Gender - Boys (achievement)

Question 1

What are the 5 factors for boys underachieving?

Answer 1

• poor literacy skills
• globalisation and the decline in manual jobs (traditional mens jobs)
• feminisation of the education system
• shortage of male primary school teachers
• ‘laddish’ subcultures

Question 2

According to DCSF (2007) what is the reason the reason for boys poor literacy skills?

Answer 2

the gender gap is mainly
the result of boys’ poorer literacy and language skills.

Question 3

How might the gender gap affect boys’ poorer literacy and language skills?

Answer 3

Reading and communication is seen as a feminine activity due to:
- mothers who do most of the reading to young children
- girls bedroom culture (McROBBIE) compared to boys activities which require less communication (football)

Question 4

What policies has the government implemented to tackle boys’ poor literacy and language skills?

Answer 4

• PLAYING FOR SUCCESS uses football and other sports to boost learning skills and motivation among boys.
• The Reading Champions scheme uses male role models
  celebrating their own reading interests.
• The Raising Boys Achievement project involves a range of
  teaching strategies, including single-sex teaching.

Question 5

What has been declining since the 1980s for men because of globalisation?

Answer 5

heavy industries such as mining and factory work.

Question 6

What does globalisation of the economy refer to and what does it lead to ?

Answer 6

it’s the widespread international movement of goods (eg. many manufacturing industries relocated to developing countries such as China to take advantage of cheap labour)

Question 7

What is the ‘crisis of masculinity’ according to MITSOS AND BROWNE?

Answer 7

the decline in male employment opportunities has led to an identity crisis - boys don’t know what to aspire so they give up pursuing qualifications.
- because masculinity held connotations to manual labour

Question 8

EVALUATION: Why can it be argued that the disappearance of such jobs would not have
much impact on boys’ motivation to obtain qualifications?

Answer 8

Because those sorts of jobs did not require much qualifications anyways

as well as this, would the goal to be a breadwinner motivate men to aspire to have well paying m/c jobs which require qualifications

Question 9

What does SEWELL say is the reason for the underachievement of boys?

Answer 9

the feminisation of education

Question 10

What is the feminisation of education?

Answer 10

• schools do not nurture masculine traits (competitiveness and leadership) - “we’ve thrown of they boy out with the bath water”
• education tends to celebrate the feminine traits like attentiveness and methodological working (eg. Coursework)

Question 11

How does the shortage of male role models both at school and the home affect to boys’ underachievement?

Answer 11

male teachers are supposed to impose discipline - the culture of the primary school has become feminised as a result of being staffed by female teachers, who are unable to control boys’ behaviour.

Question 12

how many families are headed by a female lone parent in the UK?

Answer 12

1.5 million

Question 13

How many boys said a presence of a male teacher made them work harder?

Answer 13

42%

Question 14

How many primary teachers were male in 2007?

Answer 14

only 14%

Question 15

EVALUATION: do children think that more male teachers are really needed according to FRANCIS?

Answer 15

2/3 or 7-8 year olds don’t care about the gender of their teachers?

Question 16

EVALUATION: What did READ find out of her study of 51 primary school teachers (25 male, 26 female) to criticise claims that education is becoming to feminised?

Answer 16

most teachers, female as well as the ‘masculine’ disciplinary discourse to control pupils’ behaviour by providing a stricter classroom culture needed for boys to thrive

Question 17

What are the 2 types of languages teachers use to express disapproval of pupil work and behaviour according to READ?

Answer 17

disciplinary discourse - teacher’s authority is made explicit through shouting and an exasperated tone
liberal discourse - teacher’s authority is made implicit through using ‘pseudo adultification’ when children are spoken to with kindness and respect as they would an adult

Question 18

What does HAASE explain to male and female split in education to be?

Answer 18

the primary school structure is MASCULINE whilst being dominated numerically by WOMEN

Question 19

How do ‘laddish’ subcultures affect the underachievement of boys according to EPSTEIN?

Answer 19

w/c boys are likely to be labelled as ‘sissies’ or ‘swots’ by their peers if they appear unmasculine

Question 20

Who agrees with EPSTEIN and found that boys find being called a ‘swot’ is more of a threat to a guy’s masculinity than a girl’s femininity?

Answer 20

FRANCIS

Question 21

Why do boys find being labelled a ‘swot’ as a threat to their masculinity?

Answer 21

because in working-class culture, masculinity is equated with being tough and doing manual work, whilst school-work is seen as effeminate

Question 22

What is the moral panic according to RINGROSE?

Answer 22

policies to promote girls’
education are no longer needed, because girls have succeeded at the expense of boys(‘failing boys’), who are the new disadvantaged.

Question 23

What are the negative effects of policies introduced to raise boys’ academic achievement?

Answer 23

1) By narrowing equal opportunities policy down simply to failing boys’, it ignores the problem of disadvantaged
working-class and minority ethnic pupils.
2) By narrowing gender policy down solely to the issue
of achievement gaps, it ignores other problems faced
by girls in school. These include sexual harassment and
bullying, self-esteem and identity issues, and stereotyped
subject choices.