An eventful week with more boys’ nonsense

The debate around single sex versus co-education has been in the press again this last week with more unhelpful comments from another high profile figure in the independent sector.  This time it was Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) and former head of Harrow School.  Whilst he is undoubtedly a champion for the sector, I was dismayed by his blog attributing the gender attainment gap and disproportionate numbers of applications to universities to boys being lazier than girls, arrogant about their abilities and girls being ‘keener to please the teacher than boys’.

This is unhelpful.  It stereotypes boys – and girls – and creates a damaging and potentially self-fulfilling expectation of boys.  Whilst, I would always decry arrogance and advocate hard work as a key factor in any success, Mr Lenon’s comments ignore some of the more challenging and fundamental issues for boys’ education.

Pleasing the teacher is not the same as learning.  We need to explore whether an education system has evolved that is more suited to girls than it is to boys. An approach to teaching and learning that is less engaging and rewarding for boys and that plays more readily to girls and their dispositions.

The seeds of this may have been inadvertently sown last century as we sought – rightly, I must add – to create more gender equality in our society and schools.  However, a post-feminist fear of political incorrectness mustn’t stop us from asking the difficult question as to whether in education the pendulum has swung too far and to the disadvantage of boys.

We should be working to attract more males to the teaching profession particularly in the primary sector.  This is not to secure some arbitrary equality quota.  It is so that boys don’t perceive schools as places that are more important or relevant to females and which can subsequently create in them a subconscious ‘school is for girls’ mentality.

Let me also be clear that I am not suggesting that female teachers are less capable of teaching boys than their male counterparts.  Far from it.  Come and look round Newcastle School for Boys and you will see male and female teachers equally skilled in teaching boys.  I’m quite often asked by prospective parents what, as a boys’ school, is our ratio of male to female teachers.  The honest answer is I don’t really know.  In recruitment terms, I’m blind to it.  We simply appoint the best teacher for our boys.  For the record and having checked, we have 28 male teachers and 17 female.

The ways in which courses are structured and assessed, particularly at GCSE, where the gender performance gap is greatest, is less suited to boys and how they learn.  It has often been argued that the proliferation of coursework in recent years favoured conscientious girls keen to please by spending hours on a task.  It will be interesting to observe in the next few years if the Gove-led return to the traditional terminal exam format will help boys to close the performance gap.

We also have to challenge teachers to think carefully about the ways in which learning can be transmitted to try where possible to engage boys through their preferred visual and practical channels rather than simply through traditional auditory routes.  On this note, I was more heartened to read last week coverage of the research of NHS psychotherapist Dr Martin Seagar and American psychologist Christina Hoff Sommers echoing some of the views about boys and learning that I had expressed in my New Year’s blog.

There was also lots of focus on league tables last week following their publication by the government on Thursday.  Whilst I share the view of most Heads that league tables can be misleading – not least because these ones don’t recognise the international GCSE (IGCSE) – it was still gratifying to see Newcastle School for Boys ranked as the fourth best school in the region for GCSE results – behind three single-sex girls’ schools.

Heads frequently comment on the range of roles they have to fulfil.  Although the diversity of the Head’s role is very stimulating, it can be particularly demanding at certain times.   So it’s been another busy week in school.

Also emphasising the School’s continued growth and development was the strong field of candidates who assembled for our entrance and scholarship exams last Friday and Saturday.  Demand for places in some year groups is now beginning to outstrip current supply.  The sad announcement last week of the closure of Sunderland High School due to falling pupil numbers is a stark reminder of the challenges faced by our sector and the regional economy.

It was very encouraging to see so many parents from across the School’s age range attend our internet safety talk delivered by Graeme Hallam, our Senior School pastoral deputy head, and Ian Clennell of Clennell Education Solutions and formerly part of Newcastle City Council’s safeguarding team.

As I argued in my blog last week, as technology and its impact on our children’s lives continues to accelerate, this presents a difficult but important challenge for parents and schools looking to guide their children and keep them safe.  Our best chance of doing this is in educating ourselves and being as aware and as informed as we can be.

The recognition of the growing importance of this issue for parents is reflected in the fact that when we held a similar event 5 years ago, only a handful of parents were motivated to attend.

My week also included a governors’ meeting that reminded me just how valuable it is to have such a committed and focussed group of volunteers who, unsung, bring an array of expertise to the direction, leadership and further development of our school.

Similarly, the parents’ association who also met last week.  Their hard work raised £800 for the School at the juniors and infants Halloween party last term.  Given early demand for tickets, I have no doubt that our 10th anniversary ball at The Discovery Museum on Saturday 7th May will also be very successful.  And as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also committed to running an event for boys in Years 7, 8 and 9 in March – details to follow in the newsletter.