Education - Gender & Achievement (Internal Factors) Flashcards
Which are the different internal factors that affect the achievement of boys & girls inside schools?
Labelling & self-fulfilling prophecy
Teacher bias
Equal opportunity policies
Gender stereotypes (subject choice)
Feminisation of education
What are equal opportunity policies?
Educational Policies that are influenced by the belief that boys & girls are entitled to the same opportunities
What is an example of an EOP & what does it encourage?
Women in STEM -> encourage girls to pursue careers in non traditional areas
How did the national curriculum improve gender equality?
Girls & boys were made to study the same subjects
SOCIOLOGIST: What does Boaler say about the impact of EOPs?
The key reason for girls achievement as many barriers have been removed, making education more meritocratic. As a result girls achieve higher
How has an increase in positive female role models in schools caused differences in achievement among gender?
An increase of female head teachers creates positive role models for girls and shows them that women can obtain & achieve positions of importance which gives them goals to aim for in the future
Female teachers are more likely to be important role models for girls -> to be a teacher the individual has to take a length & successful education
How has teacher attention caused differences in achievement among gender?
Teachers may respond to girls more positively & see them as cooperative whereas they may respond to boys negatively as they see them as disruptive which can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy in the children.
SOCIOLOGIST: What did French & French say about teacher attention?
They analysed classroom interaction & found that boys received more attention as they attracted more reprimands from teachers
Evaluation & SOCIOLOGIST: What did Francis say about teacher attention?
Found out while boys receive more attention, they are disciplined more harshly & they felt like they were picked on by teachers as they had lower expectations of them
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Swann say about teacher attention?
Found gender differences in communication styles as girls prefer to work in pairs whereas boys tend to dominate the whole class discussion
SOCIOLOGIST: What did Sewell say about the feminisation of education?
Reported that boys fall behind because education has been feminised. Schools don’t nurture masculine traits e.g. leadership & celebrate more feminine qualities e.g. attentiveness.
Coursework is a major cause of gender differences in achievement and argues that it should be replaced with final exams & a greater emphasis should be placed on outdoor adventure in the curriculum
How has a shortage of male primary school teachers caused differences in achievement regarding gender?
A lack of male role models at school & home is said to be the cause of boys’ underachievement. This is because a large amount of boys are brought up in female headed lone parent households
Some argue the culture of primary school has become feminised as a result of being staffed by female teachers who are unable to control boys’ behaviour
Male teachers are viewed as better imposed to the strict discipline of boys that is needed for them to concentrate -> suggests that more male teachers are needed
What % of school teachers are male?
13
What % of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with a male teacher & what would be the effect if they had?
39%. An increase in male teachers would make the boys behave better & so they would work harder and therefore increase their educational achievement
