Themes

Gender

What can this site tell me about... GENDER?

There are currently 9 digests online that deal with a variety of gender issues. This summary draws together the main themes within these 9 digests. Which area are you interested in? Click on View All Digests above for more detailed information and suggested implications for practitioners. You can also use the Resources and references within the digests to search for more research on this topic.

Single sex teaching is often thought to help improve boys' and girls' attainment, and boys' attainment in particular. Is this actually the case? What about the impact on girls? Is single sex teaching right for your school?

We decided to give it a twirl concludes that single-sex classes can provide a positive and successful experience for boys and girls BUT only where there is a strong commitment from staff and where it plays part of a wider gender reform strategy - it is not a simple answer. Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school shows that both girls and boys taught in single sex classes achieved very much better than boys and girls did nationally, with particularly good results for the boys. However the authors are quick to point out that the long term effectiveness of this strategy has yet to be established.

A study of gender-inclusive practices found that single sex classes in science were more conducive to teaching that takes account of pupils' current interests, needs and concerns. Single sex teaching also gave teachers more opportunity to address problems such as boys' tendency to have poor communication skills, and girls' typical inexperience of hands-on activities and open-ended problem solving.

What about gender and behaviour? Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school showed that for one school, girls' classrooms were 'pleasant and safe places', and the boys' classrooms were similar. A bigger study, We decided to give it a twirl, found that the behaviour of both genders improved when single sex teaching was introduced in some schools: seven schools said 'laddish' behaviour diminished, and six schools said boys were easier to cope with in the classroom. On the other hand, four schools abandoned single sex teaching because of its negative effect of boys' behaviour. Why did the results vary so much? The authors suggest that various factors affected the success of single sex teaching in individual schools - see the full digest for further details.

Bullying was addressed by a Peer-led intervention campaign, which was found to be most effective amongst girls, although the authors suggest ways of improving boys' attitudes to tackling bullying.

Classroom interactions of boys and girls are examined by Bad boys and good girls?, which looks at the pattern of classroom interactions and disruptive behaviour in Dorset schools. Overall, gender had less of an effect on 'off task behaviour' and reluctance to engage than underachievement in both genders did. Interestingly, by Y8 high achieving boys were often as reluctant to join in in a positive way as underachieving boys, perhaps to conform to peer group norms (it is 'not cool' to be seen to be working hard). In We decided to give it a twirl, the authors found that teachers used different strategies for boys' and girls' classes as they became used to teaching single sex classes. Different classroom interactions according to gender are also detailed in Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school.

Addressing the gender gap is often the reason behind single sex teaching. Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school shows that the strategy raised both boys' and girls' attainment similarly, so despite higher attainment overall, the gap remained intact. Although this is good news for both girls and boys, many people still worry that boys are lagging behind girls. However, Investigating the patterns of differential attainment of boys and girls at school questions whether the gender gap exists at all. This may seem unlikely, but the authors explain that we could have been misled by inaccurate reporting and they make the case for detailed analysis of examination data in relation to the proportion of boys and girls taking each subject. They also suggest that underachievement and low achievement are separate issues that need separate responses.

Do girls worry more? This is the flip side of the achievement gap. Making the grade but feeling distressed shows that although girls often perform better than boys, they are generally more vulnerable to mental distress.

What light does the research on this site shed on subjects such as French and Physics in terms of gender? French is the language of love and stuff reports that girls were more motivated to study modern foreign languages in general than boys, and more inclined to identify with speakers of a foreign language. They tried harder, used more (but still not many) metacognitive strategies, and believed more in the value of making an effort. In terms of preference between languages, boys tended to be more motivated to study German than French. German was felt to be more 'masculine' than French, but boys tended not to try hard at any language because the work is 'tedious'. It's not just girls who dislike physics is the conclusion of Gender and physics, which showed that both boys' and girls' attitudes to science vary over time related to the quality of the curriculum, the quality of the teacher, and perceived career benefits. The authors suggest that the current GCSE curriculum fails to relate science to boys' and girls' lifestyles and experiences, and this could in part explain the predominance of boys at A Level Physics. The full digest gives more detail of attitudes at different ages, views on the course content, and attitudes to continued study.

Cognitive acceleration - speeding up the development of the thinking processes of young children - was found to have more effect for girls than for boys in Effects of a Cognitive Acceleration Programme on Year 1 pupils.

What next?

The full digests give much more detailed information on the studies, their findings and also some suggested implications for practitioners. To find the full digests, click on View All Digests above.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Digests are grouped into themes: Assessment for Learning Behaviour CPD Early years English Ethnicity Gender Gifted and Talented ICT Inclusion Initial Teacher Training Leadership Mathematics Modern Foreign Languages Motivation Out of school learning Parents Pupil grouping and organisation of classes Pupil Voice Science Self evaluation Speaking and Listening Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistants Thinking skills Transition Whole school improvement Comments Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader View all digests on this theme Themes Gender What can this site tell me about... GENDER? There are currently 9 digests online that deal with a variety of gender issues. This summary draws together the main themes within these 9 digests. Which area are you interested in? Click on View All Digests above for more detailed information and suggested implications for practitioners. You can also use the Resources and references within the digests to search for more research on this topic. Single sex teaching is often thought to help improve boys' and girls' attainment, and boys' attainment in particular. Is this actually the case? What about the impact on girls? Is single sex teaching right for your school? We decided to give it a twirl concludes that single-sex classes can provide a positive and successful experience for boys and girls BUT only where there is a strong commitment from staff and where it plays part of a wider gender reform strategy - it is not a simple answer. Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school shows that both girls and boys taught in single sex classes achieved very much better than boys and girls did nationally, with particularly good results for the boys. However the authors are quick to point out that the long term effectiveness of this strategy has yet to be established. A study of gender-inclusive practices found that single sex classes in science were more conducive to teaching that takes account of pupils' current interests, needs and concerns. Single sex teaching also gave teachers more opportunity to address problems such as boys' tendency to have poor communication skills, and girls' typical inexperience of hands-on activities and open-ended problem solving. What about gender and behaviour? Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school showed that for one school, girls' classrooms were 'pleasant and safe places', and the boys' classrooms were similar. A bigger study, We decided to give it a twirl, found that the behaviour of both genders improved when single sex teaching was introduced in some schools: seven schools said 'laddish' behaviour diminished, and six schools said boys were easier to cope with in the classroom. On the other hand, four schools abandoned single sex teaching because of its negative effect of boys' behaviour. Why did the results vary so much? The authors suggest that various factors affected the success of single sex teaching in individual schools - see the full digest for further details. Bullying was addressed by a Peer-led intervention campaign, which was found to be most effective amongst girls, although the authors suggest ways of improving boys' attitudes to tackling bullying. Classroom interactions of boys and girls are examined by Bad boys and good girls?, which looks at the pattern of classroom interactions and disruptive behaviour in Dorset schools. Overall, gender had less of an effect on 'off task behaviour' and reluctance to engage than underachievement in both genders did. Interestingly, by Y8 high achieving boys were often as reluctant to join in in a positive way as underachieving boys, perhaps to conform to peer group norms (it is 'not cool' to be seen to be working hard). In We decided to give it a twirl, the authors found that teachers used different strategies for boys' and girls' classes as they became used to teaching single sex classes. Different classroom interactions according to gender are also detailed in Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school. Addressing the gender gap is often the reason behind single sex teaching. Single sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school shows that the strategy raised both boys' and girls' attainment similarly, so despite higher attainment overall, the gap remained intact. Although this is good news for both girls and boys, many people still worry that boys are lagging behind girls. However, Investigating the patterns of differential attainment of boys and girls at school questions whether the gender gap exists at all. This may seem unlikely, but the authors explain that we could have been misled by inaccurate reporting and they make the case for detailed analysis of examination data in relation to the proportion of boys and girls taking each subject. They also suggest that underachievement and low achievement are separate issues that need separate responses. Do girls worry more? This is the flip side of the achievement gap. Making the grade but feeling distressed shows that although girls often perform better than boys, they are generally more vulnerable to mental distress. What light does the research on this site shed on subjects such as French and Physics in terms of gender? French is the language of love and stuff reports that girls were more motivated to study modern foreign languages in general than boys, and more inclined to identify with speakers of a foreign language. They tried harder, used more (but still not many) metacognitive strategies, and believed more in the value of making an effort. In terms of preference between languages, boys tended to be more motivated to study German than French. German was felt to be more 'masculine' than French, but boys tended not to try hard at any language because the work is 'tedious'. It's not just girls who dislike physics is the conclusion of Gender and physics, which showed that both boys' and girls' attitudes to science vary over time related to the quality of the curriculum, the quality of the teacher, and perceived career benefits. The authors suggest that the current GCSE curriculum fails to relate science to boys' and girls' lifestyles and experiences, and this could in part explain the predominance of boys at A Level Physics. The full digest gives more detail of attitudes at different ages, views on the course content, and attitudes to continued study. Cognitive acceleration - speeding up the development of the thinking processes of young children - was found to have more effect for girls than for boys in Effects of a Cognitive Acceleration Programme on Year 1 pupils. What next? The full digests give much more detailed information on the studies, their findings and also some suggested implications for practitioners. To find the full digests, click on View All Digests above.