To expect primary schools to reach out to boys?

[onebadmother]

This is a genuine question - I feel very uncertain about this and about what I want to do about it, and I'd really appreciate as much objective advice as poss.

DS is in Year 1, and since reception has seemed utterly unengaged by school. He frequently complains of being bored - tho I know this might be bcs it gets a reaction from me - and (from the very little he tells me about his day) it sounds like the things they're learning are things that we've talked about at home a couple of years ago.

But a bigger worry is about how schools deal with boys in primary.

Tbh before I'd had kids I totally despised the 'boys and girls are just different' argument - been a feminist since I was 13. But watching even my not particularly rough and tumble, clever, sensitive boy cope with the last 2 years,I've changed my mind.

Almost all the boys seem like grenades with the pin still in (just) at home-time. Like they've been caged, and suddenly set free. And the girl's just don't seem to feel that.

Watching DS run around the playground after school bellowing like a character in Apocalypse Now, and hearing the boredom he expresses, and the fact that his teacher says she has to work really hard to get him to sit down to do the boring stuff - maths, writing - really worries me.

I worry that they don't make allowances for the fact that boys, from my observation, seem to have a shorter attention span.

Or that many of them don't like sitting down and drawing/writing/doing crafts.

And I really worry that the topics they do are approached from a girl-centric (!) position - eg. Nature topics are flowers, not predators/volcanoes. That all the scary (and therefore exciting) stuff has been excised - and it's all been (I can't believe I'm writing this) emasculated.

I know that reception and yr 1 has to be about making them sit down and work, to some extent. But I don't think this is simply a logistics problem - ie. how to crowd-control a 30-strong class. I'm beginning to feel that there's an institutional failure to include boys and their needs.

Surely there's a way to educate that accepts some of boys' limitations - and plays to their strengths. And surely, after 30 years of child-orientated education, this is an issue that's come up before?

When I was 19 I would have said - so what? maybe the balance is finally being redressed. But now it's my boy, and I can't bear it.
Am I going mental?

Very interesting post, onebad mother. As a teacher I do sympathise with what you say, as I've struggled to engage boys at times. I think that the current curriculum is inherently flawed in that way, its known to be very girl biased in its expectations. Gross generalisation but boys tend to be more energetic and its much harder for them to sit still for long periods, which is expected with literacy and numeracy. Maths can be better for some boys as theres often a competitive element to it, some of the games appeal to them etc.

Not sure about the science thing, though - flowers are studied but so are lots of other things!

One of the biggest problems, imho, is that in Britain kids start school too young and boys in particular are often just not ready to sit still and quietly. they need a more active form of learning.

I'm not sure what the answer is, though, as teachers have little choice over what and even how they teach nowadays. It does help if the teacher is understanding and creative in his/her teaching styles - eg, boys are known to engage more with non-fiction, creative writing could be given more of a male slant etc etc

Sorry i don't have a solution for you!

I completely agree with your OP.
I don't feel the English state school system was a positive environment for either of my boys.

Thanks TheApprentice (and Humphrey for support!)
Apprentice, wondering whether you have any more info about what's been suggested to solve the 'girl-bias' problem if it's kind of acknowledged?
And also, for me and my boy at home, I'm wondering what a more active form of learning would entail? is it getting out and about, and learning/talking on the move, iykwim?
Thanks again.

Agree with op. My ds has flourished under a male teacher - few and far between in primary.

bump. Buuuuuump!!

I agree with OP, my son struggles to engage with school topics, yet can recite Latin names for all the dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals, so I know there is something there!!

I feel for teachers who have to enthrall a group of 30 children all with different needs, attention spans etc. Research has suggested boys learn better outside, but how can that practically happen in a school setting with so few adults in a class??

No solutions, but I really agree with your point.

I think you could be in danger of generalising here: Not all boys are the same, not all girls are the same. Likewise, some boys and girls do well with female teachers and some with male teachers. I think it's more to do with the teacher's personality rather than their sex.
However, I do agree that a good number of boys (and some girls) find it constraining to be sitting at a desk for long periods. It's up to the teachers and the school to try to address the issue, especially in this age of Every Child Matters. Interesting debate.

I agree with apprentice in that children start school (in the idea of sitting and being quiet) far too soon. I also don't believe that children have short attention spans if they are occupied by something they find interesting. Just going off my own children who could sit for hours if interested in something.
I think most young children need a lot more physical activity and hands-on stuff. It has to be interesting to them otherwise they switch off.
I do think the curriculum is possibly biased to girls particularly at secondary level where my dd coped (but didn't like) with coursework. My boys hate/d it and much preferred the option of final exams (as did my dd).

ChipButty, agree I'm generalizing, but aren't we always in danger of that when discussing any kids? They're all different, but some patterns are discernable, and we have to acknowledge them i think?

Interested that you say it's up to the teachers/school - do you have any suggestions as to how I could bring it up, without alienating his (kind) teacher or the (prickly) head? I'm a bit of an alienator by nature..

OBM

Is your son at my DS's school? Seriously I have a DS in Yr 6 and a DS in Yr 2.

Some teachers have been better than others but I would say that for DS1 there has been particular issues about how how they tend to discriminate favourably towards girls.

One example is when DS1 told the deputy head that he had read a quite meaty book and he did not believe he had read it and said that 'girls read better than boys'.

Anther example is when one boy did something wrong and all the boys were kept in while the girls were sent out for a walk.

I find this type of thing unacceptable, we have raised it a couple of times but not really made a major point of it.

DS2 just said why do they like the girls better!!

I would consider myself a feminist but feel that this type of anti boy bias sad and misguided.

Their school is a progressive, successful inner city primary.

Should not be like this.

Citylover - I would remove my son from a school that had that attitude towards gender.

OBM - if your boy's teacher is nice you could ask her what the school's reaction to Every Child Matters is. It could be that the school has targeted boys' attainment on School Development Plan. If not, it might be worth looking at the Teachers' TV website (Teachers dot tv) as they are bound to have looked at this issue.

Ok now I realise that I've done way too little research into this. thought Every child Matters was about joining up children's services?

citylover, I agree, that sounds really bad! Not right or fair to punish by gender! Illegal I would have thought?!

My mum (teacher for 30+ years) is always complaining about the same thing. She works with kids who are struggling in the school system. About 80% of the kids she teaches are boys.

to the op;

i know exactly what you mean.

i have a son in yr 3 and tbh he hates school. he says its "boring" and i know its because hes not being challenged enough.

the head teacher has a reputation of prefering girls anyway ( easier} just dont know what to do. i dont know how 1 teacher can control 30 children?

Talulasmum - any chance you could home-ed?

wish i could, but sadly no.

have you?

talulahsmum, I agree but I don't know how you do challenge boys?

As for how does one teacher control 30 children, you're right, it seems impossible. but that's what makes me think that it's a systemic problem rather than just my boy and his teacher and his school.

Oh that's a pity
And yes, I'm fortunate in that I home-ed 4 of mine.

blimey juule - how do you challenge your boys without alienating them?

Sorry - I'm misleading you. My 4 home-ed children are girls. My boys went through the system. One went through okayish. One didn't and opened my eyes to a lot of things. One is in GCSE years and things are not that great but he wants to stay in school. We shall see.

oh yes completely agree.

i also have 2 daughters, and they sailed through primary school.

but my ds?? im worried that he will start to fail, if we could afford it would defo go private.

Having said that I don't understand why you say I would be alienating them? In what way?

YANBU
I know of a school which has specific programmes to target underachieving boys.
I know of another that does sport every ?lunchtime and has found a big increase in the achievements of the boys.