How do we encourage boys to continue to engage in reading in the teenage years?

In our ongoing campaign for parent engagement in curriculum our focus this year has been on literacy. The article below, written by Renae Bishop, CEM Project Officer – Learning Innovation, CEM VCE English Network Coordinator, Catholic Education Melbourne explores the gender gaps in learning, particularly in reading.

Addressing gender gaps through student engagement

Context

As many countries, including Australia, work towards gender parity, some gaps are closing, but new ones continue to emerge. For example, while many boys achieve brilliant results at school, on average their results are lower than results for girls.

State, national and international data reveal a decline in engagement and attainment levels in school for boys compared to girls.

Boys are falling behind in reading, have lower university attendance rates than girls and their lead in maths is shrinking.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) reveals that young men on average are significantly more likely than young women to be less engaged with school and have lower academic achievement.

An OECD report titled The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, behaviour, confidence cautions that we need to consider ways that ensure both genders are able to realise their potential. They note that the underachievement of young men, in particular, has severe consequences not only for their own futures but for societies as a whole (OECD 2015).

While the under-performance of boys is particularly acute in literacy, it also manifests elsewhere in the curriculum. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results indicate that boys on average are more likely than girls to perform below the baseline level of proficiency in all three of the subjects that are tested in PISA: reading, mathematics and science. Our own national literacy data reveal that the literacy gap emerges early. So how do we ensure that both boys and girls are motivated to read?

Choice helps develop a willingness to read

Some boys are voracious readers of fiction, devouring series upon series of a range of genres, including adventure, science fiction and fantasy. Yet we also know that many boys enjoy reading nonfiction more than fiction.

Those of you old enough to remember the days of library cards may also remember the Annual Guinness Book of Records publications. These books were well digested and almost exclusively by boys.

Boys love facts

They love reading about facts. They love sharing facts. Many boys read information texts to gain knowledge but often struggle with the prevalence and prominence of fiction in the primary classroom. The OECD report notes that many boys find school out of sync with their interests and preferences and, as a result, they often feel unmotivated to work in school (OECD 2015).

As a Catholic sector we aspire to equality of attainment, with a commitment to honouring ‘equitable access and opportunity for all’ (Horizons of Hope: Vision and Context, p. 6). Equality of opportunity is central to the vision and context of our education framework, Horizons of Hope. We strive to establish rich personalised learning environments and employ student-centred learning approaches that enable each and every learner to experience success.

The Horizons of Hope aspiration for curriculum design is to meaningfully and purposefully interpret the formal curricula to suit each learner and their local context (Horizons of Hope: Curriculum in a Catholic School, p. 2).

Our challenge is to honour this vision and address this growing gap by prioritising time to discuss how to develop learning environments, pedagogical practices and curricula that continue to relate to, and engage the interests and dispositions of teenage boys, as well as teenage girls, so that all students may have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

What does the data tell us?

The 2018 NAPLAN National Report, published by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), revealed the following trends:
• Year 9 girls have a higher mean reading score than boys.
• There are more girls in the top two bands for Year 9 reading compared to boys.
• There are more boys in the bottom bands for Year 9 reading compared to girls.
• Year 9 girls have a higher mean writing score than boys.
• There are more girls in the top two bands for Year 9 Writing.
• There are more boys in the bottom bands for Year 9 Writing.

This under-performance continues in the senior years at VCE English and for the past few years boys have consistently had higher percentages of grades under C and lower percentages of grades above C+ in the VCE English results, compared to girls. Last year more than a third of boys in the state received a grade of C or below in the VCE English Examination compared to 25.6 per cent of girls (VCAA Graded Assessment Data Report for 2018).

If ‘aptitude knows no gender’, then as educators we must provide equal opportunities for boys and girls in our classrooms to be engaged.

How we can help - parents and teachers in partnership

To ensure the best outcomes for all students, it is imperative that teachers are aware of how boys and girls learn best and that we develop teaching methods that accommodate both genders. The OECD report identifies some of the clear behavioural differences between boys and girls, and acknowledges that educationalists are only just starting to focus on boys’ under-performance.

Here are some recommendations adapted from the OECD report to encourage higher attainment in reading for boys:

1. Encourage students to read what they want.

Boys are less likely than girls to read for enjoyment and less likely to read fiction. So, where possible, offer texts that appeal to boys’ interests. Reading anything encourages the habit of reading. So teachers should ensure there is scope on the yearly booklists for both genders to find texts that are interesting and appealing. For boys generally, this might be non-fiction, or real-life stories, coming-of-age stories, adventure or quest stories. Stories involving challenge and risk are also appealing to boys. For girls generally, this might be historical fiction, relationship or friendship–based narratives, fantasy or mystery novels. Of course, these are generalisations only, and teachers should always take into account the interests of their individual cohorts when selecting texts.

2. Boys may need more encouragement than girls to read.

Any efforts by the school to promote reading should take into account not just differences in students' reading abilities, but differences in their reading preferences. Let students choose topics that appeal to them and ensure there are male and female role models who are modelling reading and talking about what they read. For co-ed schools, consider the option of running single-gender classes in English and other core subjects to optimise learning outcomes. Some of the top-performing co-ed schools in the state already do this.

3. Be wary of punitive approaches to poor behaviour, results or efforts.

Neither gender responds well to shaming. Avoid putting them in a situation where they will lose face in front of their peers (or siblings). Have individual conversations, away from peers and siblings. For boys in particular, shame can quickly turn to anger, and once angry, they find it difficult to return to their learning.

4. Value and respect the particular strengths of each gender.

For example, risk-taking is valued in labour markets and boys excel at this. The OECD report suggests that introducing risk-taking into school work would help girls to address and acquire this skill and also engage many boys more effectively.

5. Allow some competition in the classroom.

Boys respond more to competitive high-stakes environments than girls. They can often be less motivated than girls for class assignments and more motivated for tests, so encourage a mix of both to support both genders.

NAPLAN results in Victoria

Results have emerged this week that indicate "an outstanding result" in reading in Victoria. The Department of Education and Training media release stated, "..the proportion of Victorian high performers in the top two proficiency levels in reading has jumped 40 per cent since the previous report in 2015, from 10 per cent to 14 per cent. Victoria also remained steady in science performing above the OECD average, while most other states declined."

"The report also showed that student performance in maths has declined across Australia and across the world. However, as ACER has confirmed, Victoria still outperformed the majority of other Australian jurisdictions and had the lowest level of decline of all states and territories."

Despite this result, there is still room for improvement and we shouldn't become complacent when it comes to continuing to support our children to read. CSPV are currently undertaking a project to promote parent engagement in reading for primary school students which will be presented in 2020.

Source:https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victorian-students-excel-in-reading/

CSPV will explore maths and literacy further through the advocacy area of parent engagement in curriculum during 2020.

The CEM VCE English Network, exploring engagement through text selection

The Catholic Education VCE English Network began in 2017, and involves 58 Catholic secondary schools. As a community of English teachers, we meet to collectively navigate the VCE English Course. But before we can examine how best to structure an essay, or how best to prepare students to respond to examination questions, we must first discuss how to engage them.

This year we started a discussion about texts and engagement and what texts might generate high engagement with different cohorts. This has led to some of our schools working together to share strategies and approaches. Teachers at CBC St Kilda have shared their experiences with engaging boys in the School Practice section of this edition.

The commitment, passion and sheer determination of the teachers in our CEM VCE English Network to push for a conversation about engagement and text selection, and to keep striving for the best opportunities and outcomes for both genders in our schools, are a credit to our sector. The conversation has started. Let’s keep it going.

Renae Bishop can be contacted at 9267 0228 or rbishop@cem.edu.au.