Boys and achievement : a case study investigation into boys' achievement at secondary school

Pointet, Andrew John (2005) Boys and achievement : a case study investigation into boys' achievement at secondary school. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

In Part One, I provide background information on my teaching experience, the school of my case study and the reasons behind my interest in the topic. I also give a concise overview of the purpose of my research, the research questions it addresses, its context and the methods I use to investigate it. This is followed by a detailed critique of the literature appertaining to boys’ achievement. I conclude with an explanation of the methodologies I chose to steer my research and which justify my claim that this is a teacher practitioner case study adopting ethnographic approaches.

Part Two forms the main body of my thesis and gives a ‘rich’ and ‘thick’ description of boys’ experiences in a mixed inner city 11-16 comprehensive school. I describe, analyse and compare the data which emerged from pupil interviews, teacher interviews and lesson observations and I explain the findings of my research.

Finally, in Part Three, I re-examine my initial research questions against the background of my research findings and I consider the implications of policy on practice. To conclude my thesis, I outline my own particular vision of the way forward with boys based upon the outcomes of this case study project.

My thesis contributes to knowledge on the subject of boys’ achievement because it provides a detailed account of boys’ ‘lived-in’ experience of school from their point of view and that of their teachers and combines this with the actuality of classroom experience. This research study offers a unique insight into the reality of secondary education for boys and, as I show at the end of my thesis, the broad picture to emerge gives cause for cautious optimism.

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