Mission Statement
Background
In a society where many boys are failing in the education system, have poor self esteem and suicide rates that are frighteningly high (four times that of girls) there is a need to change the way we teach our boys.
A parable: Many years ago the Australian government brought in new anti-pollution laws for cars. One of the major car manufacturers made their cars comply with the new laws by simply tacking on a redesigned exhaust system. Their cars now met air pollution standards, but the new exhausts made the cars run like a dog. To solve this problem, the company redesigned the whole car, incorporating the air pollution controls into the new engine. Now they had a car that ran well and ran clean.
This parable is not unlike boys education over the past few years. We have been trying to 'tack-on' various quick-fix teaching strategies to a very old model of teaching. Unfortunately, although there have been minor advances, boys' education is not running well and many boys are still failing at school. Education needs to be revamped in order for boys to achieve their maximum potential.
What is this 'very old model of teaching?' When I was a child at primary school back in the early 1960's I sat in a classroom with 30 other children, both girls and boys. I had one teacher for the entire year, sometimes I even had the same teacher for 2 years. There was a blackboard out the front, we sat in desks, sport was on Friday, mums were involved in tuck shop and listening to children read. Dads were rarely seen at school except if there was a working bee. After primary school, students were fed in to a big secondary school where students were put into a class that moved from subject teacher to subject teacher. The key subjects were Maths and English with a handful of options for other subject choices. At recess and lunch time, 500 - 600 teenagers poured in to the quadrangles, basketball courts and oval to amuse themselves for 20/45 minutes while being supervised by a handful of adults.
Does this sound familiar? Yes I know that schools have worked hard to make things better; and in many respects they have. But even with those changes, the basic structure hasn't changed that much.
Were boys struggling back then? I think they were. But apprenticeships took care of many boys once they got to 15 years of age (Year 9) and it was quite acceptable to leave at Form 5 (Year 11) and get a job. Technical schools in Victoria also gave boys, in particular, more options. Nowadays the aim is to get as many students as possible through to Year 12. There are no technical schools and the VCAL program doesn't begin until Year 10, which is generally a year too late for students who are really struggling. Apprenticeships are still available, but depending on the type of apprenticeship, students have to have a minimum standard of Year 10 (some require Year 12).
The reality is that our society will continue to use this 'old model' as a basis for schools because of the enormous cost involved in change. It is also true that many boys get through the system and go on to successful careers. However, unfortunately there seems to be a growing number that don't.
So what is the alternative?
At the moment, when people talk of changing the Education system to improve boys' learning, they inevitably focus on the institutions themselves, which (unless there is massive funding increases) takes us back to the 'tack-on' model.
The Educating Boys' program takes a different approach. Lets teach the boys how to learn in 'what-ever' educational environment they find themselves in.