Boys and Achievement Flashcards
(22 cards)
two external factors in play
literacy
globalisation/decline of traditional male jobs
7 internal factors at play
feminisation of education
male primary teachers
laddish subcultures
gender role socialisation
gendered subject images
peer pressure
gendered career opportunities
literacy
DCSF: boy’s have poorer literacy and language skills
- Mothers do most of the reading
- Parents spend less time reading to their sons
- Boys leisure pursuits eg football do little to develop language skills
ao3 of literacy
gov introduced Reading Champions, Playing for Success, Dads and Sons
Mitsos and Browne
the decline in male manual employment opportunities due to the globalisation of the economy has led to an identity crisis for men as they now believe they have little prospect of getting a proper job → undermines motivation
ao3 of Mitsos and Browne
the decline has largely been in manual occupations that do not require qualifications
Sewell
claims that boys fall behind because education has become more feminised - schools do not nurture ‘masculine’ traits eg competitiveness and leadership, instead they celebrate ‘feminine’ traits eg attentiveness
Yougov
42% of 8-11 year olds said having a male teacher made them work harder
Read
two types of teacher language
- disciplinarian discourse - masculine, explicit authority
- liberal discourse - implicit authority that is used by women
all teachers used disciplinarian discourse so there is no classroom culture that will prevent boys from thriving
Epstein
WC boys are likely to be harassed and subject to homophobic abuse if they appear to be ‘swots’
Ringrose
‘girls have it all’ creates a moral panic about ‘failing boys’ = fear that under-achieving WC boys will grow up to become a dangerous, unemployable underclass
Murphy and Elwood
boys and girls develop different tastes in reading - boys read information books → study science VS girls read stories about people → study humanities
Browne and Ross
gender domains = tasks and activities that are seen as male and female ‘territory
Children = more confident in engaging with tasks that they see as part of their domain - eg when asked the same maths question, boys were more confident when it is presented as being about cars VS girls more confident when it was about nutrition
Kelley
science is seen as a boys subject
- Science teachers are more likely to be men
- Examples teachers use + in textbooks draw on boys > girls interests
- Boys monopolise apparatus + dominate the laboratory
peer pressure
pupils may apply pressure to an individual if they disapprove of their subject choice - eg because sports is seen as in the male gender domain, girls do not take it for fear of being labelled ‘butch’, boys opt out of drama and dance
gendered career opportunities
Jobs tend to be sex-typed as mens or womens - women’s jobs often involve work similar to that performed by housewives eg childcare and nursing → boys opt out of courses on childcare
Explains why vocational courses are much more gender-specific than academic courses because they are more closely linked to students career plans
ao3 of gendered career opportunities
class intersects with gender - Work experience placements are gendered + classed - school implicitly steers WC girls towards certain jobs eg nursing and retail work
Connel
experiences in school reinforce ‘hegemonic masculinity’ - the dominance of heterosexual masculine identity and the subordination of female + gay identities
a ‘rich vocabulary of abuse’ is used by pupils to police each others sexual identities
Lees
double standard of sexual morality - boys boast about their own sexual exploits but call a girl a ‘slag’ if she does the same → example of patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and devalues women
Mac an Ghaill (male gaze)
the way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements about their appearance
A form of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued
Mac an Ghaill (peers)
peer groups reproduce a range of different class-based masculine identities
WC ‘macho lads’ who were dismissive of those who aspire to MC careers VS the MC ‘real Englishmen’ who projected a false image of ‘effortless achievement’
discipline
male teachers behaviour can subtly enforce messages about gender
- Telling off boys for ‘behaving like girls’
- Ignore boys verbal abuse of girls + blame girls for attracting it
- Coming into class to ‘rescue’ female colleagues by threatening students → reinforces the idea that women cannot cope alone
