Educating Boys'

Males and NCEA

I began my teaching career in a traditional single sex boys high school.  My initial years were grounded in School Certificate, Six Form Certificate and Bursary - these were systems that I was familiar with (I was a product of them myself).  

Peter Lyons - Otago Daily Times

An opinion piece by Peter Lyons (an economics teacher from St Peter's in Auckland) in the New Zealand Herald (click here) raises the issue of gender inequality in education - specifically in NCEA qualifications.  Whilst acknowledging the pitfalls of making generalised statements Lyon's points out that "NCEA is a standards-based assessment system. Many boys seem to adopt the attitude that meeting the minimum standard will suffice."

I wanted to know how reflective this statement would be for us here at Waihi College.  Do we in fact have results that reflect boys struggling in NCEA compared with the girls (and if so what does that mean for us as an educational institution)?

Here are some of our NCEA results from last year...  Level One 2014 had Girls endorsed with Excellence 6.3% (boys were at 3.3%) Girls endorsed with Merit 46.9% (boys were at 23.3%).  Similar results existed for Level Two. Level Three was more even.  So it would not be out of place to say that girls have twice the rate of excelling in NCEA than the boys last year in NCEA.  

Some of the specific issues Lyon has with NCEA include the lack of competitiveness and that instructional nature of assessments; "Boys are also generally less inclined to read instructions carefully. NCEA assessments are laden with instructions, assessment criteria and much additional reading material that camouflages the actual questions that need to be answered."  This are observations which I tend to agree with.  

So what is it that can be done by teachers here at Waihi College to counter these?  I would strongly suggest that regular review of the progress of students through NCEA (one of the core roles of the senior Pouako) would add to the competitive nature among boys.  We have annual goals around endorsement (L1 3 x Exc + 21 x Mer : L2 5 x Exc + 20 x Mer : L3 3 x Exc + 6 x Mer) - we will need boys to be better represented to gain these rates.  

Opportunities and expectations around internal assessments are key.  Are boys not taking the opportunities for 'sign posting' or re-submissions or resits?  Teachers having real conversations about the high expectations for our boys is key.  Are we pushing our boys and creating that environment of excellence?  In ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4 : Responsive curriculum, effective teaching and opportunity to learn "teachers and students co-construct realistic and challenging learning goals..." 

This post is related to RTC #1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga." And RTC #7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment part ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga.  And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4.

Building Resilience

The Risks Of Praise

There was an interesting article in the Herald on Sunday which challenged the notion of positive praise for students.  It makes for a good read and an excellence source for discussion on teaching and learning.

I like educational articles in newspapers.  You see everyone is a self appointed expert, everyone has been through the schooling system.  I find myself liking this article too, but I think that it can be misused...

University of Melbourne's Professor Stephen Dinham has urged teachers to ditch untested learning styles - including glowing praise and shying away from giving bad marks - if they wanted children to succeed.
That included "self-boosting" where students were saturated in "rampant positivity".

I think that our NZ Curriculum works well with the wider education of the child (the core 'Values' of "excellence, innovation, inquiry, and curiosity").  I like to think that most teachers have a good instincts for pushing and encouraging our students.

Giving children regular, constructive feedback about how to improve was a better policy, he said.
"We need to say to kids that they can do this, they can't do that but to move their learning forward they need to do this, that or the other. What we don't say is you're good or bad at something," said Dinham.
This reinforced a valuable message that effort brought reward.

This is where I believe the notion of 'growth mindset' comes into play (see my posting on Dr Carol Dweck here).  The idea that we can build into our teaching practice that students can achieve more if they're in the frame of mind that they can grow.

This post is related to RTC#1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga." And RTC#6. "Conceptualise, plan and implement an appropriate learning programme i. articulate clearly the aims of their teaching, give sound professional reasons for adopting these aims, and implement them in their practice." 

Growth Mindsets

Checking Our Assumptions.
One of the most vivid memories of my first year I had as a teacher was Mr Flinders the teacher in the classroom next to me.  He can be best described as a *seasoned campaigner*, a likeable guy, respected by the students, but set in his ways.  I can clearly remember him saying to me "Justin - you just can't teach smarts".  These words impressed upon me - I liked these words. 

You see the idea was appealing to me - it provided me with a quick mantra that I could use to deflect.  If my classes struggled with the content... "you just can't teach smarts." 

It was deficit thinking in action.  I've seen the same idea presented a million ways...

• "The family don't value education",
• "Those students they'll get a job in the factory they don't need my subject",
• "I taught the brother/sister - this guys just the same"...

We see it getting engrained.  Parents at teacher interviews "I never could do it when I as at school".  Teachers in the staff room "I had that class last year - good luck with them".  Even in the students themselves. 

I think that we need to check these thoughts.  I think that we need to move away from them and value the essence of improvement through education.

Dr Carol Dweck created a very interesting set of work covering this idea under the notion of *Mindset*.  She identifies a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.

Here is a illustration of her idea...






 This post relates to RTC # 8. demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.