The effects of teachers’ thinking that underpins the selection of teaching actions to effectively engage underachieving boys in writing in a primary school setting

Abstract

At the centre of this thesis is the need to understand how teachers, in the midst of a busy curriculum, and with the many challenges they must face in every classroom, were addressing the needs of underachieving boys in writing. Thus, the purpose of the research was to examine teacher perceptions of the factors leading to underachieving boys in their classes being disengaged, and the actions and approaches taken in response to this. The issue was identified from my own personal experience in teaching in primary schools in three different countries, and where and the data in each school showed boys' engagement and achievement in writing, was lagging behind the girls. Three primary school teachers participated in this research, and each had underachieving students in their classes. Boys made up the majority of these groups. The teachers completed a questionnaire (Appendix 1), which included ratings data and response questions, and took part in a semi structured interview (Appendix 2). When the data was analysed, the findings revealed that there are many factors that impact the selection of teaching actions and approaches to engage underachieving boys in writing. Some commonality between was identified, and all teachers used a range of teaching actions and approaches. Some common themes emerging included the teachers believing that the hardest factor to change is the view boys have of themselves as writers, and that they were often not interested, or engaged, by what they were being asked to write about in class. Implications for teaching and learning revealed that enhancing the opportunity for student voice and choice, within the writing program, may be a way of increasing boys' engagement in writing. Another implication was that school wide direction and leadership may impact on the autonomy of teachers to take effective action.