As a teacher in a large mixed comprehensive I deal with a considerable number of students aged 11-18. Our year eleven students took one of their modules for English Language today and I was interesting to see how the members of my class reacted differently to this. I think that a lot of my colleagues would be of the same opinion as me no matter what ability set they teach.
Today was a Reading exam that the students had taken last summer but needed to retake due to results that were not as good as we hoped. I would like to add here that my department year after year gets very good results above the national average and we are very proud of them. Last summer there seemed to be an anomaly with this exam as our students met or beat the national average and still did poorly. Anyway, I digress purely for the sake of context as I think that the fact it was a retake will have had an impact on how the students approached the exam. I also think that in education now there is a greater culture of retaking exams for all different subjects and that this will naturally make students less worried about taking exams. Terminal exams have a different feel and significance.
I am loath the say it but I do believe there is a gender divide in a very broad sense but I will add the disclaimer that there are obviously many exceptions to this generalisation. I would say that girls appear to take an exam more seriously then boys. I cannot say this for certain but, judging by the students in my class, more of the girls then boys were doing extra revision over and above what I set and were asking me to check it for them. The girls were also more generally inclined to ask questions and seek clarification on their understanding. Just before Christmas the students sat a mock exam and it was apparent that the girls were more interested in the targets I had set for them; although all the students were very excited to find out their grades. I think this worked as a motivation for a number of students as they saw that they got a better grade then in the previous exam and this gave their self confidence a boost. They were able to see that they were more competent then they believed they were. I think that this need for reassurance and proof in writing of what they are capable of is something more necessary for the boys although all students do benefit from positive feedback and affirmation.
After the exam it was really interesting to chat to my students and find out how they felt it went. They were all generally positive and eager to share their experience but it seemed to be the boys that needed reassurance if they felt that they might possibly have done something wrong. They wanted to know if I thought they might still be able to get a good grade.
I teach a lot of very interesting young people who are diverse in their experiences and personalities and it certainly keeps me on my toes. As I said before I know I am making some sweeping generalisations and I am purely basing my thoughts on my own experiences of the classes I have taught in previous years as well as my current year eleven students. Going back to my own schooling I would perhaps draw the same conclusions. I went to a mixed school with a huge variety of students but I think that the differences in the genders was similar then. (I will hasten to add that I am not that old!)
All I can do now is wait until the results are published in March and hope that my students get the grades that they deserve. By this I mean very good grades!!
I will just leave you with one final quote of the week. One of the students in my colleagues class was heard to say yesterday "We have an exam coming up soon don't we?" That particular student was a girl!
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