T2 | Boys

Question 1

What may impact boys education according to Slee (1998)?

Answer 1

> Slee (1998)
— Argues that boys are less attractive to schools because they are more likely to suffer behavioural difficulties and are 4x more likely to get excluded.
— Boys are seen as liabilities, obstacles to schools to improving league table scores.

Question 2

What does Jay Peter French (1993) say about teacher attention?

Answer 2

> Jay Peter French (1993)
— Analysed classroom interactions, found that boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands.

Question 3

What does Francis (2001) say about teacher attention?

Answer 3

> Francis (2001)
— While boys got more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers who tended to have lower expectations of them.

Question 4

What does Swann (1998) say about teacher attention?

Answer 4

> Swann (1998)
— Found gender differences in communication styles
— Boys dominate in whole class discussions whereas girls prefer pair work and group work and are better at listening and cooperating
— When working in groups, girls speech involves turn taking, not the hostile interruptions that often characterise boys’ speech
— teachers tend to respond more positively to girls

Question 5

How may stereotypes of either gender impact the pupils achievement and what to sociologists have to say about challenging those stereotypes?

Answer 5

Some sociologists argue that the removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks and reading schemes and other learning materials in recent years, has removed a barrier in girls achievement.

Research in the 70s and 80s portray women as housewives and wives, school books show them as frightened of science and less inventive.

> Weiner (1995)
— Argues that since the 90s teachers have challenged such stereotypes, in general sexist images have been removed from learning materials, which has helped to raise girls’ achievement by presenting them with positive images of what a woman can do.