Step 1: understand why boys underachieve

One way to engage boys in reading, and to develop their thinking skills, is to make reading tasks more meaningful: get the boys to read for a purpose, and to make judgements about what they read. For example: respond to the following statements with a tick if you think the reason applies to your experience. Add in other reasons in the spaces provided which may not be covered in the list below. Then number your reasons in the form of a ‘Top 5’. You will be asked to give your top five reasons at the end of the activity.

Reasons for boys’ under-achievement:
• Many schools do not invest enough in the social/emotional development
of boys.
• Schools do not provide enough active learning opportunities.
• Teachers’ expectations of boys are low.
• Boys do not have suitable male role models.
• Boys have poor listening skills.
• Poor employment prospects hinder the desire to achieve.
• Boys prefer not to take risks to avoid failure.
• Boys do not want to be seen as brainy nerds – not good for social image.
• Boys’ reading habits are not reflected in the curriculum.
• Society does not seem to value empathetic/reflective skills; it favours scientific/analytic skills – so boys regard emotions with some contempt.
• Teachers and exams are biased towards girls and away from boys because of better/poorer presentation.
• Boy-heavy bottom groups reinforce low expectations of boys.
• Fathers often condone sons’ lack of effort.
• Parents are not teaching boys enough self-control, and discipline at home is poor.
• Boys want to work but don’t know how to.
• Boys are just plain lazy by nature.
• Boys poor behaviour prohibits their ability to achieve.
• Boys do not see the need to organise themselves.
• The pull of peer pressure means boys do not concentrate or do homework.

Step 15: access boys intelligences – verbal linguistic opportunities

Read, write, listen, talk, discuss, debate WORDS

We start with the person who loves to play with language; to tell stories and read and write. This learner is pretty good at remembering names, places, dates and similar. If you give this person an opportunity to hear, see and say words associated with the desired outcome, they will readily learn practically anything of interest to them.

In the classroom:

• get students’ to express ideas in more than one way and ensure key words understood at start
• use storytelling to explain x
• conduct a debate on x
• write a poem, myth, legend, short play, or news article about x
• create a talk show radio program
• conduct an interview of on x
• word bank displays

Visual
Highlight key words in particular colours and display key words next to picture definitions

Auditory
Repeat/use key words in a variety of meaningful contexts

Kinaesthetic
Use body language/dance/mime to define words/remember spellings

A.m./p.m. registration ideas:
• Monday = newspaper day = read/discuss topical/sports/news events (Metro at stations = free)
• Tuesday = fiction reading, individual, silent, sustained
• Wednesday = reading activity day: share favourites/subtitled films/speed-reading/pun joke competitions
• Thursday = read2think: word puzzles/lateral thinking/word games
• Friday = non-fiction/choice

Group work: helpful questions

Working as a group can be an exciting and fruitful experience, but it can also, if poorly managed, strain the best of relationships. It helps to decide certain things before you start, for example:

·        what exactly is the task?

·        what are we supposed to learn?

·        what skills to develop?

·        what are we supposed to produce?

·        what criteria will be used to assess it?

·        what are the deadlines?

·        are there any guidelines?

·        what do we want from the team project?

·        how high a mark are we aiming for?

·        do we want to enjoy it or just get it done?

·        how much time do we want to spend on it?

·        do we have other priorities?

This second set of questions may vary for each team member, and some agreement is needed for the team to work together effectively:

·        how will we avoid falling out with each other? (setting ground rules will help)

·        what role(s) am I and the other group members going to take for this task?

·        how are we going to manage the task?

o       have we set a timescale?

o       have individual tasks been shared out fairly?

o       is everyone happy with what they have to do?

How was it?

After a group work session, think about how it went. If it didn’t go well, try and identify why. You may decide:

·        we weren’t clear about what we were supposed to be doing

·        one group member dominated the discussion

·        we wandered off the point

·        we each stuck to our views instead of trying to reach a compromise

Try and think of how to go about things differently, and suggest these ideas at the next session, whether you are in the same group or not.

Evaluate your own performance as a group member:

·        how did you help the group in its task?

·        what didn’t you do that would have helped?

Use these insights to improve your role in the next group session. 

Gibbs, G (1994) Learning in Teams: A Student Manual        

Step 21: share good practice

Case Study: Raising boys achievement at Key Stage 4

Context

The geography department in a secondary school serving a deprived, white working-class area in Manchester has developed a number of strategies for successfully raising boys achievement.

Initially the department identified the boys who they considered were underachieving. The teachers decided to avoid segregation and to concentrate on providing opportunities for them to succeed.

They identified two areas of particular need:

·         coursework support

·         writing for the examination papers

Strategies

·        the following strategies have been introduced in order to support the identified pupils:

·        role models are targeted within each year group with a view to ‘winning them over’ to wanting to work

·        short-term targets are set, with a view to generating incremental improvement

·        pupils are actively encouraged to use ICT to produce high-quality work in both lessons and coursework

·        work areas are provided specifically for these pupils in school as many find it difficult to work at home

·        after-school lessons in geography are provided once a week

·        half-term ‘catch up’ classes are provided where those pupils who have difficulties are personally invited in

·        parents are contacted by geography teachers on a regular basis to provide feedback on progress made

·        ‘help sheets’ for the revision of topics are provided; these include keywords and definitions

·        regular testing is carried out to monitor learning

·        attendance is monitored closely. The head of department telephones parents’ in the event of repeated absences

The department recognises that many of its male students need a combination of several of the strategies in order for improved attainment to take place. Some pupils still fall through the net, but considerably fewer than in previous years. As a result of the implementation of these strategies, the department’s A-C and A-G grades at GCSE have increased and there is a more ‘inclusive’ delivery of the geography curriculum.