“Michael can’t read!” Teachers’ gender stereotypes and boys’ reading self-concept.

Abstract

According to expectancy-value theory, the gender stereotypes of significant others such as parents, peers, or teachers affect students' competence beliefs, values, and achievement-related behavior. Stereotypically, gender beliefs about reading favor girls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether teachers' gender stereotypes in relation to reading-their belief that girls outperform boys-have a negative effect on the reading self-concept of boys, but not girls. We drew on a longitudinal study comprising two occasions of data collection: toward the beginning of Grade 5 (T1) and in the second half of Grade 6 (T2). Our sample consisted of 54 teachers and 1,358 students. Using multilevel modeling, controlling for T1 reading self-concept, reading achievement, and school track, we found a negative association between teachers' gender stereotype at T1 and boys' reading self-concept at T2, as expected. For girls, this association did not yield a significant result. Thus, our results provide empirical support for the idea that gender differences in self-concept may be due to the stereotypical beliefs of teachers as significant others. In concluding, we discuss what teachers can do to counteract the effects of their own gender stereotypes.

Developmental patterns of relationships between inhibitory control and reading skill in early-school children

“…Some authors, accounting for methodological factors, claim that some evidence suggests that more boys score in the tail of the distribution, and hence they are consequently identified as poor readers (Flannery, Liederman, Daly, & Schultz, 2000). Others maintain that boys demonstrate greater variability in scores or perceive the cause of boys' backwardness in teachers' stereotypic attitudes (Retelsdorf, Schwartz, & Asbrock, 2015). However, this area of research has focused on reading generally; little research has been conducted on boys' variability in specific aspects of reading.…”

Socialisation de genre et construction des identités sexuées

“…Des études récentes relèvent également des différences de comportements des enseignants dans le cadre de l'éducation physique et sportive (Couchot-Schiex, 2013) et le jeu des interactions genrées entre enseignants et élèves (Amade-Escot, 2005 ;Guerandel, 2014 ;Vinson & Amade-Escot, 2014). En outre, les représentations qu'ont les enseignants à propos des compétences académiques des garçons et des filles influencent le sentiment de compétences des élèves (Gunderson, Ramirez, Levine et al, 2012 ;Retelsdorf, Schwartz & Asbrock, 2015).…”

Volitional Strategies Through Metacognitive Development in Fostering Reading Motivation

“…A study by Marsh and Martin (2011) evinces that self-concept on academic achievement affect to one's ability. More specifically, experts reveal that self-concept of reading is strongly associated with reading skills (Marsh & Carven, 2006;Valentine & DuBois, 2005;De Naeghel et al, 2012;Retelsdorf, Köller, & Möller, 2014;Retelsdorf, Schwartz, & Asbrock, 2015;Viljaranta, Kiuru, Lerkkanen, Silinskas, Poikkeus, & Nurmi, 2016). In addition, reading motivation is also linked to the desire to improve reading skills.…”