Girls and Achievement
Girls and Achievement
Girls are now appearing to have a higher ability to succeed in education than boys in today’s schooling system. There are many issues concerning this area and these have been supported by a range of theorists using key studies and concepts to establish this further.
The impact of feminism on the female population has gradually increased since the 1960’s when feminist sociologists highlighted the idea of an education system filled with gender inequalities. These sociologists suggested that there was an apparent ‘gendered language’ which dominated the way in which children were taught in schools. This language subtly reflected the wider society by using school textbooks with predominantly male references such as ‘he,’ ‘him,’ ‘his,’ and ‘man’ or ‘men’ when describing the characters in books. This suggestion is also linked to ‘Gendered roles’ in school textbooks where males and females tended to take on traditional roles such as; women as housewives and mothers and males taking on patriarchal roles. These concepts are increasingly noticeable in the reading schemes of the 1960’s and 70’s although this is more often than not less obvious in the education system today. Feminists also argue that women in the curriculum today, tend to take on lower roles in the education system than their male counterparts. Women today who are often as qualified as males are subject to second place positions and are argued to have been ‘hidden from history’ and that history has been ‘the history of men.’
Gendered stereotypes in reading schemes are obvious particularly in primary school education examples of this are; boys being presented as more adventurous than girls, as physically stronger and as having more choices. Girls on the other hand are presented as more caring, more interested in domestic matters and as followers rather than leaders (Labban 1974.) These suggestions therefore provided males in the education system with somewhat better role
Girls are now appearing to have a higher ability to succeed in education than boys in today’s schooling system. There are many issues concerning this area and these have been supported by a range of theorists using key studies and concepts to establish this further.
The impact of feminism on the female population has gradually increased since the 1960’s when feminist sociologists highlighted the idea of an education system filled with gender inequalities. These sociologists suggested that there was an apparent ‘gendered language’ which dominated the way in which children were taught in schools. This language subtly reflected the wider society by using school textbooks with predominantly male references such as ‘he,’ ‘him,’ ‘his,’ and ‘man’ or ‘men’ when describing the characters in books. This suggestion is also linked to ‘Gendered roles’ in school textbooks where males and females tended to take on traditional roles such as; women as housewives and mothers and males taking on patriarchal roles. These concepts are increasingly noticeable in the reading schemes of the 1960’s and 70’s although this is more often than not less obvious in the education system today. Feminists also argue that women in the curriculum today, tend to take on lower roles in the education system than their male counterparts. Women today who are often as qualified as males are subject to second place positions and are argued to have been ‘hidden from history’ and that history has been ‘the history of men.’
Gendered stereotypes in reading schemes are obvious particularly in primary school education examples of this are; boys being presented as more adventurous than girls, as physically stronger and as having more choices. Girls on the other hand are presented as more caring, more interested in domestic matters and as followers rather than leaders (Labban 1974.) These suggestions therefore provided males in the education system with somewhat better role