Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode
MRP Powerpoint
1. Recognizing the Hidden Curriculum of Gender RolesThe Relationship Between Reading and Gender A Master’s Research Project by Catherine HollandSt. Mary’s College of Maryland
2. Introduction Schools: tools for socialization Stated curriculum vs. “hidden curriculum” (Giroux, 1988) Reinforcing traditional gender roles
3. The Problem Researchers report gender inequalities On standardized tests (Lietz, 2006; Marks, 2008) Increasing over time (Klecker, 2006) Influencing educational policies (Martino & Kehler 2007)
4. The Problem Gender Similarities Hypothesis (Hyde, 2005) Gender isn’t a predictor of causal thinking abilities (Berkant, 2009) Gender isn’t related to preferred learning style (Younger & Warrington, 2005 as cited in Watson, Kehler, & Martino, 2010)
6. Research Questions Do boys consider reading to be a gendered activity? Do girls? Is it primarily teachers or their students who replicate and encourage these gender-specific behaviors and opinions?
7. Population AP English Literature students; grade 12 English teachers Public high school in Southern Maryland
11. Findings “Depends on the text. A lot of the stories that we’re doing are not geared toward young men…They’re definitely reluctant.” “No. They’re a harder sell.” “No.” “Um, if it’s about things that they like to read about. We did The Contender and it was about boy-things, they don’t like to read about love stories. It has a little bit of boy violence or things that they could relate to.”
12. Findings Teacher responses to: “Do you find that the girls in your class like reading?” All four responded yes: Compared to boys in the class More obedient
13. Findings “Not a particular genre, but I like really descriptive books. I’m trying to think of particular books…realistic that I could see happening somewhere to someone real.” “Love stories.” “Fiction novels in general. No specific genre.” “Favorite genre – anything that twists reality. Anything that messes with your perception and then gives you a shock. Thriller is too broad. You could go with a thriller but that’s too broad.” “Anything funny”
14. Implications Teachers are noticing reluctant male readers They are more resistant Underlying assumption that males don’t like reading Adjust text choice to appeal to males Girls may not like the texts they read in class, but they are more willing to try new ones
15. Conclusions Teachers choose “boy-friendly” texts, focus attention on males, but they still don’t like reading These texts describe “masculine” males Make males even more resistant to reading Based on the interviews, students’ text preferences are idiosyncratic. Yet students tend to choose texts with same-sex protagonists
16. Recommendations Provide text choices whenever possible Encourage students to cross gender-boundaries in reading; reading is a human activity
17. References Berkant, H. G. (2009). An investigation of students' meaningful causal thinking abilities in terms of academic achievement, reading comprehension and gender. Educational Sciences:Theoryand Practice, 9(3), 1149-1165. Giroux, H. A. (1988). Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Learning. Bergin & Garvey Paperback. Hyde, J. S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-592. Klecker, B. M. (2006). The gender gap in NAEP fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade reading scores across years. Reading Improvement, 43(1), 50-56. Lietz, P. (2006). Issues in the change in gender differences in reading achievement in crossnational research studies since 1992: a meta-analytic view. International Education Journal, 7(2), 127-149. Marks, G. N. (2008). Accounting for the gender gaps in student performance in reading and mathematics: evidence from 31 countries. Oxford Review of Education, 34(1), 89-109. Martino, W., & Kehler, M. (2007). Gender-based literacy reform: a question of challenging or recuperating gender binaries. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(2), 406-431. Watson, A., Kehler, M., & Martino, W. (2010). The problem of boys' literacy underachievement: raising some questions. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(5), 356-361.
Teacher responses to: “Do you find that the boys in your class like reading?”None of the teachers found that boys liked reading, and two teachers said that boys only liked reading particular male-oriented texts.
It seemed that the underlying assumption was that girls already liked to read, and thus needed less special teacher attention – they already like reading, and thus are more willing to try new texts.
Student Responses to “Which kind of book is more appealing to you?”
Presumably, girls already like reading, so teachers focus energy on the boys.
Typically, masculine males do not read. These texts only remind students that if they are to be “proper” males, they will be violent and independent. Reading = passive; passive = feminine.
Classroom Teachers should provide choices whenever possible so that students won’t feel as though they’re being “forced” to read a text. Teachers should try to discourage reading along gender boundaries – reading is a human activity, and it is essential to doing well in school. Teachers can help most by introducing and engaging students effectively – the text isn’t going to sell itself.
