Female Teachers and The Teaching of Boys

[zanzibarmum]

I know the teachers on the site will not agree but does the largely female (most single with no kids?) teaching force struggle to understand our boys and engage them in learning. What are the views of parents.
As a mum of both girls and boys my experience is that many normal, well behaved boys get a raw deal from some of the teachers though it is not of course something you raise with teachers for fear of getting your head bitten off - I know my own sister who's a teacher had a go! Views

True, twinset. I refuse to rise to it (much)

Well, I'm not a teacher (not of children anyway) and I still think my boy's needs are being met by his young and single teacher. And that my daughter's needs have sometimes been met by her female teachers, sometimes not. Depending on the attitude and skills of the teacher.

Well, I am a parent of boys and I'm not a teacher. I don't think that it is just down to female and/or single teachers. Why is football banned? Is it a matter of physical space?

"Told you... teachers (on this site at least )are so touchy. Anyway back to the parents of boys..."

How rude. I am a parent of a boy.

Bugger, I've risen.

''they are not wild things''

mine is... especially at the end of the day.

zanzibar, you're being a touch touchy yerself.

I'm a parent of boys and I haven't entirely agreed with you.

Anyhow, I do think boys and girls learn to gain approval in different ways and there is a need for large numbers of boys to run about like maniacs for part of the day, to compete, to shout out. And girls learn the prizes of quiet labour and co-operation.

These are socially gendered patterns of behaviour that are reinforced at home AND at school.

But IMHO good teachers know this and compensate for it. Perhaps the teachers at your school aren't good teachers?

The very best teacher of my high maintenance boy was a young, female NQT, who totally got him...

My anecdotal experience that ds's primary school seems to be a brilliant place for both boys and girls. There's only one male teacher but I've not heard any parents complaining that boys are neglected.

I vaguely remember some research that demonstrated that the idea that boys get less attention is actually untrue. It's just that our social norm is for boys (and men) to get far MORE attention - when you do a trial where boys and girls get equal attention the perception of observers is that the girls are being favoured.

At ds's school it isn't just the boys who play football, anyway. Girls would also be affected by a lunchtime ban. But we haven't got one.

Feenie, keep yours on.

"most things on the curriculum are geared towards boys."
What piffle! All those wretched worksheets, colouring in, writing sentences divorced from any narrative, lack of sport in many primary schools, continuous assessment exams

The feminisation of the profession has changed the pedagogy - all I am saying is that the needs of boys are different from those of girls in some respects and that a virtually all female primary teaching force may be less able to respond to these needs - particularly if we pretend there isn't an issue.

DS1 Is being taught by a male and a female teacher this year, the female teacher is young and has no children. He likes them both and i feel they both understand and engage him equally, so what does that prove?

Oh and i'm not a teacher either.

I did see the headmistress stopping some boys playing football at home time today but I think that's because she wanted people to go home! When it snowed, she let all the children out onto the field to make snowmen.

I work in a junior school where we've had an unusually large number of male teachers -a couple of years ago 5 of the 12 teachers were male - we currently have 3, which is still more than most schools. Of the female teachers, only two have no kids and one of those is pregnant.
They all have individual teaching styles, but I certainly wouldn't say they are differentiated by the gender of the teacher, nor are the men necessarily better at engaging boys in learning - and one of the best at that is one of the young childless teachers. It is useful to have more male staff as far as the pastoral side of things is concerned, and it also makes for a different type of conversation in the staff room.
And our children only play football once a week - one year group each day - and that is arranged by the two (male) assistant heads.

I do think there is an issue that needs to be addessed about the feminisation of education and even more so as a working class woman who may one day have a son our education system fails working class boys more than any other group in society.

We had worksheets and colouring in and writing sentences when I was in primary school back in the 70s. (And there was only one male teacher.)

Am well aware that it is suggested to be more of a problem at primary level where there are a greater % of female teachers and I do have a dc who is having a few problems settling in to his first year of school, but I have no complaints about his (female) teachers - they expect high standards of behaviour from him and good levels of concentration - and so do I. In one term he has learnt to read and finds everything interesting. His teachers are robust and energetic.

But have to also admit I'm a red in the bed as I also teach all boys

I agree with the broad thrust of the OP.

In fact, I'm delighted to learn that my boy will have a male teacher when he starts reception in September! Male reception teachers are as rare as rocking horse shit .. and by all accounts, the kids absolutely adore him!

With regard to female teachers, I think it depends how female they are. Boys certainly don't need an emotional weakling, or a lady whose brain isn't hard-wired in practical matters.

I'm afraid that if small boys are going to be taught successfully by a woman, it is my view that the woman should have some masculine tendencies.

Equally, young girls should not ideally be taught by testosterone fuelled 'blokes.'

"What piffle!"
Nope, do your research. Everyone has been panicking about boys' attainment for years now, lots of Lit topics for example are so-called boy orientated.

"All those wretched worksheets, colouring in, writing sentences divorced from any narrative, lack of sport in many primary schools,"
Jeez. Change schools quickly, fgs.

"continuous assessment exams"
Ahhh. Finally, we agree on something.

I'm a teacher AND mother to a boy.

I think male presence in school is lacking, & a good male role model can have an absolutely magical effect.

I teach one v difficult year 8 lad (well, actually, I teach several difficult year 8 lads!) who has one-to-one support from a brilliant male LSA. He's absolutely transformed this boy's attitude to learning, & much of that is down to the fact that he challenges him - whereas female LSAs have tended to prop him up too much.

Sometimes - whether as female teachers we like it or not - the 'school is run by women, for girls' attitude is quite entrenched in disaffected male students, & a charismatic male in the right place at the right time can definitely open closed minds.

I don't think it has to be the teacher, though, & I don't think it's fair to suggest that female teachers aren't responsive to the needs of boys - certainly not on anecdotal evidence.

OK you win... our boys are getting a great deal; it's our girls we need to worry about.

So why are boys easier to teach as a number of teachers have said?

Where are all those girls who enjoy doing worksheets? I never did. My dd never did. Never knew a girl that did really. But we had plenty of them when I was at school in the sixties (ner ner edam- I'm bigger than you ). Now as then a plethora of worksheets is a sign not of gender but of lazy teaching.

"The feminisation of the profession has changed the pedagogy"

But female teachers have been common since the Victorian age. It was one of the very few professions open to women, so naturally it collected a lot of women. And in those days they were all unmarried and childless because that was the rule.

"a virtually all female primary teaching force may be less able to respond to these needs"

I think "may" is the operative word here. We'd need some research to see what are the actual decisive factors: gender or training or general aptitude or whatever. I've seen many excellent teachers of either sex and some crap teachers of either sex. IME a really good teacher of either sex will be aware of different needs and can differentiate and respond to them; a less skilled teacher will not.

And boys have widely differing personalities; I was far more of a wild thing than my brother and did better with a more robust style of teaching.

Great post, Cory. I do hate all this sexist, reductionist bullshit that ALL boys are like this and ALL girls are like that.

zanzibarmum on Fri 23-Jan-09 22:27:53
"OK you win... our boys are getting a great deal; it's our girls we need to worry about."

No, what most of us are actually saying is- you can't generalise. Some teachers are good with boys, some with girls, some with all, some with none. Some boys need one type of approach, others need another. Some girls play football, some boys are sedentary and timid. In some schools girls tend to get a better deal, in others boys do, in some all have their needs catered for.

My experience (gross generalisation coming up) is that boys tend to be more result-driven.

For example, I spent a lot of fruitless time arguing with a female year 11 this week about whether it was 'fair' or not that she should have to catch up missed work, when I'd had a go at her about it & it wasn't her fault blah blah...

Whereas a boy in the same group & the same situation doesn't care if I'm a 'hench bitch' (no, I don't know either) or not - he accepts that the coursework needs doing, & giving me grief about it is wasted time.

On the other hand, once I've talked the girl down from the righteous indignation, she'll work a lot harder.

They're pretty typical - whether it's a real difference between boys & girls, or cultural expectation, I've never been able to decide.

Stands up and applauds Cory