Male culture disadvantages boys in education Essay Example for Free

Male culture disadvantages boys in education Essay Until the late 1980s, most sociological literature focused on the underachievement of girls. Girls were less likely to pursue A levels and consequently to enter higher education. However, in the early 1990s, it was argued that girls had begun to outperform boys at most levels of the education system. The main sociological focus today therefore is on the underachievement of boys. Epstein et al.(1999) state that boys underachievement is not something new, but in the past was not a worrying trend for two reasons: working-class boys used to move easily into jobs without good qualifications in the days when sons followed fathers into mines, factories, etc. And the structural and cultural barriers preventing females access to high-status jobs and the pressure on women to become wives and mothers, etc. meant that males always achieved better paid jobs in the long run. However, today Epstein notes that governments are anxious about large numbers of unemployed young men because they are a potential threat to social order. There are many reasons why boys are under-achieving in education. In some schools, the extent of boys underachievement has become so serious that twice as many girls are getting five GCSEs grades A-C. It is estimated that by the age of 16, nearly 40% of boys are lost to education. Some sociologists have suggested that the fault lies with teachers. Studies of classroom interaction and the relationship between pupils and teachers suggest that teachers are not as strict with boys as with girls. It is claimed that teachers tend to have lower expectations of boys, e. g.they expect work to be late, to be untidy and boys to be disruptive. Emphasis in the past has been on excluding such boys rather than looking for ways to motivate them. Consequently a culture of low achievement evolved among boys and was not acted upon because the emphasis in schools for many years was to make education more relevant and interesting for girls. Boys performance in schools is a complex issue. This policy issue of boys underachievement can be understood in many different ways. The issue can be framed in terms of human capital, class inequality, equal opportunities or social justice. Links can be drawn between the low educational attainment of some boys and the low employment rates of some young men. There is also for some boys an antagonism between educational attainment, even attentiveness, and the performance and achievement of particular and valued masculinities. Mac An Ghaill (1996) argues that working-class boys are experiencing a crisis of masculinity. Their socialisation into traditional masculine identity has been undermined by the decline of traditional mens jobs in manufacturing and primary industries such as mining. Mass unemployment found in working-class areas means that boys are no longer sure about their future role as men. This confusion about their future role may lead working-class boys to conclude that qualifications are a waste of time because there are only limited opportunities in the job market. The future looks bleak and without purpose so they dont see the point in working hard. They may temporarily resolve this crisis by constructing delinquent or anti-school subcultures, which tend to be anti-learning. Research evidence indicates that boys appear to gain street credibility and status in such cultures for not working. In 1994 Panoramas The Future is Female by Hannon suggested that with more opportunities for women in the work place, a change in the female ideology and with a fairer education system women simply passed the boys. Boys are not actually doing worse than they have done in the past, they are improving, but girls improvement outstrips boys Hannon, The Future is Female, 1994. With father opportunities of women it is easy to realise the origins of the current masculinity crisis, as there is no set role. Boys are no longer thought of as maturing later and comfortably walking into sustainable education. Instead men are expected to work hard throughout education to reap the rewards later but this is against the gender stereotype portrayed through the agents of socialisation. With this problem the new man was created producing a crisis for men on which to evolve into. Both published in socialisation agents boys have the problem of evolving into fulfilling the laddish stereotype or one in which they draw away from the idea that it is not male to work hard in education. Other sociologists have pointed to the feminine culture, which surrounds younger children as a possible influence on male under- achievement. Children, both male and female, may equate learning and therefore schooling with femininity. As boys grow up, they identify with more masculine role models and may reject academic learning and skills such as presentation and reading as feminine. Boys and reading and boys and literature are frequently mentioned by teachers as trouble spots in educating boys. Many young boys belong to anti-learning sub-cultures and they would therefore be deemed as un-cool if they achieved well in school especially in a girly subject such as English. Many boys dont try to achieve at school simply to conform to their groups norms and values. If their group doesnt value education then they wont. They believe it is more valuable to be popular and in with the right crowd as opposed to achieving in school and education.

Rebellion in Two Kinds by Amy Tan Essay -- Two Kinds Essays

Two Kinds In this story â€Å"Two kinds† by Amy Tan it shows the great expectations of a mother, who wishes for her child to be famous and a genius. The mother coming from a society that is very hard working and obedient trying to instill the upbringing she had I her life. The child Jing-mei is a typical example of a child rebelling against their mothers wishes no matter how hard the parental figure tries, the child wishes to perform things in their own way and use their own freewill and to do things in there own timely fashion. The mother moves to America after much heartache in China. She has lost everything as quoted â€Å"she had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls.† (pg 1218). She begins a new life in America raising Jing-mei how every parent raises their own child to become the best they can. She believes that moving to America that anything can be accomplished and uses Jing-mei to live that life through by making her watch certain television show. Shows that portray how famous people act and to see how child prodigies perform in front of audiences. Always testing her child with quizzes that became very hard as quoted â€Å" The tests got harder-multiplying numbers in my head, finding the queen of hearts in a deck of cards, trying to stand on my head without using my hands, predicting the daily Temperatures in Los Angelas, New York, and London.† (pg 1219). Afterwards the mother trades maid services for piano lessons and puts more pressure on Jing-mei to be this great child prodigy that will be very famous. Like any parent they have high expectations of their child or children to live a great life that is equally t... ...uld. They have been the one to comfort us when the world seemed to turn evil. They have been the one to love us when we needed it the most, by the end of the story the outlook on the pressures take a different turn. Jing-mei has matured from a girl into a woman and as a peace of offering, her mother offers to give her the piano the main object of adversity between the two of them. This offers her the realization that she has become herself on her own terms, even with all of this hardship. She also learns that with everything her mother pushed on her or made her do it was out of love to make Jing-mei have a better and more satisfying life than the one her mother had to go through. Works Cited Tan, Amy â€Å"Two Kinds† In The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Fourth Edition. Edited by Jon C. Stott et al. Canada: Thomson Nelson, 2006 pg 1015-22

Drama Soap Opera Essay

Our soap opera is called â€Å"Selby Walk†, named after a nearby park situated near the street where our soap is filmed. It’s set in a city suburb. The first scene of the soap contains three characters. Their names are Dave Hudson who assumes the role of a cabby driver, Mark Hayes who is a family businessman and Rob Kallis- a shady drug dealer operating in the area. The cabby driver, Dave, is modelled as a chatty person in his early 40’s. At times, he’s also the street gossip. He’s a pretty likeable personality. Mark Hayes is a businessman in his late 30’s. Although he occupies the spotlight longer than his fair share, he is a family man and laden with responsibilities, so he keeps himself to himself. Rob Kallis is renowned as the town villain. He usually dresses in black and always spiteful of many people. At 25, he is also despised by the community that he is a part of. he scene begins in Dave’s taxi. He is driving Mark to an area where Rob Kallis’ dealings are rife. The camera is continuously jumping from catching the reaction of one actor to the other. Before the dialogue starts, the camera swivels from looking at the road to the driver. This starts the scene off. However, the scene does not begin from when the journey begins. We catch it in the middle. Mark closes the door and begins to walk up the road. Before travelling up to a house footpath, he takes a quick look around. The camera also does this as if it was filming through his eyes. Mark walks up the footpath and up to a door. He rings the doorbell, but nobody answers. However, he finds the door unlocked and walks in. Dave watches this carefully, with a suspecting look on his face.

The Days Catapult Before Me - 2178 Words

The days catapult before me. The world is spinning too quickly. It gets harder and harder to retrace my steps. To figure out how I got to be here. THe years expand into eons. It gets easier for me to imagine my mother as a girl. To think about her worn-out heart breaking for the things she couldn t hold on to. And I wonder if I ve let the wrong people go. When you lose a person, a whole universe goes along with them. Sometimes, I picture all my other selves, standing in line like a row of dominoes; separate, but part of the same disjointed whole. How can I hold a single one accountable? No one ever walks away from love, knowing they can never go back. The very first thought I ever had in my entire life was of a black hole. Even now, the black holes dominate my musings. Whilst idle, I imagine the event horizon of a black hole, the edge upon which matter can no longer sustain itself. It is the epitome of annihilation. It rends information limb from limb, molecule from molecule. It ca n consume entire galaxies if so inclined, atom by bleeding atom. But matter can t be destroyed. So where does it go? Thus, the information paradox: it isn t, so it never was, but it was, so it must be. It must have been. This is how I regard my past, sometimes. No matter how I spin, it s always behind me. Summer blesses the hood. The heat is familiar. Beaming tendrils of light stretch their fingertips across the urban setting. The sun breaks free from the horizon, morning announcedShow MoreRelatedThe Anglo Saxons1310 Words   |  6 PagesAnglo Saxons were. The Anglo Saxons made many technology development and their culture is very interesting and their stories everyone loves. First while they were not the first ones to try they were the first ones to build a successful trebuchet, catapult, and mortar. The trebuchet is a siege and defense weapon that uses a counter weight and a rope attached to a object. 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