Challenging current theories about gender and achievement, this book assesses the issues at stake and analyses the policy drives and changing perceptions of gender on which the 'gender and ...achievement' debates are based.
This new topical book guides the reader through the different theories and approaches, drawing together and reviewing work on gender and educational performance. The authors also highlight the continuing problems experienced by girls in terms of achievement and classroom interaction. The subjects covered include:
perspectives on gender and achievement
the construction of gender and achievement in education policy
evaluating boys’ underachievement
the future for boys and girls?
raising achievement: 'What works in the classroom?'
Teachers, education professionals and students engaged in teacher training will welcome the editors' objective yet critical expertise.
'This book leaves readers with the assertion that a commitment to diminishing gender differences is closely aligned to facilitating achievement for both boys and girls in schools. In this sense, it raises important questions about the processes of degendering and regendering that need to occur in order to address the limits imposed by the remasculinization of schooling that are engendered by the forces of neo-liberalism and their legitimation through educational policy.'
- Wayne Martino , Faculty of Education, The University of Western Ontario,Canada
'Francis and Skelton provide an excellent overview of the various theories and explanatory frameworks that have been mobilized for making sense of gender differences in achievement.' - Wayne Martino, Faculty of Education, The University of Western Ontario,Canada
This review discusses and critiques the literature on men teachers and "feminised" primary schools from a feminist poststructuralist position. It is aimed at an audience new to the topic. The focus ...on "men primary teachers" as a field of research flourished as a consequence of concerns over boys' underachievement when an increase in the numbers of males in primary schools was seen as a solution to this particular "gender problem". There are distinct and contrasting theoretical positions evident in this literature and these are illustrated here by exploring the tensions between "men teachers" and the "feminised" primary school. It is shown how the prevailing perspective which is used to underpin teacher recruitment drives implicitly defines the "feminised" primary school as deficient and defective.
Gender studies are a key lens through which education has been examined in the past forty years, having become an accepted and popular subfield in educational foundations studies. Moreover, scholars ...in gender and education have made tremendous contributions well beyond education, influencing humanities and social sciences scholars across the academy. Hearing the stories of these scholars-their development, education, important works, and thoughts on the future-offers unique insights into the genesis and growth of the field and gives new scholars an overview of advances made. Leaders in Gender and Education: Intellectual Self-Portrais does just that, showing the history of gender and education through the eyes of 16 of its leaders. By recounting their experiences and scholarly work, they trace the development of feminist and profeminist research on girls, on boys, and on the issues shaping both gender and education-issues like race, sexuality, neoliberalism, globalization, and more. Importantly, the volume has a global focus, including scholars from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. This diversity gives readers a broad sense of the progress of gender scholarship in education around the world. Each essay provides students and researchers alike with not only background on the 16 scholars included, but also the lists of major works-chosen by contributors themselves-direct readers to some of the most important scholarship on gender and education. Taken together, further, the contributors' thoughts on the future of the field provide glimpses of productive directions for studies of gender and education.
For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro-feminists have challenged the ...intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher population. This article seeks to redress this by identifying specific reasons why policy initiatives have failed. Through a review of the literature on teacher identities and analysis of the responses of 20 primary teachers, from a range of backgrounds, to the question 'Has your gender had any impact on your experiences and/or career as a teacher?', it emerged that teacher recruitment campaigns that focus on aspects of personal identity fail to resonate with the motivations of those who are attracted to teaching. Gender is not regarded by primary teachers as of having any particular significance to their careers, whilst minority ethnic and sexuality status are both regarded as having an impact. The conclusions drawn are that policies on teacher recruitment drives need to focus less evidently on gender and more on broader constructions and understandings of what it means to be a 'primary teacher'.
This paper examines gender biases in school textbooks after a decade long effort by the ministry of education (MoE) Pakistan and international organisation (IOs) to eliminate all forms of gender ...inequality in education. The intention underpinning these initiatives was to nurture a view of gender equality based consciousness through the introduction of more positive gendered images into school textbooks in Pakistan. However, the study discussed in this paper discovered that schools textbooks are still embedded with gender-biased messages and stereotypical representations of male and females. Gender biases in 24 textbooks (Urdu, English and Social Studies) from class 1 to 8 were analysed with the help of a qualitative content analysis approach. The paper draws attention to the insouciant approach taken by the MoE and IOs towards the goal of gender equality. The study found that, despite the prevailing claims of achievements, the new textbooks are ideologically invested - and contribute to the perpetuation of gender inequality. In this context, the gender blindness of the curriculum designers and textbook authors is a matter of serious concern.
In spite of research showing that pupils—particularly boys—tend to experience tension between high academic achievement and popularity with peers at school, some pupils continue to maintain ...simultaneous production of both. This article focuses on a sample of 12–13 year-old pupils, identified as high achieving and popular, to examine classroom subjectivities, with attention to their practices around gender and educational achievement. Data are drawn from a qualitative study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which involved observation of classes at nine different co-educational state schools in England, and interviews with 71 high-achieving pupils, including 22 that were identified as high achieving and popular. The study findings belie the notion that high-achieving pupils necessarily jeopardise their social standing with classmates. However, it also demonstrates the importance of embodiment and even essential attributes in productions of subjectivity that successfully 'balance' popularity and achievement. Nevertheless, high-achieving and popular pupils are shown to undertake significant identity work, employing particular gendered performances and practices in order to maintain this simultaneous production.
BERJ: A journal for our community of inquiry Thomas Editor, Gary; Baumfield Editor, Vivienne; Menter Editor, Ian ...
British educational research journal,
February 2009, Letnik:
35, Številka:
1
Journal Article
An examination of gender discourses within New Labour education policy on the preparation of students for a career in teaching in the UK reveals a contradictory yet, at the same time, complementary ...position. In the guidelines outlining the Standards that a prospective teacher has to achieve, the ways in which gender informs pupils' educational opportunities is 'played down' in that it is not addressed directly. Rather 'gender', along with ethnicity, social class, disability and sexuality is embedded within the broader concept of 'diversity'. At the same time, gender is foregrounded in education policy on the recruitment of teachers with the drive by the Training and Development Agency to encourage men into primary schools. This article explores these tensions and relates these to the published research on the experiences of male primary teachers. It concludes by arguing for a recognition of student/practicing teachers' real concerns regarding the gender issues which influence and inform their professional choices and careers rather than those set by the Government agenda.
There is a popular perception that girls' academic success means that they have taken up the kinds of gender performances in the classroom previously associated with boys. However, research into ...classrooms show that, amongst even the highest achieving pupils, girls are anxious about doing well and concerned about their relationships with other pupils. This paper offers an explanation as to how gendered classroom expectations and performances of girls have been translated from "failure" to "victory" without any actual change in behaviours. The explanation for this is located in education policy and gender theory but the discussion here focuses attention on the implications of these for schools, classroom practices and teachers. The reason for doing so is a concern that feminist writing should engage more closely with the daily lives of teachers.
The drive to recruit more male primary teachers is an aim of several western countries, including England. One of the explanations for increasing the number of men teachers is to counteract the ...'feminisation' of primary schooling. The assumption underpinning such a strategy is based on sex role socialisation theories which have been superseded by more sophisticated and complex understandings of gender identities. In an attempt to explore differences between the perceptions of male (and female) teachers, a national study investigating the attitudes of student teachers towards gender and primary schooling was undertaken. The findings indicated that male student teachers of upper primary children (7-11 year-olds) were more likely to be concerned about and supportive of traditional images of masculinity than those men who were training to teach lower primary pupils (3-8-year-olds).
