Why do some infant teachers hate boys?

[ReallyTired]

My son's year 1 teacher just doesn't get boys. Apparently about four to five boys mucked about in class. As a result she decided that every boy in the class should miss golden time. All the girls got their full quota of golden time.

Its no wonder that many of the boys are very resentful and hate her.

This teacher complains that my son doesn't listen. My son wears hearing aids and finds it hard when there is a lot of background noise.

Even if all the boys were making the background noise, it seems harsh having a class punishment. I am sceptical that all the girls were perfect.

nfk the education system is a female institution though, not a male one. Plenty of research to suggest that overall it is failing our boys more than our girls.

There are many arguments here and in RL that effectively say that boys mature later and can't sit still and listen and so do badly in school. The problem is that sitting still and listening is essential if you are to do well in school and vital if the rest of the class is not to be disrupted. Boys used to do better than girls at school. And schools were much more regimented and "sitting down" style in those days. So what happened? The boys didn't get more fidgetty and restless.

I'm with you all .. I think much of it is due to young female teachers who have had no contact with boys, don't have children of their own, particularly don't have boys.

They see normal boy behaviour as "naughty", basically.

Teachers who have boys, or older classroom assistants who've seen it all, are much more understanding.

Im finding this thread v interesting. I'm an infant teacher myself and love little boys, particularly enthusiastic, energetic ones! Maybe thats got something to do with the fact that I have 3 younger brothers!

I do so agree that formal education is started way too early, expat, and we are lucky in that we live in Scotland where we can delay school a year if we wish. Its a different story in England where I used to teach - although kids dont legally have to attend school until they are 5, they will go straight into year 1 at that age rather than reception, which obviously is not an advantage.

As to punishing all the boys - how bizarre. I did try punishing all the class once in my first year of teaching, it was a big mistake and Ive never done it since!

There are lots of articles/books /research that show in general the education system is weighted towards girls (at least initially) which is why there are so many initiatives to help boys.

Noisy boys, and invisible girls?
Literacy Today, December 2004, no. 41, p. 20-21, ISSN: 1367-8825.
Myhill-Debra, Jones-Susan

Failing boys and moral panics: perspectives on the underachievement debate.
British Journal of Educational Studies, September 2003, vol. 51, no. 3, p. 282-295, ISSN: 0007-1005.
Smith-Emma.

Bad boys and good girls? Patterns of interaction and response in whole class teaching.
British Educational Research Journal, June 2002, vol. 28, no. 3, p. 339-352, ISSN: 0141-1926.
Myhill-Debra.

Boys starting school disadvantaged: implications from teachers ratings of behaviour and achievement in the first two years.
British Journal of Educational Psychology, June 2001, vol. 71, no. 2, p. 303-314, ISSN: 0007-0998.
McKay-Michael-F, Childs-Garry.

and lots lots more...

Lat year in reception my ds had a teacher who really did not like boys, esp my ds

Thankfully he is no longer in her class and is now thriving with a lovely teacher.

Some people should not be teachers, simple as that.

"The problem is that sitting still and listening is essential if you are to do well in school"

Well nfk, it's only essential because the education system is a feminine one that has decided this is the best way to learn in school. But that doesn't mean it is the only way. It wouldn't be essential if the whole school system was set up and run radically differently, putting less emphasis on sitting still and listening if this wasn't the best method of learning for that particular child.

Well, during the years when girls did less well at school and boys better, there was even more rigidity in the school system.

God I hope DS's new reception teacher doesn't hate boys. There will be 19 in her class, with 9 girls

And the difference between boys and girls achievements is absolutely minor compared with the difference between the achievement of children from low income and middle income families.

I think it's rare for teachers to hate children. I think the OP is a bit OTT in tone?

I'm an infant teacher soon. Within the bounds of the support you get, the resources you have, the time you have and the curriculum you are required to deliver alot of the time it isn't possible to do the 'active' learning that alot of young boys respond well to.

I have a group of boys in my class who make my life alot harder and impact on the learning of the whole class (and I'm not a softly, softly teacher, I do discipline but I seem to have to spend alot of my time doing it when I could be teaching). I do NOT hate boys at all. I have a ds myself and usually my 'favourites' (you can gun me down later on another thread about how I shouldn't have favourites but you can't help warming to some children more than others...) are the lively boys who have so much of interest to share and make teaching fun.

I do understand though that by the end of a long year with a group of lively (substitute lively for ofter badly behaved if you are feeling brutal) boys, no matter what great characters they may be, you can be worn to a frazzle and your patience sorely tested. I'm not saying the teacher was right at all but it sounds like she was a bit desperate.

Infant teacher too not soon!

dances
this is the wrong place for this and I'm sorry to do it and everything and you have a great point
but impact is not a verb

sorry sorry sorry

haha stuffit it actually is a compulsion isn't it?

I tried that in PC and got shot down, I'm sure..

stuffitllama sorry sorry sorry but it can be used as a verb.

The jury is still out on the use of impact as a verb going by googling a few sites.

I use it as a verb

I would complain to the head if all the boys were punished because of the behaviour of some of them.

I do think teachers need to address the needs of boys in schools but without overlabelling them. Girls learn very quickly that being quiet and conscientious gets them praise and boys don't find it so easy so early.

Girls are moving ahead of boys educationally at all levels now and in almost all subjects - it is a real issue. Unfortunately primary schools, where perhaps the most needs to be done, don't seem equipped to deal with the problem.

Girls lose out too: in our school, I'm convinced (and have asked one of the governors to raise it) that there is a gender bias in the reward certificates - girls get rewarded for good behaviour and boys for their academic or sporting achievements. Surprise surprise...

I find it really hard to except that a teacher 'hates' boys. Sorry. If you 'hated' a particular sex of child, it is highly unlikely you would become a teacher. Or you would teach in a single sex school.

It may be that a teacher finds handling boys more challenging as they learn in a different way to girls. Generally boys find it harder to sit still for long periods of time and also prefer hands on learning. It is possible that an primary teacher has trouble relating to boys but 'hating' them is a little far fetched!

no it can't

if things are changing now because people don't want to say "have an impact on" any more, it's not my fault

actually i'll correct myself
you can impact material

that's a different thing

obm can you do a pedants' corner on this? i want to take it outside

OED says noun and verb.

stuffitllama 130.88.203.109/concise_oed/impact?view=uk
impact has been used as a verb since 1601 apparently but has been used in the sense dances used it since 1935...

this was the painful truth when I queried it o PC my dear stuffit.

and breathe