For more than a century in Canada, debate has been ongoing about the place of men in the classrooms of the nation and their role in ameliorating the problem of boys' underachievement. Using annual reports from provincial departments of education, other government and commission reports, publications by and for teachers, articles and stories from the popular media, and other print sources, we set out the broad and general contours of this continuing debate to demonstrate a marked consistency and several recurring themes in discussions about the man question in teaching.