1. A presentation
by Amy Rich
Bringing Back
the Boys

2. In this presentation
 Introduction: Bedouin of the Negev
 Education/drop out rates
 Why We Drop Out: student confessions
 Why girls are thriving
 Boys are Falling Behind: teacher’s confess
 Research on why boys are failing
 Strategies for engaging boys in the classroom
 Collaboration: what has worked for you?

3. Introduction to
Bedouin of the Negev
Negev Bedouin were nomadic Arabs who lived by
rearing livestock in the Negev Desert of Southern
Israel.
They have been transformed into urban town dwellers
but maintain their traditional and conservative Bedouin
Muslim values.
Population = approximately 160,000, 50% of which live
in 7 permanent townships, and the remainder in
unrecognized villages.
The rate of growth highest in the world!
Bedouin population doubles every 15 years.
(By 2020-300,000)

4. EDUCATION
With a shift from nomadic life to town dweller and a growing population,
education, in particular higher education, is crucial to their adjustment and
development.
Schools are supported by Jewish non profits and receive minimum founding.
Teachers: young Arabs from the North who do not stay long
Some high schools experience marked violence
Highest drop‐out rates in Israel
The poorest success rates on the matriculation exams in the country.

5. Student Confessions:
Why we drop out
Boys Girls
Boredom Our parents’ choice
We want to help Our fiancé's choice
support our families We need to help at
Money for ourselves home
School too difficult Since we can’t go to
Don’t need education university, our parents
for my future job don’t see the point in us
Don’t like teachers, attending high school
people in school
Can’t afford books

6. What’s the difference? CHOICE.

7. The Facts*
More girls than boys are staying in school, successfully completing secondary
education, and qualifying for university entrance
For Bedouin girls, drop out rates decreased over the past decade, from 42% to
32%, while by contrast the rates for boys increased from 33% to 43%.
Between 2000 and 2010, the matriculation rate for girls jumped from 13% to
28%, while for boys it rose only from 11% to 12%.
Major gap growing between boys and girls, and it’s the boys who are dropping
out/failing to qualify to enter university

8. Women in Bedouin society face double
and sometimes triple discrimination
(Bedouin, female, class, unmarried ).
 So, why are girls are thriving?
 “The only why to change our status is through education.”
 Because of feminism, boundaries for girls have been redefined. . The
behavioral boundaries for girls greatly expand—girls play sports, get dirty, play
“hard”—ideas previously off limits to them. These new opportunities for girls
and women have been recognized as significant contributions to their overall
health and well-being.
 Special programs for girls: since the education and empowerment of women in
developing societies is seen as the key to social change the majority of
students in special programs are girls

10. There are quickly increasing numbers of Bedouin women
attending the university whereas the boys
numbers are slowing

11. Why are boys dropping out of school and failing to
enter college?
Teacher Confessions:
The boys are not serious students, they are trouble makers, often disruptive and
have too much freedom inside and outside of school.
Values have changed and money talks. Boys do not see education as a direct pathway
to making money.
Many boys do not view education as important to their futures therefore they do
not contribute, fall behind, and eventually drop out of school.
Many boys have LDs which go undiagnosed or ignored.
Teachers are weak and unqualified. They do not know how to manage or engage boys.
The present focus in schools is on empowering and engaging Bedouin girls; there
are many after school programs designed specifically for girls. The girls are
excelling and it leaves the boys feeling intimidated.

12. If boys are leaving or have left school, why?
What are their aspirations?
 Can look to other minority communities for answers
 ”dropping out” systematic of larger problem (and schools don’t intervene early enough):
-Boredom
-Disconnection from adults
-Missed too much school and can’t catch up
-LD
-Poverty
 Weak/inexperienced/unqualified teachers
 Weak Teacher/student relationships
 Education doesn’t open doors
 Modernization, changing role of woman, redefining of genders
 Boundaries for boys remain rigid. (Boys still universally encouraged to purge themselves of any hint of softness or
femininity, Kimmel)

13. Strategies for engaging boys
 Let boys be active: accept a higher level of activity
 Reduce out of school suspensions
 Boy friendly activities/materials/topics
 Good leadership, qualified teachers
 Speak their language and treat them with respect; use discipline to guide and build
 Stronger adult/student relationships
 Parental involvement—reinforcement at home—skills for parents how to help their
children succeed.
 Help them identify clear goals (*kids who believe they’re headed somewhere behave
better)
 Show them how education can create better opportunities for them
 Special programs to help boys indulge their emotions, teach boys a range of emotions,
that empathy is courage, model manhood as emotionally attached, and teach the many
ways in which a boy can be a man.
 Equip them with skills for dealing with changing role of women.

14. What has worked for you?