Comparison of teacher talk directed to boys and girls and its relationship to their behaviour in secondary and primary schools

Abstract

Educational Studies 0305-5698 (print)/1465-4300 (online) Original Article 2010 Taylor & Francis 00 0 0000002010 AlexHarrop a.harrop@ljmu.ac.ukThere have been a number of earlier investigations, using differing methodologies, into the extent to which teachers in the secondary school interact with boys and girls and the results have suggested an imbalance in the teachers' verbal behaviour towards the genders that is quite similar to the imbalance found in teachers' behaviour in the primary school. The main aim of this study was to devise an investigation using the same methodology as that used in a recent primary school investigation in order to be able to make a fair comparison between the two levels.The results showed considerable differences in the teachers' verbal behaviour towards the genders in the secondary school from that of teachers in the primary school. Where the primary school data showed teachers interacting more with the boys than the girls and the boys being less on-task than the girls, the secondary school data showed no such differences. IntroductionIn an article reviewing research on "gender equity", Bailey (1993), noted that since the 1970s there had been reports of teachers giving more attention to boys than girls at all levels, ranging from elementary through secondary classrooms to university lecture halls. Later, Kelly (1988) completed a meta-analysis of more than 80 studies with similar findings. More recently, Howe, in a report on gender differences in classroom interaction, commissioned by the Scottish Office, Education and Industry Department, discussed the results of a number of studies, noting, amongst other findings, that the most striking aspect was "that contributions from boys predominate during classroom interaction" (1997, 42). Moreover, she noted that boys received a greater percentage of negative feedback than did girls. Again, Jones and Dinda (2004), in the USA, completed a meta-analysis from 32 studies across the age range and found teachers interacting more with the male pupils than with the female pupils and having more negative interactions with the males than the females, but not more positive interactions.In the primary school, there have been two large-scale investigations in Britain and these have produced conflicting results. Mortimore et al. (1988) noted more communication between teachers and boys than between teachers and girls, the main difference being that the boys received more criticism and neutral comments about their behaviour. The boys were given more supervision, particularly as feedback,

Effects of professional development on teachers' gendered feedback patterns, students' misbehaviour and students' sense of equity: results from a one‐year quasi‐experimental study

“…The codebook was based on the recurring codes in three recent studies (cf. Myhill, ; Younger & Warrington, ; Harrop & Swinson, ). Teacher‐initiated behaviours as well as student‐initiated behaviours were coded.…”

Does gender matter? A cross-national investigation of primary class-room discipline

“…In addition to explaining why such a 'gap' is present, there have been attempts at designing strategies to close the gap, such as utilizing different teaching styles, making the classroom a more competitive environment; and recruiting more male teachers (Carrington et al 2007;Thornton and Bricheno 2006;Skelton 2003). But in the case of gender matching, research argues that the gender of the teacher does not aid pupil achievement nor increase their motivation in learning (Beaman, Wheldall, and Kemp 2006;Becker 1981;Harrop and Swinson 2011;Jungwirth 1991;Lahelma 2000;Mortimore et al 1988). The presence of more male teachers does not enhance the educational achievement, or motivation levels, of boys (Carrington et al, 2008;Martin and Yin 1997).…”

El Rol del Género en las Interacciones Pedagógicas de Aulas de Matemática Chilenas

“…Relacionado con esto, Swinson y Harrop (2009) encontraron que en primaria los niños varones reciben más comunicaciones verbales, tanto de aprobación como de desaprobación, y que presentan niveles más bajos de conducta "on task" que sus pares de género femenino. Sin embargo, aquellas diferencias no se observan en secundaria, por lo que concluyen que un importante factor en las diferencias en el grado de interacción con niñas y niños es el desafío conductual que supone para los docentes la conducta "off task" de los alumnos en primaria (Harrop & Swinson, 2011). Algunos autores sugieren también que las diferencias en las interacciones de aula se deberían principalmente a que los niños inician mayor número de interacciones con sus profesores que las niñas (Altermatt, Jovanovic & Perry, 1998;Eccles & Blumenfeld, 1985).…”

“…Una explicación alternativa -que se podría comprobar en un estudio futuro con la misma evidencia analizada en este trabajo-sería que los alumnos dominan las interacciones en el aula, independientemente de las prácticas docentes (Altermatt et al, 1998;Eccles & Blumenfeld, 1985) y que, en particular, se trata de unos pocos alumnos que dominan las discusiones y reciben mucha más atención que todo el resto de los estudiantes, siendo responsables de las altas frecuencias de interacciones con estudiantes de género masculino encontradas a nivel de aula (Croll, 1985;Eccles 1989;French & French, 1984;Sadker & Sadker, 1985). Por otro lado, es plausible suponer que la mayor interacción con estudiantes de género masculino no se debe fundamentalmente a una mayor necesidad de los docentes de controlar su conducta, como sugieren algunas investigaciones internacionales (Beaman, Wheldall & Kemp, 2006;Harrop & Swinson, 2011), pues las diferencias de género aquí observadas parecen permear de manera más general las interacciones en las aulas analizadas.…”