Boys' Day: Unlimited Career Ideas

Boys' Day: Unlimited Career Ideas

MINIHAUS München took part in the nationwide Boys’ Day, inviting 19 young men into its kindergartens to get an insight into working with children. The aim of Boys’ Day is to interest male pupils in supposedly ‘female-specific’ careers, so boys use this day to take a look at social careers, nursing, administration, primary schools or, as in this case, kindergartens.

Tobias Böttcher, manager of the kindergarten in the Fürstenrieder Strasse, says that “the boys here get quite excited when ‘big boys’ are here”. His deputy, Nina Koenig, agrees: “It yet again shows the importance of having more male staff in kindergartens.” The number of male applicants has increased, according to Ms Koenig, but there are still too few of them.

- “Luckily, I have girls in the group to bring them round” - Kerstin Bebenroth 

Nursery teacher Kerstin Bebenroth welcomes the Boys’ Day as an opportunity “to get involved in the job and to be receptive to different ideas”. This isn’t difficult for 13-year-old Mischa. “I like children and would also like to work with children.” He uses the day to get an initial impression of the nursery teacher’s job. Ms Bebenroth is enthusiastic about her ‘placement student’; “Mischa is really into it; he is confident and responds to the children”. 14-year-old Phi and 15-year-old An do not find it as easy to make contact with the children.

“Luckily I have girls in the group to bring them round”, laughs Ms Bebenroth. The pre-school girls simply challenge An and Phi to running races and painting, and the two boys gradually thaw out.

14-year-old Kilian has no worries about contact – he has three younger brothers and sisters at home, whom he often has to look after. “I think it’s fun to work with the children.” Oliver (15) and Mehmet (14) don’t yet know whether they would like to train in nursery teaching or childcare later on, but they find it fun to play with the children and to help them. “It reminds me of my time at kindergarten,” says Oliver, “and those are good memories.”

The five boys’ future career plans are still open, but Boys’ Day gave them an insight into a career which would be very happy to receive an application from them.