Reading achievement in PISA 2006 - gender still on the agenda

1. Reading achievement in PISA 2006 - gender still on the agenda Presentation to PISA National Symposium, April 2008, Croke Park, Dublin Dr. Brian Murphy, Education Department, University College Cork, Ireland

2. PISA findings for reading literacy in Ireland with respect to the gender variable • “Females obtained significantly higher mean reading literacy scores than males in all participating countries” (Eivers et al. 2007, p. 22) • In PISA 2006 this familiar and consistent trend re-emerged with respect to reading achievement in Ireland GIRLS BOYS GAP PISA 2000 542 513 29 PISA 2003 530 501 29 PISA 2006 534 500 34 • Over twice the number of boys scored at or below the lowest level of reading proficiency (level 1) GIRLS BOYS GAP PISA 2000 8.3% 13.5.% 5.2% PISA 2003 7.7% 14.3% 6.6% PISA 2006 7.7% 16.7% 9 %

3. Trends re gender and reading from PISA 2000, 2003 & 2006 • In all OECD countries girls recorded higher levels of engagement and interest in reading and higher levels of performance in reading literacy Girls: • Perform better on reading both main types of texts – but especially on continuous text • Report reading a more diverse range of materials (beyond newspaper, magazines and comics especially fiction) • Read more frequently for leisure • Hold a more positive attitude to reading

4. Trends re gender and reading from PISA 2000, 2003 & 2006 • High percentage of males who never read fictionfor leisure (33.1% boys v. 18.9% girls, PISA 2003) • Girls outperformed boys on the three reading process subscales (reflect/evaluate, interpret, retrieve) • Largest difference (37.2 points) on the reflect/evaluate scale • Smallest (22.3) on the retrieve scale (PISA 2003 findings cited in Shiel 2006, p. 88)

5. Clear reality emerging… What is clear is that across OECD nations girls of all social classes and of a majority of ethnic groups outstrip the achievement of their male counterparts at language and literacy (Francis, 2006)

6. Summary of issue…Core dimensions… • An international and Irish problem with boys’ achievement in schooling generally • Boys more likely than girls to have specific problems with basic literacy • Significant gender differences in text choice, amount of time and enthusiasm given to reading

7. Summary of issue…Core dimensions… • As they progress through school reading seen as an activity more appropriate to girls than boys and differences widen (Smith & Wilhelm 2002, Millard 1997) • Boys failing to make proper progress in literacy and their peer cultures and school contexts exacerbate their difficulties (Hall & Coles, 2001, p. 212) across the developed world • Gap appears to be widening of late

8. In summary… “…language - both talk and the in-school business of literacy - is not something boys need or want to see themselves good at, it is not something which interests them, not something they DO.” (Carr & Pauwels 2006, p. 168)

9. Important caveats to the overall discussion • Boys not a homogenous group - no such thing as a generic boy • Some boys, certain boys and not all boysare underachieving and not all girls are outperforming boys • Particular problem with in-school language and literacy practices as boys identified to engage powerfully with a range of out-of-school literacy practices rarely drawn upon in classrooms

10. Important caveats to the overall discussion • Gender one of a range of factors that impact on educational attainment. Impact of other variables e.g. ethnicity but particularly socio-economic status • Gender as a social construct, shaped by larger cultural, institutional and material processes • Conditions and performance of gender dictated by a variety of material, social and psychological and individual life circumstances

11. One model of explanation 3 dominant discourses to the general boys and school achievement issue (Epstein et al. 1998) • Pity the poor boys(assertive women, female teachers and the feminised nature of schooling to blame) • Failing schools failing boys(schools are ineffective and not responding appropriately to their students) • Boys will be boys(biological discourse – deterministic understanding that this is the way boys are; disengaged, anti-school)

12. An alternative model • Traditional binary model more generally used to rationalise the issue • Position encapsulated in the Sé Sí – Gender in Irish Education reportin the following quote: • “It is difficult to assess the extent to which this reflects innate dispositions towards different subject areas and the extent to which it arises as a consequence of socialisation and social conditioning.” (DES 2007, p.4)

13. Binary model of explanation Difference in learning/language learning between boys and girls has been attributed to two broad headings (nature/nurture debate) • The essentialist (nature) position A biological/neurological/physiological argument where gender/gender difference is a matter of biology and biological sex

14. Binary model of explanation • The anti-essentialist (nurture) position The individual learner as socially constituted and socially situated negotiating cultural and material circumstances A socio-cultural argument where gender/gender difference is about socially constructed maleness and femaleness and performance of same (gender=verb, are/have but also do gender)

15. Further explanations: Binary model + • Essentialist (nature) position • Anti-essentialist (nurture) position In conjunction with specific dimensions generally labelled… • Identified gendered reading behaviours • School and curriculum factors • Home background factors

16. Some identified responses • No one-size-fits all strategy…about changing ways of thinking rather than prescribing ways of doing… • The essentialist response… • The anti-essentialist response…

17. A middle ground response A balanced middle-ground emerging comprising: • A richer diet of text • A richer diet of text activity • The ‘transformative’ or ‘rhizomatic’ literacy pedagogical framework (Rowan et al. 2002) • Embraces use of digital texts and popular culture as ‘counter narratives’ • Requires deconstruction of many assumptions associated with boys, essentialist views of literacy, technology and popular culture through text and practice

18. Remembering… • Long-term work! • Concern with boys’ achievement in language around for centuries • “Boys have always underachieved in relation to the learning of languages.” (Maynard 2002, p. 17) • Mentioned as far back as John Locke’s treatise ‘Some Thoughts Concerning Education’ (1693)

19. Remembering… • DES 2007 presents recent gender statistics “in the interests of evidence-informed policy analysis” (p. 1) with a view to contributing to: • “…informed public debate and to stimulate reflection, discussion and further research on educational and gender issues.” (DES 2007, p. 12) • Taking up the remit here and addressing the gap begins now!