Gender and Education: What are the issues?

Hi guys following is a reading analysis that I completed for another subject at university: Socio-Cultural Politics of Education. Even though it has a educational theme, I though it would be good to issue to raise in social psychology and education=. The question: Are our boy's achievement's suffering in the classroom? This looks at the topic of Gender and education. We didn't need to seacrh for any sources, it is more our comment on what we read in relation to the topic. So read through it and comment if you feel like it.

A Response to Gender and Education.

In Brendan Nelson’s letter, the one central issue surrounding the issue of boy’s education is the underachievement of boy’s due to the high priority placed on girl’s equity programs over the past twenty-five years, therefore drawing attention away from the needs of boys in the classroom. As educators, we know boys learn differently from girls, but what we need to determine is how they learn differently and how we can use these strategies in the classroom to the benefit sexes.

The reform of girl’s education in the 1970’s, was an attempt to achieve equity in girl’s education, to bring them to a level where they could be equal to males in education, and therefore the workforce, allowing them to be contributing members of society. As we now know, this reform happened at the expense of boy’s education and ultimately their learning and level of understanding suffered (Nelson, 2003). Gender equity in the past primarily focused on equal opportunity for girls and women, but since the 1990’s there has been mounting concerns from males in society about gender reform and the influence of feminism on these reforms (Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd, 2007, p235). However there are two assumptions being claimed about the need for gender reform, the first that feminism has benefited girls to the hindrance of boys education, and the second that boys need more male role models and schools need to be ‘boy friendly’ (Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd, 2007, pp236-9).

From the research presented by ACSA, 1997, pp57-78; Foster, 1994; Kenway, 1997; and Weaver-Hightower, 2003 (as cited in Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd, 2007, pp236-9) it has been shown over the course of a decade that there was a decline in boy’s education achievements and an improvement of the achievements of girls. Are boy’s achievements suffering because girls are excelling or are they at the same level as before the introduction of feminism and girls are excelling out of sight? And did this occur in previous decades, since the feminist movement encroached on education? And if so, was the divide in educational achievements as large as it is now? What we need to examine are the strategies used before the feminist movement, to see what worked for boys learning.

Due to this impingement on education, Wadham, Pudsey and Boyd (2007) believe that feminism has left men and boys in a some what kind of ‘cultural purgatory’ (p236), meaning men and boys no longer know how to be men and boys, and therefore suggest that possibly the only way to rectify this is to have more male role models at the primary level of education. We need to address this shortage of male primary teachers by introducing programs where boys are interacting with male role models where they are kept interested in school and learning. But what about the role of the female teacher in boy’s education, can she inspire them to stay on at school and succeed.

Boy’s troubles in education are understood through their achievements which are contrasted against those of girls. But how do we determine the achievements of boys if girls keep excelling beyond their reach? Boy’s educational achievements should be contrasted against their own previous learning and how they have improved or declined in their achievements. Why should they be compared to girls when they learn and respond differently to teaching strategies that are used, and which seem to benefit girls?

Brendan Nelson’s letter on gender equity and reform talks about how it is time for an overhaul on curriculum in an attempt to bring boy’s education achievements up to and on par with that of girl’s, but not at the expense of girls. But how will this happen, when we see from clear example that this is exactly what happened when gender equity and reform in girl’s education occurred. Change needs to occur in line with the changing world and therefore cultural reform, if we want our boys to be equal with girls in terms of their success at school. Isn’t it ironic that a quarter of a century ago, it was girl’s lack of educational achievements at school that were the main focus for reform? Could it be an issue that is cyclic?

Wadham, B., Pudsey, J., & Boyd, R. (2007), Culture and Education. Published by Pearson Education Australia.

Nelson, B., (2003), Message from the Minister. Department of Science, Education and Training, NSW. Reprinted in Wadham, B., Pudsey, J., & Boyd, R. (2007), Culture and Education. Published by Pearson Education Australia.