(40) gender factors Flashcards
Education Reform Act - gender inside of school factors (Girls improvement - Changes within the system)
Introduction of coursework. The abolition of the 11+ and introduction of the national curriculum meant for the first time boys and girls were entitled to have the same education. Introduction of more coursework - girls are more methodical and organised.
GIST and WISE - gender inside of school factors (Girls improvement - Encourage to take boys subjects)
Aimed to get girls into traditionally ‘masculine subjects’. Teachers now believe it is important to develop girls in a way that would’ve been unthinkable a few years ago. Exam questions, textbooks and classroom language has changed to include and recognise girls, so that girls now see education as an institution for them.
GIST = Girls Into Science and Technology
WISE = Women In Science and Engineering
Jackson - gender inside of school factors (Boys underachievement - Lad culture)
Boys are asserting laddish identities as a way of redeveloping their masculinity. These identities are anti school and emphasise that working hard is not masculine. Boys are confident in their abilities and therefore may think they don’t need to work hard. However, she also found evidence of the same behaviour in working class female ‘ladettes’.
Epstein - gender inside of school factors (Boys underachievement - Teacher expectations and labelling)
Discussed 2 explanations for male underachievement: “Poor boys discourse” - where boys are seen as the victims, the organisation of teaching and learning and exams all discriminate against boys.
“Boys will be boys discourse” - teachers claim boys have a natural inclination to be boys. They are ‘naturally clever’ but tend to be lazy and difficult to motivate, noisy, competitive and demanding.
Sharpe - gender outside of school factors (Girls improvement - Changes in aspirations)
Girls priorities have changed from the 70s to 90s. In the 70s they were focussed on “love, marriage, husbands and children” by the 90s they had changed to “job, career and being able to support themselves”. Being career focussed meant that they worked harder in education to ensure they could be successful. Education was therefore seen as the main route to get a good job and financial independence.
Mac an Ghail - gender outside of school factors (Girls improvement - Feminisation of job market)
‘Crisis of masculinity’ felt by males after high unemployment in the 80s. The decline in traditional manual labour jobs meant that young males faced a crisis of masculinity and felt they didn’t have a clear path. They regard new jobs in the service sector as ‘feminine’ and therefore did not work hard in education.
Burns and Bracey - gender outside of school factors (Boys underachieving / Girls improvement - Socialisation into hegemonic gender roles)
Girls put more effort into homework and unlike boys are prepared to draft and redraft assignments. Girls also appear to mature earlier than boys. In the past it was assumed that boys would catch up in secondary school but this no longer seems to be the case. Girls work harder and are more motivated than boys.
Willis - gender outside of school factors - (Boys underachieving - Culture of masculinity)
Lads displayed a strong hegemonic masculinity which didn’t value education as they saw it as pointless and not relevant to manual labour jobs. Their peer group was anti-school and they ‘had a laff’ in class. They made fun of the ‘Earoles’ who worked hard and were seen as less masculine. They followed in fathers footsteps of manual labour and not valuing education.
