DAY FOUR

During my fourth practical visit I had noticed that a few of the boys were not engaging in the lessons that my teacher was carrying out. There were some issues throughout the day in regards to behaviour and compliance from the class, especially with the boys. I was trying to identify the factors of why the class was having behavioural issues. I thought could it be due to their inability to understand the task given? As this is commonly a reason that leads to disruptive behaviour. Or I believed it could be troubles in the home, Edwards & Watts (2004, p.6) state divorce can be especially difficult on children as they consider themselves to be the catalyst, in their home environment they are surrounded but conflict and they feel a sense of love loss. Studies show that the socio-economic status and language spoken at home places boys at higher risk of under achieving (Alloway, Freebody, Gilbert, Muspratt, 2002, p. 42). In Australia studies have found that race and class is linked to boys lower performance (Alloway, et al., 2002, p. 40). Cultural differences in orientation to schools and the valuing of school learning (Alloway, et al., 2002, p.4). NSW Professional Teaching Standards 2.1.5 “Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of specific strategies for teaching:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
• Students with Special Education Needs
• Non-English Speaking Background students
• Students with Challenging Behaviours” (New South Wales Institute of Teachers , 2006, p.6). Interestingly boys account for eight out of ten suspensions and exclusions from schools (DEST, 2003, p.4).

As a result of these behavioural issues it is evident that students, in particularly boys are being affected. This is visible through the results they are achieving, research indicates that in each aspect of literacy girls outperform boys (Cortis & Newmarch, 2000, p.2). Due to these behavioural issues in NSW there has been a noticeably visible effect on the achievement levels of boys, in Year 3 and 5 benchmark tests data showed an 11% difference between girls and boys achievement levels, boys being at the bottom of the scale (Alloway, et al., 2002, p.41).
REFERENCE:
– Alloway, N., Freebody, P., Gilbert, P., Muspratt, S. (2002). Literacy, Gender and Boys’ Education: The – Background of Theory and Research. Queensland: JS McMillan Printing Group.
– Cortis, N., Newmarch., E (2000). Boys in Schools What’s Happening?. Melbourne: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.
– Department of Education Science and Training. (2003) Educating Boys Issues and Information. Canberra: A Commonwealth Government Initiative.
– Edwards, C. & Watts, V. (2004). Discipline Problems and Their Causes. In Classroom Discipline & Management: An Australasian Perspective, (pp3-17). John Wiley & Sons: New York.
– New South Wales Institute of Teachers. (2006). Professional Teaching Standards, Retrieved 4 February, 2009 from
http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/Main-Professional-Teaching-Standards.html