tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/boys-education-9531/articlesboys' education – The Conversation2018-03-09T15:56:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/921532018-03-09T15:56:20Z2018-03-09T15:56:20ZThe fight for education doesn’t stop when working-class boys get into university<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208657/original/file-20180302-65533-93f58e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A hard working ethic can make students stand out for the wrong reasons.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/male-student-laptop-studying-university-library-214665313">Ermolaev Alexander/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether it is high rates of <a href="https://www.samaritans.org/about-us/our-research/facts-and-figures-about-suicide">suicide</a> and mental health problems, a lack of appropriate <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-dont-have-to-be-male-to-be-a-role-model-for-men-71296">role models</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-the-fatherless-society-73166">absent fathers</a>, access to secure employment, drug and alcoholic dependency, men – when compared to their female counterparts – are often reported to be in <a href="https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/why-men-are-in-trouble/">trouble</a>. </p>
<p>Concern has also centred on boys’ supposed educational “underachievement” – and an idea that they suffer from what some have called a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2159868/Poverty-aspiration-Britain-cured-welfare-handouts.html">poverty of aspiration</a> or a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-25333295">poverty of expectation</a>. Yet, as I and sociologists have <a href="https://theconversation.com/place-plays-a-vital-role-in-how-boys-learn-to-become-men-68367">written before</a>, this so-called underachievement <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137401588">isn’t the same for all boys</a> – neither is it the fault of schools alone.</p>
<p>Considering the arguments raging about the UK Higher Education sector at present and the ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-tuition-fee-review-and-how-it-could-affect-students-91182">tuition fees discussions</a>, it is important now, more than ever, to acknowledge the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/05/gender-gap-uk-degree-subjects-doubles-eight-years-ucas-study">roles universities play</a> in this debate.</p>
<p>My research, carried out over the past ten years – resulting in a recently published <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Higher-Education-and-Social-Inequalities-University-Admissions-Experiences/Waller-Ingram-Ward/p/book/9781138212886">book</a> – suggests that for young working-class men who are academically successful, financing and getting into university is only the start of the battle.</p>
<h2>Dog eat dog</h2>
<p>For two and a half years, I visited a <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/review-from-labouring-to-learning-michael-ward-palgrave-macmillan">post-industrial community</a> in south Wales, interviewing and generally “hanging out” with a group of young men during their final years of secondary school. A small group of these achieved very high grades and saw university as the next logical step. </p>
<p>One young man I’ll call “David” told me that he had looked at different universities and had prioritised those he felt would give him the best chance of future success and opportunities to work in the film industry and visit America. He’d applied for Oxford and attended a preparation day event in Bristol to give him the best chance of being selected. However, his interview at Oxford was unsuccessful and he was not offered a place. When we talked about it later and how useful this preparation day had been, David told me that his strong working-class Welsh accent was a real disadvantage. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I could hear myself, everyone was really different is the best way to put it. They spoke, you know, with that really intelligent sounding non-dialect accent. At one point they said, ‘do you want to speak in front of the group’ and I said ‘no I don’t’. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It wasn’t just the accents which marked him out, David also felt that his experience of school and working together with his classmates had disadvantaged him. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There it was dog-eat-dog, you just look after yourself, and there everybody was [puts on an upper-class accent] ‘I’m very smart, listen to me’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While the journey to university is a challenge for young men like David, other problems also appear for young men from working-class backgrounds once they are there. In one of my interviews in Canada with young men who were the first in their family to go to university, “Alex” told me, he didn’t have many friends, he found his professors patronising and his hard studying ethic marked him out as different from his less studious peers.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/208645/original/file-20180302-65525-fzfx8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Graduation can be a hard won thing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">By J. Henning Buchholz/Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Alex’s desire to succeed came from his experience of working in what he termed “one terrible job after another. Gas stations, coffee shops – nothing that I could ever move on from”. After a few years of this, he’d really had enough and come to the realisation that “this type of experience doesn’t lead to something better, it’s shitty. When you have this skill set, the only type of places that are going to hire you are these places. Getting locked into it, is like a death sentence”. </p>
<p>His working-class credentials made him stand out while at university, but his experience of higher education made him also feel out of place when he returned to his home community during the holidays. He explained that men from his community worked in lumber yards and paper mills, the local factory and prisons. Going to university was an alien concept for many and, just by attending, he marked himself out as different and didn’t feel part of either world. </p>
<p>The working-class “<a href="https://theconversation.com/place-plays-a-vital-role-in-how-boys-learn-to-become-men-68367">achieving boys</a>” I have met, have often had to adopt a hybridised form of masculinity, forced by economic circumstance to escape their roots, but when they return to their home communities, they can feel further out of place. The implication of this on their ability to be successful is important and shows how much harder working-class boys must work than those from more privileged backgrounds to achieve in different aspects of their lives. </p>
<p>For young people like David and Alex, the decks it seems are doubly stacked against them. </p>
<p>Though my research has focused on speaking to young working-class men, working-class women <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/working-class-northern-woman-university-london-kings-social-classes-trapped-a8193636.html">face similar</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/11/bame-working-class-imposter-university-freshers-tips">other issues</a> purely because of their class status. Regardless of gender it is clear that working-class students are being unfairly marked purely by a label which has no bearing on their educational achievements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Ward received funding from the Economic Social Research Council for some of the research outlined here.</span></em></p>Working-class high achievers often struggle to fit in to higher education and can end up isolated both at university and in their home environment.Michael Ward, Lecturer in Applied Social Science, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/352602015-02-16T19:35:25Z2015-02-16T19:35:25ZFathers can make a difference in getting sons to read<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66719/original/image-20141209-32165-mguvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting boys interested in books can be tough - but dads can help</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/95072945@N05/12779343884">Flickr/Kelly Sikkema</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Engaging boys in reading can be tough. Many parents find that their boys either aren’t interested in sitting still long enough, or they often perceive reading as a “girl thing”. The consequences of boys not reading as frequently or as copiously as girls can be dire. National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy <a href="http://www.nap.edu.au/verve/_resources/NAPLAN_2013_National_Report.PDF">(NAPLAN) data</a> shows that girls have consistently outperformed boys in reading across the last six years of assessments. <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED492634">Research also indicates</a> that boys are three to five times more likely than girls to have a reading or learning disability.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/items/0dd29841-cb46-e32b-0450-824b72afb1fe/1/">Experts agree</a> that when it comes to engaging boys with books, the key is reading with dads, uncles and grandfathers. When fathers engage with their sons in reading, the level of boys’ engagement, interest and participation are known to change. Dads are able to engage their sons in different ways with books, usually by hooking into shared interests and developing sustainable reading habits.</p>
<p>The following tips are easy ways for dads to start or further develop quality reading relationships with their boys.</p>
<h2>Spend quality time reading together</h2>
<p>Dads are frequently seen as an <a href="http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3024">untapped resource</a> when assisting their boys with reading. When boys see their fathers as frequent and resourceful readers, this sets the scene for their future reading lives. Dads who share quality reading time with their sons are role-modelling effective reading behaviours.</p>
<p>Reading at home together is an excellent way to build quality reading time, though also consider making time to head into your son’s classroom for reading when you are available. Make a special time together on weekends to venture to the local library or bookstores.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66720/original/image-20141209-32168-i9l5k2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Dads should be reading role models.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/knittingzeal/3670530766">Flickr/Diane</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Read about shared interests</h2>
<p>Males traditionally have different reading interests than females. This is evident from a quick glance at the magazine section of your local newsagent. Boys therefore usually won’t want to read the same thing as their sisters or female classmates will.</p>
<p>Encourage boys to choose what they are interested in reading. If they want to frequently read non-fiction texts about animals or dinosaurs, this is okay. Don’t restrict your boys’ choice in reading – when choices are restricted, a huge disincentive to read is created.</p>
<p>Dads need to share their favourite texts with their boys – talk about the types of authors, what happens in the story and what the characters are like. If you generally read only magazines or the sport pages in the paper, talk about these too. This sharing builds strong relationships around reading and demonstrates that reading takes on many different forms.</p>
<h2>Read different types of books</h2>
<p>Frequently, we get trapped into thinking that there are only one or two types of books that children should be reading. The first is usually picture books, which we then expect children to grow out of as they progress towards reading novels. However, these types of text don’t always engage young male readers.</p>
<p>When considering books to suggest to your boys, try to think of a broad range of different types of texts. Comics, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_novel">graphic novels</a> as they are now frequently known, are engaging, fast-paced, detailed and are usually tailored to boys’ interests.</p>
<p>Traditionally, it has been considered that reading graphic novels is a lesser form of reading, or the easy option that boys often take. However, the large amount of reading required in most graphic novels provides a great source of reading practice. The detailed and complex illustrations serve as a great in-built support for boys to figure out the meaning of the text and unknown words. </p>
<p>Many traditional print texts that boys love are now also available as graphic novels, such as Emily Rodda’s <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/emily-rodda/deltora-quest-10-9781612620169.aspx">Deltora Quest</a>. These provide a different and often more interesting way to access the text.</p>
<h2>Laugh and have fun</h2>
<p>Boys love humour, and the plethora of humorous books that are in print makes these a popular choice. By having fun with books, we are encouraging boys to come back and read again and again. Andy Griffiths is a celebrated Australian author and his classic <a href="http://andygriffiths.com.au/books/thedaymybumwentpsycho.htm">The Day My Bum Went Psycho</a> is a perfect place to start.</p>
<h2>Use technology to engage your boys</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/ereaders-arent-destroying-reading-theyre-just-changing-it-34664">As I have written previously</a>, eReaders are often the bridge that is needed to engage a reluctant reader with a new and different text. Many eReading apps and devices support graphic novels, comics, newspapers and magazines. You might find that reading with your son becomes a richer experience when there is a broad range of interesting books to choose from.</p>
<p>Another clever way for time-poor Dads to engage in reading with their boys is to record themselves reading a chapter, or a short piece of text, using the recording function on a smartphone or iPod. This enables your son to read along a favourite text with you, when you can’t be present physically. Funny voices when reading always make an enticing surprise for the listener.</p>
<p>Allowing boys the opportunities to see the men in their lives as strong, resourceful and avid readers helps to demonstrate the importance of reading. Take the time to read, discuss and enjoy books with your son, grandson or nephew to help set them up for reading success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35260/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Spencer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Engaging boys in reading can be tough. Many parents find that their boys either aren’t interested in sitting still long enough, or they often perceive reading as a “girl thing”. The consequences of boys…Ryan Spencer, Clinical Teaching Specialist; Lecturer in Literacy Education, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/345862015-01-13T19:29:53Z2015-01-13T19:29:53ZBoys are more likely to play up at school, but it’s more social than biological<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66713/original/image-20141209-32136-z3f0rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yes boys are more likely to dislike school, but it's more a matter of the social than the biological.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=201252284&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxODEyOTk5MCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMjAxMjUyMjg0IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDIwMTI1MjI4NCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8yMDEyNTIyODQvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJ5c2phQkV0cjNZc3U5RFVZTkExdklxT2poWGciXQ%2Fshutterstock_201252284.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=Zt1_heaywZKXk3iZuZd-ig-2-149">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While <a href="http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:185600">research generally agrees</a> that boys are more likely to be disengaged with school than girls, there is far less agreement as to why.</p>
<h2>Social expectations of being a boy</h2>
<p>Many of the <a href="http://smellslikecollege.com/PSYdocs/Dude.pdf">studies</a> on <a href="http://www.awe.asn.au/drupal/sites/default/files/Teaching%20Boys_0.pdf">boys</a> and <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=SY2UHG06icUC&pg=PA311&lpg=PA311&dq=So+what%27s+a+boy?+Addressing+issues+of+masculinity+and+schooling&source=bl&ots=GhKcX0knPp&sig=Ccau_kZ9UrXdbvk-oZKcy8WZ4qE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7ImHVI7NIYKl8QWAmILgDA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=So%20what's%20a%20boy%3F%20Addressing%20issues%20of%20masculinity%20and%20schooling&f=false">school disengagement</a> look at the social expectations of how boys ought to be. Expectations that boys will be disruptive, defy school rules and collect more detention slips than girls, engage in rough and tumble play, be homophobic and sexually harass girls are rife in schools, homes and the broader community. These common expectations of being a boy reproduce these behaviours and tend to be informed by the cherished notion that “boys will be boys”.</p>
<p>Boys are often expected to be “challenging” and to misbehave. We still regard much of this behaviour with affectionate tolerance – as research conducted nearly 30 years ago by Adams and Walkerdine into teachers’ perceptions of boys’ misbehaviours suggested:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The high-spirited child is traditionally regarded with affectionate tolerance. Boys will be boys. A boy who never gets up to mischief, it is suggested, is not a proper boy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>With the current limited range of gender messages about ideal masculinity, there’s little wonder we see heightened levels of school disengagement in boys. Most <a href="http://www.amazon.com.au/The-Minds-Boys-Saving-Falling-ebook/dp/B00107LM9K">research</a> exploring <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8527.2007.367_2.x/abstract">this area</a> of <a href="http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:185600">gender and schooling</a> (while varying widely in its politics and agenda) would agree that boys exhibit more overtly disengaged behaviour than girls. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66802/original/image-20141210-13386-1mzhrzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">As long as we keep valuing boys for their masculinity they will keep behaving as they think boys should.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=221554822&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxODIwMTQ4NiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMjIxNTU0ODIyIiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDIyMTU1NDgyMiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8yMjE1NTQ4MjIvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCI4dncxVDZuVU1SK2svOFBQU21TM3h6YW9kQ1UiXQ%2Fshutterstock_221554822.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=EMs1Yzbr5zdzYvkA6ByeAQ-2-64">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>However, there’s also research that highlights that girls are just as disengaged as boys. Martino and Pallotta-Chiarolli’s study in their book <a href="http://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30008243">Being normal is the only way to be</a> found that girls expressed similar negative views to boys in terms of their resistance to school (especially in relation to authority) but that expectations associated with girls and traditional femininity meant they were less obvious about expressing it.</p>
<p>The point is how such disengagement is understood and addressed, particularly given the perpetuated stereotypes of boys and girls that inform how we see and address this issue. If we continue to hold to the view that boys will be boys and continue to affectionately tolerate boys’ challenging or violent behaviours and value them for their physical strength, social dominance and risk-taking, then we will continue to see anti-school and anti-authority behaviours. </p>
<p>If we continue to toughen up boys, tell them not to be like girls and administer discipline through authoritarian and punitive measures, we will continue to see these behaviours because being studious, quiet and conforming at school <a href="http://www.awe.asn.au/drupal/sites/default/files/Teaching%20Boys_0.pdf">tend to be seen</a> as feminine traits.</p>
<h2>What are schools prioritising?</h2>
<p>Rather than asking questions like “do boys dislike school more than girls?” we should be continuing to explore the broader issue of why so many students, both boys and girls, experience school disengagement.</p>
<p>An abundance of <a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741145717">excellent research highlights</a> how schools and teachers are engaging students in meaningful, relevant and intellectually stimulating ways within environments that are socially supportive and inclusive. In these classrooms, students are too interested in learning to be disengaged. Teachers are focused on teaching rather than managing and controlling.</p>
<p>Creating these environments is an increasingly difficult task for schools and teachers in the current climate where a school’s effectiveness has been reduced to its performance on external measures such as NAPLAN test scores. </p>
<p>Such measures and their punitive consequences have forced schools to narrow their curriculum and degrade their teaching to a back-to-basics non-creative approach. </p>
<h2>Social inequity</h2>
<p>Creating these environments is also ever more difficult given Australia’s increasing social inequality. Teacher quality is currently seen as the <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-quality">most important factor</a> in lifting educational outcomes. While teacher quality is important, as much <a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741145717">research</a> has told us for many years, the most significant variable impacting on levels of school engagement and attainment is <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Schools_Making_a_Difference.html?id=bVPlAAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">students’ backgrounds</a> – what they bring with them to school. </p>
<p>No amount of quality teaching will ameliorate the broader structural inequalities of poverty, for example. Wider economic reform such as that recommended by the <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdf">Gonski review of school funding</a> is crucial in supporting our teachers and schools to engage all students but especially underprivileged students who tend to be the most disengaged.</p>
<p>If we’re going to address these issues we need to challenge the limited gender messages that contribute to the higher levels of disengagement we see in our boys and we must better support teachers and schools to create engaging learning environments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Keddie receives funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>While research generally agrees that boys are more likely to be disengaged with school than girls, there is far less agreement as to why. Social expectations of being a boy Many of the studies on boys…Amanda Keddie, ARC Future Fellow, School of Education, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/234002014-04-06T20:09:33Z2014-04-06T20:09:33ZDo boys dislike school? Or just what they’re learning?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44991/original/62nvmghk-1395979816.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Increasing boys' confidence by letting them focus on something they want to do offers a strategy to reengage them with school. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=130949135&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTM5NjAwODM5NiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTMwOTQ5MTM1IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDEzMDk0OTEzNSIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMzA5NDkxMzUvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJQRXVoNkJVNHg5SFlUTStPRDFVWlk1bEpCeXciXQ%2Fshutterstock_130949135.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=iTuS1tQ1s-V9PuggNwvDdg-1-26">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the 1970s, a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stiffed-The-Betrayal-American-Man/dp/0380720450">panic</a> about “disaffected” boys <a href="http://www.genderandeducation.com/resources/contexts/the-boys-underachievement-debate/">underachieving in formal schooling</a> has gripped Western society. Despite efforts in Australia like <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=edt/eofb/report.htm">Boys: Getting It Right</a> and the UK <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR636.pdf">Raising Boys Achievement</a>, this panic still exists, and academics and policy-makers still seek to improve boys’ engagement with school.</p>
<p>Despite the large amount of research available on boys and schooling, little work has been done on how boys engage with learning outside of the formal curriculum. No research has looked at re-engaging working-class boys with what they are passionate about. Music educationalist Lucy Green got the ball rolling with <a href="http://bit.ly/1fZdMw2">Music, Informal Learning and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy</a>, but few scholars have tackled learning outside of the formal curriculum, and student-driven projects. </p>
<p>While schools often place little importance on students’ passions, such as alternative music, in favour of a literacy and numeracy based standard curriculum, engaging boys through their interests can offer a strategy to reengage them in formal schooling.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=853&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44993/original/bbcsvspp-1395979981.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Creating urban music reintroduced the boys to hard work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=115002919&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTM5NjAwODc1NCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTE1MDAyOTE5IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDExNTAwMjkxOSIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTUwMDI5MTkvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJIZEtOSE9ENU1PZGdrWE1DWjIzRllLeUwvTlkiXQ%2Fshutterstock_115002919.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=GV1oR0VnTCwtm-NSsAPCoQ-1-6">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131725.2012.708386#.U0IjOK1dU0o">Research</a> into re-engaging boys disinterested in school was undertaken in Newcastle in north-east England. The case-study school was in a suburb with endemic unemployment since the late 1970s, and where many young men turn to crime to develop their masculine identities. </p>
<p>The study tried to understand what engaged boys, and critically examined the schools’ attitudes that alternative activities boys wanted to do were not legitimate, despite the boys’ passion for them.</p>
<p>The study asked whether the boys disengaged from school because they disliked the notion of learning, or because they were not interested in the content. Research showed boys were well engaged when studying their passions, in this case creating DJ and MC-based music.</p>
<h2>How can this help them re-engage with school?</h2>
<p>Participants in the study achieved self-discipline and hard work, as well as creating a balance between self-reliance and learning to use their supportive networks. Despite the effects of extreme poverty, the boys were highly driven when engaging in the act of urban music making.</p>
<p>Their music-making was vivacious, honed and highly controlled. While the boys were highly disengaged from formal education, the music worlds in which they immersed themselves provided support, validation and admiration which were not part of their formal education. Creative spaces, musical spaces in this instance, allowed the boys to feel moments of success that led them to question the way they had always seen themselves as learners. </p>
<p>Recognising where boys, particularly working-class boys, can make positive decisions, means understanding how they use new mediums to become learners and teachers amongst their peers and potentially beyond. DJ and MC-based music offered a strategy for re-engagement with formal schooling.</p>
<p>While the boys in this study may not have enjoyed their formal education, focusing on enhancing their skills in DJ-based music-making created a caring and supportive environment. They found improvements in their self-esteem, willingness to work hard, and their “practice makes perfect” determination. Confidence found in these positive experiences can translate back into the classroom where they had so often failed before. </p>
<h2>Why did they disengage in the first place?</h2>
<p>There has been over-emphasis on working-class boys who are resistant to education in studies of boys in school. Boys’ troubles with academia are often highlighted, but in truth the worst off are boys of colour, working-class, non-heterosexual and rural boys. As a result, there has been an under-emphasis on boys who engage with learning <em>despite</em> social and identity barriers. Too often research labels working-class boys as loutish or lazy, without looking at the reasons why they have disengaged from formal learning.</p>
<p>Another gap in the research on boys in schools is in the area of what boys actually want to achieve and how engagement with achievement-oriented activities can change their behaviours in school. </p>
<p>By not exploring where boys achieve and what this achievement means to them, we know little about how to reengage disenfranchised boys, especially those in the “at-risk” categories, with formal schooling. Learning why they disengaged to begin with, and how to re-engage them, is essential to improving the outcomes for boys in schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23400/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since the 1970s, a panic about “disaffected” boys underachieving in formal schooling has gripped Western society. Despite efforts in Australia like Boys: Getting It Right and the UK Raising Boys Achievement…Garth Stahl, Lecturer, Secondary English/Literacy Education, University of South AustraliaPete Dale, Senior Lecturer in Popular Music, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.