Finally a start to Module 3

Findings from my Observations of Male Practitioners from Cross Curricular

 

I started to observe the performing art subjects but realised that we use a lot of the same methods to engage boys at KS3 and 4 level and we are all Female Practitioners. I wanted to see how boys are motivated and how they react differently to a Male Practitioner in a different area of the school. I asked a few Male members of staff. I asked 3 from 3 different areas. RE (they have to take this at GCSE) MATHS (they have to take this at GCSE) then I went in DT ( an option which is against the performing arts lessons when they get to KS4). I went see them teach KS3 then KS4. My findings was at KS3 the boys were motivated how we motivate them within the performing arts by competition  and being able to work with their friends. In DT a lot of independent learning was being seen and the students had ownership over their own learning this is exactly the same for KS4. The DT lesson in KS4 had less competition to it. Students were engaged by creating and making and engaging with their own learning. They were being left to their own devices and being independent. Which we don’t do in the performing arts unless they are working on an evaluation or Solo piece. As Drama, Dance and music all work with you being a team player when creating and devising maybe its something we could introduce within KS4. So they are more independent.  Maths and RE lesson there was no difference between KS3 and 4. They worked from a desk had Questions to figure out and they didn’t work in groups. I found this very strange seeing this as the students work very differently in this environment. They are pretty much silent there is no interaction with other students. I really thought that group work would have helped discover some of the answers then they could have gone off independently. To be honest the Maths and RE lessons didn’t help much they are both to far on the spectrum from Performing arts. So results from the seeing these lessons:

1. Students at KS3 level don’t act that much different within different subject areas.

2. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Male or Female practitioner they will work quite similar and both boys and girls both like competition against one another.

3. They like working with the same sex.

4. At KS4 both boys and girls are engaged by grade if they enjoy the subject both boys and girls are motivated by aspirations of what they will achieve from this lesson for their future.

5. Boys and girls I feel are less engaged at KS4 when they work independently I feel that students should work in groups even in Maths and RE I feel that their understanding of the subject or questioning being asked would help. Then they should work independently.  

 

What will I implement into my Lessons?

1.       I will let students work in their groups from now on and see how it works I know they are given a lot more freedom in Performing Arts subjects so I might put more expectations in place.

2.       I would like to add more competition to my lesson as I feel this will add more engagement and motivation for the boys. Also the girls will want to be better than the boys so this will engage them as well.

 

Teach meet conference

I did attend a Teach meet conference in the week where I went to a seminar on Boys, Boys, Boys, We was given a hand-out that would help us with boys motivation and engagement this was separated into sections. Relevance, consistent, competitiveness, Engagement, What drives students and general points that engage boys. I had a conversation with the Female teacher at the end of the seminar and asked her what she taught she teaches Music she is Head of Music I ask her where she got this information from she has completed a Masters in Boys motivation. Below are some the key points I am going to take into my lessons from this seminar.

1.       Relevant: Boys are typically more interested in learning if they understand why they are learning and how this well effect them in their future.

2.       Consistent: Make sure boys are aware of your expectations and rules. They like consistency and structure to a lesson. They fill more aware and comfortable if they know their expectations.

3.       Competitive: It is proven that boys work better when they work with friends as they feel comfortable to compete against other groups. Sometimes Girls VS Boys works but it is actually proven that this actually places a further gap between genders and is sometimes not positive.

4.       Student Driven by: Boys are engaged by doing and getting on task as soon as possible. They typically tend to have short term attention spans.

5.       Boys are engaged when:

·         Lessons are broken down in chunk size pieces.

·         They are allowed to think pair share before given an answer. This gets them tp practise the answer first then oral give their feedback.

·         Praising boys not in front of other students it’s not seen as being   ‘cool’

·         Working with their friends they will take more risks as they feel incredibly comfortable doing this around friends than peers.

6.       2 quotes that I have taken away:

·         ‘ For most boys, It is more important to be one of the lads than It to work in school. A common view is having a laugh or mucking about is what boys do well’ – Pickering, 2007 P.37

·         ‘Some girls work harder than boys and some boys work harder than girls. It all depends on whether they like the subject.’ – Wright, 2001, P.288

7.       Someone ask the question what about girls the Practitioner answered with the question it is proven that anything that works for boys motivation and engagement works for girls motivation and engagement.

This really helped me understand boys more and their engagements but my next question I asked her what was her up take after this for boys at KS4? She still has less boys than girls and pretty much the same percentage as what we have she has 20 students and only 6 of them are boys in her music class. So even doing all this at a KS3 level it’s still not motivating them to take it for KS4 subject. I think that I need to look into the option process within schools. I have a literature on the dying Performing arts subject within schools because of the English Bachelorette.

 

My next step Literature Review.