The Redland Papers, ISSN 1360 1334 - Issue Number 7, Summer 1998

The Redland Papers, ISSN 1360 1334 - Issue Number 7, Summer 1998 Contents:

 Editorial Lynn Raphael Reed

 Dolores Mullins: The Second Gender: A Study of the Impact of a Gender Studies Programme on a Group of Boys in a Single-Sex School

 Alison Taylor: Gender Differences in School Exchange Participation

 Ann Malindine: A Feminist Perspective within a Longitudinal Ethnography - some reflections on 'Sarah's Story'

 Kendra McMahon: Perceptions of Science and Gender in a Key Stage Two Class

 Ruth-Ellen Salisbury: Disclosure - Pupils and Teachers or 'Better to be 'sound' than female and mummsy-ish'

 Peter Charlesworth: Unhappy 10th Birthday- What's the fate of Section 28?

 BOOK REVIEWS:

o Gail Hawkes: A Sociology of Sex and Sexuality Reviewed by Wan Ching Yee

o Epstein, D., Elwood, J., Hey, V. and Maw, J. (Eds): Failing Boys? Issues in Gender and Achievement Reviewed by Gary Thomas Editors: Lynn Raphael Reed and David James Editorial Gender and sexuality are fundamental concepts in any understanding of modern life, whether we begin with broad political, economic or sociological concerns, or with an interest in particular issues to do with the family, health or medicine. Indeed, the predominance of reportage around such issues in the media, although not always accompanied by a convincing analysis, might alert us to the sense that there is considerable 'anxiety' around gender and sexuality in contemporary culture. On Wednesday 2nd December 1998, as just one illustration, The Daily Telegraph contained six related news items: one was about an inter-sex child and the legal battle to change a birth certificate from 'male' to 'female'; another was about the conviction of a gay rights campaigner who interrupted a sermon at Canterbury Cathedral as a protest against the Church's ban on 'practising homosexuals' marrying or being ordained; another reported the trial of an army private who allegedly raped a female recruit; an article reporting research on men's stress levels associated with Christmas shopping, recommending that women should do the whole of this task themselves; and a piece about how Lara Croft, the heroine of the Tomb Raider computer game, had been praised by Lord Salisbury at the Social Market Foundation in London, who wanted her 'to be an ambassador for British scientific excellence'. A recent example of this 'anxiety' was that which accompanied Government attempts in June 22 1998 to lower the age of consent for homosexuals to sixteen and equalise that for heterosexuals by voting on an amendment to the then Crime and Disorder Bill. This was frustrated by the House of Lords who blocked this amendment amidst concerns over 'immorality' and the need "to protect vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds who might be at risk from those who could influence them, such as teachers" (BBC News Online 25.1.99). The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill currently before Parliament is an attempt to legislate on both these issues - creating a new criminal offence of abuse of trust alongside the basic human rights to equality on sexuality and sexual behaviour, endorsed by the European Commission of Human Rights in June 1998. Issues related to gender and sexuality also remain central to contemporary educational debates. Here, they are bound together inextricably with government concerns about educational 'standards' and 'social inclusion'. In the last few years the predominant focus of that concern has been the 'underachieving boy' - apparently underperfoming in standardised tests and examinations in the years of compulsory education, or at risk of school exclusion, truancy, educational failure and crime. However, educationalists at all levels are increasingly likely to be asking questions about gender, learning and educational outcomes. The terms of the current debate tend to be limited to narrow questions of improving boys' performance in school by whatever means necessary, rather than focusing on broader issues around masculine adolescent identity including issues of sexuality or the issues that affect girls in education (Raphael Reed 1998). This marks a shift in contemporary discourses on gender and education. Gender and equal opportunities work done by teachers and Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in the 1970s and 1980s, also tackling issues of unequal outcomes by 'race', class and gender, called for holistic policies and practices that would permeate the official and hidden curricula of schools, and the relationships between teachers, pupils, parents and community. In contrast, the current climate tends to focus school development activity around narrower goals and more technicist solutions. The primary goal in many school and LEA development plans is to motivate boys such that they might perform more successfully in exams, in particular matching girls in achieving 5+ A*-C in GCSEs, which has become the baseline currency for marketing a successful school. Nevertheless the experiences of teachers committed to a gender equity perspective in education continue to throw up more deep-seated questions and challenges. These include:

 issues around the gendered cultures of schools

 the hidden curriculum of education

 the complexity of influences on learners as they develop a gendered learning identity

 challenges for the teacher in dealing with sensitive and controversial issues with pupils including issues to do with gender and sexuality in education

 the import of government policy that deals with gender and sexuality issues in school

 the remaining challenges around the education of girls as well as boys. These agendas have relevance to concerns about pupil motivation and performance, but they are also raising wider concerns about what education is for, and what strategies and perspectives might lead to a more sensitised understanding of the dynamics around gender, sexuality, identity and schooling. The contributors to this special issue of Redland Papers are each, in their own area, struggling with these profound and problematic agendas. However, what also marks their work, is an attempt to draw out implications for practice and to continue to improve the educational experience of the learners with whom they work. In this they go beyond simplistic accounts and technical solutions, and join the ranks of educators concerned to develop a more robust and principled perspective on gender, sexuality and equity in education (see also Epstein et al, 1998, reviewed in this issue). Dolores Mullins, in the first paper on developing a gender studies programme with a group of boys in an all-boys school in Ireland, reminds us of an earlier chapter in the history of equal opportunities work in England around the construction of masculinities (Askew and Ross, 1988). She describes in some detail her small-scale research project evaluating the introduction of a personal and social education programme raising gender issues with boys in school and concludes that this type of work can have an effect at the cognitive, affective and behavioural level, especially in the area of conflict resolution. She concludes that a programme which focuses directly on the lives of students as young men can develop awareness, challenge stereotyped perceptions, and promote tolerance and respect. At the same time she reminds us that a programme such as this is liable to be more effective if it is located within the context of a whole school approach to promoting gender equality. Alison Taylor picks up this theme in her paper by exploring the factors that might explain the gender differences in school exchange participation, and considering why some schools might be more successful than others in achieving gender equity in this particular element of the school curriculum experience. In this she also points out the significance of peer group to the formation of attitudes to risk-taking and the need to understand and tackle underlying attitudes to 'territory' and 'others' which may well have a gendered dimension. In conclusion, she identifies both short-term and long-term strategies that schools might usefully deploy. The significance of multiple influences, including peers, parents and teachers, on the development of gendered learning identities is developed further in Anne Malindine's paper focusing on the learning biography of a single girl. She argues that an analysis of detailed longitudinal data provides material for looking at the match and mismatch between cultures in specific homes and families and specific schools and friendship groups, and that it illuminates the gendered significance of the separation of the 'private' from the 'public' domains. This paper begins to reinterrogate from a feminist perspective the data already collected within an on-going externally-funded ten year longitudinal ethnography of pupil identities and learning careers, highlighting the need to challenge gender-blind perspectives that fail to take account of the multiple dimensions of gender, 'race' and class, or that privilege the analysis of one (eg social class) over the others. It is also a paper that reminds us of the need for continued analysis of contexts and experiences affecting the education of girls, and not to assume that everything is now fine for all girls in school. This concern, to enquire further into the actual experiences of both girls and boys in school, motivated Kendra McMahon to research the perceptions of science amongst girls and boys in her Key Stage Two class. Starting from an acknowledgement that the gender gap in science appears to be diminishing in the primary years and in Integrated Science at GCSE, she nevertheless rightly identifies that more boys than girls take physics and chemistry at GCSE, and that students continuing with science post-16 are predominantly male. In this context she focuses on her primary pupils' perspectives on science, to elicit whether there are significant gendered differences that may have relevance for future trends. She concludes that she could find no crude association of science with masculinity by her pupils, and that girls and boys shared certain definitions of science linked to their experience of it within the shifting frameworks of the primary National Curriculum. However, she also highlights evidence that girls in her study hold a more person-centred view of science, and that they are more concerned with the social outcomes and purposes of science, including the ethical dimensions of scientific developments. In conclusion, she points to the specific nature of primary science with the greater use of domestic and familiar equipment (yoghurt pots and candles) rather than clinical and unfamiliar equipment (test-tubes and bunsen burners) and with work embedded within wider topic contexts when compared to science as a curriculum subject in the secondary school. She also raises questions about the significance of her attitudes and influence as a teacher to the 'findings' that emerge, where she has tried to establish an ethos of gender equality within the classroom and where gender per se is an item for discussion. The maintenance of progression for girls in all sciences through the years of secondary and post-compulsory education depends on our ability to continue to engage with such issues in the science curriculum and to acknowledge the significance of teachers' gender-values in their relationships with pupils. The centrality of teacher identity to pupils' perceptions of whom they can trust, is a central theme of Ruth Salisbury's paper on disclosure in the school setting. The original study this paper was based upon evidenced the tensions and contradictions experienced by teachers who were 'chosen' by a pupil to receive a disclosure of experiences that fall under child protection procedures. Although it was a small scale project, the prevalence of this experience amongst the teachers studied suggests that receiving a disclosure from a pupil is a more common occurrence than those in the profession would perhaps assume. Whilst 'gender' is itself not identified as a determining feature of teachers approached by pupils, rather their ability to respond over a period of time to challenging behaviour in a way that the pupil might 'trust', this paper does raise some important issues about the importance of teachers themselves being in touch with their feelings, and having time to work in a humanistic and non-judgmental manner with the pupils in their care, without always being driven by the subject-centred curriculum. This echoes some of the arguments advanced in Dolores Mullins' paper about the importance of the affective domain in the education of boys. Ruth Salisbury's paper also draws attention to the failure of documented policies in this sensitive area to address the living concerns of participants in the event, in particular of the pupils and teachers concerned. The gap between 'policy' and 'practice' and the failure of current legislation to tackle entrenched homophobia in educational settings, or to enable teachers to explore issues of sexuality in a non-judgmental or non-prejudicial manner in schools, is the topic of the final paper by Peter Charlesworth on the future of Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988) which has inhibited teachers and schools over the last ten years from developing policies and practices around sexuality education. In this paper he identifies the importance of an approach to sex and sexuality education which might promote in a more meaningful way the development of an equality agenda around sexuality. He concludes: "Children have a right to accurate information about sexuality on the simple basis of social justice and, essentially, for health education and health promotion. Even if homosexuality is not discussed in the classroom, children will discuss it in contexts where mis-information and mis-conceptions cannot be addressed". Understandably, he wonders whether the Labour Government will move to repeal Section 28 as they have promised, given their contradictory position on modernising values around sexuality and gender. This is evidenced in a variety of ways: in the recent Green Paper on the family and parenting; in failure as yet to complete legislation that equalises the age of consent for homosexual men and women with that for heterosexuals; in the tendency for some manifesto pledges to be moved further and further down the agenda as other policy initiatives take precedence. This final paper thus brings us full circle, to a consideration of those difficult and challenging aspects of education for adult life which help young people to develop a range of attitudes, skills and understandings that break free of limiting and stereotypical perspectives on gender and sexuality. More than one contributor to this Issue identifies the failure of a school curriculum focused on the narrow concerns of subject content, or the instrumental goal of gaining educational qualifications alone, without considering some of the broader challenges facing young people as they grow towards a positive adult identity, grounded in self-esteem and respect for others. Finally, it is worth remarking on how these studies evidence the importance of teachers undertaking research into their own practices and educational settings and developing perspectives that can address educational problems and pose new solutions. Five of these six papers were the outcome of study for MEd/MA degrees in education - four of them by teachers enrolled in the Continuing Professional Development Programme in the School of Education at UWE. Two of these teachers have since gone on to enrol for MPhil/PhD studies whilst continuing to work as full-time teachers. In each case we can see the benefits of teachers becoming skilled at designing and executing small-scale studies, aware of the methodological and epistemological issues involved and able to make sound claims to knowledge within identified parameters. None of these writers has been seduced into making grandiose claims for generalisation from their studies, yet each can rightly argue that the process of research, reflection and associated action or recommendations for action has led to an improvement in practice or the development of new professional orientations. In a climate where it is currently fashionable in some quarters to ridicule the utility of educational research, such studies demonstrate the power of teacher research to make a significant contribution to educational change and development - both by empowering teachers as 'extended professionals', and in providing new perspectives on key educational issues of our time. Lynn Raphael Reed

References ASKEW, S. and ROSS, C. (1988) Boys Don't Cry; Boys and Sexism in Education. Buckingham: Open University Press. EPSTEIN, D., ELWOOD, J,. HEY, V. and MAW, J. (eds) (1998) Failing Boys? Issues in Gender and Achievement. Buckingham: Open University Press. RAPHAEL REED, L. (1998) 'Power, pedagogy and persuasion: schooling masculinities in the secondary school classroom', Journal of Education Policy, Vol 13, No 4, pp 501-517. The Second Gender: A Study of the Impact of a Gender Studies Programme on a Group of Boys in a Single-Sex School - DOLORES MULLINS, BA., MED

Abstract In this paper I outline the rationale for and implementation of a Gender Studies programme in a single-sex boys' school. The paper includes an example of the programme in action and student reactions to it. An outline of the evaluation procedures is included. Student responses were grouped into a number of categories; the most significant of which were the cognitive and affective. At a cognitive level students claimed to have gained a greater awareness of self, relationships and work in the home. Their affective learning was primarily that of developing respect and tolerance for the views of others. There was some evidence to suggest that the programme also influenced their behaviour, especially in the area of conflict resolution . These findings suggest that a programme which focuses directly on the lives of students as young men can develop awareness, challenge stereotyped perceptions and promote tolerance and respect. This paper explores the issue of boys' education in single-sex schools. In particular it examines the impact of a Gender Studies programme on a group of boys in a single-sex school. As part of my research for a higher degree I explored the literature relating to masculinity and to the education of boys. Schools reflect the values of society therefore it is useful to explore the concept of masculinity in a wider sociological context. Two important themes identified in the modern sociology of gender are significant for this study: that gender is not fixed in advance of social interaction but is constructed in interaction; and that masculinity is not an homogeneous concept. The term masculinities better describes the diversity that exists. Connell (1994) is keen to emphasise this diversity. He also explores hegemonic masculinity and emphasises the importance of power in any debate on masculinity. "Be a big wheel" (Brannon, 1976) aptly describes how masculinity is measured at a societal level by power, success, wealth and status. Lack of power sometimes finds expression in violence often directed towards weaker groups in society. Kaufman (1994) claims that powerless men tend to seek power in controlling those they regard as inferior through wife-beating and bashing of Gays, Blacks and Jews. Alternatively, they may direct their anger against themselves in the form of selfhate, illness, insecurity or addiction. Pressure to conform to a particular concept of masculinity translates at an individual level as a constant concern with image or credibility. A good illustration of this is the origin of the phrase to have "a chip on one's shoulder" which comes from the behaviour of an American youth who carried a piece of wood on his shoulder daring others to knock it off so that he could prove his masculinity by fighting them. Connell (1994) identified similar behaviour in his research into the behaviour of a group of Australian youths. While these are wider sociological issues they have specific relevance for boys' education. Salisbury and Jackson highlight the enormous pressure on boys to conform to stereotyped images of masculinity: Popular culture provides many images of what real men are like. Boys realise that to be a man in this culture they must distance themselves from anything feminine in their own character. They must also be successful and admired. They must be providers for future families. Boys must also aspire to being confident, reliable and cool, particularly in times of crisis. (Salisbury and Jackson, 1996, p 41)

Boys' Learning Style Askew and Ross (1988) conducted research into the learning styles of boys at primary and secondary level. Even at primary level they observed that boys preferred to work independently, were highly competitive and showed a need to identify certain activities as male or female. By the time they reach secondary school they suggest that boys have acquired an individualistic competitive learning style which has significant implications for their interpersonal relationships with their peers and teachers and for their personal development. Aspects of boys' behaviour which Askew and Ross (1988) identified in their study reflect many of the elements identified in wider sociological analysis. Issues of power were reflected in boys domination of their environment which often extended to domination of peers. Preoccupation with image and a willingness to resort to violence were highlighted in their dependence on peers for approval and their need to prove their masculinity through physical aggression and verbal abuse, much of which was homophobic. They also displayed a lack of trust and a reluctance to talk about personal issues. This also seemed to be reflected in negative attitudes to group work and cooperative teaching methods.

Schools as Agents in the Construction of Masculinity Both Connell (1989) and Salisbury and Jackson (1996) stress the significance of schools as "agents in the construction of masculinity." Askew and Ross (1988) identified many features of boys schools which contribute to this: hierarchical power structures; a competitive ethos; an authoritarian approach to discipline; didactic teaching styles and a gender differentiated curriculum. Most boys' schools have an hierarchical power structure in which women are usually underrepresented. This conveys a clear message to students about who is to be granted respect in the institution and about who has power in society. Competition is fostered in all areas of school life. Success in state exams, which are highly competitive, is seen as the primary role of the school. Sports, which play such an important part in a boys' school are organised in a highly competitive way. This has a significant impact on the learning environment for students. The approach to discipline in boys' schools is often authoritarian with tough teachers earning respect from students because they can control them. This encourages students to perceive discipline as something which must be imposed on them rather than self-imposed. The Curriculum also has a significant impact on student development. Traditional male subjects such as Maths, Science, Technology and Business tend to dominate the curriculum in single-sex boys' schools. Conspicuous by their absence are traditional female subjects such as Home Economics and Music. In an Irish context Martin and Hickey's (1992) review of Leaving Certificate results shows that a tiny percentage of boys take subjects with a high lifeskills and social content and that they are underrepresented in the arts and in languages (cited in Drudy, 1994). A gender differentiated curriculum has cultural implications. Arnot (1984) suggests that through their limited exposure to the arts, the humanities and social sciences boys are not encouraged to think about human values, wider social issues and their personal lives. Salisbury and Jackson (1996) claim that boys concentrate upon obtaining skills for living in only one sphere of social life They may leave school ill-equipped for personal independence and for taking shared responsibility in home and family life. They are poorly prepared for dealing with their own emotions or the emotional needs of family and others. Connell (1989) argues that streaming is a significant issue in boys' education. He suggests that streaming creates an in built failure for some and these are likely to claim other sources of power. Status within the peer group is often dependent on the status of the class group. Academic achievement in a top stream confers status from peers. In a lower stream studious pupils may often be subjected to ridicule even if they achieve academically. Within lower streams disruptive behaviour and playing the "hard man" are far more likely to win approval of peers thus reinforcing aggressive "macho" behaviour. Boys' underachievement in state exams has been causing serious concern in Ireland and England as well as in a European context. The gap is widening between girls' and boys' academic achievement at all levels. A combination of social factors and levels of literacy have been identified as contributing to the problem (Bray et al, 1997). The response to this problem has been to concentrate on more traditional teaching approaches which impose stricter controls on boys in schools. While this may improve academic achievement among boys in the short term I believe that it does not address the social factors which contribute to the problem. Far more emphasis needs to be placed on meeting the personal and social needs of boys in a school context as well as addressing the hidden curriculum which can have such a significant impact on all students What follows is an account of one strategy aimed at tackling these issues. The Need for Gender Education for Boys I believe that if gender equality within education is to be achieved, all schools need to address the issue of gender While many co-educational schools and some single-sex girls schools are exploring this issue, it is seen as an irrelevant topic in many single-sex boys schools where gender equality is perceived as a woman's issue. My experience of teaching in a single-sex boys school convinces me that boys who are educated in a single-sex environment can suffer serious deprivation in their social and personal education. In 1995 I became involved in addressing the issue of boys' education as part of a team of teachers invited by the Department of Education and Science in Ireland to explore the issue. Our brief was to develop materials for a pilot programme entitled "Exploring Masculinities". This programme is one of a number of equal opportunities programmes currently being developed by the Department of Education and Science and funded by the EU. It examines issues of masculinity in the formal and non-formal curriculum in order to help teachers and students examine the construction of masculinity with a view to promoting a more positive life experience for boys. The aims of the programme are: 1. To explore concepts of masculinity leading to positive and meaningful understanding of male roles. 2. To promote tolerance, understanding and respect for all; irrespective of ability, disability, social class, interests, physique, sexual orientation, intelligence, family background, religion and health status. 3. To raise awareness of the centrality of feelings, sexuality, relationships and choice in boys present and future lives. 4. To help boys realise their worth as individuals. The programme is structured around six themes:

 Men and Power

 Men Talking

 Men at Work

 Men and Relationships

 Men and Health

 Men and Sport The programme has specific objectives:

 To prepare students for the three life spheres of work home and the community;

 To help students to develop good communication, caring and independence skills;  To help students to express and be aware of their feelings;

 To raise awareness among staff of gender issues. The programme is designed for use in personal and social education classes for boys (aged 16-18) at senior cycle and also as a module in Transition Year (post junior certificate). This paper describes research on the impact of the Gender Studies on a group of boys who were following the programme as part of their Transition Year Programme. My part in the research was a small scale action research project which involved an analysis of the problems associated with boys education followed by a systematic implementation and evaluation of the Gender Studies programme. Throughout the process I monitored my own practice as well as the progress of my students. I also extended the scope of my research to include an analysis of the school context and a description of the school's attempts at developing a whole school approach to promoting gender equality.

Methodology The research was conducted with a group of twelve students. They were informed that I was conducting research on the Gender Studies programme. They were invited to participate in evaluating the programme but were free to opt out at any stage. They were assured of confidentiality. I employed a variety of data gathering techniques which included a pre- test/post-test attitude awareness questionnaire. This yielded little significant data. It did however provide a useful basis for a class discussion of the issues (see analysis of programme). At the end of each lesson students were invited to complete a post-lesson evaluation sheet. At the end of the programme I conducted an interview with three students from the group. I also evaluated my own practice by use of audio and videotapes of some of the lessons in progress. My research was supported by a critical friend and my findings were assessed by a validation committee.

Implementing the Programme The topics I taught as part of the programme included:

 Work in the home

 Feelings

 Sexual harassment

 Conflict resolution

 Domestic violence. Analysis of the Programme in Action Many of the issues identified in the literature were also evident in my own study. In conversations with students a number of issues emerged which indicated that they were aware of gender as a significant factor in their schooling as well as in society. Students showed an awareness of the social disadvantage at which their single-sex schooling placed them. One student commented: "Boys (in a single-sex school) might feel insecure around girls. If they are in a mixed school they feel girls are just friends". Students also showed an awareness of the presence of a gender curriculum in single-sex schools, but they perceived this as a loss mainly for girls. They did identify the absence of Home Economics from their own curriculum but insisted that none of them would choose to study this subject if it were available to them. One student commented: "Well, I suppose Home Economics has reputation for being a girls' subject". Their attitudes to work in the home varied depending on their own experience at home. But the difficulty which taking an active role in child rearing posed for masculine identity was highlighted. One of the students remarked: "Sometimes you'd see men when they are wheeling their children down the road in their buggies. They're only wheeling with one hand and they're standing beside the buggy pretending I shouldn't really be doing this; I'm only wheeling the buggy with one hand". "Wheeling the buggy with one hand" sums up the tentative nature of many men's involvement with child rearing, at least in public. It seems that fatherhood still rests uncomfortably on the shoulders of manhood.

An Example of the Programme in Action One of the most successful lessons was on the topic of sexual harassment Students were asked if they had ever witnessed sexual harassment. One student described an occurrence on a building site: Self: "What did you think of that behaviour?" Student A: "You never really think what the woman ... It must be embarrassing really." Student B: "It depends how far it goes." Student C: "Some women like that." Student A: "Some are offended by it." Student D: "Some get a big head over it." Student B: "I doubt like on a building site they'd really mean it. It would be just to keep them occupied or something. It might be pretty boring on a building site. They might be just having laugh." Self: "Anybody want to take what he just said on board and either challenge it or agree with it?" Student A: "It's still power though. "They think they're above them, they can just do that." It is obvious even from this initial discussion that students engaged in a mature way with the issue and were able to provide challenges to the views being expressed. The issue was further explored in the second part of the lesson which was based on an exercise called "Just a Bit Of a Laugh" (Davison, 1990) This involved reading out individual statements. Three areas were identified in the classroom: "acceptable" "unacceptable." and "don't know". Students were invited to stand in a location which reflected their opinion and their task was to persuade others to join them. The first statement was: A woman is walking past a building site. Several men whistle and shout at her. Five issues emerged during the discussion that followed:

 The men's intentions: eg Student: "It's just a bit of fun.

 The manner in which women dressed: eg Student: "They can dress how they want ... If they're going to walk by in a mini skirt and tight blouse they are obviously going to get looked at; turn heads or something. And people in building sites are going to let fly."

 Whether men have the right to behave like this: eg Self: I suppose does it come back to the issue, do they have the right? ...Why do they feel they have the right?"

 How women should respond to this behaviour: eg Student: Say they were all whistling at her ... if she just turned round and blew them a kiss... it would just be a bit of a laugh.''

 How the victim might feel?: eg Student: "The woman is kind of defenceless. They can t say anything." While the group did not reach consensus on these points they did listen actively to their peers and reflect on other viewpoints. Furthermore, students evaluation of this lesson was very positive. They were quite clear about what they had learned: eg Student: "I learnt about sexual harassment and what it actually is in different situations." There was some evidence that the lesson had not just informed them but had also challenged their perceptions. eg Student: "I learned that people can get offended and really hurt at a comment made towards them.'' Some students claimed that the lesson would have an influence on their future behaviour: eg Student: "The topic made me think more about these situations and be careful that I will not get involved in them in future."

Analysis of Outcomes I evaluated the entire programme using two methods: ongoing evaluation sheets completed by students at the end of each lesson and a detailed interview with three of the students on the effectiveness of the programme. I used coding procedures employing a "grounded theory" approach to impose order on the masses of data which the evaluation sheets provided. This involved close analysis of each statement made by students. These became "units of meaning" (Dey, 1993). The next step was to establish categories. Initially thirty six categories were identified. These were independently scrutinised by a colleague who had acted as a critical friend throughout the research and was a member of my validation committee. In consultation with him I decided to subsume any category with less than four meaning units This reduced the number of categories to twenty six. From these emerged four higher order categories: 1. Cognitive: Examining students responses in this category revealed that students felt they had acquired knowledge and understanding in three areas: self, relationships and work. 2. Affective: Respect for others was the most significant issue identified in student responses in this category. Several students suggested that the programme helped them see situations from others point of view. 3. Behavioural: There were fewer responses in this category Students tended to see some of the issue as being more relevant to their future lives than to the present. However student responses suggested that the programme may influence their behaviour in certain contexts such as home, work and relationships. 4. Process: As this was an action research project I was also exploring my own practice. Students were quite positive about the programme. They use words such as "useful", "very useful", "enjoyable" to describe individual lessons. The most common criticism was that some of the materials were not challenging enough. Overall, the evidence gleaned from this data supports the view that students did benefit significantly at a cognitive level and to a lesser extent at an affective level. There is no significant evidence to point to behavioural change from this data although there is more substantial evidence of this in the final evaluation interview with students. The final evaluation interview reiterated many of the points already identified. However two specific issues did emerge. The first of these was the value of dialogue. Much of the delivery of the programme was structured around dialogue: student/student; teacher/student. This seemed to benefit students in a number of ways. It allowed for a growth of awareness on a whole range of issues. Students realised that dialogue can be a difficult process especially if the issue is personal. It enabled students to see the complexities of some of the issues, for example, during the discussion on domestic violence one student realised both victim and abuser needed help. Dialogue also allowed for clarification of issues and encouraged reflection. On occasions it seems that dialogue has the power to influence behaviour as the following quotation suggests: Student: "I found the (discussion of) conflict resolution was good because it told you that violence isn't the way to solve the problem. It changes you. Normally you would run in with a fist or whatever. It changes you. You don't really want to do that now..." The second issue was to do with the difficulties of change. Tones (1987a) speaks of the "illusory nature of genuine free choice". He identifies family influence as being more powerful than any attempts which schools might make to influence attitudes or behaviour. This was one of the issues which students identified when they spoke of the difficulties of change. The influence of peer group pressure was also identified when students spoke of a lack of trust within the group and the difficulties of creating that trust. This pointed to the need for more trust building exercises at the beginning of the programme and throughout schooling experience.

Conclusion Intervention programmes are generally considered to have limited impact because of the myriad of other more powerful influences that prevail. I acknowledge that the small sample on which this research is based means that my conclusions are not generalizable. But I believe that my students have benefited significantly from this programme. It provided them with an opportunity for dialogue which enabled them to explore a whole range of personal issues. The materials challenged them to consider their role in society and encouraged them to broaden their perspectives of work, family and community involvement. However a programme such as this is liable to be more effective if it located within the context of a whole school approach to promoting gender equality. While my research encompassed this, the process was not complete within the research timeframe therefore I have not included a discussion of my findings on this issue in this paper. References ARNOT, M. (1984) 'How shall we educate our sons?' in Deem, R. (ed) Co- education Reconsidered. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. ASKEW, S. and ROSS, C. (1988) Boys Don't Cry: Boys and Sexism in Education. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. BRANNON, R. (1976) 'The male sex role - and what it's done to us lately', in Brannon, R. and Davids, D. (eds) The Forty Nine Percent Majority. Reading: M. A. Addison-Wesley. BRAY, R., GARDNER, C., PARSONS, N. DOWNES, P. HANNAN G. Can Boys do Better? SHA. Bristol: Central Press. CONNELL, R.W. (1989b) 'Cool Guys Swots and Wimps: the interplay of Masculinity and education', Oxford Review of Education, 15 (3), pp 291-303. CONNELL, R.W. (1994) 'Psychoanalysis on Masculinity' in Brod, H. and Kaufman, M. (ed) Theorising Masculinities. London: Sage. DAVISON, N. (1990) Boys Will Be .... London: Bedford Square. DEY, I. (1993) Qualitative Data Analysis: A User Friendly Guide for Social Scientists. London: Routledge. DRUDY, S. (1994) 'Gender Equity in the Post-Primary School', Key Note Address at a Symposium in Marino Institute of Education, Dublin. KAUFMAN, M. (1994) 'Men, Feminisms and Men's Contradictory Experiences of Power', in Brod, H. and Kaufman, M. Theorising Masculinities. London: Sage. MARTIN, M. and HICKEY, B.L. (1992) The 1991 Leaving Certificate Examination: A Review of Results. Dublin: NCCA. SALISBURY, J. and JACKSON, D. (1996) Challenging Macho Values. London: Falmer. TONES, K. (1987a) 'Health Promotion, Affective Education and the Personal- Social Development of Young people', in David, K. and Williams, T. (eds), Health Education in Schools (Second Edition). London: Harper and Row. Gender Differences in School Exchange Participation ALISON TAYLOR, University of the West of England, Bristol

Abstract Drawing on research carried out as part of a recent MEd study at the University of Bristol, this paper explores the reasons that boys seem more reluctant than girls to participate in school exchange opportunities. Short and longer-term strategies for change are suggested.

Introduction There is a widespread view that fewer boys than girls go on foreign language exchanges: occasionally, however, one hears of a school in which virtually equal proportions of boys and girls take part. It is interesting to speculate why there should be such an apparently widespread problem in recruiting boys to exchanges, apart from a small number of cases seeming to show a reverse trend. In order to shed some light on the question of gender imbalance and to provide hints as to how to redress it, a survey was carried out. The survey covered six English counties (the former Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Essex, Nottingham and Yorkshire). A range of schools was studied; most were mixed comprehensive schools, but an Independent boys' school and two mixed Independent schools were also included, in an attempt to discover whether additional factors were involved in pupil choice. The first objective of the study was to determine whether it was true that many more girls than boys participated in exchanges and, if a gender imbalance were confirmed, the second goal would be to discover clues about its origin. As part of the survey, a staff questionnaire was sent to 64 schools. Completed staff questionnaires were returned from 28 schools - a response rate of 43%. 100 follow-up questionnaires were returned from pupils in three of the schools; 12 pupils were then interviewed in a different school. Gender imbalance on exchanges confirmed by staff questionnaires The majority of teachers confirmed that many fewer boys than girls took part in exchanges. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 There were, however, some notable exceptions. Of the 28 schools returning the questionnaire, 5 schools indicated that far greater numbers of boys were participating than in most other schools. Interestingly, there appeared to be little correlation between the number of male teachers in the modern languages department and boys participating in exchanges. Visits abroad other than languages exchanges In schools where other foreign visits were organised the percentage of boys taking part was higher than for exchanges, especially in years 7 and 9 (Fig 3). Numbers of boys and girls going on skiing trips in particular were virtually equal. Boys also participated in History trips and centre-based visits to Germany in high numbers. See Figure 3

What teachers think explains the gender imbalance In their completed questionnaires teachers suggested a number of possible reasons for boys' reluctance to take part in overseas exchange visits. They felt that boys were:

 socially less confident / more insecure than girls

 less motivated and interested than girls

 more reluctant to host partners

 more unwilling to stay in a family / preference for centre-based visits

 less willing to experience foreign habits and food, and tended to be more xenophobic

 more subject to peer pressure in making decisions

 less willing to leave their mothers.

Why pupils go on exchanges Pupils who filled in a questionnaire were asked to give one or more reasons for taking part in exchanges as well as their reasons for not wanting to participate. These were their main reasons for wanting to go on exchanges (the numbers in brackets show the number of pupils out of the 28 completing the questionnaire who put forward a particular reason):

 to practise or improve their French / help with exams (19)

 to see how different people live (7)

 to visit another country / see new places / a new experience (7)

 because it would be fun / interesting / exciting (6)

 friends going on exchange (4)

 to meet new people / make new friends (4). These reasons were echoed by the pupils interviewed who were going on an exchange.

Why pupils choose not to go on exchanges Many of the reasons given by pupils completing the questionnaire were specific, although a large proportion of both boys and girls simply wrote that they did not want to go (26% of the girls and 44% of the boys). Pupils were again asked to give one or more reasons as to why they chose not to go on an exchange. The reasons, given in order of frequency by some of the 62 pupils who filled out the questionnaire, are shown below:

 Cost -including that of presents (19)

 Level of French not good enough (12)

 Previous visits / lack of interest / sounded boring (11)

 Dislike of staying in a strange house / with strange people (9)

 No close friends going (8)

 Inadequate room for a guest at home (8)

 Other trip / family holiday / better offer available (6)

 Dislike of long distance travel (5)

 Unwillingness to receive a guest (4)

 Dislike of France (4)

 Dislike of the French language (4)

 Fear of not getting on with partner / host family (4)

 Dislike of / worried about French food (3)

 Insufficient time to look after a guest (looking after horses / job) (3)

 Dislike of French people (2)  Potential homesickness (2). The interviews (held with 6 boys and 2 girls who were not going on an exchange) revealed a number of reasons for non-participation. The following were mentioned by more than one boy:

 Staying in a different family (unsure how hospitable they would be / difficulties in communication / 'they might be having an argument or something' / 'they might be taking you out all the time'

 Not very good at French. Being in a Youth Hostel or hotel would make it easier.

How important are friends? It is of interest to consider the part played by friends in persuading each other to participate in an exchange, and whether the presence of friends is necessary for pupils to feel that they can cope with the exchange experience. While some boys interviewed suggested that the presence of friends was important, it was clear that confident boys were willing to go on an exchange even when they had no close friends going. Interviews with girls painted a similar picture. When asked what gave her confidence to meet new situations abroad, one girl, who had no close friends going on the exchange, answered: "If you're positive about most things, you are likely to be positive about this as well." Others, however, clearly felt that friends were vital when on an exchange.

Do boys dislike foreigners? Seven per cent of the boys completing the survey wrote that they were not going on the exchange because they did not like French people - in one case teenagers were specifically mentioned. Could teenage boys also be less open to people of other cultures, particularly the French, as a study of younger pupils by Byram and Esarte-Sarries (1989) seemed to show? Some of the boys going on the exchange, however, expressed great interest in seeing how other people live, so it might be wise not to draw too hasty conclusions. Both boys and girls interviewed came up with comments which showed an underlying interest in foreigners and travel abroad. One of the girls not going on the exchange said that it 'sounded fun' and wanted to know what it was like over there - food, school, places to go'. She thought the people 'were probably very nice' (she had not met any French people but was going by what the teachers said).

Is looking after guests a problem? The question of whether boys find it more difficult, or feel more 'shown up' looking after a guest than girls do was considered. There was no real evidence on this, apart from a comment from one boy that girls are more caring and responsible, and from another that the French boys are unfashionable. Indeed, more girls than boys mentioned being unwilling to host a partner. One quoted her mother as not wanting to have 'someone messing up the house'. Insufficient space was mentioned as a problem (pupils hardly ever entertained the possibility of shared rooms). Part-time jobs seemed to cause a problem in some cases, but this affected both boys and girls.

Do boys lack confidence in their ability to cope in the foreign language? A lack of linguistic confidence was mentioned by 23% of the girls and 15% of the boys in the survey. It also tended to be given as a reason by the year 8 pupils interviewed. Clearly, it is not limited to boys only, but one wonders whether boys out may feel particularly vulnerable or unable to cope when outside their territory. Whether or not the boys' lack of confidence in their linguistic ability is justified is debatable. Macaulay (1978) argues that if innate differences between boys' and girls' linguistic ability exist, the variation between performance in different cultures is hard to explain. Stockard (1980) also reports a variation in results between countries. Powell (1986) continues the battle to dispel this traditional view of an innate difference in linguistic ability between the sexes.

The question of independence A number of pupils, including boys mentioned a preference for a centre-based visit rather than staying with a family. It is, however, unclear whether in the case of boys this was due to lack of linguistic confidence (as one pupil remarked: 'I'm not very good at French. Being in a Youth Hostel or hotel would make it easier') or to a dislike of being in a safe environment instead of branching out. One boy interviewed spoke graphically of the lack of freedom on an exchange visit: 'Sadly you are kept under lock and key with the school. You have to be where they can see you.' Perhaps he had not realised that it is much the same on any school visit, and that there might actually be more freedom within some family settings.

Psychological differences There are a number of possible psychological differences which might affect the way in which boys make decisions or give information.

The territorial male? The whole question of territory and self-esteem may well be a key issue in boys deciding not to participate in language exchanges in any great numbers. In most species in the animal kingdom the male is noted for the demarcation and defence of his territory. Among humans there has often been a tradition in many societies for the woman to leave her family territory when marrying. Could it be possible that women have become more used to having to adapt to new situations and new families through the centuries, thereby becoming more flexible and open to change? If one adds to this the fear of the adolescent male of being 'shown up' during the precarious transition to manhood, particularly when he may have few, if any, friends to support him, we may begin to see reasons for boys unwillingness to participate in home-to- home exchanges. One boy said during the interview that girls were more polite and responsible, and therefore tended to go on exchanges more. Could it also be that boys find it more difficult to be polite and adaptable in the foreign family and therefore find exchanges a greater strain?

Chaos Theory? If adolescents are as affected by the peer group as is generally believed, then it may take only a small shift in the attitude of a small number of boys in a group to make the whole group feel that an exchange visit does not interest them. The hypothesis that the high number of participant girls may lead boys to feel that exchanges are 'a girls' thing' may be extremely relevant in this context. This has echoes of chaos theory, which involves the behaviour of non-linear systems. A much-quoted example is that of a butterfly fluttering its wings in the Amazon causing a whirlwind on the other side of the world. Equally, small improvements in boys' participation in some school exchanges may lead to dramatic reversals in former numbers, as seen in a few schools participating in this survey.

Are boys more reluctant to express their feelings? One wonders whether the boys who answered the questionnaire and those who were interviewed gave their real reasons for not wanting to go on exchanges. The 'new man' is encouraged to show and express feelings, but it is debatable how much of this has filtered down to adolescents. As hinted at earlier, it is also possible that many of these feelings are subconscious; pupils, and in particular boys, may not even be aware of some of the real motives for what they do. There may well be more general psychological issues which make it difficult to discover the real reasons behind the decision by many boys not to go on exchanges. In my experience boys tend to write more briefly than girls, and may therefore have glossed over some of the real reasons when filling in the pupil questionnaire. The fact that boys often tend to be reluctant to express feelings may have affected both responses on the pupil questionnaire and in the interviews. Boys may also not have wished to admit to what they saw as weaknesses when interviewed.

Why pupils think fewer boys go on exchanges An intriguing and perhaps revealing part of the survey concerned the pupils' own hunches for boys' low participation in school exchange visits. The following are direct quotes from pupils in both the group going on the exchange and those who decided not to go: "I think boys tend to be more shy in some ways. They seem OK with their friends and everything, but then when it comes like with other people they don't sort of get straight with them... like a lot of the boys when we were first put in our Tutor group in the first year they used to stay in their groups from their old school, so I think they aren't so confident about going out and meeting people. I'm not really sure - it's just my opinion." (Year 9 girl) "Girls mature a bit faster." (Year 9 boy) "Boys know it's wimpish to have someone over. They don't want to go with the girls." (Year 9 boy) "One thing, girls are more polite, more responsible. Girls mature quicker than boys, they learn a lot more in a short space of time... Yes, language...." (Year 9 boy) "Girls have polite manners, they are caring and responsible. Some of the boys find it very uncomfortable because it's different from England. You find they're dressing a lot differently... their boys are dorks... a bit old-fashioned, not very exciting." (Year 9 boy) Pupils have, therefore, brought up several reasons for boys not being as keen to go on a school exchange:

 girls are more mature (socially, presumably)

 girls are more polite (and therefore find fitting in to a new family easier)

 girls are more caring and responsible (they find it more natural looking after a partner)

 girls learn more easily (perhaps a reference to the fact that more girls tend to be in top sets and in their perception can cope more easily with the foreign language)

 boys feel more 'shown up' by being with partners who look different, as far as fashion is concerned.

Where teachers and pupils agree Fig. 4 shows the overlap between the views of teachers, pupils who filled in the questionnaire and pupils interviewed. The main point highlighted by all three groups was that boys and girls generally feel that girls are better at languages. It should be noted that it tended to be the younger boys who expressed this view. Both teachers and pupils noted that boys are more reluctant to take part in a home-stay visit, where they might experience 'strange habits' and 'strange food', in addition to being in a 'strange family'. The issue of the need for close friends on the exchange is raised by both groups of pupils. If boys' lack of maturity is an issue, then one might expect older boys to go on exchanges. Yet the figures in this study show a reverse trend, with more younger boys going on exchanges. The overlap from the three different groups suggests, therefore, that the following may be important factors for consideration:

 a lack of linguistic confidence which may affect attitudes to a home- stay abroad  a lack of social confidence which could affect attitudes both to the home-stay abroad and to looking after a partner in England

 the need to be accompanied by close friends. See Figure 4 on page 30.

The greater participation of boys in exchanges in some schools While teachers in the five schools where boys opted to go on exchanges in sizeable groups were often unclear as to why this should be, the following are distinct possibilities:

Decision by a close-knit group of boys If sufficiently large numbers of boys can be motivated to go on an exchange visit, the status of the group will be enough to give 'street cred' to the experience, and the fact that a group already exists may attract other boys who are wavering. Evidence from this survey and also from other examples in the researcher's experience make this reason seem extremely plausible.

Identification with the teacher promoting / organising the exchange The survey produced some evidence that pupils value the presence of a teacher they know quite well and whom they can ask questions. I have found when organising past school exchanges that where a very good relationship exists between the language teacher and pupils (and where this teacher is also promoting and accompanying the exchange) then there may well be a larger group of boys than is usually the case going on the exchange. One of the schools with a high number of participant boys stressed the importance of the attitude of the language teacher towards the exchange as a strong motivating or demotivating force. There was, however, no real evidence of boys participating in greater numbers when there were more male teachers in the department.

Tradition within the school of a number of boys going on exchanges In one school in the sample with a high number of boys participating, there was a tradition of boys going on exchanges. If there is a sufficiently long tradition, with tales of successful exchanges filtering down, then the numbers of participant boys may be strengthened.

Strategies for encouraging boys to go on exchanges The following are suggestions for teachers to encourage participation by boys in overseas exchange visits:  greater use of pupils who have already been on an exchange, in particular boys, to help advertise the exchange for the following year

 an attempt to balance boy / girl numbers in modern language sets

 more persistent targeting of middle and lower sets which in many schools have quite a large number of boys, who might form a self- supporting group

 linguistic help specific to the exchange available before pupils go abroad (after school lessons / cassettes for practice at home)

 accompanying booklets for pupils to take abroad

 the possible inclusion of a well-respected Humanities or Sports teacher on the exchange

 the development of cultural awareness programmes, as encouraged by the National Curriculum. Finally, the setting up of more unusual activities during the exchange might make an exchange more attractive to boys. Examples could include: the part played by a French town in Second World War; a visit to a local radio station, where pupils could not only discover how it functions but send a message of thanks to their host families; a survey of leisure activities at a local centre, leading to display work involving Venn diagrams and histograms. Ideas for such environmental work can be found in Our Europe (Mares,1986), Languages Home and Away (Taylor, 1991) and Crossing Frontiers: the school study visit abroad (Byram and Snow, 1997). In the longer term, teachers might target attitudes in feeder primary schools, by arranging activities there for foreign exchange pupils during their visit to England. Involving French or German pupils in surveys of Primary school pupils and giving them a chance to talk both in a structured way and informally may eventually lead to pupils, particularly boys, being more open to people from other cultures.

Conclusion Most of the schools surveyed (85%) had problems in recruiting boys to school exchanges. The questionnaires and interviews completed in this survey indicated possible reasons as to why boys might show reluctance to go on exchanges. Boys' perception that they were not so good as girls at languages was felt to be an important factor by both staff and pupils. The small number of other boys participating, together with a slight reluctance to host partners and to sample other ways of life were all mentioned. Boys' lack of interest and lack of maturity were also possible factors. Short-term suggestions for publicising exchanges and for making them more appealing to boys may encourage more boys to participate in exchanges abroad. References BYRAM, M. (1986) 'State of the art: Cultural studies in foreign language teaching', Language Teaching Journal, Vol. 19. BYRAM, M. (1991) 'Language Learners Abroad: Ethnographic Explorations', Investigating cultural studies in foreign language teaching: a book for teachers. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. BYRAM, M. and ESARTE-SARRIES, V. (1989) 'The Perception of French People by English Students: Findings from the Durham Cultural Studies Project', Language, Culture and Curriculum, Vol. 2, No. 3. BYRAM, M. and SNOW, D. (1997) Crossing Frontiers, Pathfinder Series, No.30. CiLT. CARROLL, J.B. (1975) The teaching of French as a foreign language in eight countries. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. HIRST, G. (1982) 'An evaluation of evidence for innate sex differences in linguistic ability', Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp 95- 113. JONES, B. (1995) Exploring Otherness, Pathfinder Series, No. 24. CiLT. MACAULAY, R.K.S. (1978) 'The myth of female superiority in language', Journal of Child Language, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp 353-363. MACCOBY, E.E. and JACKLIN, C.N. (1974) The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press. MORGAN, C. (1993) 'Attitude change and foreign language culture learning', Language Teaching Journal 26. Cambridge University Press. POWELL, R. (1986) Boys, girls and languages in schools, CiLT Information Guide 24. POWELL, R. and BATTERS, J. (1986) 'Sex of Teacher and the Image of Foreign Languages', Schools Educational Studies, Vol. 12, No. 3. STOCKARD, J. et al (1980) Sex Equity in Education. New York: Academic Press. TAYLOR, A. (1991) Languages Home and Away, Pathfinder Series, No. 9. CiLT. TAYLOR, A. (1996) The influence of Gender on Foreign Language Exchange Participation, MEd Thesis (unpublished), Bristol University A Feminist Perspective within a Longitudinal Ethnography - some reflections on 'Sarah's Story' ANNE MALINDINE, The Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol

Abstract This paper is written in the context of The Identity and Learning Programme based at The Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol. The Programme focuses on the social influences on children's learning. My major responsibility within the team is to consider gender as an influence on learning and identity. For this paper, it involves the complementary re-analysis of the existing data on gender from a feminist viewpoint. I have looked at the case study of one girl's primary school years and begun to re-conceptualise her experience, referring to the existing analysis of the data and to feminist theories about the gendered nature of our 'private' and 'public' worlds and the tensions that have to be negotiated to manage the passage between them. Having recently been invited to join The Identity and Learning Programme at the University of Bristol as an MPhil/PhD student, I have been trying to evolve a way of working within this longitudinal ethnographic study that has been going for ten years already and is still continuing. Working with very wide- ranging and holistic data-sets, the team has focused successively on particular issues: social influences on young children's learning (Pollard with Filer, 1996), pupil identity and careers (Pollard and Filer, 1998) and social influences on assessment. The present phase of the programme tracks the children's learning and experience through secondary schools as far as age 16, and has social differentiation as its major theme. There are particular concerns with the influence of social class, gender and social contexts in relation to learning and identity throughout school careers, and with educational outcomes. My major responsibility within the team is to consider gender as an influence on learning and identity. At the suggestion of Andrew Pollard and Ann Filer, this involves the complementary re-analysis of existing data-sets from the primary school phases of the study as well as the collection and analysis of additional data in the present, secondary school phase. The influence of gender is embedded throughout published accounts of the programme and in its unpublished data-sets, and my task now is to highlight and analyse this. Our goal, in a publication expected around 2001, is to offer an integrated account of the interaction of gender, social class and social context throughout the period of the children's compulsory schooling. As a feminist, I also bring a particular theoretical viewpoint, the definition of which seems to be well made in the following; Feminist approaches are not only analytical but also strategic - concerned with social justice, social change and reflexivity. Indeed, it could be argued that feminist research is crucially about providing the necessary evidence to bring about improvements in women's educational, social and economic roles. Thus feminist research ... can be ... linked to wider changes in the social context. The classic definition of a feminist research perspective was provided more than 20 years ago by Ann Oakley, 'A feminist perspective consists of keeping in the forefront of one's mind the lifestyles, activities and interests of more than half of humanity - women.' (Oakley,1974, p 10) (David, Weiner and Arnot, 1997, p 92) My approach is to analyse the data to draw attention to the role of gender in children's learning and to try to connect that analysis to a wider social context in which the interests of more than half the population have been overshadowed by those of the remaining minority and so to draw attention to that difference of interest and emphasis. So, my work lies within that of the research team. My task, and my opportunity for PhD purposes, is to provide a further layer of interpretation and theorisation of the existing data and to contribute to the collection and analysis of new data. In due course, it is intended that I will produce my PhD which will be focused on the experiences of girls, but I will also contribute to writing up the final phase of the main study itself. This short article constitutes my first attempt to 'make sense' of some of the data, and to begin to apply some feminist ideas to it. It includes a brief description of the programme and the way in which I have approached the data analysis, using the existing models to organise my thinking. Then I continue with brief summaries of some key issues of feminist theory, particularly those concerning private and public worlds of learning and how they seem to relate to Sarah's story. I conclude with more questions raised by the process of reflection!

A general overview of the Identity and Learning Programme The Identity and Learning Programme consists of two parallel, longitudinal, ethnographies in two socio-cultural contexts. The first began in 1987, developing out of Andrew Pollard's concern with the social influences on learning and career, studying ten key children in a class, with the work focused on learning in a social context. The children were four years old, beginning school in a suburban middle-class community in a city in the south of England. In 1989 Ann Filer began a PhD study of National Curriculum assessment procedure with ten children from another school in another part of the city which served a mainly skilled working class community. Then Pollard and Filer collaborated to bring the two studies together during the early 1990s. The period of the study will cover their primary and secondary schooling to GCSE in 2000. The existing and ongoing studies have been funded by Leverhulme and the Economic and Social Research Council (Pollard with Filer, 1996; Pollard and Filer, 1998). Data is collected in three social contexts and so each child's biography is exceptionally rich in detail as it unfolds year on year. The three social contexts of their learning are also those that feature the structure of relationships with 'significant others' in their lives. They are:  Family Life - homes, relationships with parents and siblings are studied through interviews, postal notes and diaries.

 School - relationships with successive class teachers, studied through observation, interviews and other documents and records etc.

 Peers - in the playground, classroom and out of school, studied through interviews, observation. For Sarah, these relationships are summarised in the triadic representation shown in Figure 1 (page 41) and Figure 2 (page 42). Her case study provides the material for this piece of work. I've used the same framework to organise the existing data on gender in the study, which has been explicit in the data, case studies and analysis discussions but not the focus of analysis. Rather, that is concerned with developing models of learning and strategic action which cut across gender and social class. There is a wealth of material on which to draw and I approached the task of focusing on gender by re-working Sarah's triadic representation using material on gender from the existing data. I then used this, inevitably much condensed, to consider her learning experience and pupil identity through a feminist theoretical filter and to discover what new light it cast on her biography. Fig 1 Triadic Representation - Pollard and Filer (1998)

FAMILY

Competence and independence is encouraged within traditionally structured family, church and community expectations. Sarah competes within patterns of achievement laid down by her older brother.

There is a mis-match between parents Some friendships seen as traditional leanings and the ethos of problematic by parents. They advise Sarah on managing

Greenside School. Some tension her emotional responses to SARAH regarding school's methods. conflict in peer relationships. Employs low profile, low risk strategies in

competently fulfilling home and school expectations. Feels over-looked and undervalued compared with more 'risky' peers when her own aspirations are not realised.

Establishes good Conforms to the relationships and fulfils mainstream girl's peer teacher expectations with culture but asserts her minimalistic, low profile personal difference. strategies. Feels Popular, likes to lead overlooked with regard to but within given her own aspirations. Can framework and dislikes be assertive, stubborn in challenge and conflict her own interest

Early friendship group featured rivalry for 'goodness' and teacher approval. Later Sarah

feels overlooked and PEERS TEACHERS undervalued by teachers compared with some high profile, redefining friends.

Fig 2 Triadic Representation with focus on gender issues

FAMILY Social competence and independence was encouraged within the traditional structures of family, RC church and community expectations. Older, high achieving brother perceived by parents to be Sarah's yardstick for sense of self.

There is an apparent mismatch Strongly urged to stand up to him Mother encourages Sarah to between parents' traditional and ensuing conflict sanctioned by distance herself from mother but Sarah was very anxious rivalrous friendship groups. to avoid conflict with her. Mother reflects that she spent more time with brother as a baby and encouraged more active learning in him.

SARAH Mother disapproves of preference and the ethos of the attention priorities given to school regarding teaching methods. the 'into everything' girls in Sarah has to manage her school. She tells Sarah learning in these tensions, needing Ability to gauge what is acceptable to stand up to children at her mother's approval and to avoid to peers and adults and respond school or 'they'll realise you're conflict with her. accordingly. Developed her own not as strong as them'. identity in artistic, dramatic and musical achievements outside school, and inside in school clubs which it is felt are not recognised by teachers.

Not anxious to please at any cost but RC church and Brownies give Part of mainstream girl's peer disappointed to be repeatedly strong, clear messages, reinforced group. Dislike of 'naughty passed over for public roles. Feels at home. She feels overlooked boys' and flirtatious undervalued within other friendship compared to more bolder peers playground games. Conflict group compared to the high profile, when her own public aspirations are with competitive, high profile competitive group. not realised. personalities leads eventually to

Need for 'good girl' identity and disengagement with that girls' security overriding risk taking. Seen group and to sitting with less as 'choosing not to turn in the right able group where she could performance'. Compared to 'whiz-kid' lead and shine, avoiding the brother. challenge of her peers.

In early friendship group she is seen PEERS TEACHER as 'naughty but happy'. Becoming rivals in goodness for teacher approval in later group.

Feminist Theory During my initial experience of forming relationships with the girls and their families and teachers in the collection of the current secondary school phase data, I was struck by the degree of distressing difficulty that several of the girls had experienced on moving from primary to secondary schools. In my reading, I came across Carol Gilligan's theory (Gilligan, 1995) and it immediately struck a chord with what I was hearing from the girls, their parents and teachers. As I read more I kept coming back to her theory of the centrality of relationship in psychological development. The damage caused by the enforced split between 'self' and 'relationships', which she argues, affects most boys brutally and suddenly on starting school and which girls face later in adolescence, led me to Jane Roland Martin's theory (Martin, 1996, p 26) as a helpful starting point. Her explanation is that the worlds of the private home and public work are completely different to each other, with different values and modes of operating, ways of knowing and communicating - and that these worlds are gendered because those inhabiting them, traditionally and stereotypically, are segregated by gender. Martin argues that, though we all learn an enormous amount in the family and home, school is seen as a necessary institutional method of preparing us for the public world of work: Assuming that the private home is a natural institution and that, accordingly, membership in it is a given rather than something one must achieve, we see no reason to prepare people to carry out the tasks and activities associated with it. Perceiving the public world as a human creation and membership in it as something at which one can succeed or fail and therefore as problematic, we make the business of education preparation for carrying out the tasks and activities associated with it. (Martin, 1996) Martin goes on to say that the process of acquiring new ways of thinking is not gender neutral because these must function in the public world of work which has historically been a male preserve. They do not need to contribute to the function of the private home, whose inhabitants have historically been presumed to be female. Woolf said in Three Guineas that life in the (public) world is ... competitive and that the people there have to be pugnacious and possessive in order to succeed. In our educational thought and practice, we ... signify our agreement with her by assuming that the qualities ... of nurturance,... that are associated with the private home - and of course, with women - run counter to education's raison d'etre. Indeed, ... we make one of primary school's main tasks that of casting off the attitudes and values, the patterns of thought and action associated with home, women and domesticity. (Martin,1992) I want to make a critique of Martin's theory using the same organisation as does the triadic representation of Sarah's case study - that of the significant relationships in her life which are in both her private, family world and her public, school world and bridging both in her peer relationships.

Family Sarah was born in May 1983, the youngest of two children in a relatively well- off, white, middle-class family. They live in a middle-class community in a well established residential area which has high social status in the city. Her brother, Tom, is two years older, her father has a senior position in business and her mother worked full-time at looking after the family until Sarah was in Year 1. She returned to part-time work outside the home, but continued to help at school on a voluntary basis. The children have grown up with close connections to the Roman Catholic church as well as attending a youth group at the local Anglican church. The differences between her own and her brother Tom's relationships with their mother reveal much about their preparation for school and their place in it. Sarah had a very close and emotionally dependent relationship with her mother and was desperately anxious not to confront her most of the time - in marked contrast to her brother who had frequent open conflicts with his mother - which upset Sarah so much that she avoided being part of them. Mrs Nelson reflected that she spent a lot more time with Tom as a baby, encouraging his active learning, than she did with Sarah. When Tom was a baby and growing up, you know, in the early days, I was always doing things with him. I am sure that is probably why he is the way he is now because I was always there reading or trying to teach certain things all the time and I always had time to do it. With Sarah I didn't push so much. I don't know whether it was because, you know, in the back of my mind I had thought 'Oh isn't it nice to have a little girl. I don't have to be so pushy and rough and tumble, let's take things a bit more calmly, you know let's do it gently this time, we won't rush things'. (Mrs Nelson, parent interview) It seems that Mrs Nelson prepared both children for taking their place in the outside world differently and more or less according to gendered cultural expectations - keeping Sarah 'in relationship' with her more intimately than Tom. These skills of association and empathy that seem to be more developed in girls than boys and continue to be important between girls and women for longer could be seen as a cause of tension in Sarah's learning experience as she tried to negotiate other parts of her self in relationship with teachers and friends as well as with her mother. Sarah was always encouraged to stand up to her brother and, with her mother's sanction and thus in safety, she did challenge his 'put-downs' and compete with his achievements. She was particularly successful at competing with him on 'goodness' and she drew attention to the contrast between her own behaviour and Tom's naughty, challenging, rude boy image. But this was mainly done within the - acceptable to her parents - world of home, church and community, in Brownies, sporting and musical activities. She did not challenge his high profile image in school even though her mother was concerned that she was not fulfilling her potential there. She became expert at gauging others' expectations of her and responding in the 'right way'. We have no evidence that Tom's behaviour towards her was seen as needing modification and her parents perceived that Sarah's sense of 'self' was measured against his yard stick. As Mrs Nelson related: ... Nick (Mr Nelson) came home last night and looked round the dining room and said 'Do you realise that we have more pictures of Tom in various events that he's done than we do Sarah and don't you think we ought to scale them down and have equal numbers of what was going on?' (parent interview, Year 3)

Peers Mrs Nelson encouraged Sarah to distance herself from rivalrous friendships, which she found irritating and which distressed Sarah. As the years progressed, these girls became part of the high profile, risk taking group which Mrs Nelson described as 'into everything' and felt were noticed by and responded to by teachers, whilst Sarah and others were overlooked in the process. Sarah also found difficult the behaviour of some of the boys in this group and talked several times about the 'naughty boys' who got into trouble in the class, whom she had nothing to do with and her withdrawal from 'rude' games of 'kiss chase' in the playground. This strategy of disengagement with her peers to avoid conflict with them, her teachers and her mother does not seem to have been satisfactory to Sarah who came to feel that her achievements, both in and out of school, were undervalued by teachers, in contrast to those of the leading group. It might also have removed her to some extent from enjoying being 'in relationship' with some of her peers and from developing those skills of co-operation, empathy and negotiation that go with it. She remained on good terms with all her peers but by Year 6, had withdrawn completely in class and the playground from the highly motivated group and her early friendships within it.

Teachers Sarah was described by her teachers at first as being 'naughty but happy' and later as 'choosing not to turn in the right performance'. This last strategy was challenged, partly successfully, by one teacher in year 2 and Sarah did respond to her demands, but thereafter she increasingly came to have a low profile to her teachers who often compared her to her 'whiz kid' brother. Sarah came to feel disappointed and overlooked by teachers who appeared not to recognise her interests and achievements, although several did acknowledge that she did contribute to after-school and out of school activities, such as the school orchestra. Gilligan's argument that there is a difference between knowing (taking in what is said) and listening (bringing oneself into relation with Sarah and responding) and that that is an indication of how finely girls can gauge the quality of relationship, might help to understand the disappointment Sarah felt with her teachers who knew what she could do but did not respond to it. The following is one of several similar examples in the data, where Mrs Nelson gives something of Sarah's perspective on this subject. ... It's always 'So and so is doing this again', and 'Why should she always do it, when I think I'm just as good as her. Why don't I get a golden opportunity to do these things?' (...) you know, why can't her name be up at the forefront for a change. It's always that she appears to be pushed into the background. (Mrs Nelson, parent interview) Mr and Mrs Nelson became increasingly dissatisfied with the teaching methods and ethos of the school, preferring a traditional approach and causing tensions for Sarah in disagreements about how she was being taught to spell, for example. Sarah increasingly employed a low-risk, low- responsibility approach to her learning whilst managing to maintain a successful position in the class, be generally popular but also preserve the peace and security of her relationship with her mother. The best way Sarah could manage her learning seems to have been to adopt strategies that as far as possible avoided the conflict provoked by the difference of expectations between her parents - mostly her mother - and the school and that this involved a withdrawal from developing relationships with most teachers and peers and a minimal performance in school. Both parents and teachers said that she was able to achieve more but it seems that Sarah could not risk that without her mother's more whole-hearted support of the strategies she would need to employ. Sarah ended her primary school years in a group that was less able than she was but in which she could lead and shine and remain unchallenged by peers or teachers. This conflict over 'mixed messages' about behaviour is just one of the issues that seem to be equally evident in the data so far collected from Sarah's secondary school learning and to be illuminated by both Martin's and Gilligan's theories about the costs of the move from the private world of home and being 'in relationship' into the public world of school education with the different values afforded to culturally gendered skills and attributes such as 'goodness' and dealing with conflict.

Some questions that arise... Martin's and Gilligan's theories seem valuable to me in suggesting a way to interpret Sarah's case study, but they also raise more questions for me. Gilligan's assertion that girls begin to experience this withdrawal at adolescence would seem to be contradicted by Sarah's story - and no doubt many others'. It would seem that this process can begin very much earlier for some girls - and boys. For Sarah it seems to have begun in Class 1 when her best friend left to go to another school, and to have been exacerbated by her parents' reservations about the school and its ethos. For her brother perhaps, it began before he started school. However, although both boys and girls experience this difficult process, It is one thing to claim masculinity within a patriarchal society and culture, and another to claim femininity. (Gilligan, 1995, p 207) Gilligan is arguing that it must be easier for boys to move into a public world when their role models are favoured in that world - and so, it would be harder for girls to do so when they must either conform to or confront the stereotypical expectations of them. This process of identifying with role models in the two worlds of private and public life, is also more problematic for girls in school. Some of Miriam David's research reveals a background where primary school management structures during the period of Sarah's primary education were not as feminised as had once been thought. In fact, schools and LEAs ... continue to be shaped largely by the culture of (white) male management ... which has demonstrated little interest in equality issues. Unexpectedly, given the high ratio of female staff, this has been a particularly noticeable feature of primary schools. (David, Weiner and Arnot, 1997, p 101) This would challenge the widely held assumption that primary school can provide a sort of bridge between home and the outside world and help to explain why the process of 'worldliness' seems to have begun more slowly for Sarah than for Tom and to have included more 'mixed messages'. Sarah's experience of being a girl in the private world of home required her to develop successful strategies of 'goodness' and avoidance of conflict, especially with her mother. These strategies which she managed so well at home to provide the security she needed, contrasted with the successful strategies that some other girls developed at school. In Sarah's 'public' life at school, her 'goodness' came to be seen by teachers as rather negative, as a withdrawal from challenge. Her withdrawal from the high profile friendship group because her strategy of avoidance of conflict and risk taking demanded it, meant that she was also withdrawing from the necessary strategies for learning and achievement in that school. This clearly was not the case for all the girls. For some, such as Sarah's old friends, Sally and Mary, there was not such a mismatch between the strategies needed for successful management of their learning between home and school - their 'private' and 'public' worlds - as there was for Sarah at primary school. It is evident that there are many factors which influence a child's movement from one environment to another but if we acknowledge that both are culturally gendered environments, we have a way of understanding the complex experience of girls and boys. Also, children do not move from one to the other permanently - they must operate in both and move between them, bringing their learning strategies to manage that accommodation.

Conclusion The detailed data in this study provides material for looking at the match and mis-match between gendered cultures in specific homes and families and specific schools and friendship groups. A feminist interpretation of it will also illuminate the stories of other girls, besides Sarah, at that school and in the study, who do not appear to have experienced these tensions to the same extent. It may be that they come at different times in different families - and they may not come until after school leaving - or at all. Gilligan's and Martin's theories have raised some fascinating issues and provided a way into understanding the experience of learning in a culturally gendered society. The ideas of private and public worlds of different knowledge and experience with accompanying skills and values, can only be a starting point, giving rise to more complex explanations. Because this is a longitudinal study, there is ample data to illuminate the cultural changes that are happening in our society and particularly to this generation. I do not mean just the moral panic about boys' apparent under achievement in school, but more, the complex range of multiple gender roles, choices and expectations that are open to these young people and which are fragmenting the stereotypes that most of their parents and teachers took for granted.

Acknowledgement I would like to thank Andrew Pollard and Ann Filer for their encouragement. References DAVID, M., EDWARDS, R., HUGHES, M. and RIBBENS, J. (1993) Mothers and Education Inside Out? Exploring Family-Education Policy and Experience. London: Macmillan. DAVID, M., WEINER, G. and ARNOT, M. (1997) Strategic Feminist Research on Gender Equality and Schooling in Britain in the 1990s, in C. MARSHALL, (Ed.) Feminist Critical Policy Analysis, Vol 1. London: Falmer Press. GILLIGAN, C. (1995) 'The Centrality of Relationship in Psychological Development: A Puzzle, Some Evidence and a Theory', in M. BLAIR and J. HOLLAND with S. SHELDON (Eds.) Identity and Diversity: Gender and the Experience of Education. Clevedon: The Open University. MARTIN, J.R. (1992) The Schoolhome. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. MARTIN, J.R. (1996) A Girls' Pedagogy 'In Relationship', in P.F. MURPHY and C.V. GIPPS (Eds.) Equity in the Classroom. London and Paris: Falmer Press and Unesco. OAKLEY, A. (1974) The Sociology of Housework. London: Martin Robertson. POLLARD, A. with FILER, A. (1996) The Social World of Children's Learning. London: Cassell. POLLARD, A. and FILER, A. (1998) The Social World of Pupil Careers. London: Cassell. WOOLF, V. (1938) Three Guineas. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Perceptions of Science and Gender in a Key Stage Two Class KENDRA MCMAHON, Deputy Head, Callicroft Junior School, Bristol

Abstract I conducted this study for my MEd as a Y5/6 teacher investigating my own class's perceptions of science and exploring any gender differences in these. I explored various ways of collecting evidence within an interpretivist paradigm including group interviews and brainstorms, children's written responses and triadic elicitation. I found that the children perceived science as process of investigating, rather than as a body of knowledge. Many children associated science with writing rather than number. There was no clear gender difference in attitudes towards science nor did they see science as a masculine activity, but there was some gender difference in that girls expressed more concern with people in relation to science.

Introduction The "Gender Gap" in attainment in science seems to be diminishing. According to the Equal Opportunities Commission (1996) achievement in science in approximately equal in the end of Key Stage 2 SATs and is moving towards equality at GCSE level. However there are still significantly more boys than girls being entered for GCSE physics and chemistry (Elwood, 1995) and at 'A' level there has been an overall shift away from science as an option. It is in this context that I wanted to look at what science means to junior aged children. Science and gender is a well established area of research, but this research has largely focused on secondary education (eg Kelly A, 1981 and 1987; Whyte, 1986; Scantlebury and Kahle, 1993). I aimed to explore the ideas my class held about science and to consider to what extent, if any, those perceptions were gendered. I carried out this study as my MEd dissertation.

Research Background In the 1970s and 1980s research aimed to find the reasons for girls' lack of participation and achievement in science. This was considered in terms of genetic and environmental differences leading to differences in girls' and boys' attitudes to and abilities in science. While the current educational success of girls has altered the debate on achievement, the research still has relevance to my consideration of images and perceptions of science and provides a basis for comparison. Psychoanalytical theories used "object relations theory" to consider how early relationships with the mother lead to boys relating more to external objects and girls more to people (Eichenbaum and Orbach, 1983). This has been related to their responses to science (Harding and Sutoris, 1987). Socialisation theories explained differences in the behaviour of girls and boys through the social expectations they grow up with. In particular, research gave emphasis to play experience, such as using construction kits, that was considered to lead to good spatial awareness in boys, but not encouraged in girls (Delamont, 1990, cited in Measor and Sykes, 1992). Also emphasised are gender role models and the tendency for gender stereotypes to be reinforced by teachers and teaching materials (Kelly E, 1981; Kelly A, 1987; Whyte, 1986; Scantlebury and Kahle,1993). Kelly (1987) suggests that school subjects come to be seen as masculine or feminine. These accounts of science and gender led to an effort to make science more 'girl friendly' by the use of contexts that would appeal more to girls and by challenging teacher expectations of girls. Socialisation theories have been criticised. Evans (1988) argues that gender is not simply reproduced in each generation, but is 'reconstructed' according to new social conditions, so that children are not passive recipients of stereotypes, but actively engage with ideas, bringing new perspectives to them. Kelly A (1987) criticised models that located the problem as being within girls rather than within science. This is supported by Walkerdine's (1989) argument that the development of ideas about reason, and hence science and maths, are inextricably linked to ideas about gender. She argues that, historically, rationality came to be defined as masculine and normal and emotions as the products of less developed minds and feminine. The association of women with reproduction and nurturing has led to women being thought incapable of rationality and inferior because of it. This located the debate on science and gender within a feminist perspective that sees both science and gender being constructed within the context of a patriarchal society. Based on the Kuhnian idea that there is a prevailing paradigm of science, Bentley and Watts (1987) argue that the current form of science is masculine, objective and value free. They distinguish between making science more "girl friendly" and changing the nature of science to make it less detached and more socially contextualised.

Context of the Study For me, this was not only a study of science and gender. As a female with a background in traditional science, I wanted to explore working within an interpretivist paradigm and what research methods would best enable me to get at children's perceptions. So my research questions were:

 How do children at key stage two perceive science?

 Are there any differences between girls' and boys' perceptions of science and, if so, do they confirm theories in the literature?  What research methods enable me to get at children's' perceptions of science? The junior school in which I carried out this study is on the borderline of inner city Bristol. It had clear policies on equality. The staff was relatively young and, with the notable exception of the headteacher, female. I carried out the study on my own class over a period of two years. It was a mixed year 5/6 class and so half the class remained the same for the whole study, but the original Y6 moved on and a new Y5 came in. A total of 43 children were involved, with the numbers of girls and boys remaining approximately even. I was the school's science co-ordinator and involved with caring for the science resources: the children were aware of this. This knowledge of my particular interest may have affected their own relationship with science. I had also tried to establish an ethos of gender equality within the classroom and the class had had several discussions on these issues. The children in the class had been taught National Curriculum Science since their entry to school and were only the second year group to have experienced their full primary education under the National Curriculum, including the revisions made in 1991 and 1995. The National Curriculum for Science has moved, through the revisions, from an exploratory, child centred approach towards a more structured, prescriptive model, (McMahon, 1996), but has always been a Popperian model with the emphasis on fair testing and the acquisition of scientific knowledge through the process of science.

Methodology I started with the ontological assumption that social reality, in this case girls' relationship with science, is constructed of the meanings, understandings and interpretations of people. This led to the epistemological assumption that I could only know about it by studying the meanings and interpretations of those involved. I decided on a case study as it enabled me to look at a complex situation in depth. This has the advantage of high validity, but the disadvantage of low generalisability. A full ethnographic study of the school was outside my practical constraints. As a teacher I was very much part of the situation I was trying to analyse and need to acknowledge that this relationship will have had an impact on what I saw and heard and how I interpreted it. To enhance the validity of the study I used triangulation by using a variety of methods of data collection. I had four main approaches:

Tape-recorded, semi-structured group interviews I taped and transcribed interviews with two mixed groups of three children on their opinions on science. I asked about their likes and dislikes and their ideas about males and females in science. As this was very time intensive and not very productive I then tried alternative approaches. Triadic elicitation In this method, derived from Kelly (1955), I presented each child with three cards at time, on which were written school subjects, in various combinations eg Science, Art, Geography, or English, Maths, Science. The children had to put two together and give a reason why two were similar and the other different. Through this I hoped to get an insight into how they were constructing science as a school subject.

Thoughts books Thoughts books had already been established in the class as a place for writing opinions and personal responses. I asked the children to put subjects in order with their favourite first. I also asked for written responses to these questions:

 Do you like science? Why/ Why not?

 Do you think you are good at science?

 What do you think science is?

Group Brainstorming The children were grouped in threes and fours, some single sex and some mixed groups. They were asked to brainstorm responses to the start point 'Science is .'. Each child's contribution could be identified by a different colour pen. In consideration to ethical issues, the children were made aware that their responses would contribute to my research. They were not obliged to take part, but all chose to. I believe it contributed to their self-esteem to have their opinions valued. The children's names have been changed.

Findings and Discussion As the data accumulated, four main themes around the children's perceptions of science emerged:

 Science as a process,

 Science as writing or as number,

 Science and people, and

 Feelings about science. I will present my findings under these themes, drawing together evidence from the different sources. Science as a Process In the brainstorms, there was evidence that the children's descriptions of science centre around the process skills of science. They use the words 'finding out', 'exploring', 'investigating' and 'testing ideas' to explain what science is. They wrote about science as being about predicting, fair testing and experimenting. This is very much in line with how science is presented in the National Curriculum attainment target 1. However, it is more in the language of the earlier versions of the National Curriculum (DES,1988; 1991), particularly the strong use of the words 'exploring' and 'finding out'. Table 1 below shows the responses in the brainstorms that fell into this group, classified by gender.

Table 1

GIRLS BOYS

Science is doing things to find out other things. It is Science is finding things exploring. out.

Science is finding out new things and exploring them. Finding things out. They find new things and find out things about them.

You explore things with your hands and your eyes. Learning new things.

Science is good to find out Science is about exploring and finding out. things.

You find things you didn't know before. Science can Science means explaining be investigating things. things, learning, writing.

You can learn things in science. You can explore Ideas. things in science.

It is trying out new ideas. It is investigating ideas. Describing ideas.

You have lots of different ideas. -

You invent things. -

Science is thinking up new ideas and testing them - out.

Science is discovering. -

Investigations. Finding out things. -

The kinds of comments made by the girls and boys are similar, but fewer boys have used definitions of science that fall into the 'exploring, finding out' type of response and more have used the word learning. The children also referred to specific process skills of science as shown below (Table 2). Table 2

GIRLS BOYS

The word science means all sorts of things like Science is good for testing tests and experiments. things out.

Tests, predictions, experiments. Science can be experimenting.

Looking at things, measuring Predictions. liquids.

Science is testing. Tests, testing things.

Science is observing. -

Experiments, predicting. -

Evaluations. -

Science is predicting, watching things change. -

There is an occasional mention of measurement, but this does not form a big part of science in their perceptions. This is interesting as it is the latest (DES, 1995) version of the National Curriculum that emphasises the use of quantification most strongly. It is perhaps not surprising how closely the children's understanding of science ties in with earlier versions that have dominated their science education. This emphasis on process skills was also evident in the writing in the thoughts books. Across the study there were only occasional references to the subject matter of science eg Fossils, electricity, water, human bodies.

Science as Writing In the triadic elicitation a similar number of children put Science with Maths as with English. For those who grouped science with English there was a clear construct that linked science with writing. In the group interviews writing also came up as a negative part of science for the children. Where children associated Science with Maths, the emphasis was on the common skills of predicting and investigating, with only two children mentioning number. Linking science with writing seemed to be an issue for both girls and boys though it emerged in different contexts. In the group brainstorms, it was only boys who used the word 'writing' to define science (Table 3), but in the triadic elicitation many girls associated Science with English because both involve writing. This is what Emma had to say: Science and English are both interesting, both are about writing and recording. Maths is all about numbers, there aren't many numbers in science and English. Toby put maths and science together because: In maths you copy out of a book and in science you copy things that have happened, but in English you can write whatever you want. You sometimes put numbers in science.

Table 3

GIRLS BOYS

Recording experiments. We write in our science books.

- Writing.

- We write in science notebooks about what we make.

- Writing and finding out things.

- Writing about things.

Science and People Evidence from both the thoughts books and group brainstorms (Table 4) suggests that the girls have a more people centred view of science than the boys. For example, girls make more references to people in relation to science generally and to scientists as people. These girls commented in their thoughts books:Rosalind: 'Science is like tests and a school subject. People who do science experiments are called scientists. They can be men or women.'Laura: 'Science explores the world around us to make new discoveries to make our life better and discover cures for illness for example.'

Table 4

GIRLS BOYS

Without science people There are scientists all over the world. wouldn't go into space.

Scientists are people who do lots of inventions. -

People think that scientists are men in white coats - and glasses.

People working in a lab. -

Science is used by doctors in hospitals. Space - explorers use science.

Scientists can't make everything happen. For - younger kids, science is for them sometimes.

Science is us! Science is Miss McMahon's topic. -

There also seems to be evidence that the girls are more concerned with the outcomes and purposes of science. More girls than boys showed an awareness of public issues in science such as animal testing and food scares (Table 5). Table 5

GIRLS BOYS

Science is helpful. Science gets people things.

Science helps make cures Science is helpful in work and play. for illnesses.

Science can be used for Science is used by people all over the world. nuclear weapons.

Science tries to help people. -

Making antidotes for people who have diseases. -

Some great scientists use animals to test lots of - things.

I don't like testing on animals. -

Science puts on scares about things. When science - puts on a scare people get told.

Some people think that testing on animals is good - and some don't.

Feelings about Science A few children made positive responses to science, but the group interviews, thoughts books and brainstorms all revealed an ambivalent attitude to science; some things were fun or interesting, others were boring. There were few strongly negative comments made, but it may have been difficult for children to express these in the knowledge of my interest in science. In terms of general interest in science there seemed to be very little difference between the boy and girls. Two boys placed science as their second favourite subject and one girl placed it as fourth, otherwise it was around the middle of the children's subject preferences. There did, however, seem to be a difference in some girls' and boys' perceptions of their own ability in science. Three girls, two of whom struggle academically, wrote in their thoughts books very strongly that science was 'hard' and no boys expressed this feeling, even those with learning difficulties: Naomi: 'I'm not good at it'. Alison: 'No no no no no! because it is hard and I get it wrong all the time'. My own assessments of the children's achievements in science indicated that the girls tend to achieve a little more highly than the boys, but that this was not very marked. This is in keeping with studies in which girls at Key Stage 2 are generally achieving better results than boys nationally (Elwood, 1996; Ofsted, 1996). Kelly A (1987) describes how girls' concept of femininity as requiring caution and timidity prevents them from fully taking part in laboratory work. I had not observed any reluctance on the part of the girls to do practical work and I was surprised to see some girls referring to science as dangerous in the brainstorms (Table 6).

Table 6

GIRLS BOYS

You can use dangerous chemicals. -

Science can be fun, but dangerous. -

Scientists try to find out if a new thing is safe or not. -

Conclusions Throughout the study the children's knowledge of me as their audience will have influenced their responses and those with negative things to say may have suppressed them. Fine and Sandstrom (1988) explain how in ethnographic research the researcher tries to present themselves as equal with those they are observing and that this is difficult to achieve in relationships between children and adults. It is particularly difficult to achieve with teachers and pupils because of the hierarchy built into the structure of the school. Due to the ideographic nature of the study I am not able to generalise my conclusions to apply to Key Stage 2 children as a whole, but I hope to provide an insight into how this group of children, at this time, perceived science. It was clear that the dominant perception of science was as a process, as a way of exploring the world. This is very much the model of science that has been encouraged by prominent writers on primary science, (eg Harlen, 1992), in which children were encouraged to follow their own lines of enquiry. With the revisions of the National Curriculum there was a shift in emphasis from all forms of investigation towards rigorous measurement. This change, alongside the introduction of testing at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2, puts the emphasis more on correct understanding of scientific knowledge rather than on science as a process and may impact on children's perceptions of science in that direction. I found no evidence that these children were constructing science as masculine as described in secondary schools (Kelly A, 1987). When asked directly in the group interviews whether they thought science was a more male or female thing there were no stereotypical answers that linked males with science, but a clear message that individuals could choose to do whatever they wanted. However, I did see some differences in how science is perceived. There is evidence that girls are more concerned with people in relationship to science than boys and if their next experiences of science do not seem relevant it is possible they may become less interested in it. It is worth mentioning again here that neither boys nor girls showed a strong like or dislike for science. This was only the second year group to have had science prescribed as part of their education from reception upwards and it's 'normality' as something everyone does may be strong for these children. If, as Evans (1988) suggests, gender is reconstructed by each generation then what it means to be male and female is changing and there may be a change in interests considered appropriate for girls and boys. It can also be argued that the construction 'Primary Science' is actually different from other versions of science. Primary science is less abstract than secondary school science in that there is little in the way of formulae and equations to deal with. This may be an explanation for the association of science with writing as it has a strong descriptive component. In primary schools there is familiar, not intimidating, equipment; there are yoghurt pots not test tubes, candles not Bunsen burners, magnifying glasses not microscopes. It often forms part of topic work and so there may be more of a context to site it in. Murphy (1993) suggests that girls find the context of the work more important than boys. The majority of primary teachers are women and this provides role models of women 'doing science'. It could be argued that Primary Science is less masculine than secondary school science and less at odds with girls' developing ideas of how to be female.

References BENTLEY, D. and WATTS, M. (1987) 'Counting the Positive Virtues; a case for Feminist Science', in KELLY, A. (Ed) Science for Girls. Milton Keynes: Oxford University Press. DES and WELSH OFFICE (1988) Science in the National Curriculum. HMSO. DES and WELSH OFFICE (1991) Science in the National Curriculum, HMSO. DES and WELSH OFFICE (1995) Science in the National Curriculum, HMSO. EICHENBAUM, L. and ORBACH, S. (1983) Understanding Women. London: Penguin Books. ELWOOD, J. (1995) 'Undermining Gender Stereotypes: exam and course work performance in the UK at 16', Assessment in Education, 2(3). EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION (1996) Education Reforms ND Gender Equality in Schools. Manchester: EOC. EVANS, T. (1988) A Gender Agenda: A sociological study of teachers, parents and pupils in their primary schools. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. FINE, G. and SANDSTROM, K. (1988) Knowing Children: Participant Observation with Minors. London: Sage Publications Inc. HARDING, J. and SUTORIS, M. (1987) in KELLY, A. (Ed) Science for Girls, Milton Keynes: Oxford University Press. HARLEN, W. (1992) The Teaching of Science. London: David Fulton. KELLY, A. (1981) in KELLY, A. (Ed) The Missing Half: Girls and Science Education. Manchester University Press. KELLY, A. (1987) in KELLY, A. (Ed) Science for Girls. Milton Keynes: Oxford University Press. KELLY, A. (1987) in ARNOT, M. and WEINER, G. (Eds) Gender and the Politics of schooling. Oxford University Press. KELLY, E. (1981) in KELLY, A. (Ed) The Missing Half: Girls and Science Education. Manchester University Press. KELLY, G. (1955) The Psychology of Personal Constructs. New York: Norton. MCMAHON, K. (1996) A study of children's Perception of Science and it's Relation to Gender in a Key Stage Two Class. MEd Dissertation, University of the West of England, Bristol. MURPHY, P. (1993) in MCCORMICK, P., MURPHY, P. and HARRISON, M. (Eds) Teaching and Learning Technology. Milton Keynes: Oxford University Press. OFSTED (1996) The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools: Standards and Quality in Education. HMSO. SCANTLEBURY, K. and KAHLE, J. (1993) Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30(6) pp. 537-545. WALKERDINE, V. and THE GIRLS MATHEMATICS UNIT (1989) Counting Girls Out. London: Virago. WHYTE, J. (1986) Girls Into Science and Technology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Disclosure - Pupils and Teachers or 'Better to be 'sound' than female and mummsy-ish' RUTH-ELLEN SALISBURY BA., MEd, Currently studying for a PhD

Abstract This article considers the issue of disclosure1 drawing on data gathered as a part of my Masters dissertation and subsequent further research for a proposed PhD thesis. It concludes that even given the small number of participating teachers, receiving a disclosure from a pupil is not as unusual as may be assumed. In light of recent local and national concern surrounding child abuse and in particular the fact that the North Wales Child Abuse Enquiry is due to report later this summer, the role of the teacher who receives a disclosure raises issues of professional significance that many teachers across all sectors are likely to confront. The data gathered raised a concern that current Child Protection procedures could further disadvantage the child they are intended to protect. "If an adult had done something really bad to you and you wanted to tell one of your teachers who would you choose?", I asked my thirteen year old son. When we had clarified that 'bad' had a different meaning in his terminology than mine and I should have used the word 'sad', he named a male teacher. Having met this gentleman at Parents' Evening he struck me as a subject specialist first with the role of agony aunt coming about 499 on a list of 500. "Why him in particular?", I asked. "He's sound", replied my son. Some years ago one of my fifteen year old pupils disclosed sexual abuse to me. She was truculent and surly and as I struggled to teach her she promoted feelings in me of frustration and despair. She had resisted any attempt to establish a positive relationship with me and appeared to dislike me, so it was a surprise when one day she asked to talk to me in private. After listening to her I was faced with a dilemma for which I felt unprepared by my training as a teacher to resolve. She recounted a series of events that involved theft and sexual abuse by a close male friend of her father and whilst I had a professional obligation to act in a particular way following her disclosure, this felt inappropriate as a personal response. After discussing this difficulty with colleagues it became apparent that many other teachers with whom I spoke had experienced a similar dilemma. One teacher said: It was a moral nightmare, feeling that the right course of action for me as a teacher was definitely the wrong course of action for me just as a person, without a label 'teacher', especially after hearing what can only be described as a horror story. I came down on the side of me, the rules didn't seem to make much sense. Downie, Loudfoot and Telfer (1974) raise the issue of the teacher's personal views placing them in conflict with official requirements: We have claimed that the individual teacher acts in a social role, in the sense that he has certain official rights and duties which govern his actions. It is equally the case that the individual teacher will have certain beliefs and convictions, and these may come into conflict with what he is required to do in his social role. If a teacher finds his personal views in conflict with official requirements, how should he resolve his situation? (Downie, Loudfoot and Telfer, 1974, p 119) I began to research teachers' experiences of disclosure for my MEd. After 18 months fieldwork, this was written up as Disclosure - The Teacher's Response (Salisbury 1996). I cannot claim that the selection of my interviewees had its roots in a carefully planned research design. My choice of research area was the result of my own experiences in receiving disclosures and the informal discussions I had had with colleagues over a number of years. Whilst Child Protection issues have increasingly been the subject of much national legislation, the teachers' response has largely been addressed as a procedural issue with additional guidelines offered both nationally and locally for handling one of the most sensitive situations that any teacher is likely to encounter in the school environment. I began by reading accounts of teachers' lives and careers. I hoped that during the course of my reading I would gain insight into the most appropriate format for gathering information from teachers with particular reference to the potential sensitivity of the subject matter of my study; here Brannen (1988) was invaluable. I shared my research area with two close colleagues, both of whom expressed a willingness to participate in the data gathering process and then offered their own experiences - in much the same way as my colleagues had done some years earlier when I shared the disclosure of the fifteen year old girl. As a result of these initial contacts I wrote to my colleagues' respective schools outlining my research proposal but without specifically mentioning my interest in a personal response to disclosure. I included a secondary school with whom I had had limited contact during the course of my work to enable a balance of two primary schools and two secondary schools. I did not use the recollections of my colleagues as a part of my final research data. In order to ensure anonymity I numbered my letters, hence no name was associated with any of the replies. The responses were returned via a box in the school secretary's office. I decided on this approach as several staff in each of the schools were known to me and I wished to ensure impartiality when making my choice of interviewees. I selected a population of sixteen teachers, with a balance between primary and secondary school teachers, years of teaching experience and gender. My population of teachers, though small, showed sufficient commonality of behaviour to suggest that when a teacher received a disclosure from a pupil, some responses were shared by all the participating teachers. In every instance of disclosure the teacher initially responded as a 'confidante' in preference to being an 'accountable professional' and placed the perceived interest of the pupil before the statutory requirement of the local education authority. The data that emerged would suggest that receiving a disclosure from a pupil is a more common occurrence than those in the profession would perhaps assume. Although using a small population of teachers, I feel the importance of the data that has emerged from this research should not be underrated. Indeed, as Cortazzi points out: Teacher's thoughts, perceptions, beliefs and experiences are all aspects of teachers' culture which we need to know about to be aware of as a key factor in education, especially in times of change.... Yet this crucial aspect of education is probably undervalued and certainly under researched... Teachers' culture is largely unexamined, except by ethnographic studies and case studies, which necessarily deal in small numbers. (Cortazzi, 1993, p 4) Of the sixteen teachers interviewed nine teachers had received a disclosure. No teacher with under seven years of teaching experience had received a disclosure from a pupil. The teachers with over ten years teaching experience were four times as likely to receive a disclosure than teachers who had taught for under ten years. Of a population of sixteen teachers, there were over twice as many disclosures offered to primary school teachers as there were to secondary school teachers - 9 secondary and 20 primary respectively. None of the disclosures were offered to teachers within their normal teaching base and all of the teachers had been known to the pupil for two or more years. Of the nine primary and secondary teachers who received a disclosure(s) from a pupil three were men and six were women. This may be a reflection of the higher percentage of women teachers in primary schools rather than an indicator of a gender preference by pupils. It is the opinion of the teachers who participated in the study that gender was insignificant in determining the choice of recipient of the disclosure by the pupil. All nine teachers felt the choice of recipient was more focussed on the character of the individual teachers as perceived by the pupil and that the disclosure was offered after that pupil had tested the teacher's potential response to a variety of behaviours, both verbal and non-verbal over a long period of time in a public setting. The challenging behaviour offered by the pupil to all of the teachers who eventually received their disclosure may be identified as a part of the process of finding out about the actual person behind the title 'teacher' - irrespective of a subsequent disclosure. ... the activity in which a teacher is actually engaged is passing on himself. It is not what he teaches that matters most, but what he is as a person. If any reader doubts it, let him look back to his own education and ask himself what he remembers. It will not be the material he was taught, but a few of the people who did the teaching. They will have left their mark upon him. The Zulus have an apposite proverb: 'I cannot hear a word you are saying, for what you are shouts so loudly in my ears'. (Dawson, 1984, p 7) Michael Rutter, in his book 'Fifteen Thousand Hours', identifies as the key to understanding a school, an appreciation of its ethos as a social institution: with no one ethos or style being necessarily more successful than another; but for the lack of a coherent way of doing things a school will fail. (Rutter, quoted in Dawson 1984, p 21) It seems to me that the following statements may be applied to the process by which a disclosing pupil may choose a teacher:

 The school, being a constant factor of the pupil's life provides the opportunity for regular contact with adults within a consistent framework.

 No one teaching style is likely to guarantee selection for disclosure by a pupil.

 An important factor in the selection process being that the teacher does not fail the pupil's assessment period by demonstrating inconsistencies of character in the classroom.

 Gender is not an important factor in the selection process. I interviewed nine of the pupils who had made disclosures to teachers participating in the study and the personality of the teacher was noted by these pupils as having great significance on their eventual choice of the teacher to whom they disclosed. This is most succinctly put by a fourteen year old who made a disclosure to his Humanities teacher: X was safe. He's a safe person, you know. He is what he is, you don't get any different no matter what you do. I did some things, yeah some things. He's sound. (Fourteen year old pupil) I was aware of similarities of personality in the teachers interviewed. They were comfortable talking about feelings/emotions without stating a specific interest in exploring feelings, or specifically focussing on the importance of 'owning' their feelings. They all had an inner calm that was demonstrated in both their movements and their speech patterns, they spoke and moved slowly and chose their words carefully, only offering a response after some thought about the question/statement. They demonstrated excellent listening skills, having appropriate eye contact and positive non-verbal actions when either speaking or listening. They also expressed strong views about a variety of subjects yet portrayed these in a non-threatening, non-judgemental manner. During a recent visit to a primary school I asked the staff who they felt would be the most likely person to receive a disclosure. They named one of the older female teachers. "Any reason?" I asked. "She's, well, she's a comfortable sort of person, mummsy-ish." Having asked the same question in the staffroom of a comprehensive school I received replies ranging from "the pastoral staff" to the identification of a female, mummsy-ish figure as in the primary school. Yet from the evidence provided by disclosing pupils who took part in my research, neither a pastoral responsibility nor being a comfortable, mummsy-ish female were predominant factors in their choice of teacher. My son's choice of teacher was based on his being 'sound', an assessment that was repeated by the nine pupils I interviewed who had made disclosures to a teacher. A fifteen year and a nine year old said respectively: Yeah, I was like on his back. On his back every lesson. Its not like he was a sad teacher or anything, I kept on, you know, not like the lesson was ... I don't know why I did it. Well I might have wanted to see what he would do. He was a good teacher, the work was sad (boring), he was right there (good), I don't feel I did right by him. Two years of me gipping (calling out) and he was still sound. (Fifteen year old pupil) I wasn't very good. I did a lot of naughty things. Bad things like pulling all the flowers off our plants we grew. She got cross with me but not like really, really cross. She wouldn't have killed me. I liked her really but I didn't let her know until right at the end. I just kept on being naughty. (Nine year old pupil) The pupils I interviewed were identified by the teachers who received the disclosures. The teachers made the initial contact with these pupils and this was followed by discussion with parents/carers when appropriate and a guarantee of complete anonymity. In order to achieve this any reference to dates and places was removed from the text, as were issues of gender and possible identification based on speech patterns and word usage. None of the pupils interviewed were the subject of on-going Child Protection procedures. The view of the role of teacher - as encompassing more than delivering the National Curriculum - is held by all the teachers who took part in the study. All stressed that their delivery of the National Curriculum was a part of a much wider role within their school society. In 1992 Shelagh Webb wrote: Teachers today live and work in a hard and changing world, a world which not only expects them to deliver the curriculum under constantly shifting rules but which also seems to suggest that they are in some way responsible for much wider problems facing our society...... What teachers might more reasonably expect from Government and society is some recognition of the vital role they play in the health of all our communities. (Webb, 1992, p 3) It was the feeling of all the teachers interviewed that the needs of the disclosing pupil may not always be best met by following procedures laid down by their local authorities. Even though Webb has pointed out the value of teachers for promoting the health of communities and despite guidelines which advocate a key role for teachers in support programmes for the disclosing pupil, this was not the recounted experience of the teachers who took part in my research. Many of the teachers felt left out, devalued, angry and distressed after reporting a disclosure with the subsequent involvement of other people/agencies. These feelings were echoed by the pupils who had made the disclosures. The pupils identified feelings of anger, abandonment, confusion and isolation as in the majority of cases, the procedures that followed the disclosure increasingly distanced the pupil from the one person they had completely trusted and identified as 'safe' or 'sound'. This study has highlighted the need for a more comprehensive acknowledgment by the government on the role of teachers when handling sensitive information and a need for local authorities to ensure a workable, practical application of their written guidelines. It may also be useful for the government and local authorities to acknowledge the role teachers play when identified as the trusted-adult for disclosing pupils and to build that into any legislation or guidelines for multi-disciplinary working. The evidence, from my research would appear to indicate that at present there are differences in the perception of multi-disciplinary programmes between agencies working with children and some national and regional guidelines. Most of the teachers who took part in my research rejected in part current procedures as they placed too much emphasis on systems, rules and regulations. The teachers identified the need to maintain the role of trusted-adult in any subsequent multi- disciplinary investigation/action and felt that the right of the child to maintain the support of the teacher identified as the trusted-adult should be more strongly emphasised both in government and regional guidelines. One teacher said: Once I reported it, that was it. I was actually told, 'no contact', by one of the social workers. They didn't speak to me after I gave them the statement. What felt worse was X disappearing with complete strangers so soon after talking about it for the first time. He trusted me, he should have been able to stay with me while they were investigating or whatever. The data I gathered when speaking to the pupils who had disclosed to a teacher would seem to indicate that a systematic process is employed by the pupils, often over a considerable length of time, in order to establish the trustworthiness of that teacher. All of the teachers had been known to the pupils for over eighteen months and all teachers stressed that the pupil had been difficult and often displayed a withdrawn or hostile attitude during teaching periods. Similarly the pupils spoke of a testing-out period when they appeared to deliberately place the teacher in situations that demanded considerable expertise in managing their response to the pupil's behaviour. Fairness, patience and consistency appeared to be valued by the pupil who eventually disclosed to the teacher. My research indicates that if a pupil makes a disclosure to a teacher, the trust in that person is the result of many months of their own research into the facets of that teacher's character. It is not happenstance nor is it because they are motherly; female; of a certain age; have a good sense of humour or hold a pastoral position in the school. The teachers I interviewed had been tried and tested and found worthy of receiving trust-placement by the pupil who eventually disclosed to them. At present legislation does not address the importance of this relationship and it becomes the responsibility of local authorities to interpret government guidelines in their Child Protection procedures. I have told my son that I am always here for him to talk to - but being female and perhaps just a tiny bit mummsy-ish - I might not qualify.

References BRANNEN, J. (1988) Research Note, The Study of Sensitive Subjects. London: Routledge. CORTAZZI, M. (1993) Narrative Analysis. London: The Falmer Press. DAWSON, M. (1984) Teachers and Teaching. London: Basil Blackwell. DOWNIE, R.S., LOUDFOOT, E.M. and TELFER, E. (1974) Education and Personal Relationships. London: Methuen. SALISBURY, R-E. (1996) Disclosure - The Teacher's Response. Unpublished MEd Thesis. WEBB, S. (1992) 'Helping Troubled and Troublesome Children', in Croner's The Head's Legal Guide, Bulletin: Issue 1, November 1992. Kingston upon Thames: Croner. Unhappy 10th Birthday - What's the fate of Section 28? PETER CHARLESWORTH, former Master of Education student, University of the West of England, Bristol

Abstract This paper analyses the past, present and future of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 which prevents the 'promotion' of homosexuality in local authority schools in England and Wales. The article is a development of Masters dissertation study by a classroom teacher in Bristol, researching how gay male primary school teachers reconcile the demands of the curriculum with their own sexuality. Despite recent gains with the Age of Consent vote, there exists much uncertainty as to the future of full legislative reform for young gay people's future. Section 28 is symbolic of homophobic legislation. It puts young lives at risk from both AIDS and suicide. This is good reason indeed for the Section to be repealed and the law to change.

The State We're In This is an auspicious time for education, for young people, their sexuality and the law. On 22 June 1998 the House of Commons voted upon the age of consent for young gay men to be equal to that for heterosexuals and the motion was won by 336 to 129 - a majority of 207 in favour. Opposition from the Lords was expected but, as Labour MP, Stephen Twigg stated following the debate, "To wreck this [vote] would require a lot of hereditary Conservative peers and backwoods-men to be bussed-in for the occasion and these Lords are currently involved in delicate negotiations about their entire future, so it is unlikely that they would engage in such a potentially damaging political manoeuvre." (Pink Paper, 26 June 1998) The Age of Consent vote and Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 are, arguably, irrevocably intertwined. The age of consent is not just a symbol. It makes needless criminals of a generation of young men who may already be under pressure at home and at school. What is more, it may place their health at risk too. If homosexuality is illegal for sixteen year olds how can they be taught to negotiate safer sex when many teachers feel reticent about addressing issues of sexuality at all and certainly issues around homosexuality? Many teachers are deeply reluctant to discuss homosexuality. Throughout the past ten years, fear of reprisals has acted as an effective form of self-censorship because what began life simply as a private members bill in the early eighties became, arguable, the most severe anti-equality legislation since World War One. The 24 May 1998 saw the tenth birthday of Section 28 of the Local Government Act. When Section 28 came into force in May 1988 it was ostensibly the end of a debate which had raged both publicly and politically since 1981. By June 1997, Stephen Twigg, MP, was confident that there was now 'overwhelming' support in the new parliament for repealing Section 28. Yet despite Prime Minister Tony Blair's message of support to Gay Pride Marchers in July 1997, there were no dates in the political calendar for the discussion of any of the sexual equality issues demanded by Stonewall, the political lobbying group representing gay men and lesbians. Since Section 28's implementation no legal proceedings have arisen from it and some would argue, it is a legal dead-letter. However, combined with the Government Circular from the Department for Education in 1993, which warned that it might be legally unsafe to answer individual pupils' questions without relaying confidences to either parents or the headteacher, Section 28's imposition has haunted teaching.

Sections of History Why has Section 28 been of major significance to so many forward-thinking heterosexual and most gay and lesbian teachers, when other sexuality campaigns have ostensibly overtaken and over-shadowed its implications and effects? The answer is that Section 28 epitomises, as Powell stressed in Gay Times in April 1996, an anti-gay witch hunt begun by the Conservative government during the late 1980s which perpetuates the myth of homosexuality as a dangerous and corrupting influence. Its aims were two- fold. Firstly, it allowed the Thatcher government to reassert family values at the expense of equal opportunities in schools and local authorities. Secondly, it enabled the government to cut the spending of mainly Labour-run local authorities and local education authorities with very little objection from the general public. Epstein takes up this point: "The intense period of moral campaigning which took place in the eighties, continues to reverberate today. This campaign, carried out by a loose alliance of moral traditionalists in the Conservative Party, sections of the press and pressure groups like the Parents' Rights Group focused on anxieties about 'the promotion of gay and lesbian rights' in schools and demanded the teaching of 'normal family values' in sex education. These demands took concrete form in Section 28 and the DES circular 11/87, the latter of which urged schools to help pupils 'appreciate the benefits of stable married and family life'. In effect, this campaign and its continuing legacy in more recent legislation (DfE 1993) represents a sustained attempt to actively promote what we might term conventional heterosexual familialism." (Epstein, 1994, p 132) Today one can see that a backlash against gays and lesbians was imminent. The tabloid press had whipped itself (and the British public) into a frenzy over the activities of what the tabloids called the 'loony-left' Labour councils, notably Haringey, where, the tabloids alleged with wild exaggeration, gay sex was being taught in schools. In reality, in 1996 Haringey's gay and lesbian unit, set up three years earlier with funding from the now defunct Greater London Council, sent a letter to head teachers offering to help create non- discrimination policies for schools. Furthermore, the Council supported the teaching of 'positive images' of homosexuality in schools, a controversial policy which had prompted confrontations between parents' groups and gay activists. Then, in the run-up to the general election of 1987, Margaret Thatcher called for radical education reforms, huge syllabus changes and a return to educational 'basics'. She railed against progressive teaching methods which dealt sympathetically with sexuality and ethnicity and in her infamous election victory speech at the 1987 Conservative Party Conference she declared, to rapturous applause: "Children, who should be taught to respect traditional moral values, are being taught they have the unalienable right to be gay". These themes were taken up throughout the parliamentary debates on Section 28 as Conservative MPs continuously stressed the damage homosexuality was doing to school pupils. Jill Knight MP claimed that 99% of tax-payers objected to money being spent on: "Children being perverted...diverted or converted from normal family life to a lifestyle which is desperately dangerous". (Gay Times April 1996) Rhodes Boyson, the Tory MP, branded the 'positive images' policy immoral and evil propaganda whilst Sir Nicholas Fairbairn MP labelled homosexuality a 'pathological perversion'. The enactment of the Section stands as a terrible symbol of the previous Government's disapproval of homosexuality. But what effect has Section 28 had in practice and in particular, what does it mean for the discussion of homosexuality in the classroom?

Dead Letter First of all it is important to assess the Section in the context of existing education legislation. The 1986 Education Act states that sex education must be given in such a manner as to encourage pupils to have due regard to moral considerations and the value of family life. This was augmented by the 1987 DES government Circular 11/87 which, although it stressed the 'importance of appropriate and responsible sex education', concludes: "There is no place in any school, in any circumstance for teaching which advocates homosexual behaviour which presents it as the 'norm', or which encourages homosexual experimentation by pupils". (DES 1988a: para 22) It is also important to remember that when Section 28 was introduced the age of consent was still twenty-one. This in itself was an excellent get-out clause for teachers to avoid teaching about homosexuality because, they could argue, gay sex should be of no concern to those of school age. Ten years on it is possible to see how schools have been bluffed and misled by Section 28. After it became law, groups like Liberty (formerly the National Council for Civil Liberties) were quick to stress that only local authorities can be prosecuted for breaching the Section. At the same time, Dame Jill Knight MP predicted that self-censorship would obviate the need for legal action. Unfortunately she was right about that, for it is actually only self-policing that renders Section 28 effective. Ironically, the last government's own education reforms over the past ten years invalidate the Section: "Section 28 prohibited the 'promotion' of homosexuality by local authorities, but, ironically, failed to apply this to schools. It both legitimated and encouraged heterosexism and homophobia and at the same time promoted homosexuality in the shape of a massive agitation against the then clause. Section 28 therefore had massive contradictory effects. By heightening awareness of the issues it both increased self-censorship among teachers and, in some contexts, enabled teachers to take on board the issues for the first time, but partly because of the poor drafting of the original clause and the contradiction between it and the Education (No.2) Act 1986 which made sex education the remit of school governors rather than local authorities, Section 28 has been, legally, a dead letter". (Epstein, 1994, p 221) So the power of local education authorities to determine the content of teaching in schools has been drastically curtailed and legislation now allows schools to opt-out of LEA control altogether. Under the 1986 Education Act, sex education became the responsibility of school governors, although LEAs can still propose policies for this teaching. The fact is that Section 28 applies only to local education authorities and absolutely nothing a teacher or a school governor does can be made illegal by it; teachers in state schools are answerable only to school governors and not the local authority. The DfEE adds the clause, "independent schools are free to make their own decisions...". This statement can leave independent school teachers confused and unsure of their position with regard to the Section rather than unaffected by it.

Currying Favour Many gay and lesbian groups believe that if the government today tried to enforce Section 28 it would fail. However, its fate seems that it will be forgotten about rather than repeated. Yet even Edwina Currie, the Conservative MP who originally voted in favour of the Section now claims, in an interview with Gay Times, that the time has come to have it removed from the statute books. This was a noble admission, yet many teachers will not have read this information given in a Gay Times interview in the spring of 1996 and nor does it change the law. The re-assertion of the new moral traditionalism which marked the later years of the Tory administration successfully mobilised a powerful agenda on sexuality and education which constantly sought to influence and define official education policy and thus set effective limits on what was possible or attempted in schools. Within these limits today, schools are expected to address questions of sex and sexuality inside a framework that views heterosexuality as the unquestioned norm to the exclusion of all other forms of sexuality. Epstein (1994, p 147) addresses this point when she states that if sexuality education is to take on board gay and lesbian issues, it will need to address the ways in which heterosexuality is systematically built into and spoken by the everyday routines and structures of school life. By extension it will also have to consider the ways in which gayness and lesbianism are systematically denied, marginalised and constructed as 'other'. Similarly, pupil sexual cultures will need to be taken into account. To combat homophobia, it will not be enough to tell pupils that 'poof' is an unacceptable word. Disciplinarian approaches will need to be underpinned by far more creative strategies which seek to understand the role of homophobias and enable pupils to find new ways of 'seeing' that make sense within their own lives and cultural formations. She goes on to emphasise that legal requirements and the burden of the National Curriculum place major obstacles in the path of any potential reorientation of sexuality education. The demands of the National Curriculum mean that there is less and less space for 'time-consuming' pupil- centred learning or subjects which fall outside curriculum orders. The Education Act of 1993 has done little to offer schools encouragement in relation to sex education and continues a rather sorry tradition of muddled official thinking and prescriptive policy making when what is needed is clear sighted innovation and a willingness to address real needs.

Bully For You Many teachers may be oblivious to or disinterested in the repercussions of this ten year old piece of legislation yet it forms a vitally relevant part of education today. In September 1997, the Institute of Education; the lobbying group, Stonewall and the Terrence Higgins Trust commissioned a research project into homophobic bullying and the perceived effects of Section 28 within schools. Of the 307 schools who responded to a questionnaire sent to 1000 schools in England and Wales, 75% of these schools were aware of the Act and of these there was a high degree of uncertainty about its relevance to schools. The majority, (56%) stated that they had experienced difficulty in addressing the needs of lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils as a result of Section 28. Teachers were particularly confused about the notion of 'promoting homosexuality'. As a consequence, many had removed elements from the curriculum, including work tackling homophobic bullying. Labour MP Stephen Twigg's office with whom I spoke in August 1996 could give me no definite date as to when one may expect Section 28 to be repealed. Mr Twigg's spokesman maintained that were I content with the reassurances Stonewall had been given, then I also should rest assured. Prior to the general election, Section 28 was high on the agenda of issues to be addressed. For example, at the National Union of Teachers' Lesbian and Gay Conference in December 1997, although Angela Mason explained that the five drives towards equality were in no prioritised order it has always seemed significant that the pledge to encourage equality in school has headed the list as part of Stonewall's 2000 campaign. Evidently, following the election, the issues of Gays into the Military and the Age of Consent debate were to take higher priority for the Government than the need to address Section 28, homophobic bullying and the issues in school which satellite around these two factors and which can lead to long term psychological damage and not necessarily just for the pupils. Negative feelings concerning homosexuality often emanate from gay men's and lesbian women's time in school as pupils. Without a positive self-image it is more difficult to challenge homophobia met in society at large. Schools have an enormous part to play in influencing the frame of mind with which their pupils leave their school and the self-image and esteem they arrogate. Encouragingly, 62% of the schools responding to the Terrence Higgins Trust / Institute of Education / Stonewall survey felt that schools were an appropriate setting for providing lesbian and gay information. Of course, this does not mean that this percentage were actually offering it or felt in a position to do so.

Sex(uality) Talk By the end of their school years all pupils need to know about homosexuality and not only gay or lesbian pupils or those perceived by others to be. Without this information pupils are not being well prepared to cope with the diversity of adult lives and may feel uncomfortable or lack confidence about experiences they may have as adults. Not only will they feel unprepared for what the Education Act (1996) refers to as the "opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life", but they may grow up with negative feelings about some kinds of relationships and sexual behaviour. It is not possible to talk effectively about issues like gender roles, attitudes to and beliefs about sex and adult relationships without referring to different sexualities. The National Curriculum Council states: "feeling positive about sexuality and sexual activity is important in relationships", whilst the BMA Foundation for AIDS adds: "Good sex education is about relationships as well as biology". Children have a right to accurate information about sexuality on the simple basis of social justice and, essentially, for health education and health promotion. Even if homosexuality is not discussed in the classroom children will discuss it in contexts where mis-information and mis-conceptions cannot be addressed. Bullying in schools frequently involves the use of homophobic insults. Children may have family, friends, aunts, uncles or even a parent who is gay. They may even themselves be gay. For all of these reasons it is important for homosexuality to be discussed sensibly, objectively and appropriately within primary and secondary classrooms. I am only heartened by the most recent correspondence I received from the DfEE in December 1997. Its final paragraph stated: "The Government has long made clear its opposition to Section 28 and intends to repeal it when legislative opportunity exists. The Government recognises that the Section has widely been perceived as discriminatory and serves no useful purpose." (DfEE, personal correspondence, 1997). Where does the Labour Government truly align itself on this issue? Within a month the Government have appeared to adopt contradictory approaches to issues of sexuality. A Bill to outlaw discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace was scuppered by Government ministers in the House of Lords in June 1998 because, they claimed, it would undermine family values (Pink Paper, 12 June 1998). Two weeks previously, however, the Government had plans to repeal the whole of the 1988 Local Government Act later this year. The Department of the Environment, headed by Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, was "almost certain" to replace it with new legislation that will not incorporate the anti-gay clause that is Section 28. Local Government minister, Hilary Armstrong added: "I can confirm that we intend to repeal Section 28 as soon as suitable legislative opportunity arises. You can rest assured that the Government remains committed to the repeal of this Section." (Pink Paper 29, May 1998). "Rest assured", however, is a platitude I received two years ago in the August of 1996. The Pink Paper's leader of 12 June 1998 succinctly sums up the current situation: "When the Government decides it will continue to contest the military ban, say no to legislation enshrining anti-gay crime and [maintain sexuality] as grounds for discrimination then [it] deserves criticism." Despite the gay lobby and the Government's backing and celebration of the Age of Consent vote there is still a long way to go to improve the future for the current generation of young gay people in Britain.

References COHEN, J. (1997) The Primary School Sex Education Pack - A Whole School Approach to Sex Education. Liverpool: Healthwise. DfEE (1997) Personal Correspondence, December. EPSTEIN, D. (Ed) (1994) Challenging Lesbian and Gay Inequalities in Education. Suffolk: Open University Press. FORREST, F,. BIDDLE, G. and CLIFT, S. (1997) Talking About Homosexuality in the Secondary School. West Sussex: AVERT: AIDS Education and Research Trust. HEALTH EDUCATION RESEARCH UNIT (1997) Playing It Safe, The Terrence Higgins Trust. NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS LESBIAN AND GAY CONFERENCE London (1997). POWELL, V. (1996) Gay Times (April). THE PINK PAPER (1997/8). BOOK REVIEW Sociology of Sex and Sexuality Gail Hawkes, Open University Press (1996), ISBN 0 335 19316 1 £11.99 164 pages Many people working in education are concerned about sex and sexuality, though the nature of their concerns varies very widely indeed. A number of books have been written on the subject, not all of which manage to combine well-researched and sophisticated argument with accessibility. To a large extent, this one does. Gail Hawkes' book is a sophisticated and incisive account of sex and sexuality from early Christianity to late modernity, and it covers a broad spectrum. Hawkes uses a theoretically informed, historical sociology analysis to examine the construction and reconstruction of sex and sexuality, tracing early Christian concerns over sexual desires as bestial and uncontrollable, to the Enlightenment view of sex as 'natural'; onto its later 'rationalisation', investigation by sexologists, up to its present day valorization and commodification. She highlights the social fears and contradictions which have accompanied these constructions, expressed as binary oppositions in which sex has been understood as: bestial/natural; danger/healthy; shame/celebration; fear/pleasure; needing regulation/freedom. Throughout this, Hawkes uses a wealth of material from theoretical information to primary and secondary sources to illuminate the reader, citing a range of perspectives from social theorists such as Elias, Freud, Foucault, Giddens and Weeks. Underpinning Hawkes' historical analysis are 3 main themes: the centrality and dominance of heterosexuality in which, "heterosexual coitus is shaped and promoted as the.centre-point of expressions of sexual desire in the context of modernity" (p147); the bourgeois ideology which underpins this primacy; and latterly, the diversity of sexual desires, or 'façade of erotic democracy' which can challenge this bourgeois hegemony. Hawkes argues that in modernity the regulation and organisation of sexuality is related to capitalist forms of production. Sex is to be understood as: 'a product, an outcome of a preordained labour process.planned, pleasurable, ordered sex was thus the reflection of a wider socio-economic ethos of planning, and one which reflected the prevailing ideological organization of the work process' (p105) Late modernity has seen a shift from mass production based on Fordist principles of organisation to capital accumulation structured around batch production and a re-skilled flexible workforce serving rapidly changing consumption demands which are short-lived and ephemeral. Hawkes argues that the 'liberalization' of heterosexuality reflected many of these features. The result is, according to Adkins, a 'flexible heterosexuality' because flexible accumulation requires a "new type of person" (p113). But the problem is with the type of sexuality in that it is gendered and heirarchical. It promotes active, male, heterosexual, coital sexuality as the norm against which all other forms of sexuality and experiences are measured, marginalised or problematised. Thus, gay men and lesbian women, women prostitutes, young people for whom sexuality and childhood are quite distinct, are all constructed as problematic. The deregulation of sex and sexuality in the last 30 years is not for these groups - they are still subject to control as exemplified by legislation on the Age of Consent; Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act; public concerns over both sex education and the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Europe. Hawkes lays bare the power relations inherent in a study of (hetero)sex and sexuality by exposing the continued domination of women's sexuality by these constructions. For 'sexuality' is active male sexuality; women have a passive sexuality - to the point of 'sexual anaesthesia' in the last century - which needed to be 'awakened' by men. The liberalization of sexuality and its 'uncoupling' from marriage, monogamy and reproduction by contraception etc, means that women's sexuality now uncovered, active and equal to males', has been commercialised and it is now each woman's duty to utilise her sexuality and to be educated in its use via teen magazines and so on. Men are not assumed to require such education. What are the key issues in all this for educationalists? Firstly, there is the orthodoxy of heterosexuality in which to be 'masculine' is to be heterosexual and against which all sexuality has been defined. Secondly, there is the point that every aspect of women's existence has been sexualised (p109). Thirdly, Hawkes reminds us that in late modernity, sexuality is 'the centre of our beings' (p4) with all the accompanying anxieties about sex and sexuality which this entails and the 'othering' which results. How are these issues to be confronted? And can this orthodoxy be challenged? For Hawkes, a challenge already comes from the sexual pluralism and sexual diversity of late modernity, principally from gay men, whereby the links between gender, sexuality and desire have been loosened but not severed. She is pessimistic about whether heterosexuality has been subverted because heterosexuality has not been 'liberated' nor its hegemony undermined. Here, Adkins illustrates the strength of this hegemony in her review essay of this book. Adkins points out that Hawkes assumes a heterosexuality when discussing women's sexuality in her chapter on 'Planning Sex' and relegates lesbian sexuality as less revolutionary than gay sexuality on rather tenuous ground. In this respect, Hawkes does indeed underexamine the challenge to heterosexuality in her penultimate chapter on 'Subverting Heterosexuality' and misses an opportunity to inform our understanding of sexual diversity and the challenge which 'queer theory' represents to this hegemony. The marginalised groups whose experiences are not recognised within the hegemony of heterosexuality, the conflation of gender with sexuality - all these are surely the concern of the educationalist who wishes to promote some sort of democracy and equity in education. The parallel here is with earlier debates on multiculturalism in education. How are we to support sexual diversity and sexual pluralism in our workplace and in the curriculum? Can we be sure that we are not conflating gender and sexuality and desire in our practices? How can we support those who face the anxieties which 'sexualization' has engendered? Are we to assimilate, accommodate, integrate, isolate, celebrate or silence sexual diversity? Can we be democratic about this and ensure equality? Hawkes is rather pessimistic. She shows that by no means are traditional views on sex and sexuality shaken, let alone challenged. Hawkes has given us a valuable book. It is thought-provoking, challenging and provides a wealth of material to stimulate debate in classrooms, seminars and staff rooms. As a reading on sexual diversity and minorities, this is an introduction but not a comprehensive source book. Adkins highlights the problem in that Hawkes' focus on heterosex almost sustains the very orthodoxy which she is uncovering. Nevertheless, this an enjoyable, illuminating and useful source book for the general reader and for the educationalist. It informs and problematises sex and sexuality by introducing questions about our own practices and the adequacy of the curriculum in acknowledging and reflecting sexual diversity. The lessons of the earlier debates on multiculturalism remain - what are we going to do about sexual pluralism? Hawkes leaves us with questions over the centrality of heterosexuality in the 21st Century and the links between gender, sexuality and desire. They are questions for all of us to grapple with. Wan Ching Yee

Reference ADKINS, Lisa, (1997) 'Sex (Ad)dressed: Empiricism, Periodisations and Fetish', Sociology, Vol 31, No.2. pp 353-360. BOOK REVIEW Failing Boys? Issues in Gender and Achievement Epstein, D., Elwood, J., Hey, V. and Maw, J. (Eds), Open University Press (1998), ISBN 0 335 20238 1 192 pages A colleague recently forwarded a set of internet jokes to me on my e-mail. Amongst them was one which listed amongst the advantages of being a woman 'Being able to ask for directions when you get lost'. Funny as these jokes were, I guess their humour rested on an increasingly strong tendency to tolerate and even celebrate stereotypical differences in gendered behaviour. As this book makes clear, 'Lads' Movement' ideas about what is acceptable have even infiltrated professional thinking about gender. So much so that, as Lynn Raphael Reed points out in her chapter in Failing Boys? it is felt legitimate and even necessary for boys nowadays to be provided with 'positive' role models. These positive models include high-flying businessmen whom the boys, getting up at 6am for a breakfast meeting, would have to shadow. There are many faces to the notion of male underachievement. Aside from the 'highly questionable' (as Raphael Reed puts it) notion of construing people like high-flying businessmen as models, there is another and perhaps even more worrying side to the boys' underachievement mind-set, which is that it muzzles 'the bite of pro-feminist initiatives', as David Jackson puts it in his chapter. It undoes the work of those who have sought to promote a more equal education system. Jackson is surely right. But to use his exact words, Jackson asserts that this muzzling process is 'a way of muzzling the bite of pro-feminist initiatives' [p. 78 emphasis added]. The notion that it is 'a way' implies that someone has sat down and thought about it: thought out how to undermine feminist initiatives. I doubt whether it is this simple, or whether those who are supposed to be responsible are clever enough for such subterfuge and artifice. Surely it is more about cock-up than conspiracy. And the cock-up comes from the notion of underachievement. Underachievement is a feeble but strangely resilient idea. Wittgenstein said that we should fight against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language, and the word 'underachievement' is certainly responsible for a good deal of bewitchment. It is discussed intelligently in Michele Cohen's chapter. Cohen analyses interestingly the relationship of underachievement to the idea of potential: boys are taken to have more potential than girls, so when boys don't succeed they are failing to meet their potential, whereas girls are doing better than expected because they lack potential. I would have liked Cohen to have gone further here. I'd like her to have gone for the jugular on potential and to have made it clear that potential springs from ideas about intelligence. Invoking it engenders an illusion of having explained something, but of course nothing has been explained. Potential and underachievement are myths and as Gilbert Ryle pointed out in The Concept of Mind a myth is not a fairy story; it is the presentation of facts belonging to one category in the idioms appropriate to another. Talking of potential, then, is a myth constructed out of the facts about school achievement in the language of cooking utensils, buckets and other vessels of fluid management. It is thus more dangerous than a fairy tale, for the latter is unequivocally a fiction. The danger of the myth of potential is that it has entered the collective psyche as an explanatory truth. In reality it is nothing more than an explanatory fiction - and one that is responsible for much of the nonsense talked about failing boys. There is no 'potential' to be met; we are what we are. Although this is not said in so many words, the message is loud and clear in this intelligently constructed and well conceived compilation. It is a useful book not just for its contribution to the failing boys debate, but also for its discussion of the host of related issues which go to construct the debate. And unusually for a compilation all the chapters are good. Gary Thomas