ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND TO THE ISSUE In education in the 1970s and 1980s, it was girls’ under-achievement in maths and science that was a major concern. This was successfully addressed by a range of initiatives targeted particularly at increasing girls’ access to these subjects, and girls began to match and, in some cases, outperform boys in all subjects. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the concern for girls’ education was replaced, in most anglophone nations (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, UK), with more strident debates about a perceived ‘underperformance’ by boys. Boys’ under-achievement in education in schools in general, and in literacy in particular, has become a global concern, evoking an anxious response from governments across the Western world. In England, primary girls’ literacy
INTRODUCTION This unit discusses the influence of gender on attitudes to schooling in general and the development of literacy in particular. While working through it, you will be asked to think carefully about the way in which society conveys its messages about what it means to be a boy or a girl and some strategies that you might adopt for ensuring that all pupils are encouraged to develop effective learning skills, irrespective of their gender.
