Boys Don't Try? Rethinking Masculinity in Schools

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Chapter 8: Violence– Some really thought-provoking questions asked as part of a suggested approach for dealing with violence in schools: Explanation – Reflection – Expression (E-R-E). This could be particularly helpful re playground incidents. I also appreciated the highlighted need for conversation and support for those who walk away from a confrontation as I hadn’t considered the impacts of this before. This year – again – girls outperformed boys in the Leaving and Junior Cert. They sat more higher level papers and got more H1 grades overall. Academic studies show boys are underachieving, in all stages of education, from preschool – where boys lag behind in language and communication - up to college. Refusing to produce what you deem to be an adequate amount of work in a given time frame is an act of defiance and should be treated as such. We often hear teachers saying that boys respond well to praise. Actually, this isn’t always the case.

But which boys are affected? It’s really the working-class boys who experience the most difficulties. Working-class boys are more likely to get caught up in a negative dynamic of acting out and being reprimanded and then becoming disengaged.” A gender gap in educational attainment means boys get lower exam results than girls, are more likely to drop out, and are less likely to go to university than their female counterparts. Each chapter hammers home another area of our failure. We’re forced to dwell on the failure, re-live the stories and problems, and then we are treated to a well-explained and carefully written summary of research in the area, before getting solutions. These are not ground-breaking – they are simple and straightforward – but each is something we are (mostly) not doing well at the moment. As Roberts and Pinkett make clear throughout Boys Don’t Try, high expectations are far more useful to build student self-esteem. Similar classes I’ve taught more recently have completed the same tasks as top sets, with often just as good results. Again supporting Roberts’ assertion that setting is rarely just about ability.

Synopsis: 

Chapters on violence, sexism in schools, peer pressure and relationships offer evidence-based and practical information for schools wishing to lift the schooling outcomes and behaviours of boys. The topics are grounded in real-life scenarios, which also help to give the views credibility and a sense of familiarity for teachers. Boost their 'cultural capital': It might be tempting to get boys in a sports-mad school to write essays about big match finals, but it can be better to open up students' minds to the world and help them find interests and passions they may never have known of.

Schools may not be able to change the world, but they can challenge, encourage, and widen horizons.” Myths abound: engage boys by introducing a competitive element to your lessons; engage boys by using technology; engage boys by choosing topics that are relevant to their own lives… the list goes on. The head of “The Brunner” is optimistic. He says there is a degree of under-performance in boys, but this does not mean they are no longer achieving. Chapter 3: Peer Pressure– I enjoyed listening to this during an early morning walk in the snow. I need to look up Kate Myers’ research.

Final thoughts:

To the fragile, male, adolescent, mindset, trying hard and still failing is the worst of both worlds. Research suggests boys are more likely than girls to self-sabotage their academic outcomes in an effort to protect their sense of self-esteem.”

Sandringham Research School is no longer active. We are continuing to support schools in the region through the wider Research School Network.This section for example, where Connell reflects on the behaviour of his male friend at school immediately reinforced the research on male relationships referenced in ‘Boys Don’t Try’: Hi Hannah, thanks for your comment and for sharing the video. I think Laurie A. Couture’s new book sounds really interesting. As a reader, it’s a scary moment when it dawns that these strategies were doing more harm than good. The World Cup of Writing created more losers than winners. The sports text reinforced stereotypes of masculinity and prevented students from building cultural capital. In one colleague’s maths lesson, the boys remembered far more about pizza toppings than the formula for calculating the area of a circle. Learning in a home and school environment where the benefit of academic work is encouraged and a work ethic is valued gives students the confidence that comes with the expectation to do better; to achieve.