boys and achievement

Question 1

What are the five factors affecting boys achievement?

Answer 1

boys and literacy
globalisation
feminisation of education
laddish subculture
shortage of male teachers

Question 2

Tony Sewell

Answer 2

feminisation of education
masculine traits not nurtured e.g competitiveness and leadership
instead girls qualities are more celebrated like methodical working and attentiveness in class
argues coursework should be replaced by final exams and a great emphasis placed on outdoor adventure

Question 3

globalisation

Answer 3

as society has become more globalised, there has been a decline in traditional men’s jobs e.g iron and steel, shipbuilding, mining, engineering

Question 4

Mitosis and Browne

Answer 4

this has led to an ‘identity crisis’ for males who start to believe that they have little chance of getting a job which undermines their motivation and self esteem so they out less effort into education and underachieve

Question 5

Name two policies to raise boys’ achievement

Answer 5

‘the reading champions’ scheme uses male role models slee rating their own reading interests

‘playing for success’ uses footballs and other sports to boost learning skills and motivation among boys

Question 6

boys and literacy

Answer 6

boys poorer literacy and language skills have lead to the gender gap
parents spend less time reading to their son
mothers often do the reading so it is viewed as a feminine activity
boys leisure pursuits e.g football does little to help develop their language and communication skills a while girls stay in a lot and talk to their friends

Question 7

Epstein

Answer 7

working class boys are likely to be harassed if they appear to be ‘swots’ e.g labelled as sissies, subjected to homophobic verbal abuse

Question 8

Francis

Answer 8

boys more concerned than girls as being labelled by peers as ‘swots’ so adopt a ‘laddish culture’ where schoolwork is seen as effeminate and inferior but manual work and sports are seen as masculine so this attitude leads to underperformance

Question 9

Read

Answer 9

a critique to a shortage of male teachers and of the claim that primary schools have become feminised
-studied the type of language that teachers used to express criticism/disapproval of pupils’ work and behaviour and identified 2:
-A DISCIPLARIAN DISCOURSE: teachers’ authority is made explicit and visible e.g. shouting, loud tone of voice - more masculine
-A LIBERAL DISCOURSE: teachers’ authority is implicit and invisible- teacher speaks to child as if they were an adult and expects them to be kind, sensible and respectful to the teacher - more feminine
BUT found
that most teachers, male and female, used a supposedly ‘masculine’ disciplinarian discourse-> females can also provide stricter classroom culture