Students Experiences of Schooling

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Students Experiences of Schooling

• An investigation of students perceptions of
• themselves, their friends, the school,
• their teachers, extra-curricula activities,
• the opposite sex, their families,
• and their life after school.

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Rationale for the Study

• To examine the schooling experience of boys and
  girls to determine whether boys were being
  marginalized in schools as has been raised by the
  debate surrounding the male marginalization
  theory.

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Methodology

• To adopt a broad canvas in asking students to
  talk about their lives so that as much as
  possible about the differences and commonalities
  would emerge within and between gender groups

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Sample - 6 Secondary Schools

• All-girls, 7-year, denominational school 5
  students
• All-boys, 7-year, government school - 5
  students
• Co-ed, 7-year, denominational school
  (Tobago) - 5 students
• Co-ed, 7-year, government school - 5
  students
• Co-ed, 7-year senior comprehensive school -
  5 students
• Co-ed, 7-year senior comprehensive school
  (Tobago)
• - 5 students

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Questions Guiding Data Analysis

• What are they learning about themselves?
• What are they learning about relating to others?
• What are they learning about the schools
  assessment of gender relations?

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Issues raised by the Study

• A range of masculinities and femininities
• Overlapping ideas about schooling, friends, the
  opposite sex, aspirations and views of themselves
• A continuum of masculinities and femininities.
• Conceptions of masculinities among boys may be
  marginalizing some boys.

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A Range of Masculinities
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1. Hard Core

• Well, I just like myself. I dont say like any
  particular trait, like an identified trait, but
  like I could just say that I love myself. I dont
  really care what anybody else have to say about
  me in a way.
• girls are there in the lessons class you know,
  you talk to them like anybody else, I treat as
  I am treated, so you know, if you stay away from
  me, I will stay away from you

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A Range of Masculinities
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2. Popular Guys

• As a teenager you know, you should have a
  girlfriend, you should be in a relationship and
  if you are one who does not have a girlfriend,
  then you will be not one of the group.
• My friends say that I am very humourous and I
  like to make jokes a lot. I dont really have a
  best friend as such, but I have a group of
  friends who are pretty much mature persons as
  well, and we all laugh an ting together

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A Range of Masculinities
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Nice Boys

• Is like peace, to know that my family is okay,
  like sometimes my parents will quarrel and ting
  and I kinda worry to know that the two of them
  not fighting, or sometimes that they not
  ashamed or vex by the way I behave..
• There are a lot of people that think that I am
  bright and they think that I will be very
  successful and if I am not then what would they
  think of me, what will happen to me, how will my
  life turn out?

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A Range of Masculinities
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Spoiled Boys

• I like to help him and he will help me, so, it
  goes both ways and it is not a one way friendship
  and well we are close, and he is a real nice
  fella.
• people have no respect for me, because you
  know some people will really provoke you. these
  people just dont respect me, and they want to
  play they coming up to me and tell me, if they
  do me anything or tell me anything, I will not
  stay there and take it, I will fight, I will

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A Range of Femininities
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1 The cream of the crop

• Well the thing is it hasnt been influenced by
  this school. I have always had opinions in my
  head. When I want something done, I done it. And
  the thing is, in this school, they try to
  suppress you for it
• some of the teachers are really good, I mean
  with some of them you have to try and be patient
  because they might be new or they mightnt
  understand what they doing..

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A Range of Femininities
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2. The complete woman

• Yes, I like school. It is the environment is
  very good for a person to become their self and
  to create their own personality.
• I know everybody in school man. To me you could
  lime with any group of friends and still be an
  individual. Once you remember who you are and
  what you come to school for, that is the most
  important thing.

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A Range of Femininities
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3. A people person

• I am a very loving, caring person, always looking
  out for my friends. They could talk about
  anything with me.
• Everyday you get to meet new people, if it is not
  my friends introducing me to them or I just
  meeting them by just seeing them and talking to
  them. Everyday you know you pass and you see
  somebody and you talk to them, like you ask them
  what is the time and then you would end up
  saying well starting some conversation

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A Range of Femininities
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4. A good girl

• Most of the children tend to be not that well in
  maths but Im trying to make an effort towards
  it. And French. Im good at reading it but
  actually to write it in translation, its a bit
  difficult.
• I find boys to be very interesting. Because they
  are different to us but they are the same.
  Besides physical, dey have the same feelings but
  they dont really show it

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Masculinities Femininities
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IMPLICATIONS

• Masculinities
• Most masculinities are school oriented
• Alternative masculinities - the new vocationalism
• Low achieving boys are at risk
• Co-educational schools and Boys
• Homophobia persists
• Male marginalization - conflict between
  masculinities?

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IMPLICATIONS

• Femininities
• Single sex schools attitudes to males
• School is not a sociable or humane place said
  by all girls in all types of schools (boys too)
• Low achieving girls are at risk especially those
  who feel that to be a female one has to be
  ladylike they are quietly failing

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Recommendations

• (1) Disengagement with school. The students
  themselves are suggesting that schools should
• be more respectful of their abilities and not
  expect them to perform creditably especially when
  teachers deliver boring lessons and do not
  recognize them as persons
• should encompass music, computers and electronics
  in ways that youth can relate to Boys
• have more sports for everyone, and more school
  activities so that they can interact with a wider
  range of students and teachers
• be less like institutions (e.g. prisons) and
  attempt to recognize and cater to the varieties
  of boys and girls who are present.

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Recommendations

• (2) Need for more in-depth studies on a sustained
  basis, to ensure
• with-it-ness. Such studies ought to have a
  within types of school and across types of
  school focus.