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Boys and Achievement - Coggle Diagram
Boys and Achievement
Laddish Subcultures
Francis (2001): boys were more concerned than girls about being labelled by peers as "swots" as this label is a threat to their masculinity.
This is due to a w/c culture where masculinity is equated to being tough and doing manual work. Non-manual work (education) is seen as effeminate and inferior= w/c boys reject schoolwork to avoid being called gay/ bullied.
Epstein (1998): found that w/c boys likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies/ gay if they appear to be "swots"
As girls move into traditionally masculine areas, boys are responding by becoming increasingly laddish to construct themselves as non-feminine.
Willis: formed laddish anti-school subculture, w/c lads were disruptive, misbehaved and had a very negative attitude to education.
Boys' Literacy
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Boys leisure pursuits e.g. football do little to help develop language and communication skills, whereas girls have a bedroom culture (staying in, talking with friends). Poor language/ literacy skills affects boys achievements over many subjects.
DCSF (2007): gender gap is mainly due to boy's poorer literacy and language skills- perhaps because parents spend less time reading to sons, or because mothers do majority of reading to young children so see it as a feminine activity.
Moral Panic about Boys
Critics of feminism argue policies to promote girls education are no longer needed- girls have succeeded at the expense of boys who are the new disadvantaged.
Osler (2006): focus on underachieving boys has led to a neglect of girls, as girls often disengage from school quietly whereas boys disengage with public displays of laddish masculinity that attracts attention from headteachers and policymakers.
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