why are boys underachieving in education 8ED

Question 1

what are the main factors responsible for boys underacheivement

Answer 1

1. boys and literacy (external)
2. globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs (outside)
3. feminisation of education
4. shortage of male primary school teachers
5. laddish subcultures

Question 2

boys and literacy

Answer 2

• DfES says gender gap is mainly result of boys poorer literacy and language skills, could be becuase parents spend less time reading to their sons, and when mothers do read it is protrayed as a feminine activity
• boys leisure pursuits: football, computer games do little to help develop thier langauage and communication skills
• whereas girls tend to have a bedroom culture centred on staying in and talking with friends#
• has a negative overall impact on boys performance subject wide

Question 3

Mitsos and Browne

decline of trad men jobs

Answer 3

• deline in male employment opportunties has lead to an ‘identity crisis for men’
• many beleive they have littlw prospect of getting a job
• undermining their motivation and self esteem and so they give up trying to gain qualifications

Question 4

Sewell

feminisation of education

Answer 4

• boys fall behand becuase education has become feminised
• schools no longer nurture masculine traits like competitiveness and leadership, instead celebrate qualities mmore closely associated with girls, such as methodological working and attentiveness in class
• says we have over challegned the 1950’s patriarchy and says we have ‘thwon boys out with the bath water’

Question 5

shortage of male primary school teachers

Answer 5

• DfES 2007 - men now only make up 16% of primary school teachers
• Yougov poll found 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with a male teacher
• majority of boys surveyed said presence of a male teacher made them behave bettwe and 42% said it made them work harder

Question 6

evaluation of male primary teachers

Answer 6

• recent research suggests this approach is too simplistic and the abscene of male teachers may not be a major facto in explaining boys under acheivement
• Becky Francis foud 2/3 of 7-8 yr old boys beleive that the gender of teachers does not matter
• Myhill and Jones found that 13-15 year olds felt male teachers treated boys more harshly