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Survey of enrolment rates in the '90s shows that boys begin to participate markedly less in the formal education system beyond the grade nine level.
Barbara Nelson, Contributor
THE RESEARCH Book, Research and Development in Education 1997 - 2002, contains abstracts of several books, articles and chapters in books.
Two papers by Professor Errol Miller on gender issues, whose abstracts appear in the book are included in this review. They throw further light on gender in education.
The Institute of Education at the UWI, Mona, carries out a substantial research agenda, even as it promotes and engineers development. Much of the work of the Institute is carried out through research and development projects many of which are funded.
Research projects have as their primary objective the investigation of various educational phenomena. One of the three main categories of research projects documented in the publication Research and Development in Education 1997 - 2002 is "Exploring the Content of Education" - the investigation of contextual issues and problems related to the school system.
SPONSORS
The Government of the Netherlands, the World Bank and the Ministry of Education & Culture, Jamaica, sponsored the project "A Study in Gender Differences in Academic Achievement at the Secondary Level."
The principal researcher in this project was Professor Hyacinth Evans, from the Institute of Education, second researcher Dr. Rose Johnson, who was then a member of staff of the Department of Educational Studies, along with 14 research assistants. The study was done over the period 1996 -1998.
Using a sample of over 3,700 students from all types of secondary schools, the research was carried out against the background of the low level of achievement of Jamaican boys and the decreasing number of males who pursue tertiary level education.
It was commissioned to examine the problem, find out the ways in which the school, as an institution contributed to the problem and recommend interventions by the Ministry of Education.
The study had two aspects: a survey in which students responded to questionnaires and a qualitative investigation into school processes and student sentiments. The project found that:
There were gender differences in outcomes, including academic achievement (with girls more likely to do better), choice of CXC & GCE A-level subjects, and choice of jobs and careers. The type of school was related to these outcomes.
There were differences in boys' and girls' experiences in school.
Boys were more likely to be exposed to negative school practices like corporal punishment and verbal abuse, or placed in lower streams. The type of school also had an effect on these outcomes.
Girls in single-sex schools were less likely to be exposed to corporal punishment than boys and girls in other schools.
Boys were more frequently absent from school and less likely to do reading (school related or otherwise) outside of school hours.
A higher percentage of girls than boys felt that education is useful and important for life.
There were major differences in boys' and girls' participation in academic activities in the classroom.
In general, girls participated more than boys
Girls focused more on their academic work
Girls answered questions posed by the teacher
Girls completed their homework
Both boys and girls were aware of the differences in behaviour and in the teachers' perception of boys and girls. In most cases the school structured gender separation and differences through their organisation of academic and social activities.
The outcome of the Research project by Professor Evans is three reports to the Planning Institute of Jamaica in 1998; to the Government of the Netherlands in 1998 and to UNESCO in Paris in 1999.
In addition, six papers were presented at Conferences and three articles in the Journal of Education and Development in the Caribbean, the Caribbean Journal of Education and Education and Society.
The report to the Planning Institute ends with some recommendations for schools on the nature of teacher/student interaction, which in most instances favours girls. School practices such as corporal punishment and insults; the negative effects of streaming, including the negative experiences of being assigned to the low stream; the curriculum and teaching methods and the emotional health and learning environment of boys and girls in the comprehensive high school.
BOYS FEELING ALIENATED
The primary school also appeared to be a major site for gender learning that resulted in boys feeling alienated from academic work, and overemphasis on testing and screening at the primary level.
Project Coordinators Dr. Barbara Bailey, from the Centre for Gender Studies and Dr. Monica Brown from the Institute of Education carried out another Research Project "Gender Perspectives on the School Experience - What are the Issues" in 1999. The Sponsor/Co-operating Agency was CIDA - The Canada-Caribbean Gender Equity Fund - Jamaica.
The major objectives of the project were:
To establish patterns of male/female enrolment and performance at the primary and secondary levels of the education system, and
To gather perceptions from a sample of in-school and out-of-school males and females of their school experience and post-school aspirations.
Two hundred and seventy one (271) males and 283 females were randomly selected from a stratified random sample from all school types from six parishes.
Fifty-three (53) males and 40 females who had dropped out of the school system were selected from the six parishes based on their willingness to participate in the study.
What were the findings of the project?
A survey of the enrolment rates, 1994 to 1995 and 1996 to 1997 showed that the phenomena of low participation by boys in the formal education system becomes marked beyond the Grade 9 level.
Although girls accounted for a higher percentage of entries for the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) 11+ examination, boys obtained a higher percentage of the places that were awarded.
GIRLS PERFORMING BETTER
Girls performed consistently better than males in all subjects of the Grade Six Achievement tests. Results for both groups indicated a deficiency in communication skills, which in keeping with the expected gender norm was more marked in boys.
Males obtained better pass rates in the sciences and technical based subjects.
Primary data selected from the in-school and out-of-school youths did not support the hypothesis that size of the family unit affected school dropout.
Home factors such as family structure, socio-economic status and educational attainment influenced school participation by both sexes.
The majority of both sexes in the out-of-school sample dropped out of school between Grades 7 and 9, but more girls than boys continued through to Grade 11.
Financial constraints were the main reasons for dropout for both sexes, while pregnancy for the girls and violence in the community for the boys were the two other frequently cited reasons.
Ninety to ninety-five per cent of the out-of-school boys and girls indicated a strong interest in returning to the formal school system.
TEXTBOOKS
Members of staff of the Institute of Education have also produced textbooks for student teachers in teachers colleges. These materials are often based on the author's research or exemplify current knowledge in the field. These textbooks contribute to curriculum development in schools and colleges and promote relevance in education.
Gender Issues in Caribbean education: A module for teacher education by Dr. Monica Brown, Y. Yusuf-Khalil, from the Centre for Gender Studies, and Dr. Barbara Bailey was designed as a training module for teacher-training institutions. It was developed in response to the growing world-wide commitment to gender equity and in recognition of the influential role that the formal education system plays in societal change.
It seeks to sensitise teacher educators and teacher trainees to gender issues. Content includes Concepts of Gender Differences, Socio-cultural Influences on Gender Socialisation, Gender Inequality in Social Systems and Controversial Gender Issues.
During the process of developing the module, a diagnostic survey was carried out in CARICOM member states directly involved, and several teacher educators representing many of the training colleges in the region participated in workshops to develop the module outline and provide feedback at the pilot testing stage.
COLLABORATION
In the preceding studies Evans, Miller and Brown are from the Institute of Education. Johnston was a member of staff of the Department of Educational Studies, the other department in the School of Education. Bailey and Yusuf Khalil are from the Centre for gender studies at the UWI, as members of staff of the Institute have collaborated with staff from other departments.
Feminization of elementary school teaching in the Common-wealth Caribbean - In the Institute of Education Annual Vol. 1 1998 by Professor Errol Miller.
Professor Miller head of the Institute of Education, 1996-2002, analyses and attempts to explain gender changes since emancipation, noting that in the immediate post-emancipation period there was a predominantly male presence while the private system was exclusively female.
The pattern shifted to a female public teaching force between the late 1800s and the middle 1900s and has since remained feminized. Miller presents this against a similar pattern of feminization in Western Europe and North America at roughly the same time.
In 2000 - Looking at Access to tertiary education in the Commonwealth Caribbean in the 1990s Miller notes that affordability, class or race, place of residence and gender create the greatest barriers to access for lower-class black and Indian males from rural areas, out-islands and multi-island states.
