My action research stemmed from my observation that many male students were being given referrals, sent out of class and suspended for negative behavior. As I discussed this issue with my colleagues, I heard comments that were unexpected. The comments seem to suggest that the students weren't going to amount to anything in the first place so why have them in class. This disturbed me. I wanted to find out what the cause was for the behavior and were there ways that boys could be taught that would better allow for their behavior.
Though I have many questions in regard to the behavior of boys in the classroom and whether or not they are receiving a quality education, my questions are abstract in terms of teacher perception. I have been forced to redirect my focus to trying to determine a cause for the perceived negative behavior. If in fact boys are exhibiting behavior that is common to masculinity and identity development then it is the teachers responsibility to accommodate that student in the classroom. Removing the student is not a viable option.
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I often wonder about my own treatment of boys in the classroom. I try to be aware of how often I am calling on boys vs. girls when they raise their hands to share information or ideas. I also am constantly aware of hearing myself say the same name over and over again (to ask someone not to do something in class). Two of the three names I say most often are boys names. I think about this often, but I don't have a solution. I look forward to hearing more about your work.
Monica, we have touched on this in the past- we are looking at the same problem from different perspectives. I have an article titled: Troublesome Boys and Compliant Girls: Gender Identity and Perceptions of Achievement and Underachievement- Jones and Myhill 2004- JSTOR Archive. It looks at the differences we are focusing on. It really is a multifold problem- I believe from the lens of my research, that we focus too much on the behavior of boys, and too little on the quiet, compliant girls. simplified- of course- but my work with small homogeneous gender groups is allowing me to develop relationships with both sides of the problem, giving me a better understanding of WHY boys get so much focus and seem to need so much attention, and how to encourage girls to develop their self confidence and voice, not only in small group, but in whole class participation.
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