Boys, Literacies and Schooling: The Dangerous Territories of Gender-Based Literacy Reform - Hardcover

Rowan, Leonie; Knobel, Michelle; Bigum, Chris; Lankshear, Colin

9780335207572: Boys, Literacies and Schooling: The Dangerous Territories of Gender-Based Literacy Reform

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 033520757X ISBN 13: 9780335207572

Publisher: Open University Press, 2001

Current debates about boys and schooling in many Western nations are increasingly characterised by a sense of crisis as government reports, academic research and the day to day experiences of teachers combine to indicate that:

* boys are consistently underperforming in literacy
* boys are continuing to opt out of English and humanities
* boys represent the majority of behaviour problems and counselling referrals
* boys receive a disproportionate amount of special education support

This book responds to the complexity of the current debates associated with boys, gender reform, literacy and schooling by offering a clear map of the current context, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the various competing solutions put forward, and outlining a range of practical classroom interventions designed for dealing with the boys/literacy crisis. The authors consider the ways in which particular views of masculinity, gender reform, literacy, technology and popular culture can either open up or close down new conceptualisations of what it means to be a boy and what it means to be literate.

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About the Author:

Dr Leonie Rowan is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Creative Arts at Central Queensland University in Australia. Her research and teaching interests relate to gender and schooling, new literacies, transformative educational practice and futures oriented pedagogies.

Dr Michele Knobel is an adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Creative Arts, Central Queensland University in Australia. She is also a freelance education researcher, and lives in Mexico. Her current research interests include new literacies and technological literacies. Her recent books include: Everyday Literacies and Ways of Knowing: Researching Literacy (with Colin Lankshear).

Dr Chris Bigum is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Creative Arts at Central Queensland University. His research and teaching interests are in the implications of new information and communications technologies for educational practice and policy. Currently, these interests include: new literacy studies, actor-network approaches to the study of educational innovation, digital epistemologies, schools as information/knowledge producers, and scenario planning in education./par0/
Dr Colin Lankshear was formerly a Professor of Education in Australia, specialising in the politics of education, critical theory, and language and literacy education. During 1999-2001 he was a Heritage Fellow of the Mexican Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT), based in the Center for University Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He is an educational and researcher based in Mexico and an Adjunct Professor at distance for Central Queensland University, Australia.

Review:

“...very interesting in terms of discourse analysis and gender issues in education. I would recommend the book to students and teachers involved in researching gender issues...an interesting and helpful discussion of the limitations of quick-fix solutions.” – Improving Schools (Improving Schools 2003-10-28)

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