Exploring modes of communication among pupils in Brazil

Gender issues in academic performance

Bibliographic Data

ID12232188
AuthorsAdla Betsaida Martins Teixeira (0000-0001-5400-470X, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, corresponding author), C Villani (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), Carlos E Villani, Shirley Silva Do Nascimento (0000-0002-5189-1961, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais), Silvania S do Nascimento
Year2008
Volume20
Issue4
Pages387-398
Publication date2008-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender and Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-0253 • E-ISSN: 1360-0516
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09540250802190222
OpenAlexW2032049894
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

The objective of this study was to identify gender issues in the academic performance of boys and girls during physics classes in a laboratory. The methodology adopted was the observation and interactions of pupils during eight classroom events. The interactions were recorded and events were informally discussed with the teacher. The school visited is a Federal mixed school, located in the city of Belo Horizonte, a large urban and industrialised area of Brazil. Boys and girls differed significantly in their interaction at school. Boys seemed determined to impose their will and to defend their masculine identity at any cost, even at the cost of academic failure. Girls seemed to seek the approval of the teacher, needed more affirmation and usually requested the teacher’s attention from their desks. Boys’ and girls’ behaviour in the school expresses the different socialisation models given to them by society. It is suggested here that schools are social institutions in which values and attitudes that reinforce social division predominate. Schools validate ideas about ‘boys’ nature’ (masculine identity) and ‘girls’ nature’ (feminine identity), ‘positioning’ boys and girls in different social spaces. Schools and teachers must intervene in classrooms to guarantee a better academic involvement of boys and girls

Developmental psychology · Gender identity · Identity (music · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Social group · Social identity theory · Sociology · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Representations and Identity

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