Title: The classroom no longer holds as much value for boys in establishing their masculine
identity and is therefore less attractive to them.
Student ID: 2007047: Mary-Ann Webb
Name of Institution: St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, Division of Teacher
Education Course: EDSF 101 Introduction to Social & Cultural Foundations of Education
Lecturer: Mrs. Debra Samuel-Laborde
Due Date: Monday 23rd November 2020
The classroom no longer holds as much value for boys in establishing their masculine identity
and is therefore less attractive to them. There is a consistent gap between the performance of
boys and girls in critical national examinations, and under representation of males at the tertiary
level. Furthermore, boys are more likely to achieve lower grades than girls, exhibit more
disciplinary problems, repeat a grade, and be placed in special education (Kenneth Russell,
April, 2011). Over the past years, gender dynamics in education in the English-speaking
Caribbean have experience significant shifts. On one hand, educational access, retention and
achievement by girls have improved significantly and should be celebrated as key success
stories. On the other hand, retention, completion and achievement by boys appear to be slipping.
The cause of decline in interest in classroom for boys is because of Gender stereotyping, teacher
labelling and feminizing of education.
Gender socialization is the process of teaching people how they ought to behave as males or
females. This starts from birth, as individuals socialize babies in a gendered way without
consciously following that pattern. For example, the color pink is associated with girls and the
blue is associated with boys. The babies are then dressed differently according to what is
considered appropriate for their respective sexes. As these babies grow parents would also
genderize toys to what they think is appropriate for a boy and girl. Society has it that dolls are
only for girls while boys are expected to play with vehicles-based toys. One demonstration of
early life gender socialization can be seen in preschools. Children in preschool with teachers who
do not emphasize gender differences will not show an increase in stereotype views in activities.
Gender Stereotyping alludes to the act of crediting to an individual male or female explicit traits,
attributes, or parts by reason just of her or his participation in the social gathering of women or
men. Gender Stereotyping is improper when it brings about an infringement or infringement of
basic liberties and basic opportunities. This clearly highlights the influence of socialization on
the development of gender roles. Children in the deserve the chance to reach their full potential,
but unconscious gender stereotypes can get in the way. Teachers tend to be more emotional and
verbal with females and categorize boys as being mainly physically adventurous. Situations like
these place males in the mindset that they are not allowed to show emotions or receive affection
from their teachers. In doing this, boys will resist from showing emotions and interacting in class
and fall into the mentality that only the girls are supposed to do this. As expected, when one does
not interact in class it will further negatively affect their performance in that subject area or
school on a whole.
As children continue throughout the education system, the gender stereotypes continue. In the
past, research states that teachers were deceiving females in the classroom. They would focus
more on the boys, have them interacting more in class sessions and challenging them. It was of
the believe that boys were more analytical and would excel in math and sciences. So, the
teachers pushed them into careers surrounding these subject areas such as computer science or
engineering. However, research from the late 1990’s indicates that the current educational
climate is failing the males. Boys are now falling behind girls in class as the dropout rate for
boys is on the rise. The number of boys applying for college is declining which can be related to
the current teaching methods being in favor for a female’s learning style. In the current
classrooms, the ratio of female to male is higher. When teachers give more attention to females,
they are automatically place the males at a great disadvantage. For instance, there is a class of
twenty-five students and twenty are females. The remaining five are obviously boys who you
may find forming a group and seating at the back of the class. When the teacher unconsciously
follows these patterns of shortchanging males, these five boys can easily fall through the cracks
of the system. This always affects the atmosphere in the classrooms because the girls will now
feel as though they are better than the boys and act as such. Furthermore, when the boys feel
isolated or stifled in the classroom, they may start to rebel in class in hope of getting the teachers
attention or just to feel involved.
Labelling theory holds that if a teacher labels a pupil a certain way, they will accept that label
and it will become true. John Abraham (1986) asked teachers to describe a typical boy and a
typical girl – The typical boy was described as not particularly bright, likes a laugh and always
attention seeking, often by messing around. The typical girl is bright, well –behaved and
hardworking, being quiet and timid. As a result, he found that boys were told off much more
easily than girls. Teachers tend to view males as unruly and problematic and are more likely to
spend time telling them off than helping them with schoolwork. Teachers have lower academic
expectations for males and so are less inclined to push them hard to achieve high standards.
Because of their disruptive behavior they are more likely to be neglected in class sessions.
Negative labeling leads to teachers having lower expectations for the student. Adults, including
teachers and parents, may think the students cannot perform and lower their expectations. If the
teachers and parents do not believe in the student’s ability, then the student, which tend to be
mostly males will not either. It creates a vicious cycle in their academic years, which ultimately
sets the student up for failure. Labeling males can create a sense of learned helplessness. These
males may feel that since they are labeled, they just cannot do well or that they are less compared
to the girls in the class. This can also cause the males self-esteem to be very low. A male who is
labeled stand a great chance of experiencing peer issues. When students fail to conform to the
appropriate gender role, they are face with negative sanctions such as being criticized or
marginalized by their colleagues. The girls in the class or school may be make fun of him for
being labeled as learned disabled. This can cause trouble with making friends and can cause
bullying as well. The male figure then may become very withdrawn in the classroom setting and
may begin to skip school or even quitting school.
In today’s world, there are more female than male teachers, especially in primary school. Due to
the fact that women are now going into more professional careers, secondary schools have also
seen an increase in female teachers. This means that girls increasingly have positive role models
in the class while boys may fail to identify with female teachers. Some sociologists have
suggested that one valid explanation for these gender differences in attainment is the
‘feminization of education’. There is a small margin of male teachers working in primary schools
and as a result, the curriculum, teaching styles and forms of assessment, are more in the favor to
the learning styles of girls. The books that are place on the syllabus are not appealing to the
males in the classroom, especially withing the subject area Literature. Therefore, the teaching
styles surrounding these books are somewhat boring and unattractive to the males in the
classroom and their interests spirals down into disengagement in class. Because of this, girls who
tend to be more settle and focused in class will perform better than boys when assessments and
coursework comes around. It does not necessarily mean that they are better than the boys but just
that the learning materials and feminizing of education is not suitable for the minority of males in
the school system.
The classroom no longer holds as much value for boys in establishing their masculine identity
and is therefore less attractive to them. There are implications that teachers can take to turn this
around. Positive labelling allows teachers the opportunity to give extra support to the weaker
males. Teachers can develop an individualized education plan and effectively offer extra learning
support and specialized education to help males succeed in school. One of the positive effects of
labelling males, is that it qualifies them to have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This
plan allows them to receive instruction at their current level of functioning, provides them with
accommodations and specially differentiated instructions, and creates goals and objectives for
them. Males will then be tested with for instance more hands on activities while the girls will
receive the essay formatted assessments. All assessments will be from the same lesson, but
different testing methods where both genders are engaged.
By encouraging physical adventurousness within girls and boys, students will not by gender
biased about these activities. Also, practice being emotionally and verbally with boys. Make eye
contact, talk about feelings, read books to them directly. Teachers should find books and toys
that are entertaining to boys but also have great emotional content within them. Mitsos and
Browne conclude that, underlying the factors that contribute to male under-achievement, is ‘an
identity crisis for men’. With an increase in female employment and decline in some traditional
areas of men’s work, it has become more difficult for boys to see their future in terms on being a
family’s breadwinner. For some males at least, ‘the future looks bleak and without clear purpose
to them.’ Education administrators should seek to increase the presence of male role models in
the school environment. Males in the classrooms will then view Male teachers as mentors. They
will feel more comfortable confiding in a male figure about certain challenges as compared to a
female teacher. Male teachers have a great power to re-socialize boy and teach them what it
means to be a man in the classroom and real world.
Administrators can consider single gender classes for some subject areas. This was teachers will
not unconsciously fall into gender stereotype practices in the classrooms. Also, ensuring that
teaching and learning materials reflect positive messages about boys and girls. Teachers ought to
consider their attitudes upon entering a class and think about how they may influence what
happens in their classroom. Teachers and parents should be mindful not to lower their academic
expectations for the students especially males but instead offer positive encouragement and
motivation. Teachers need to listen to boys and to consciously and make the necessary changes
to the curriculum in terms of the learning materials, forms of assessment and also in the way we
teach them, value them and empower them. Finally, school administrators should educate the
teachers and students about learning disabilities and how different paces and styles of instruction
should be taken into consideration when planning a lesson.
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DISCUSSION SUMMARY.
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Summary_3_Final_0.pdf
