Testosterone

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Testosterone
Needing
Tuition
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Compiled and Edited by Marc Thompson (EMAS
Advisory Teacher for Raising the Achievement of
Minority Ethnic Boys)
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(No Transcript)
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Acting Hard He wants to be the giant King of
Hard Smirking beneath his back-to-front Baseball
cap. Proud of his blood-grazed knuckles He tries
to push his fist through another Locked door.
Sprawls insolently across Three seats on the bus
home. Knows That he was born to own space. He
threatens to jump out of this poem To head-butt
YOU. But this giant King of Hard Is afraid to
take off his bomber jacket Before the hissing
showers. He knows They would rip his towel away,
sneer At his hairless dick. He sees their
jeering Faces in his Dads shaving mirror the
plave Where he practises looking mean. This King
of Hard has jelly feet. He tries to put his
shoulders on again And the upturned cap that
hides his eyes. But its too late human tears
that are scalding His cheeks. Now nothing can
stop The dark, wet stain from seeping right
through His Red Devils football strip. David
Jackson (Challenging Macho Values. Falmer Press
1996. Jonathan Salisbury and David Jackson)
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 Boys are not only failing at school it would
seem that a great many young men around the world
are in danger of failing at life.
The issues (of boys underachievement) have
outgrown the classroom,   There is a real
problem with boys, especially between 10 16,
and nobody seems to know what to do with them.
With the demise of the traditional model of the
male breadwinner, in regular work, bringing home
a family wage, the old incentives to become a
respectable, working man status, pride,
security- are collapsing. What many boys are left
with is a lawless, aggressive culture of
masculinity. In this culture, boys often prove
themselves men through criminal rather than work
activities. (Salisbury and Jackson 1996)
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  The aim of the workshops is to encourage boys
to reflect on their attitudes and behaviour
towards peers, girls, school and society as a
whole, and hopefully get them to change some or
all of them for the better.   It takes the form
of 10 one hour or 45-minute sessions (to be
decided after the pilot). Eventually it will be
offered as another tool for schools to use to
promote positive attitudes and higher attainment
levels for boys.    
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It has been commonly accepted that year 8/9 is
where the dip comes and boys school work becomes
a low priority compared to the desire to
socialise. It is now apparent that this is no
longer the most marked dip, it is early on in
Key Stage 2 (that) boys take on... a desire to
be as un-female as possible (Pickering
1997)   Another popular reason given is the
power and pressure of a peer group that
demands an anti-school hyper masculinity. (Tony
Sewell. 1998 in Failing Boys? Edited Epstein,
Elwood, Hey and Maw).
When to deliver the workshops????
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Its Not only for Minority Ethnic Boys!!!!
All too often ethnic minority or
African-Caribbean is linked with deprivation or
underachievement. (Tony Sewell. 1998, in
Failing Boys? Edited Epstein, Elwood, Hey and
Maw).
Of particular significance to Minority Ethnic
Pupils, David Mason (2000) warns against
perpetuating the idea that the problem of
underachievement is centred on the
characteristics of pupils rather than on the
educational provision made available to them .
AND its not all about academic success!!
We (do) need to address the get by culture that
boys bring to academic pursuits.
Criticism of our exam obsessed school system is
not unheard of school is not simply about
meeting academic targets ! Heavy and constant
emphasis can be counterproductive (for
everyone)(Epstein 2002).
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We should take every opportunity to hijack the
socialising environment, which all too often
generates and fuels negative attitudes to school.
Enrichment programmes, preferably involving
positive role models are a perfect example of
schools taking steps to influence attitudes
outside of the confines of the prescribed school
day.
although male role models were successful in
challenging boys perceptions, this approach
could possibly undermine the authority of female
teachers. (GTC study by Sukhnandan, Lee and
Kelleher. NFER 2000)
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Activities follow this rule
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Behaviour
A high standard of behaviour management and
discipline underpins effective strategies
targeting boys. (RBA DfES Project 2000-2003)
Discipline and engagement are not synonyms for
shouting and instilling fear.
Behaviour Behaviour Behaviour Behaviour Behaviou
r
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Sugar and spice and all things nice Thats what
little girls are made of. Slugs and snails and
puppy dogs tails Thats what little boys are
made of.
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  Pressures Workshop   Tell the group if

•          You have been told to act like a man.
•          You have ever been told you're not
  tough enough.
•          You have ever been physically injured
  and hidden the pain.
•          You have ever been physically injured
  by another male.
•          You ever stopped yourself from showing
  affection for another male because of how it may
  look.
•          You ever denied your vulnerability,
  "put on a happy face", or toughed it out. You
  ever felt embarrassed or ashamed when you cried.
•          You stopped yourself from asking for
  help even though you really needed it.
•          You insulted a girl/boy when they
  rejected your invitation to date/kiss/have sex.
•          You have ever been called a 'poof' or a
  'woos'?
•          You have ever been bullied?
•          You have ever been picked on for a
  fight, and thought it would be worse if you
  backed down?
•          You laughed at an offensive comment
  about a girl/ Asian/ gay?

What were the five most common things in your
group?   1 2 3 4 5   In your group decide
Did you do the right
thing? What was
the right thing to do?  
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Just A couple of questions   How is the group put
together?   How does this link with
PSHE?   Should a form tutor do this?   Do parents
know the pupils are doing this?   Maybe the
issues about fathers need more thought.   Im not
sure about some of the issues about sex?   What
is the overall aim of the programme?   What
support is there for those with bad/violent
fathers or with no relationship with their
fathers?   Could the fathers be done with close
other males e.g. uncle or brother etc?
  Doesnt some of it need careful discussion or
you are in danger of reinforcing the myths?   How
much time is there for discussion as some issues
may take weeks to sort through?   Do boys know
about all of the adult situations?