Promoting High Academic Expectations for Boys and Girls: Classroom Dynamics

1. Stock photos: Search boys at school vs girls at school in stock photos. • Boys pictures show boys behind desks focused and studying • Girls pictures depict girls standing smiling looking pretty or ‘attractive’ (caption language) • What does this suggest about academic study? • Does this tie in with your own experiences of boys and girls attitudes to academic study?

2. Promoting consistent high expectations irrespective of gender Is it just semantics? • Consistent = to do something in the same way over time, especially to be fair or accurate • High = great, or greater than normal • Expectations = a strong belief that something will happen or be the case How do we measure these?

3. Promoting consistent high expectations irrespective of gender Can you think of students that you have worked with that showed these qualities? What questions would you ask of these students? Which student is targeted 5 & 7? What strategies would you use with the disengaged and unmotivated student? Which type of student takes more of your time and energy? Is this disproportionate when considering the bigger picture of the class/school? • Information about these case studies • Mixed ability class • GCSE year • 9 lessons a fortnight • Same teacher every lesson • Teaching strategy – Teach to the Top and use scaffolds to ensure success for all • Boys • One target grade 5 • One target grade 7 • Ready to learn behaviour system: Be polite, be prepared, work hard • Engaged and motivated • Completes homework • Attends every revision session • Attends aiming higher lectures • Asks questions regularly • Doing well across the school • Motivated • High attendance • Ignores peer pressure to participate in any off task behaviour • Mum is supportive • Disengaged and unmotivated • Never completes homework • Never attends revision sessions • Never asks questions or for help • Doing well in PE • Poor attendance • Promotes off-task behaviour and attempts to undermine learning and the teacher • Sees lack of effort as a badge of honour • Mum has missed appointments

4. Step 1: Awareness What factors determine if we are ALL having consistent high expectations? • Have a common framework for what high expectations look like (across faculty and at a whole school level) • Explore our own unconscious bias • Examine our conscious biases in relation to classes and individual students • Explore the language we use when discussing students and our expectations of them – is the language gendered? Discussion: Can you use these points to promote awareness in your setting?

5. Step 2 - Teaching to the Top What does this mean? • From Tom Sherrington https://teacherhead.com/2017/05/28/teaching-to-the-top-attitudes-and-strategies-for-delivering-real-challenge/ “The secret to doing this well is to think about it in three areas of teaching practice: • Attitudes:  The belief and mindsets teachers need to have themselves and inculcate in their students. This influences everything else. • Routines/Habits:  The things you do all the time, in every lesson. • Extra Challenges: Things you build into an overall scheme of work and use occasionally.” How can we habitually create these conditions in our settings?

6. Step 2 – Promoting attitudes for consistent high aspirations You • How does your attitude affect the chances of the class? • Do you believe every student can achieve highly? The Students • Have you identified areas where students attitudes are affecting their outcomes? • Are they aware of a) the reasons for their attitude affecting outcome or b) aware of their attitude? • What do they need to do to change this? You • How do you raise the bar in terms of achievement? You determine the weather. If you believe that the students can do it, they will believe they can do it, then they will attempt meet these high expectations. Consistently setting high expectations creates an ethos of high challenge and low threat as this is the default expectation for all irrespective of gender.

7. Step 2 – Creating routines/habits to promote consistent high aspirations • What routines are in place in your class that show you expect immediate learning to take place? • Do you habitually use inter-leaving to get students to recall information from previous units and topics? • How do you question students? Do you default to a certain style and is this most beneficial to challenge? • Are there any routines that have become superfluous? • What do students expect from your lessons? To think hard or to know everything? If you are organised and consistent students will perform to the best of their ability. Chaos and disorganisation will lead to students who are unable to perform to the highest standards.

8. Step 2 – Creating extra challenges to promote consistent high aspirations • What would you class as extra challenge in your lesson, subject area or on a whole school level? • How do students know when they should push themselves to do this? • Is extra challenge ensuring over-learning has taken place? • How do you balance extra-challenge with support? • Should extra challenge be in every lesson? • What do you think of the idea that students should be exploring in a lesson - 80% learning that has already taken place – 20% new learning or information? Is this counter-intuitive when thinking about stretch and challenge?

9. Step 3 - Challenge Irrespective of the role you have in school. If you recognise that: Attitudes, Routines/Habits and Extra Challenges are missing or need to change, adapt or evolve. How can you challenge this and ensure that all students are expected to aim to the top? It is easy to get ‘bogged’ down in the day to day tasks, to make excuses for not challenging ideas or processes that are established or to go with the status quo, but there is often a solution that can be implemented and which will promote high expectations.

10. Step 4 – Examine your own cohortA Survey on Motivation I surveyed a combination of two classes (26 students), from year 10, after they had completed their GCSE for English Literature. I asked them (anonymously): • Gender • What motivates them? Teacher, Friends, Parents, Yourself & Other • Why does this motivate you? • How much independent revision have you done? • Do you feel this was: enough/not enough • Why do you feel this way? • Why did you choose to revise this way? • How helpful was the revision guidance you received? • What does success look like to you? • Which subjects do you feel most successful in and why? • Least successful in and why? • If you could change something about your own motivation what would it be and why? • Tips for teachers:

11. Step 4 - The survey results on motivation • Boys are more motivated by themselves and less influenced by peers. • Girls are slightly more motivated by a combination of factors: peers, themselves, teachers and parents. • Why? A combination of reasons, but wanting to do well for themselves was common • Most students said they had completed a lot of revision recently. Interestingly, boys were more likely to start early (January with revision) or do little to none, than girls. This suggests girls revise more consistently across the board than boys. Some boys have no motivation to revise at all, while others have high motivation to start early. • The majority of students felt they had completed enough revision with an equal and lower amount thinking they had not done enough. • Students felt this way mainly as they had done enough and felt confident in the exam. While, some were concerned that they had not learnt the quotes or memorised enough prior to the exam. • Students revised this way as they wanted to remember the information and get it stuck in their heads. Some just weren’t bothered at all. • Revision advice was either very useful or useful for the majority of students, but some felt they had too many resources or options to choose from. (They had whole school, tutor time, assembly and subject specific revision advice) For some the amount of resources was overwhelming. • Unsurprisingly, students liked the subjects that they felt they were getting good grades in and that they feel successful with. • Students, equally felt their least favourite subjects were the ones that they ‘didn’t get’ or that they found really hard.

12. Step 4 - Promoting consistent high expectations irrespective of gender Final question from the motivation survey Tips for teachers: • Less homework – we have enough revision • Ask quiet students if they are okay? • Be more positive • Support • Don’t pressure people • Don’t remind them about what might go wrong • Individual goals and targets are set for student • Revision guides • Importance of the GCSEs • Let them know what is best for them • More help after school • Be more positive • Ask students

13. Step 5 – Examine and apply lessons learnt about our own context • What can we take away from this survey: • Every student is an individual • Students respond to different targets and stimuli • Positivity is key • Students value help and support • Students value knowing how to revise • Consistency and boundaries are helpful • Helping students feel confidence is key • Most students want to do well: both boys and girls • Success is a key factor to motivation, so if we can help students feel successful we are going to help with their motivation

14. Step 6 – Read the research and apply itBoys Don’t Try – Rethinking Masculinity in Schools This is a really interesting and well-researched read on the subject of high expectations irrespective of gender Since reading I’ve: • Used the book to inform this workshop • Reflected on the tone I use towards boys & girls and whether it is the same or not • Explored my own tolerance levels in the classroom (sensitivity to noise etc.) • Considered differences relating to cultural norms • Closely considered my conscious and unconscious biases • Reflected on class by class and individual by individual basis whether my expectations are equitable • Discussed with my team all of the above • Am using the book to inform my whole staff sharing slot

15. Step 6 - Boys Don’t Try – unpicking the research into gender based assumptions in learning This is a really interesting and well-researched read on the subject of high expectations irrespective of gender • Debunks myths such as competition is healthy for boys & encourages us to treat boys and girls exactly the same: “Teach boys in exactly the same way as you teach girls. High Challenge. High Expectations. No gimmicks. No shortcuts.” • Encourages us to look at our biases: Myhill and Jones survey “a sizeable majority of both sexes felt that teachers treat boys more negatively than girls.” • To look at the cumulative effect of setting on boys: “Reconsider setting” Mary Myatt High Expectations, Low Effort “do away with the word ‘ability’ altogether, in favour of the more neutral and more accurate, ‘attaining’”

16. The 6 steps to promoting consistent high expectations in the classroom irrespective of gender Step 1 – Awareness – be aware of the bias individually and collectively Step 2 – Teaching to the Top – actively promote excellence through attitudes, routines and habits and extra challenges Step 3 – Challenge – at a whole school level, department and individual level Step 4 – Examine your own cohort – teacher (individual and class by class basis), MLT – Cohort and Team level, SLT – whole school level Step 5 – Examine and apply lessons learnt about your own context Step 6 – Read the research and apply it These steps don’t work in isolation, they are part of a larger whole school strategic approach to redefining or challenging what we expect from our students without limiting them by gender, race, pupil premium or any other label.

17. Promoting consistent high expectations irrespective of gender My final questions would be: What will you take away from today? How will it help you continue to promote consistent high expectations irrespective of gender?

18. Promoting consistent high expectations irrespective of gender Thank you for listening and discussing. I hope that this has been interesting and relevant. You can find me on twitter @susansenglish or read more ideas on my blog susansenglish@wordpress.com