Topic 4; internal factors that influences educational achievement - gender

Question 1

how do girls and boys performance in GCSE’s and coursework differ and what sociologist studied this?

Answer 1

Mitos and Brown - girls do better in coursework than boys because they are better organised

Question 2

what are examples of equal opportunities policies?

Answer 2

GIST and Wise programmes encourages girls to pursue science and technology and the national curriculum has changed so that boys and girls study the same subjects

Question 3

what is the feminisation of education?

Answer 3

more female teachers which feminises the learning environment and encourages girls to see school as part of a female gender domain

Question 4

how does teacher responses vary between the two genders and what sociologist studied this?

Answer 4

Swann - teachers respond more positively to girls and give them more encouragement because they listen and are more cooperative whereas boys are the ones most likely to receive punishments because they are loud and dominate class discussion which perhaps comes across as disruptive

Question 5

how does teacher attention vary between the two genders and what sociologist studied this?

Answer 5

French and French - teachers pay similar attentions to boys and girls for academic reasons but boys receive more attention overall for disciplinary reasons

Question 6

how does the feminisation of education impact boys educational achievement?

Answer 6

boys fall behind because schools no longer nurture masculine traits and the introduction of coursework causes boys to fall behind because they aren’t as organised or disciplined as girls (1 in 6 primary school teachers are male)