|
Article Excerpt
In response to concerns about boys' academic underachievement as well as the international gender imbalance in our teaching force composition, a call has been made to hire more male teachers and practice 'boy-friendly' pedagogy. Our investigation of effects of male reading teachers and use of computer-based books demonstrated their ability to de-feminise boys' views of reading but no differential effects were evident on boys' reading achievement or reader self-perceptions between boys taught by males or by females, whether or not they use technology in their reading practices.
Keywords
males teachers
gender stereotype
computer-assisted learning
boys
reading attitudes
**********
With the understanding that competent reading is the strongest predictor of school success (Adams, 1990; Hoffert & Sandberg, 2001) comes the responsibility to ensure that all young children receive effective reading instruction to become proficient readers and successful students. In light of this relationship between literacy and success, attention should be paid to the convergence of evidence from recent national and international test results showing girls outperform boys in reading and writing (Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, 2001, 2006; Gambell & Hunter, 2000; Mullis et al., 2003). A significant gender gap favouring females in reading and writing is currently demonstrated in all countries participating in international testing (Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, 2001; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2004). Furthermore, the gap is consistently demonstrated at every age that is measured and reported. For example, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) (Mullis et al., 2003), measured nine-and ten-year-old children's achievement in two areas of reading--literary and informational--in children from 35 countries. In many countries, girls were over-represented in the distribution of students attaining the upper quartiles (Mullis et al., 2003). In response to these findings, educators must form appropriate pedagogical responses to help boys become better and more committed readers while also maximising girls' achievement.
Educational responses to boys' underachievement have varied and have caused controversy within academic circles. While some interventions have suggested 'boy-friendly' learning environments as a means to attract and retain male students' interest, others suggest that these types of programs reinforce stereotypes and result in harm to both boys and girls (Alloway et al., 2003; Carrington & Skelton, 2003; Mills et al., 2004; Skelton, 2003). Clearly, what is called for are research-based interventions that are sensitive to and reflective of the heterogeneity within the category of boys. The current study sought to investigate the effects of two classroom variables on boys' reading attitudes and achievement: male reading teachers and computer-based books.
Male models in the classroom
In Canada, the percentage of male teachers declined during the 1990s from 41 per cent in 1989 to 35 per cent in 1999 (Statistics Canada, 2003). In Australia, the number of male teachers dropped between 1987 and 1997 (Lewis et al., 1999). In the USA, the percentage of males teaching in elementary schools dropped between 1981 and 2005 from 18 per cent to 14 per cent (A. Martin, 2005).These statistics have generated public concern that boys are not being exposed to representative numbers of male models in the classroom (BBC News, 2005; Carrington & Skelton, 2003; Eng, 2004; Hetzner, 2003; Mills et al., 2004; Ontario Public School Boards' Association, 2000; Sax, 2005;Tinklin et al., 2001).
According to theories of gender development, children's observations of same-sex role models are important to gender identity development (Golombok & Fivush, 1994; C. L. Martin & Halverson, 1981) and, as a result of their interactions with same-sex models, by age six children can reliably make predictions about same-sexed children's behaviour. While children learn the cultural stereotypes associated with both sexes, they learn about their own sex more quickly and elaborately yet, by age eight, they can also make predictions about the behaviour of children of the other sex (C. L. Martin, 1993).
Research suggests that a reason for some boys' lack of engagement with reading is their perception that it is a feminine activity (Baron, 1996; Brophy, 1985; Cummings, 1994; Government of the UK, 2000; Hermine, 1998; Katz & Sokal, 2003; McKenna, 1997; Pottorff et al., 1996) and that an over-abundance of female reading models in the homes and schools of young children leads to these perceptions (Adams, 1990; Basow, 1992; Delamont, 1990; Pottorff et al., 1996). Research has demonstrated that American boys' perceptions of their competence in language arts drops steeply over the course of elementary (primary) school (Jacobs et al., 2002) during the time boys are developing their awareness of gender roles. This finding is especially troubling in that Jacobs et al. also showed children are more likely to demonstrate increased value for an activity in which they perceive themselves as competent. Jacobs and colleagues suspect that the relationship between competence and task value may be two-way, in that children also spend more time on tasks they value, resulting in 'greater long-term engagement over time' (2002, p. 511). Similarly, Watt (2004) studied the developmental path of older Australian children. Although Watt found that boys' value of English language arts decreased over the course of Years 7 to 11, she did not find evidence to support gender intensification or gender convergence and concluded that gendered perceptions of specific academic domains appear at earlier ages, perhaps even before children begin school. Watt suspects that early socialisation experiences promote gendered perceptions within children. Proponents of initiatives to augment the representation of male teachers believe that male teachers will serve as male models for young boys (Bradley, 1999; Carrington & Skelton, 2003; Coulter & McNay, 1993; Gamble & Wilkins, 1997; Mancus, 1992;A. Martin, 2005; Mulholland & Hansen, 2003) and may alter their views of reading as feminine.
Despite theoretical support for providing boys with male reading models, numerous large-scale and international studies have demonstrated that male students...
|
