This multi-case ethnographic study examined the gender beliefs of two teachers and 12 parents and the gender identity of thirty 8-10 year old boys in two primary schools in Jamaica. The study was conducted against the background of gross underachievement among Jamaican boys and the research literature pointing to gender socialization as a factor in the declining results and interest in academic studies. Through 10 weeks of observations, interviews and focus group discussions answers were sought for the following questions: 1. What beliefs do teachers hold about gender? 2. What beliefs do parents hold about gender? 3. What are boys' perceptions of their gender identity? From the data collected it was revealed that teachers' expressed beliefs was not always consistent with their classroom practices; teachers traditional methods even though recognising that girls and boys have different learning styles; boys arrived at school far less prepared to work than girls; they were more likely to be off task than were girls; they identified strongly and early with traditional masculinity in the process devaluing anything feminine; parents, particularly mothers felt powerless to change the attitudes of boys towards school work; they allow their boys far more latitude to play at home and in many instances failed to help them develop a sense of responsibility. Parents held traditional gender beliefs guided mostly by religious teachings. In the matter of careers however, they were prepared to allow their sons to work in traditional female careers. The findings suggest the need for a radical redefinition of what it means to be masculinity, one which will allow boys to embrace feminine values and attitudes. The central education authorities in Jamaica need a clear gender policy for schools; schools need to work closer with parents for a greater level of consistency in the socialization of boys. Finally, teacher preparation programmes need to pay more than lip service to gender in the education process. Teachers in training need to understand that their socialization practices are driven by their beliefs and impact the development of boys and girls' identities.

This dissertation examines some structural and cultural problems that can contribute to the problem of underachievement facing Black, male students in the educational system. A phenomenological approach was used to gain the perspectives of six Black, male educators on this problem. Underachievement problems for these students have garnered much interest in the research literature and in pedagogical debates. It is a problem with a long history from the Royal Commission on Learning (1993) to TDSB Urban Diversity Strategy (2008) the problem continues to baffle educators. Data also presents a dismal picture, with 40% from this group underachieving. Black, male teachers‟ perspectives are significant because presently their voices are limited in the literature. Their perspectives are also influenced by race, ethnicity and gender, and these are issues that impact on the problem being investigated. The main questions of the study are: - What are some Black male educators' perspectives of the role of structural and cultural factors that contribute to the problem of underachievement and school failure for Black, male students? Were these the same barriers they faced and how did they overcome these barriers as students? - How might the narratives of these Black male educators both challenge and support multicultural approach to curriculum that purports to particularly address the problems facing Black, male students? The result of the research indicates that there are structural and cultural factors that can cause underachievement problems for Black, male students. It suggests that an iii integrated approach which acknowledges the influence of both structure and culture could be used as a means for improving learning outcomes for this group of earners.

This dissertation examines some structural and cultural problems that can contribute to the problem of underachievement facing Black, male students in the educational system. A phenomenological approach was used to gain the perspectives of six Black, male educators on this problem. Underachievement problems for these students have garnered much interest in the research literature and in pedagogical debates. It is a problem with a long history from the Royal Commission on Learning (1993) to TDSB Urban Diversity Strategy (2008) the problem continues to baffle educators. Data also presents a dismal picture, with 40% from this group underachieving. Black, male teachers‟ perspectives are significant because presently their voices are limited in the literature. Their perspectives are also influenced by race, ethnicity and gender, and these are issues that impact on the problem being investigated. The main questions of the study are: - What are some Black male educators' perspectives of the role of structural and cultural factors that contribute to the problem of underachievement and school failure for Black, male students? Were these the same barriers they faced and how did they overcome these barriers as students? - How might the narratives of these Black male educators both challenge and support multicultural approach to curriculum that purports to particularly address the problems facing Black, male students? The result of the research indicates that there are structural and cultural factors that can cause underachievement problems for Black, male students. It suggests that an iii integrated approach which acknowledges the influence of both structure and culture could be used as a means for improving learning outcomes for this group of earners.

Statistics show that boys perform better in mathematics tests than girls. In order to make a refined assessment of the magnitude of gender differences in mathematics performance, a study was made of one thousand 16+ mathematics scripts to find the precise topics on which girls and boys differ significantly in performance. These concepts were found to be concerned with scale or ratio, spatial problems, space-time relationships and probability questions. Differences were found in performance between girls and boys at each ten-percentile level through the ability range. A longitudinal study also revealed differences in mathematics 'performance through the years of secondary education. There is no convincing evidence that the discrepancy can be accounted for by innate or genetic reasons. Intervention programmes have been found to improve the performance of girls in the weak areas of spatial awareness, proportionality and problem solving. In addition, a study was made of gender attitudes towards mathematics. Ten secondary schools were surveyed and the results revealed a marked decrease in the attitudes of third and fourth form girls. During these difficult adolescent years girls and boys are susceptible to strong internal and external pressures. Corresponding differences were also found across the ability range. These social pressures are concerned with teacher influence, social interaction, type of grouping, sex stereotyping, choices, teaching materials and careers advice.

This paper describes the process of planning change in a London comprehensive school in order to raise the level of achievement of a group of African-Caribbean boys in February 1997. It looks at the level of awareness of staff and management of the need for change and their attitudes to the introduction of a mentoring program for Black boys. Firstly, I looked at how schools implement change with regards to matters not considered central to the curriculum. Secondly, I looked specifically at my current school and the priority it had given to the fact of Black boys underachievement and the changes that have evolved from this. This involved a review of literature relating to the role of the school, teachers, parents, Black boys and the teacher as researcher.

The article analyses sorne social factors that increase the possibility of family changes that enlarge children's low achievement and failure, emotional disturbance and behavioral problems at school. Among these factors are the increased life expectancy and geographical mobility, the increased participation of women in the labor force, as well as uniparental families and poverty. It is argued that through the creation of personal development workshops with children from dysfunctional families it is possible to build supporting networks that allow for a good school performance in these children. These workshops should promote understanding of self and others, human interaction and good relationships with family members. / Este artículo analiza algunos factores sociales que han incrementado las transformaciones en la familia, aumentando el riesgo en los hijos de bajo rendimiento, desadaptación, y problemas emocionales y conductuales, los cuales pueden dar lugar al abandono de las aulas. Entre estos factores se encuentran la mayor supervivencia de los individuos, una mayor movilidad geográfica, la inclusión de la mujer en el campo laboral, así como el incremento de familias uniparentales y los niveles de pobreza. Se propone la implementación en las escuelas de mecanismos protectores para los alumnos provenientes de familias disfuncionales, utilizando para ello talleres de desarrollo personal que propicien el autoconocimiento y el de los demás, la interacción humana y la buena relación con los familiares.

There is a well-established ‘achievement gap’ in medical education, with ‘ethnic minority’ students achieving less well in examinations than their white counterparts. The processes underlying this difference are currently unknown. Most research to date has taken a student-deficit approach, suggesting that lower performing students lack the cognitive or cultural capacity of their higher achieving peers. These models have so far failed to explain the variation in achievement by ethnicity. In order to address this gap in the literature and further our understanding of ethnic minority students’ underachievement, this thesis takes a sociocultural approach to the problem. It addresses two research questions: firstly, how does ethnicity impact on medical school achievement? Secondly, how do social networks affect achievement? This research uses qualitative interviews (n=33 medical students), quantitative survey methods and social network analysis (n=160 medical students) to explore ethnicity and the achievement gap within medical education. Sociocultural theories of learning, specifically concepts from communities of practice and Pierre Bourdieu are employed in the design and analysis phases. This thesis demonstrates that medical students’ achievement is best conceptualised as part of a wider learning trajectory toward becoming a doctor. Relationships are important channels through which the resources and support can flow, these in turn facilitate learning and achievement. Lower achieving students are less well connected to their PBL peers and have fewer tutors or clinicians in their network. The medical world has a tightly prescribed, yet often hidden, set of legitimate dispositions; students must learn to embody these norms, values and behaviours in order to succeed. This process relies on experiences of participation, facilitated by relationships with peers and seniors. Socialisation is clearly mediated by culture. Ethnic minority students, due to their differing cultural practices and identities, have fewer experiences of participation, often experience the medical domain as outsiders and find it harder to interact with tutors and clinicians. This is reflected in their social networks as some minority students have fewer seniors in their network. These factors interact to cut ethnic minority students off from potential and actual resources that facilitate learning and achievement. If the situation is to be improved, medical schools must do more to acknowledge the extra difficulties many ‘ethnic minority’ students face in becoming an insider. Processes of identification and participation must be supported as these students negotiate the extra distance and tensions between their home world and those of medical education and medicine.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / This research was undertaken as a result of the researcher dealing with bright children who were not achieving in school. Many of these children seemed to be depressed and lacking in motivation, and the researcher was unable to find recent information directly related to these psychological variables and underachievement. A sample of children were selected from a group of children who had approached the researcher and a colleague for career guidance. Very few of the parents of the children in the sample approached were willing to allow their children to participate in this study, and as a result the study only comprises a small number of subjects. The subjects who did participate in the intervention completed questionnaires related to their motivation levels and their feelings of hopelessness and depression, as these traits were 'considered important in assessing why these children were not succeeding academically. The children then each spent an hour a week for six weeks with the researcher, discussing why they were not achieving at school. These meetings took place for six weeks. The results of this study indicate that the intervention did change some of the levels of motivation, hopelessness and depression for some of the children.

<p>The purpose of this study is to <a>understand</a> achieving and underachieving honors students’ perceptions and experiences of their talent development process. Students currently enrolled in the Honors College <a>at</a> research-intensive public university in the Midwest participated in this study. Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT, Gagné, 2009) was used as a conceptual framework with a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design. In the quantitative phase, the Academic Talent Development Factor Survey was redeveloped to measure honors students’ perceptions and experiences of their academic talent development in terms of four components of DMGT: gifts, intrapersonal catalysts, environmental catalysts, and developmental process. A total of 174 honors students were assigned to two groups: achieving (<i>n</i> = 143) and underachieving (<i>n</i> = 31) groups. The redeveloped survey showed an acceptable model fit but should be improved to accomplish reasonable reliability and validity. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, 2011) was used to determine whether honors students with underachievement are less exposed to good practices for undergraduate education (Chickering & Gamson, 1999) than their peers who maintain high academic performance. </p> <p>In the quantitative phase, discriminant analysis and chi-square test results did not yield appreciable differences in pre-college characteristics including gender, ethnicity, and SAT/ACT scores between two groups. In terms of four components of DMGT, discriminant analysis results revealed that developmental process, environmental catalysts, intrapersonal catalysts were statistically significant factors to determine differences between achieving and underachieving honors students in this study. Additionally, discriminant analysis results indicated that achieving and underachieving honors students showed high level of exposure to good practices. The differences between two groups were significant with good practices including (a) faculty interest in teaching and student development, (b) quality of non-classroom interaction with faculty, (c) academic challenge and effort, and (d) challenging classes and high faculty expectations. </p> <p> In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate similar and different patterns between achieving and underachieving honors students. Interview data from eleven achieving students, four underachieving students, and three honors advisors/staff were analyzed. From the student interviews, four composite textural themes and four composite structural themes were identified. From the interviews with staff/advisors, four composite textural themes and four composite structural themes were identified. Qualitative analysis results supported the findings from the quantitative phase and provided detailed picture of participants’ perceptions and experiences. Both achieving and underachieving students confirmed their natural ability but understood the importance of effort, task commitment. Honors students in the achieving group showed clear purpose of being honors students, focused on benefits, and anticipated opportunities in their academic talent development in the honors college Underachieving honors students did not share the same expectations. Honors students in the underachieving group viewed benefits as either unimportant or as additional work. Since few studies exist related specifically to the talent development process of honors students, this study adds to the literature and understanding of underachievement in honors college.</p>

Department of Curriculum Studies and Education Management / MEDCS