Boys and Under-achievement Flashcards
what factors fall under external factors
Boys and Literacy
Decline of Traditional Men’s Jobs
what factors fall under internal factors
Feminisation of education
Shortage of male primary school teachers
Laddish Subcultures
Moral Panic
boys and literacy
According to the DCSF, the gender gap is mainly the result of boys’ poorer literacy and language skills. One reason for this may be that parents spend less time reading to their sons. Another may be that it is mothers who do most of the reading to young children, who this come to see reading as a feminine activity. In addition, boys’ leisure pursuits such as football do little to help develop their language and communication skills. By contrast, girls tend to have a bedroom culture centred on staying in, and talking with friends which enhances their literacy skills. Poor literacy skills are likely to affect boys performance in school
evaluation of poor literacy skills
The government has introduced a range of polcies like the National Literacy Strategy which focuses on improving boys’ reading
sociologist behind decline of masculine jobs
Mitsos and Browne
decline of traditional men’s jobs
Since the 1980s, there has been a decline in heavy industries due to globalisation such as mining which has led to the manufacturing industry relocating to developing countries to take advantage of cheap labour. These sectors of the economy mainly employed men. According to Mitsos and Browne, this decline in male employment opportunities had led to a crisis of masculinity, an identity crisis for men and many boys believe that they will not get a proper job this undermines their self-esteem and so they lack the motivation to get good grades
evaluation of decline of traditional men’s jobs
However, the decline is mainly in manual jobs that require few if any qualifications, which means that it is unlikely that the disappearance of such jobs would have such an impact on boys’ motivation to obtain qualifications - internal factors are more at play
Sex-typed work?
sociologists behind internal factors
Sewell - feminisation of education
Read - evaluation of shortage of male primary school teachers
Epstein - Laddish Subcultures
Ring rose - moral panic
feminisation of education
Sewell argues that boys fall behind because education has become feminised. That is, schools do not nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness and leadership. Instead, they celebrate feminine qualities such as methodical working and attentiveness in class. Sewell sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement. He argues that some coursework should be replaced with final exams and there should be a greater emphasis placed on outdoor adventure in the curriculum
shortage of male primary school teachers
Lack of strong male role models at home and school results in boys’ underachievement. Only 15.5% of primary school teachers are male(HofC Library 2021). A You Gov survey found that the presence of a male teacher made them behave and 42% said it made them work harder
evaluation of shortage of male primary school teachers
The absence of male teachers may not be a major factor in boys’ underachievement. Francis found that 2/3rds of 7-8-year-olds believed the gender of their teacher did not matter. Read is critical of the claims that primary school has become more feminised, she studied the type of language teachers use to express criticism or disapproval of pupils work
what did Read identify
Read identified two types of languages teachers use to express disapproval of pupils work
the two types of languages identified by read
Liberal discourse - the teacher’s authority is implicit and invisible. The teacher speaks to the pupil as if they were an adult and expects them to be kind and respectable
Disciplinarian discourse - The teacher’s authority is made explicit through shouting or a harsh tone of voice
read’s study
She studied 51 primary school teachers and found that most teachers, female and male used masculine disciplinarian language to control pupils’ behaviour. The fact that most teachers favoured a masculine disciplinarian discourse of control disproves the claim that the culture of primary schools has become more feminised as Sewell argues. Female teachers making use of a masculine discourse to control pupils’ behaviour disproves the claim that only male teachers can provide the stricter classroom culture boys do better in
Laddish Subcultures
The Growth of Laddish Subcultures has contributed to boys’ underachievement. Epstein in her study of the way masculinity is constructed within schools, found that WC boys are likely to be labelled as sissies and subject to homophobic verbal abuse if they appeared to be doing their work and being labelled as a sissie or swot according to Francis threatens masculinity, this is because, in WC culture, masculinity is equated with being tough and doing manual work. Non manual work - school work is seen as inferior as a result WC boys tend to reject schoolwork to avoid being called gay
