Feminist View

Patriarchal

• Education exercises social control over girls to police their behaviour

• Sue Lees - a double standard of morality existed where boys demean girls who are promiscuous, while for boys it is praiseworthy

Low attainment in 1960s

• Before National Curriculum 1988 - boys take traditional masculine subjects

• Women do cookery - gendering of subjects - confined them to be housewives

Men in top positions

• Men proportionally more likely to get in top positions in teaching

• Department of Education June 2023 - 83% of secondary school teachers are female, only 36% head teachers female

Boys’ domination of space

• Becky Francis - boys dominate classroom and attract more attention from teachers

• Noisier than girls - leading more pupil-teacher interaction

• Boys also dominate playing areas - occupying most space for fast-paced physical play

• School transmits patriarchal values

Heaton and Lawton 1996

• Hidden curriculum taught patriarchal values

• Subjects are aimed towards specific genders, gender division in PE

Liberal Feminists

• In 1940s and 50s, under tripartite system - boys had lower pass rate for 11+ than girls

• Girls now outperform boys

• Michelle Stanworth (1983) - higher expectation of boys, teachers recommend boys for higher education than girls

Radical Feminist

• Education still patriarchal - marginalised women

• Does through formal and hidden curriculum, reinforcing patriarchal ideology and normalising oppression

• Sexual harassment not treated as seriously as other forms of bullying

Black and Difference feminists

• Minority-ethnic girls often victim of specific stereotyping