is it ok that i like this article in the times?

[alannabanana]

came across it this morning and thought it was very incisive. ive no idea who the writer is/what her politics are, but i just thought she raised some good points about the role of men in todays society.
only concern... this doesnt make me a tory does it???

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/camilla_cavendish/article7138520.ece

Nope, just pointing out they really did have to be quiet.

And even when it was exam based, girls did better. The 11+ pass mark was higher for girls than boys - i.e. girls had to be cleverer to get into grammar school. (Because the government funded fewer grammar school places for girls as their education wasn't as important.) I think boys may have done better at School Cert. or O-level in the 50s, but that's probably down to the unfair 11+ thing - bright girls being forced into secondary moderns.

Mind you, well-funded secondary mods were probably good places for less academic children. Certainly for boys who could learn bricklaying and other trades (not enough on its own to get a job, but as a starter). Not so hot for girls who were forced into fricking typing.

I was talking about this "the exams are fixed to favour girls" thing recently.

I said "why don't they just make the qualifications 50% exam and 50% coursework and then there can be no cries that it is unfair either way".

Then I suppose if the girls still did better they'd have to say that the exam questions were written in a way that was harder for boys or something.

Edams point is perfectly valid ie traditional schooling where boys did well for very much focussed on sitting still and doing what you were told, so the idea that this approach is no good for boys doesn't quite compute.

I would have really struggled with 50% coursework. Was the sort of obnoxious child who handed in homework late but was good at exams. Much to the despair of my geography and French teachers who knew perfectly well I couldn't be bothered with their subjects.

I don't really remember doing any coursework TBH. I did sciences and things so maybe they didn't have so much, and of course it was quite a long time ago

Actually I do remember doing some essays for english I think

It would shut the "exams are fixed" people up though, I think.

Just out of interest. There have been changes to teaching and learning methods. The standards of boys achievements have fallen compared to girls. Definitely not argument starting but am very interested to know what this might be ascribed to, if people think it has nothing to do with teaching and learning methods. I'm not judging whether the changes are good or bad, but both are facts, so what's the third element? Very interested in any theories.