Literacy,subjectivity and the gender divide: ‘the freedom of writing implies the freedom of the citizen’ (Sartre, 1948)

The aim of the research project was to explore new ways in which we might evaluate boys’ and girls’ engagement and ‘performance’ in English at Key Stage 3. This paper draws on recent theories regarding literacy, identity and gender and includes an analysis of short stories written by boys and girls aged 12‐ to 13‐years‐old. An exploration of literacy, which relates here to the pupils’ treatment of theme, style and structure, will develop further an understanding of their ability to access the imagination and express original creative ideas. This discussion suggests ways to develop the teaching of creative writing and explores to what extent reading pupils’ narrative fiction might reveal their cultural literacy.     

Raising Boys’ Attainment in Reading: some principles for intervention

This article uses research data to suggest a new basis for understanding gender differences in girls’ and boys’ achievements in reading. It argues that how well children can read is always a prime issue in school settings. But boys and girls react differently to the judgements made about their proficiency as readers, judgements which are often rendered highly visible in the classroom. This in turn has far more impact on their respective progress in reading than the inclusion of their preferred reading materials on the school reading curriculum; or the presence or absence of gender‐specific role models provided by adult readers. The article argues that raising levels of attainment across the board depends on building an active reading culture in the classroom which can encompass the broadest range of resources and opportunities for their use. The structure of the literacy hour and the emphasis on work encompassing word, sentence and text levels for all pupils provides new opportunities to put this into place.     

“It came alive outside my head.” Developing literacies through comparison: the reading of classic text and moving image

This article reports on a term's work with students in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in which the adult classic text Silas Marner was studied in both written and film form ( Eliot, 1994 ; BBC/Fo, 1985 ). Through an extended consideration of the structures employed by different forms of narrative, students were invited to consider the knowledge and skills they brought to the development of their own response to different texts. Concurrently they were encouraged to consider the needs of their prospective pupils, as expert readers of moving image, and as novice readers of classic fiction. Crucial to the teaching and learning experience was the consideration of the different, expanding notions of literacy, including visual literacy, tele‐literacy and moving‐image literacy. A key consideration was the interrelationship between these, with narrative as the key link, and the exploration of how these literacies could be mutually supportive within the framework of ‘school’ literacy. The importance of paying explicit attention to the pedagogical practices that foster an engagement with and development of these different literacies was highlighted, as was the need to experience the reading of whole texts in order to foster the development of response.     

Key Stage 3 Pupils’ Views About Reading

Recent developments in literacy teaching have tended to target the needs of primary, rather than high school pupils and focus on technical, rather than affective aspects of reading. This paper describes a questionnaire‐based study undertaken to identify perceptions and views held by Key Stage 3 readers of different ages, genders and abilities. Outcomes support previous research, indicating differences between boys and girls and older and younger pupils, particularly in relation to reading preferences. Reading engagement appears to be linked to reading ability. EPs are challenged to offer perspectives that can contribute to literacy development at casework and curriculum levels.     

A matter of attitude? Developing a profile of boys’ and girls’ responses to primary schooling

Much of the research investigating pupils’ attitudes towards school has been qualitatively‐oriented. This analysis explores the extent to which some of the differences between pupils can be rendered in quantitative terms. Drawing upon a survey of 1310 pupils in 21 primary schools, its main concern is to explore the extent to which there is a ‘gender gap’ in attitudes and responses to school. The question of whether schools participating in the research faced common or distinct challenges in terms of pupils’ attitudes was also of interest. Analysis confirms that, in line with previous research, primary girls were more favourably disposed towards school than primary boys. Factor analysis of pupil responses to an attitude questionnaire showed that girls were more positive in terms of engagement with school and pupil behaviour but that boys had higher academic self‐esteem. There were no differences between the two sexes in terms of relationships with peers. A cluster analysis identified the existence of five groups of pupils, some of whom have been highlighted in previous research using different approaches. These groups were: (1) the enthusiastic and confident; (2) the moderately interested but easily bored; (3) the committed but lacking self‐esteem; (4) the socially engaged but disaffected; and (5) the alienated. The gendered nature of some of these groupings was apparent: the first group was dominated by girls while the fourth and fifth were dominated by boys. However, analysis indicated that such gender‐based differences were, to some extent, matters of degree. Some 14% of primary boys, for example, were judged to be alienated, but so were 9% of primary girls. An analysis of the prevalence of each group within each of the participating schools showed that while many primary schools had similar overall pupil profiles, some faced specific challenges associated with having larger proportions of particular groups of children (for example the alienated, the socially engaged but disaffected or the committed but lacking self‐esteem). The implications of the findings for those concerned with interventions in relation to gender issues are briefly discussed.     

“… We have learnt not just to sit back,twiddle our thumbs and let them take over.” Single‐sex settings and the development of a pedagogy for girls and a pedagogy for boys in Danish schools

Teachers in the Danish co‐educational elementary school system (the ‘folkeskole’ with pupils from 7 to 16 years) who are involved in innovative pedagogical projects have used segregation as an organisational method in introducing and developing equal opportunities and anti‐sexist pedagogical initiatives. The idea of arranging single‐sex settings started out as a means to provide space for girls and to enhance their competence professionally as well as to empower them personally. In setting up ‘Project Girls’ Class—Boys’ Class’, an ongoing developmental project about gender equity, the teachers, a woman and a man, have mixed their two classes and segregated the girls and the boys for longer or shorter periods or for a whole term in certain subjects, thus giving them space and tutoring on their own terms. It started in 1987/88, when the pupils were 10‐11 years old. Here for the first time they were segregated for 2 months. The involved girls developed self‐confidence and prefer to be in their girls‐only setting whereas it is the teachers (more than the involved boys themselves) that find that the boys’ class can provide important learning experiences for boys in raising their awareness of values and attitudes—both among the boys themselves and in relation to the girls. From the point of view of educational theory and how learning can become true learning, affecting the cognitive, emotional as well as moral and behaviourial attitudes, the paper reflects on why the segregation projects have given such clear results, whereas much other excellent tutoring by committed teachers seems not to have had the same impact. It comes to the preliminary conclusion that, in the hands of devoted teachers (people committed to the issues of gender equity and anti‐sexism and who are close to their pupils) the technique of polarising can be very effective.     

Staying with the text: the contribution of gender,achievement orientations,and interest to students’ performance on a literacy task

This study addresses concerns about boys’ underperformance on literacy tasks compared to girls, by investigating male and females students’ responses to narrative texts. Participants were 142 Grade 9 and 10 students. Achievement orientations, including goals, self‐efficacy, and self‐handicapping, were measured and approach and avoidance factors identified. Boys scored higher than girls on the avoidance factor. The task presented to participants involved reading sections from two narrative texts representing typically male or typically female reading interests. Interest ratings for the narrative text topics and interest levels while reading the texts were monitored, and students’ answers to multiple‐choice questions on text content recorded. Regression analyses confirmed that the influence of gender, achievement orientation, and on‐task text interest on reading performance varied with different patterns of task interest. The findings suggest that students’ achievement orientations and task interests are both important for understanding gender differences in students’ response to narrative texts.     

A comparison of high-ability pupils’ views vs. regular ability pupils’ views of characteristics of good primary school teachers

High-ability pupils in primary schools often do not achieve up to their full potential and teachers seem to face difficulties to motivate these pupils. In this study 891 primary school pupils (463 high-ability pupils) were asked about their views on desired characteristics of good teachers by means of an open teacher-spider-questionnaire. The characteristics reported, were analysed using the three “basic needs” from the Self-Determination Theory. The answers of high-ability pupils were compared to answers of pupils from regular primary education. For both groups, teaching characteristics fostering relatedness, followed by competence, were mentioned most. It was autonomy which was mentioned less frequently by both groups. The answers of the two groups of pupils mostly corresponded, although some differences emerged in specific subcategories. High-ability pupils more frequently mentioned characteristics attuning to their needs (understanding) and encouragement (challenge), and mentioned “providing choice” less often. There were also some differences found between characteristics mentioned by (high-ability) boys and girls.     

‘She doesn't shout at no girls’: pupils' perceptions of gender equity in the classroom

Based on a larger, cross phase study investigating underachieving boys, this article explores pupil's responses to a single interview question inviting pupils to articulate their perceptions of whether teachers treat boys and girls the same. The article records that the predominant perception is that teachers treat boys more negatively than girls, and that this perception increases with age. Pupils speak of teachers' expectations of boys and girls as being different, more being expected of girls both in terms of achievement and behaviour. Unsolicited, the pupils make reference to the gender of the teacher as pertinent, female teachers being perceived as less influenced by gender expectations. The article raises concerns as to the role of education in amplifying society's stereotypes rather than challenging them and aiming for a climate of gender equity in the classroom.     

‘They never go off the rails like other ethnic groups’: teachers’ constructions of British Chinese pupils’ gender identities and approaches to learning

This paper examines the ways in which British Chinese pupils are positioned and represented within the popular/dominant discourse of teachers working in London schools. Drawing on individual interviews from a study conducted with 30 teachers, 80 British Chinese pupils and 30Chinese parents, we explore some of the racialised, gendered and classed assumptions upon which dominant discourses around British Chinese boys and girls are based. Consideration is given, for example, to teachers’ dichotomous constructions of British Chinese masculinity, in which British Chinese boys were regarded as ‘naturally’ ‘good’ and ‘not laddish’, compared with a minority of ‘bad’ British Chinese boys, whose laddishness was attributed to membership of a multiethnic peer group. We also explore teachers’ constructions of British Chinese femininity, which centred around remarkably homogenised representations of British Chinese girls as ‘passive’ and quiet, ‘repressed’, hard‐working pupils. The paper discusses a range of alternative readings that challenge popular monolithic and homogenising accounts of British Chinese masculinity and femininity in order to open up more critical ways of representing and engaging with British Chinese educational ‘achievement’.     

Differently Literate: Gender identity and the construction of the developing reader

ABSTRACT This paper argues that three specific areas of influence contribute to shaping the attitudes and expectations of adolescent reading in Britain: that of the family, that of the friendship group and that of the peer group in school. I examine pupils' perceptions of themselves as readers, and the ways in which their early reading experiences have been differentiated in relation to their gender. I provide evidence that reading is constructed within both domestic and school settings as an interest more appropriate for adolescent girls than it is for boys, and examine ways in which their reading experience has been influenced by other members of the family and the wider community. Finally I identify the role of the school curriculum in promoting particular versions of literacy that have more appeal for girls than boys in the survey.     

Bullying in Mixed Sex Groups of Children

A sample of 192 8‐ to 10‐year‐old children were asked in individual interviews to say which classmates bully other pupils and who they selected as victims. They were provided with a well‐known definition of bullying devised by Olweus. Test‐retest reliability of bully nominations was shown to be good. The data were analysed to reveal the number of male and female victims of male and female children viewed by their peers as bullies. Consistent with previous research, many boys were shown to bully an appreciable number of girls and boys, but they selected significantly more same‐sex than other‐sex victims. However, our finding that there was not a significant difference in the number of same‐sex and other‐sex children selected as victims by girls was not consistent with the results of earlier studies. Thus, more boys may be bullied by girls than has been suggested by the extant literature.     

Gender ‘matters’ in the primary classroom: Pupils' and teachers' perspectives

A recent project involving Year 3 (seven–eight year‐old) pupils and their teachers revealed that ‘gender matters’ differently to boys and girls, and teachers. The study sought to elicit whether pupils and their teachers felt the gender of a teacher mattered to their experiences of schooling. Pupils were concerned about how effective teachers were in carrying out their professional functions and a teacher's gender was subsumed within this. For these pupils, ‘gender mattered’ in terms of the construction of their own gender identities. In contrast, teachers were aware of and attentive to the gender of pupils in managing and organising classroom interactions. The variety of differing views expressed and positions adopted towards the place of gender in teacher–pupil interactions demonstrates the complexity of developing ‘one size fits all’ approaches to tackling gender equity in the classroom.     

A ‘New’ Music Education Program Field Experiments in the First and Fourth Grade of the Norwegian Comprehensive School

Abstract: Lillemyr, O. F. 1980. A ‘New’ Music Education Program. Field Experiments in the First and Fourth Grade of the Norwegian Comprehensive School. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 24,133‐156. Through two field experiments, pupils’ musical achievements resulting from a ‘new’ and the traditional music education program were investigated. The ‘new’ program was founded on a combination of the basic ideas of Carl Orff and Zoltan Kodaly. In first grade, 34 girls and 38 boys were taught by this program and 27 girls and 33 boys by the traditional type. In fourth grade, 15 girls and 29 boys were given the ‘new’ program and 12 girls and 26 boys the traditional type of program. A posttest‐only control group design was used as a general basis, supplemented by a factorial design for some of the problems and hypotheses. The analyses indicated significantly better musical achievements for pupils taught by the ‘new’ program than for pupils taught by a traditional type of program.     

3～4年级小学生的独立性和自我控制关系研究

本研究从大连市明星小学选取三、四年级小学生共124人,采用问卷法对小学生的独立性和自我控制的关系进行了研究。结果表明：（1）小学三、四年级是小学生独立性和自我控制发展的缓慢时期。在这一时期,小学生独立性略有上升,发展缓慢,差异不显著。自我控制的发展略有下降,但差异不显著。（2）小学生自我控制的发展存在性别差异,女生的自我控制的水平高于男生,差异显著;独立性的发展不存在性别差异,女生略高于男生,但差异不显著。（3）小学生的独立性和自我控制存在高度相关。     

Play and gender in Ontario kindergarten classrooms: implications for literacy learning

Research has highlighted the importance of early literacy development. In light of this, there has been a growing concern around boys’ underachievement on language and literacy assessments. Given the recent mandate for play-based learning in Ontario kindergartens, this paper examines children's literacy integration during play from a gender perspective. An analysis of 380 minutes of children's play revealed that girls and boys often played separately across the 12 kindergarten classrooms in this study. Importantly, the centres at which girls and boys played offered different literacy support. Our findings showed that gender played a salient role in children's play choices affecting the types of academic skills children practiced in their play. In this paper, we shed light on the need for gender awareness and sensitivity in policy mandates and teacher practice.     

Boys and Literacy: Lessons from Australia

ABSTRACT This paper examines the complexity of the issues associated with boys and literacy. It initially reviews Australian research documenting gender differences in literacy performance, highlighting the interplay between gender, class and ethnicity within this research. It then develops a framework for considering the interconnectedness between literacy, various masculinities, and schooling. The paper argues that literacy, as it is constructed in the school, becomes a domain of knowledge and a set of technologies that run counter to various dominant constructions of masculinity. As a result, school literacy is often in contrast to other electronic and visually-based 'literacy skills' that boys have access to. The paper suggests an approach which works with social constructions of masculinity, and discourses on 'critical literacy', to provide strategies for boys' literacy education that will not be in conflict with the education of girls reform agenda of the past 20 years.     

Elementary education and the practices of literacy in Catholic girls’ schools in early modern Germany

Girls’ schools in the early modern era were largely run by nuns and can therefore be distinguished as Catholic institutions of learning. These schools flourished in the Catholic parts of Europe since the turn of the seventeenth century. Despite their focus on religious education, elementary skills such as reading, writing and sometimes arithmetic were taught as well. Based on curricula, didactical methods and the texts used in class, the article analyses the practices of literacy in Catholic girls’ schools in seventeenth and eighteenth century Germany. As the intentions of school founders and teachers reveal, the acquisition of literacy by the female population was not an end in itself. It rather served the denominational, gender- and class-specific socialisation of the girls. Nevertheless, learning to read and write enabled the girls to participate in the literate culture of their times. The impact of schooling on female literacy can be measured by correlating literacy rates and data on school attendance. Compared to coeducational schools where girls often only learned to read, whereas the boys were also taught writing, girls’ schools proved to be the better alternative.     

Gender and physics

Unlike many other countries, physics is highly popular in secondary education in Scotland, with large numbers opting for study at the Higher Grade on which entry to higher education is based. This paper reports a project that explored the attitudes and perceptions of Scottish girls and boys towards physics over the age range of 10-18 years old. Towards the end of primary school, attitudes towards science are very positive and both boys and girls are looking forward to studying more science in secondary school, although there is no evidence that the introduction of primary science has been a factor. By the end of the second year of secondary school, these positive attitudes have declined quite markedly and a significant decline of girls' attitudes towards science relative to boys' attitudes was clearly observed. The success of the Standard Grade physics course (a 2-year course taken in third and fourth year, ages 14-16 approximately) is easy to observe in terms of the restoration of positive attitudes of boys and girls again as the pupils move through third and fourth year. This process is especially clearly marked among girls. Surprisingly, over 90 per cent of the observed fourth year pupils wanted to continue studies in physics but a marked decline in attitude is observed during the Higher Grade course (a 1-year course which follows Standard Grade), this being more marked for boys. If the number of girls in physics is an issue for concern within the structure of Scottish system, then the focus of attention should be the structure and nature of the science course in the early secondary school.     

Different Tales: The Role of Gender in the Oral Narrative–Reading Link Among African American Children

Evidence suggests that oral narrative skills are a linguistic strength for African American children, yet few studies have examined how these skills are associated with reading for African American boys and girls. The current study uses longitudinal data of a sample of 72 African American 4‐year‐olds to examine how preschool oral narrative skills predict reading from first through sixth grades and explores differences by gender. Findings indicate that although girls demonstrated stronger narrative skills, their narrative skills did not moderate change in reading. For boys, narrative skills moderated change in reading over time such that as preschool narrative skills increased, their reading scores showed greater change over time. Educational implications and directions for future research are discussed.