Transcript “… challenging assumptions…” Raising boys’ achievement increasing engagement: for school improvement Practical approach: consult teachers apply research strategies for school improvement.

“… challenging
assumptions…”
Raising boys’ achievement increasing engagement:
for
school improvement
Practical approach:
consult teachers
apply research
strategies for school
improvement
“... boys also showed a significantly
greater tendency to judge topics
as easy or very easy ... As a
general rule, boys perceived the
topics to be less difficult than
their success rate would warrant
...”
AND therefore strategies that rely on selfreporting from boys must be reinforced
with short diagnostic activities; do they
really understand what they say they do …
in fact opening new topics with short,
everyone involved, diagnostic tests allow
for really efficient teaching to follow.
“... significantly more girls than boys believed
that they had difficulty in remembering
formulae, in understanding mathematical
topics, and in applying the work that had
been studied in class. Almost 20 per cent
more girls than boys considered
themselves lucky if they did well on a
maths test ...”
AND therefore strategies that rely on
memorisation need to be reinforced with
opportunities for applied learning,
problem solving and context rich activities
…
AND teachers need to work specifically on
attributing mathematical outcomes to
mental strategies (not luck)
“…more boys than girls are
likely to agree with the
statement that ‘maths is a male
domain’ ...”
AND therefore in a boys environment this
false stereotype can be played to
advantage … build other topics/subjects
around areas that the boys enjoy e.g.
teaching the 'passive voice' in German
through a study (in German) of the
concentration camps … NOT through yet
another round of textbook exercises based
on domestic life and/or travel ("Yawn!")
“… the outlook (expectation)
of the teacher remains a
significant factor…”
Experience suggests the Pygmalion effect (i.e.
the extent to which the expectation of the
teacher is a determining factor in pupil
outcomes) has a larger bearing for boys
(especially lower-achieving boys) than for
girls … whether this is "true" is perhaps
unimportant, as the message for teachers
is certainly critical: the boys will rise to
your level of expectation …
‘serialists’
and
‘holists’
AND this is a really helpful distinction
(whether valid by gender or not) … it
explains why some students simply switch
off when the long-term goals of a lesson
are explained ("Just tell me what to do"),
and why others refuse to work when
simply given a sequence of instructions
("What's this for, why do I have to do it?")
AND this thinking leads towards a
recommendation that instructions are
given in reverse order (By the end of the
lesson , you will … so between now and
then you must … giving the first task as
the last instruction!)
“Words such as 'flair',
'sparkle', and 'unique'
characterised descriptions of
a good A Level performance
which they attributed more
to males than to females.”
… boys need to have opportunities to
demonstrate these features of behaviour
… think about the endless reinforcement
of praise that follows a deft touch on the
football, or a classic goal scoring moment
… the use of competitions, and (small)
groups (no more than three or a 'coaster'
will lounge), and chances to 'play up'
matter.
“… inappropriate pace is a
source of
real anxiety for many
students, particularly
girls …”
AND although this is presented as a 'girl issue'
here: boys too need tasks that achieve
curriculum coverage through blending
learning goals together into slower paced
linked units, not fast paced ‘one thing after
another’ approaches …