, Culture and Society and the European Journal of Educational Research.