The Cost of Unchecked Assumptions: Fewer Male Teachers, More Baby Slop

In this episode of This Week with EdSurge, two reporters explain why it is so important to trust but verify teacher motivations and educational videos.

Credit: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock

A monkey plays a keyboard with a drumstick, and nobody stops to ask if that is really how one works. A male teacher walks into a school and someone decides he must be the gym coach before he says a word.

A Shrinking Share of Male Teachers

Ed Finkel spoke with men across the country about why they went into teaching, and why so many eventually leave. He looked at a new survey of the profession and heard from teachers who described walking into a building and facing assumptions about who they must be before they said a word. Finkel wanted to know what is pulling men away from the classroom, and what a school might do differently to keep them there.

When AI Gets the Basics Wrong

Adam Stone went looking at what is now called baby slop, the wave of AI generated videos aimed at toddlers and preschoolers. He found channels posting thousands of these videos in a matter of months, and some of that content shows scenes that do not line up with how the world actually works. Stone wanted to know what that content is doing to kids who are still learning to tell the difference between what is real and what is not.

Listen to the Episode:

Stories Mentioned in This Episode

As Male Teachers Vanish From the Classroom, Schools Look for Ways to Bring Them Back by Ed Finkel

AI Videos Are Warping Early Learning, Teachers Say. Here's How They're Responding by Adam Stone

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