Blog Post by Matt McCartney
Educational underachievement and disengagement amongst boys has been cited as a key area of concern within the British educational system for decades, as evidenced in Ofsted reports (Allen, 2013), academic studies (Younger and Warrington, 2005) and Parliamentary Reports (House of Commons Education Committee, 2014). The persistence of disengagement within this particular group of learners begs the question of why it remains such a problem for teachers, academics and politicians to address given it has been documented for so long. With this question in mind it seemed pertinent to reflect on personal experience of learner disengagement and my own actions in dealing with it (Schön, 1983). Since joining the teaching profession 10 years ago, I have observed a feeling of apathy amongst males, which appears to peak during GCSEs i.e. year 10/11. This behaviour can take many forms, but is typically characterised by a general lack of focus, shouting out, throwing paper, playing on phones and talking over the teacher. Whilst these behaviours are overt and disruptive to the whole class, thus requiring an immediate response from the teacher, often it is this very response which leads to other more covert signs of disengagement i.e. that of the quiet but inattentive learner going unnoticed. While in agreement with the logic of removing disruptive pupils as it allows the teacher to concentrate on the willing and attentive learner, nevertheless, this is a short term and wholly ineffective solution to understanding the problem in a more holistic way and also ignores the distinct possibility that the issue lies more with the system and less with the individual learner. If the go-to strategy for example is to quickly remove a disruptive and unwilling learner, even though this may be an understandable course of action, it is conceivable these students will perceive the action as prejudicial and judgemental, resulting in the adverse effect whereby the disengaged pupil becomes further distanced from learning and never actually feels listened to.
On reflection and in an effort to rationalise the behaviour of this social-group in the early stages of my career, my initial conclusion was that these kinds of students were simply lacking maturity and were eager to leave secondary school. Having taught English for many years alongside Media, it has also not escaped my attention that boys don’t seem as engaged with subjects like English as much as girls are. Research suggests that females find English more accessible and engaging whereas males are drawn more to subjects like Maths or practical subjects like Design and Technology; exploring this point from a psychological standpoint, it is often argued this is on account of English being more creative and requiring students to think in a more lateral and abstract way as opposed to Maths and DT which are more linear. Whether this is true or not is contentious, since to believe it can be considered too much of an assumption and oversimplification of a complex problem. It also assumes that male disengagement and unruly behaviour is not as prominent in these other subjects which again is not always true.
The year 11 Excel club has also given students a place to discuss their own views on why they have struggled at times with school life with a prevailing attitude amongst the group being that constant exam pressure and an expectation to revise was too much and that students felt teachers assume that they know how to revise. Whilst the reasons for male disengagement are varied and complex, it is important to note that misconceptions surrounding the issue can often exacerbate it further and speaking from personal experience, I have found that the first steps to understanding the problem of male disengagement is to try and avoid any bias or judgements when exploring the factors for why students lack motivation and focus in class. Often it is too easy to label this particular kind of student as unruly and forget that sometimes, disruptive behaviour can actually be a cry for help from students who struggle to fit into a system that is not set up for them.
