2. What are the main issues?
• Underachievement and literacy issues in
schools are more evident with boys than
with girls
• Stereotyping in schools in conjunction
with gender inequalities
• The matter of gender inequality cannot
be addressed on its own
3. What are the most
influential factors?
•Motivation – if this is an issue, why are
boys less motivated than girls?
7. BUT…
• These factors cannot be considered without
taking into account issues of culture, social
class and ethnicity
• Impossible to address solely on their own
• Does not necessarily imply that purely
gender issues causing inequalities
• Girls vs boys is far too simplistic – there is as
much complexity within these concepts as
there are between them
8. So…
•What can we/ should we
be doing to ‘close the gap’
in gender imbalances in
literacy attainment?
Editor's Notes
A great deal of research has been carried out in order to look into the causes of gender inequality and how to address it – it is a complex and contradictory issue. It is essential that we bear in mind this topic and research is not based on that of all boys and girls – it cannot be generalised as there are obviously boys who excel and girls who underachieve.
Boys often excel more than girls in subjects such as Maths and Science – so what is it about English and literacy?
It is argued that the education system is overly feminised and if failing boys, however with this in mind – it has always been the case that in education females are the predominant gender within the teaching profession, but the issue of boys underachieving has come to a head over the past 2 decades.This being said, it is also suggested that boys’ perfomance, to some extent, can be influenced by absence of strong male literacy role models. As males are underrepresented in various curricular areas and stages, there is little evidence to suggest that male teaching approaches or styles are in any great contrast to those of female. Or that there is any correlation between matched gender of pupil and teacher with pupil achievement.
Boys and girls fall into social norms which unconsciously give preference to particular behaviour and interest in school subjects. Unfortunately for many boys, the matter of masculinity pushes them into false interpretation of success in literacy, and can affect progress, effort and over all success. Research highlights boys concern about their status in social groups. Weaknesses in social development have potentially profound impact on communication skills, especially talk, and therefore with literary skills.
Teachers following common stereotypical views and practicing them in the classroom, probably widening the gender inequality gap rather than closing it. Eg, boys learn differently from girls, boys prefer non fiction over fiction, boys benefit from competitive envorinments. (DCSF Mythbusters).
