An Investigation of the Gender Gap of Boys Underachieving...

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender gap, especially of boys’ underachievement in literacy, and discover if there are particular strategies that schools can implement in order to raise the attainment levels of boys. As the issue of the gender gap is so wide I selected literature to review which covered a wide range of theorists and existing studies. Specifically I wanted to identify some of the suggested causes for the underachievement of boys and any already proposed effective strategies which I could execute in my own study. The data I collected from the study was both qualitative and quantitative in order to give a more valid outcome; these included an open-ended, semi-structured interview, which I†¦show more content†¦Regardless of Gorard’s (2001) analysis, there are many who still feel that the performance gap is a concern. In 1993 the Ofsted report offered some insight into differing perspectives and explanations for boys’ und erachievement, including the lack of male literacy role models, classroom strategies, curriculum literacy content, perceptions of behaviour, social class and ethnicity (cited in Bearne, 2004). Solsken (1995, cited in Bearne, 2004) added to this list claiming that literacy is associated more with females and femininity and believes that this possibly has a negative effect on boys and their attitudes towards reading. Solken’s (1995) argument links very closely with Watson et al.(2007) who proposed that popular explanations often focus on boys’ ‘biological make-up’. They claim that evidence shows that ‘hegemonic masculinity is central to ... the struggles boys face as literacy learners’ (Watson et al. 2010: 357). Rowan et al (2002) also believes that ‘boys are biologically different to girls and that this biologically difference is the cause of behavioural differences’ (Rowan et al. 2002, cited in Watson et al. 2010:357). He belie ves that due to these biological differences, boys and girls are defined by inherent masculinity and femininity characteristics and in order for educational success this must be acknowledged and accommodated for. This is an important assertion to consider forShow MoreRelatedTackling Gender Underachievement in Literacy and Numeracy Essay2036 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction In recent years there has been much research into gender learning issues and the apparent learning disparity between boys and girls. Such research has included investigations into boys underachievement in literacy and girls underachievement in mathematics. The aim of such research is to recognise key reasons why such trends are occurring and perhaps more importantly, to address these within the classroom. Since the introduction of the National Curriculum, national testing Read MoreA Critical Review of a Senco Essay4380 Words   |  18 Pagesturn, compromises the ability to learn the grapheme–phoneme mappings that underpin competence in an alphabetic system†. Snowling et al’s (2011) research underpins the classic definition of dyslexia that it is a specific reading difficulty whereby literacy under achievement is apparent and falls below the accepted level given the intelligence of the learner. This study is important: it goes beyond recounting dyslexia at the behavioural level (i.e. incorrect spelling and reading) to taking into consideration