Boys, literacy and schooling: expanding the repertoires of practice

This report describes an inquiry into the basis of the common finding that boys achieve lower literacy scores than girls on literacy tests and assessments.  The report seeks to provide reasonable and educationally productive answers to this issue by:

• using quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytic techniques;
• employing a framework for establishing practices that benefit boys’ learning;
• considering the hypothesis that a range of effective and focused pedagogies assists boys and girls in their literacy learning;
• interrelating and cross-referencing professional and research-based knowledge on the matter of boys and literacy; and
• implementing and evaluating a variety of brief interventions aimed at improving boys’ literacy learning. 

The research study involved a comprehensive literature review to establish what is known about the literacy development of boys, and to identify gaps in the research.  The project's activities involved examining and documenting strategies which have proven to be effective in improving the literacy outcomes of boys and piloting the strategies in a small number of primary schools.  The authors synthesise teacher-recommended lines of inquiry and suggestions for classroom action as well as their recommendations for moving the boys and literacy agenda forward at system’s levels.  They reflect critically on the wider patterns of ideas and the conceptual frameworks that teachers drew upon as they articulated their perspectives through interviews and written reports.  They highlight some of the problems associated with debates about boys and literacy and offer their conclusions and recommendations for theory, research and practice.

 Electronic version only available from the Department.  Print copies may be available for loan from your local library.

• Executive summary download PDF    (36.71 KB, 11 pages)
• Report download PDF    (743.84 KB, 234 pages)