Early Child Development and Care

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Pleasing Yourself and Working for the Teacher: Children's Perceptions of School

Freda Briggs a; Susan Nichols b a de Lissa Institute of Early Childhood and Family Studies, University of South Australia, b Centre of Language and Literacy, University of South Australia, Online Publication Date: 01 January 2001 To cite this Article: Briggs, Freda and Nichols, Susan (2001) 'Pleasing Yourself and Working for the Teacher: Children's Perceptions of School', Early Child Development and Care, 170:1, 13 — 30 To link to this article: DOI: 10.1080/0300443011700103 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443011700103

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Pleasing Yourself and Working for the Teacher: Children's Perceptions of School FREDA BRIGGSa and SUSAN NICHOLSb a

de Lissa Institute of Early Childhood and Family Studies, University of South Australia Centre of Language and Literacy, University of South Australia

b

Three hundred and eleven multi-cultural children were interviewed to explore how 4-9 year olds perceived and experienced their activities, roles, responsibilities and relationships with peers and teachers in school. The study explored children's conception of social and moral issues such as racism, sexism, violence, punishment, social justice and safety issues. The study was to assist educators and care-givers in their understanding of children's thinking in a rapidly changing world. More than 310,000 items of information were collected. This paper concentrates on children's views of schools, teachers, the curriculum, punishment and social justice. Key words: Children's views, social justice, schooling

THE ABSENCE OF THE CHILD'S VOICE In the last three decades, there have been many international studies of childhood: Amato examined children and families in Australia (1987); Lambert and Streamer (1980) researched illegitimate and adopted children in the UK; Newson and Newson studied four-year-olds at home (1976) and seven-year-olds at school (1977) in the low socio-economic suburbs of Nottingham (UK). Kellmer Pringle, Butler and Davie (1966) studied 11,000 seven year olds, part of the national cohort of England, Scotland and Wales as part of a national child development study with a follow-up study at school leaving age. In New Zealand, James and Jane Ritchie (1970; 1978) also surveyed child-rearing practices and there have been several longitudinal studies of children's development (Silva and Stanton, 1996). These provided a large body of research on behavioral aspects of children's health and development. 13


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F. BRIGGS AND S. NICHOLS

Most studies of children have had one feature in common; children have had no voice in the research. Authors have written about childhood from the parent, health professional, teacher or other adult's perspective. Few researchers have interviewed children, least of all young children. It would seem that they were regarded either as incapable of having and expressing opinions or, alternatively, that their views were not worth collecting. As a consequence, most of the literature concerning children presents childhood from the adults' viewpoint. This is problematic not least because adults' views of children's reality may conflict with the views of children themselves. Goodnow and Burns (1985) found many mismatches between the expectations of children and teachers (i.e. clients and service providers). As a result they argued that children be given opportunities to talk about subjects that are important to them such as the purpose of what they are learning and the purpose of schools. One consequence of the adult perspective in child research is that students in social work, child care and teaching, all of whom have professional responsibility for young children, are unlikely to gain knowledge of real value relating to children's understanding, their beliefs or how they perceive school, the adult world or peer relationships. There are exceptions to this adult-centred trend in research. A group of New Zealand studies has produced useful contextualized knowledge about how children view specific aspects of their lives such as the roles of parents (Smith, Ballard and Barham, 1989) teachers and principals (Smith, 1984), expectations when starting school (Renwick, 1984) and the effects of gender and race on classroom participation (Alton-Lee and Densem, 1992). Ochiltree and Amato also interviewed children for their report, The child's eye view of family life published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 1982-3.

SOCIOLOGISTS ARE TAKING AN INTEREST IN CHILDHOOD Until comparatively recently, childhood was virtually ignored in sociology. It was found that sociologists in university faculties associated with early childhood were taken less seriously than their psychologist colleagues, possibly because they lacked an organizational platform to support and promote their common interest. Since the 1970s, there have been many publications focussing on the sociology of the family but the trend has been to regard children as incorporated in the family unit, not as a separate entity. This familiarisation of children is now criticized as a convenient methodological way of depriving children of the right to be visible while confirming parents' importance (Qvortrup, 1995).


CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL

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There is also criticism of the pervasive dominance of psychological models of child development and the de-contextualized study of children as voiceless, passive recipients of adult determination (Smith, 1996). Children have traditionally been characterized as vulnerable, in need of protection, lacking competence and having all the major aspects of their lives imposed by adult interests (Mayall, 1994; Morrow and Richards, 1996). Studies have tended to involve children as distant objects of academic observation rather than as social actors in their own right. They tended to emphasize an external view of children's behavior and skills, the importance of socialization and environmental influences and what children become and how they are seen to behave rather than what they know and are experiencing. It has been assumed that children are best served if they submit to adults' understanding of what is in their 'best interests' or 'for their own good'. Unfortunately, decisions about what is in a child's best interests are often made by professionals who lack expertise in child development and do not necessarily know how to talk, listen to or understand children and their needs, e.g. lawyers, judges and, sometimes, social workers. As a consequence, children have, to a great extent, been treated as an invisible and excluded group, neglected by the social sciences in much the same way as women were neglected until two to three decades ago (Oakley, 1994; Qvortrup, 1990). Sociologists are now moving into childhood research and publication in a significant way. In particular, sociologists in the early childhood field have recognized the importance of understanding how children construct aspects of their experience within their home and school environments (Richards and Light, 1986; Chisholm, 1996; James, Jenks and Prout, 1998). There is also greater recognition of the individualization of the child in the developmental process. The proponents of the new view of childhood research are saying that: • whatever the specific concern or interest, 'the center of the research is and must be children'. • children must be studied in their own right. • individuals must be heard. (Qvortrup, 1995:11). What this means is that while researchers can explain and interpret aspects of children's lives using their research tools, they must use individual children both as their unit of observation and as mediators of information. In recent years, the Nordic countries have been uppermost in providing new insights into childhood (Alanen (undated); Elgaard, Langsted and Sommers, 1989; Doverborg and Pramling, 1993; Anderson, 1998). This move arose from the realization that rapid social, and economic changes are affecting children as well as parents. Academics previously focused on parents' perspectives and living


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conditions rather than those of their offspring. Recognition of the research gap led to greater efforts to discover how children understood and experienced life. The BASUN project examined the daily lives of five-year-olds through observation and recording children's behaviors (Dencik, 1995). Andenaes (1991,1994) has been engaged in the development and construction of a qualitative 'way-of-life' interview instrument for use with children. She studied issues relating to reliability, children's representations of their interactions and facilitation of reporting. Pramling (1990; 1993; 1994), has promoted Marton's (1981; 1988) Phenomenography as a basis for early childhood education. This assumes that children act in relation to their way of understanding the world around them. Their skills and knowledge develop from how they conceptualize, experience and discern everything that takes place in their environment. Children will only learn if they see the learning as relevant to their lives. In other words, teachers need to know how children perceive their world and use that knowledge as a base for curriculum. In Europe, there is a growing tendency for children to be regarded as individuals whose autonomy should be safeguarded and fostered and who can no longer be simply hidden within the family or institution. In English child protection legislation, for example, welfare agencies are required to take account of what the child wishes rather than rely on what professionals believe is in the best interests of the child. The right to be heard is no longer determined by chronological age but by the children's developmental capacity to understand their situation and offer a meaningful opinion (Chisholm, 1995; James, Jenks and Prout, 1998). The current study is then part of an international movement towards prioritizing the meanings that children construct from their experiences in the context of their everyday lives. The researchers in this study have been constantly amazed by the richness and variety of children's responses and the way in which they connect fragmented knowledge and experiences to explain what they see and believe.

AIMS OF THE STUDY The aims of the study were to: • explore how children of 5-9 years perceive and experience their activities, roles, responsibilities and relationships within the family and peer group, their physical environment in home, school and their expectations for the future.



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• explore 5-9 year old children's conception of social and moral issues relevant to their world (such as racism, sexism, violence, punishment, social justice and safety issues). • assist educators and care-givers in their understanding of children's thinking in a rapidly changing world. • examine the influence of popular culture (for example, computer games, advertisements and TV programs) on children's perceptions. The study is a snapshot of how children perceive and experience childhood in Australia at the end of the 20th century.

THE QUESTIONNAIRE Following a pilot project, a questionnaire was designed to give children an opportunity to express their understanding of the complex world in which they live. In order to provide a rich and multifaceted picture of children's views and experiences this questionnaire included sections on a wide range of issues. Questions were included on topics such as children's views of the world, their concepts of 'the family'; their moral values; and their leisure time pursuits. This paper focuses on the questions concerning children's views of school, teachers and the curriculum. The questionnaire consisted of two kinds of items, forced choice questions and open-ended questions. Forced choice responses were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS for Windows). Responses to openended questions were grouped for qualitative analysis. Attempts have been made to represent the tone of these responses with selected, typical quotations. Simple frequency counts have also allowed some quantitative descriptions to be made of the responses to open-ended questions. It is important to note that, although the number of questions far exceeded the norm for this age group, not only did 309 of the 311 children answer all of them, at the end of the interviews some asked for more questions and created their own (which they then 'answered'). In addition, some children seized the opportunity to question the interviewer about her opinions on a variety of issues. Children described by teachers as shy and uncommunicative in the classroom were articulate and confident in the interview situation. Researchers noted that, when interviews took place in the staff room, the children's demeanor changed and they presented as serious-minded miniadults. This change was so marked that the researchers had difficulty recognising the children when they returned to the classroom and resumed their 'pupil' status.

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THE SAMPLE The sample consisted of 311 children in the 5-9 year age group. The sample was balanced for gender. It represented the diversity of Australia's population in terms of ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, family composition, geographic location and ability. Because initial responses tended to come from professional parents, the researcher sought the cooperation of support agencies with access to children with disabilities, single mothers and non-English speaking migrants to achieve a cultural, ethnic and socio-economic balance. Thirty six ethnic groups were represented (Table 1). A little more than a third (34%) of contributors described themselves as Australians with no other ethnic background. Eleven percent were Aboriginal. Thirty percent had other ethnic backgrounds and an additional 25.5% were Australians with ethnic links; for example, they were born in Australia but one or both parents came from other countries. These children attended seventy-five schools in three states (South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales). There was proportionate representation from each of the three school systems (Independent, State and Catholic). Aboriginal representation was also proportionate to the population as a whole. Two of the State schools catered for children with special needs. Five remote children who lacked access to schools studied by correspondence and radio-telephone using the Open Access College. These were the only contributors interviewed by telephone. A further nine children had abandoned their home-schools and, with their mothers, were residing in shelters for victims of domestic violence. The majority of children (70%) lived with two parent figures and, more often than not, siblings. Twenty one percent lived in single parent families. De facto or step parents were mentioned by 4% of children. Two percent lived with grandparents as primary or secondary caregivers. Three-percent described very complex family situations. Table 1 Ethnic groups represented N = 36 Aboriginal Australian African American Australian of European descent Cambodian Canadian Chinese Croatian Croatian English Ethiopian Fijian Finnish

Filipino German Greek Indian Irish Israeli Italian Korean Laotian Malaysian New Zealand: European descent New Zealand Maori Pakistan

Rumanian Russian Saudi Scottish Sri Lankan Taiwanese Thai Vietnamese Welsh Yugoslavia



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The age group 5-9 years was chosen because, in the initial pilot phase, the children were articulate and comparatively uninhibited in the interview situation with adult strangers. They were aware of media and technology and had attended school long enough to have formed strong opinions about teachers, their peers, the education system and issues relating to social justice. The smallest group was the five-year age group constituting 8% of the sample. The largest group was the 7 year age group constituting 38% of the sample. Twenty-four percent of contributors were aged six years and 28% were eight years old. Three percent had reached their ninth birthday between the parents signing the consent form and the day of the interviews.

FINDINGS This paper reports on the findings related to children's views of school, teachers and the curriculum. In general it appears that school creates some conflict for children in relation to the competing demands of pleasing their teachers and pleasing themselves. There is some evidence that liking school is associated with enjoying literacy and that this may be a factor in the differences between boys' and girls' responses. Gender differences are more marked at age five than at any other age level and some possible explanations for this are advanced.

Children's Feelings About School An old cliche states that you can't please all of the people all of the time. On the evidence of this survey that certainly holds true for children in schools. When all ages and genders are combined, around two thirds of children said they liked school all or most of the time. One third liked school half the time or less and this included an unhappy six in every hundred who do not like school at all (Table 2).

Table 2

Children's feelings about school: combined sample

Liking scale All the time Most of the time Half the time Not much Not at all

% 40.8 27.5 12.9 12.9 5.8


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Further insights into children's feelings about school were gleaned from their answers to the questions: "What is the best/worst thing about school?" Almost a third (31%) of respondents said that the best thing about school was when their teachers give them a free choice of activities. An additional 17% referred to the freedom to socialise and play with their friends at recess ('playtime') and lunch-time. Boys referred to sports and the freedom to kick balls around the oval. More than a third (33.6%) said that they enjoyed school when teachers praised them for "good work". The remainder referred to specific activities with most citing more than one preferred lesson. Examples of responses include: Being the focus of attention • "I love 'show and tell' when you show the class what you want them to see and the teacher makes them all sit still and listen to you". Recess ('play-time') and lunch-time • "I love recess best. Home is boring because there aren't enough activities and materials to play with". Being praised • "I like it best when teachers give you stickers for good work, pat you on the head and say 'Good boy!" Specific activities • "You can do fun things like painting and playing with Lego". When children were asked to describe the 'worst thing' about school, 83% referred simply to "work". In addition, 13% of children referred specifically to maths and 19% mentioned bullying. It became clear that children disliked a school subject if they disliked a teacher. At one school, many of the children said that the worst thing about school was the Spanish class because they hated the teacher. From children's responses, it became clear that teachers are separating "work" from activity. For example, a quarter of all subjects said that the computer was regarded by the teacher as a treat and a play-thing to be used only after children had "finished their proper/real/important (teacher designated) work". Work was defined by children as: • "what the teacher tells you to do even if you're not interested"; • "what you have to do when you'd rather be doing something else"; • "when she stops you from doing something you like doing and makes you do something you don't want to do"; • "the stuff that's boring"; • "when you can't choose and have to do it".



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When comparing children's positive and negative comments we can see a common theme of choice and agency. Children value choice and rate highly the occasions and when they are able to choose and be active. Work is associated with compulsion, suppression, physical inactivity and teacher control and, as a consequence, it is unenjoyable by definition. Self and School: Comparing Younger and Older Children One of the most striking findings of the study was the difference between children's responses at different age levels. Even more interesting was the correspondence in patterns of response to two questions: 'How much do you like school?' and 'How clever are you?' Table 3 shows that the percentage of children who liked school 'all the time' decreased with age with a particularly sharp decrease between seven and eight years. The percentage of children who liked school 'not much' or 'not at all' stays steady for the first three age categories but increases between age seven and eight. Figures for those who liked school half the time did not show any significant comparison. A similar pattern was evident in children's ratings of their own intelligence or 'cleverness'. That is, there was a decrease in positive ratings at each age and a corresponding increase in negative ratings. This is shown in Table 4. At school entry children have a generally optimistic attitude about themselves and about school. Older children make a much less positive assessment. This is not a longitudinal study and can therefore draw no conclusions about trends over time but these findings raise a number of questions about children's experiences over the course of their early years at school. Does school become a less positive

Table 3 Liking scale All or most of the time Not much/not at all

Table 4 Self-rating Very clever Not very clever Pretty dumb

Children's feelings about school by age AtSyrs

At 6 yrs

At 7 yrs

At 8 yrs

81.8% 18.1%

70.6% 17.6%

71.1% 17.1%

53.6% 28.9%

Children's self ratings for intelligence by age

Age 5yrs

Age 6yrs

Age 7yrs

Age 8yrs

90.9% 4.5% 4.5%

85.7% 10.7% 3.6%

59.5% 28.6% 11.9%

61.5% 33.3% 5.1%


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experience as children get older? Is this linked to a decline in children's perceptions of themselves as intelligent? If we consider the sources of children's understandings of themselves as intelligent, the effect of school assessment practices must be considered as a possible factor. In order to further understand children's feelings about school, the survey asked many questions about teachers, curriculum and school activities. In the section below we present findings that related to teachers in particular. Children's Perceptions of Teachers The survey questions about teachers started from the assumption that the relationship between teacher and child is a power relationship. This fact, perhaps because it is so taken for granted, is seldom made the focus in child research. Here children were asked: "What do you have to do to please your teacher?" • "What do teachers do that make children feel good/bad?" • "Do you think that your teacher/school principal (head-teacher) is fair to children?" • "What gets children into trouble?" When read alongside children's likes and dislikes, it is interesting to note that few of the activities children do to please teachers are those that they find pleasurable. These are forms of compliance. If teachers are actually pleased when children are having fun and exercising agency, children evidently do not perceive this. The reverse of these responses occurred as answers to the question: "What gets children into trouble?" Being bad mannered in class was mentioned by 45% of children while talking in class was mentioned by 12%. Children of all ages were very clear about the penalties for transgressing these boundaries which were of two kinds, teachers' visible displeasure and the operation of formal procedures. Two thirds of children reported that their teachers shouted, screamed or yelled when they were angry and one third said this made

Table 5

What children have to do to please their teacher?

Be well behaved/very good Do good work Don't talk Be obedient Put your hand up/Don't speak without permission Other*

43% 33% 20% 21% 5% 31.5%

'e.g. "Walk quietly along the corridors". "Sit up with you back straight and cross your legs when sitting on the floor".



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them 'feel bad'. All of the children could describe the formal procedures in the correct sequence for punishing misbehaviour. These generally took the form of a series of steps with penalties matching the seriousness of offences. Many children mentioned 'Time out' (60%) and being sent to the principal (68%) as steps in the series of consequences. Time out is particularly resented because it is perceived as stigmatising, boring and it usually occurs when others are playing outside. Receiving a warning was mentioned by fewer respondents (40%). The survey does not give any indication of the frequency with which children are reprimanded by teachers so the overall impact of schools' behaviour management systems on children's feelings is hard to judge. It should be noted that 60% of children thought teachers were 'totally fair' with 10% classifying them as 'totally unfair'. It is highly likely that perceptions of fairness depended on whether the child had been the subject of behaviour management. A universal complaint was that teachers punished the entire class when an individual failed to comply with the teacher's instructions, e.g. tidying up at the end of a lesson. Children recalled such events several months after they occurred. Play may have been delayed for only a few minutes but the fact that it was delayed because of someone else's misbehaviour created long lasting resentment. Conversations with teachers confirmed that they were not aware of whether the children's views on 'Time out' or their strong feelings about universal punishment.

Children's Involvement in Decision Making The issue of choice and agency arose again in children's responses to questions about their involvement in decision making. A representative model was mentioned by sixty percent of children meaning that each child's class could send one or more 'reps' to a student council. This avenue of involvement did not appear to be available to independent school or distance education students. However student involvement in decision making through a representative model was limited to a small range of issues. Those most commonly mentioned are shown in Table 6.

Table 6 school

What kinds of decisions children can make at

Matters relating to litter and school cleanliness What to do and sing in assemblies Where to go on excursions

25% 13% 12%


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The limitations of their involvement in decision-making became even more evident from students' open-ended responses. With few exceptions, State school children were cynical about the value of student representation on councils and committees, explaining that teachers only 'pretend' to let children make decisions, sometimes even ignoring the majority view. Examples of these responses include: • "We tell the teacher where we would like to go for an excursion but even if we have the majority vote we have to go where she wants to go and that's that". • "Two years ago, we reported that the old rusty tractor in the playground was rusty. It's dangerous and someone got hurt on it. We've had a new principal since then and it's still there. Nobody really takes any notice of us". The statements suggested that children believe that their interests and those of the adults in charge are different. This interpretation is consistent with children's perceived likes (choice, free time) being in conflict with the behaviours they believe that teachers want (compliance, work).

Different Paths: The Gender Story Up until this point we have been referring to 'children' as if they were a homogenous group. However, it is now well understood that children's experiences of school are strongly affected by multiple influences such as language background, cultural group membership and parental expectations. One of the most important influences on children's pathways through school is their gender. The data for this sample of children tells a striking story about boys' and girls' experiences of school. While there is obviously some overlap (that is individual girls and boys may have very similar responses to questions about school) the overall pattern is one of difference. This difference appears most markedly in children's responses to questions about how they feel about school in general. More than half of all girls surveyed claimed to like school 'all the time' compared to a quarter of boys (Table 7). On the other hand, one third of boys said they disliked school most or all of the time compared to only six percent of girls.

Table 7 Gender differences in children's feelings about school Liking scale

Girls

Boys

Like school all the time Dislike school most or all the time

51.4% 6%

25.6% 31.5%



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This difference is most striking in the youngest age group. Girls' entry into school seems overwhelmingly positive with one hundred percent of five year old girls reporting they liked school all or most of the time (Table 8). At this age level there is very large gap (45.5%) between the percentage of girls and boys who like school all the time. At age eight only a few boys claimed to like school all the time (17.9%) and over half said they disliked school most or all of the time. However it should be noted that girls' attitudes were also less positive at age eight. There seemed to be a greater distribution of girls over the whole range of responses compared to the more homogenous group at age five. Five years was the peak age for gender differences in activity preferences just as it was for attitudes to school in general. With the exception of computer play and free activity there was no correlation between girls' and boys' stated preferences at this age (Table 9). When this data is put alongside the large differences in attitudes to school at age 5, the picture emerges of strikingly gendered experiences of early schooling: What is there about this time in children's lives which intensifies gender differences? Several possible explanations may be offered. Perhaps these differences precede school as some studies of children's behaviour in preschool settings suggest (Delamont, 1986; Ebbeck, 1985). They might be related to different expectations of schooling held by boys and girls. While little is currently known Table 8

Children's feelings about school by age and gender At age 5 years

Liking scale Like school all the time Like school most of the time Dislike school most of the time Dislike school all the time

Table 9

At age 8 years

Girls

Boys

Girls

Boys

90.9% 9.1% 0 0

45.5% 18.2% 9.1% 27.3%

36.7% 33.3% 3.3% 3.3%

17.9% 23.1% 30.8% 28.2%

Curriculum preferences at age 5 by gender

Activity Free activity Lunchtime & recess (play-time) Writing Reading Sports Maths Playing on Computers

Boys %

Girls %

44.4 33.0 33.3 11.1 Nil Nil 11.1

71.4 Nil Nil Nil 14.3 14.3 14.3


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about this, a study by Nichols (1995) found that parents hold different expectations of male and females children's transition into schooling, seeing boys as more likely to experience problems. Possibly children are influenced by parents' expectations. Another explanation is that gender differences in early schooling are reinforced or even constituted by classroom practice; for instance the common practice of grouping girls and boys separately when lining up or forming teams (Clark, 1990; Kamler et al, 1994; Orellana, 1995). When children were asked to identify the best and worst aspects of school life, a pattern of stereotyped gender differences became apparent. Boys' preference for sport exceeded girls' at every age except six years old. In literacy, girls' preference exceeded boys at every age except five. Twenty-one percent of boys and five percent of girls referred to a dislike of writing. That included spelling tests and homework, writing poems, copying letters of the alphabet, sharpening pencils and 'making corrections'. In addition, boys (50.7%) were more than twice as likely as girls (24.6%) to state that the worst thing about school was teacherimposed 'work'. This certainly points to an association of literacy with work being a strong factor in boys' alienation from school. Surprisingly, girls' preference for maths was also greater than boys' at every age except seven years. None of the 5 year old boys and only one six-year old stated that maths was the best aspect of schooling. At the age of seven, the proportion of boys choosing maths as "the best thing about school" leapt to 34% while only 18.2% of girls responded similarly. At the age of 8-9 years, girls (33.3%) were again ahead of boys (21.4%). However girls were overall also more likely to state that Maths was the worst aspect of school life. This demonstrates the extremes of love-hate towards this subject. It may also demonstrate the effectiveness of some teachers' initiatives aimed at reversing girls' previous negative attitudes to maths. Gendered patterns extended beyond school to students' home and leisure interests. An examination of book ownership and the use of books in the home showed differences relating to socio-economic, ethnic and gender factors. It is likely that children own more books now than at any other period in history. The only children who had few (20%) or no (2.3%) books at home were Aboriginal children living in rural areas. Twenty seven percent of all respondents said that they had "a lot", and more than half of the sample (50.5%) said that they had "hundreds of books" with boys (98%) owning more than girls (50.8%). However, it became clear that children who possess a vast number of books seldom read them. Only 27 of 5-8 year olds said that they read at home 'often' or 'very often'. Sixty percent read only occasionally and 6.5% said that they "never read at home". More boys (22.6%) than girls (16.4%) never read at home, only a few read daily (11.7%) and even fewer boys had a story at bed time (5.8%). From the



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figures on book ownership it appears that parents are seeing this as a way to interest their sons in literacy. However, computer related activities took precedence over book-type literacy in boys' leisure time. Boys (31.1%) were almost twice as likely as girls (9.8%) to play computer games at home on a daily basis for prolonged periods of time. In addition, they were more likely (76.9%) than girls (48%) to own and play with Nintendo or Sony Play Stations. Twenty two percent of children described excessively violent content.

Literacy: Improving Boys' Experiences It is surprising that at age five, 44.4 percent of boys and no girls stated a preference for the two literacy related activities, reading and writing. This difference was reversed at age six and in each succeeding age level. What is happening here? On closer examination of the response patterns it was found that when two schools were exempted from the sample, the unexpectedly high preference amongst five-year old boys for literacy was markedly reduced. In other words, these two schools appeared to have succeeded in raising boys' interest in literacy to an extent not seen in other schools. In the process they appear to have increased boys' liking of school as indicated by questionnaire responses. The two schools cater for very different populations. One is a multicultural state primary school in the far northern low socio-economic suburb of Adelaide. The other is an elite Anglican school catering for children from pre-school to Year 12, until recently a single sex boys' school. Both these schools had put considerable resources into their early literacy programs and were committed to ensuring all children could read and write by their second year of school. The multicultural school was a very democratic institution where children can design their own curriculum and research their own writing topics. Boys here were very keen on sport and often chose to write about their sporting activities and the teams they watched or supported. The private school had a Reggio Emilia approach which was child-centred and discovery oriented. In both these schools, most boys reported liking school 'all the time' and said that reading and writing were their favourite activities. This suggests that boys' apparent avoidance of literacy-related activities, noted by a number of commentators, is neither natural nor inevitable. A pedagogical approach which combines intensive literacy instruction with a degree of negotiability (e.g. in terms of writing topics) appears to offer boys a positive transition into school literacy. This does not however explain five-year old girls' apparent lack of interest in literacy compared to other activities such as free play. The interviews at the


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multicultural school suggested some factors that might have been involved. Girls at this school often chose to spend free play playing with their Barbie dolls. Possibly this kind of play does not translate well to the kinds of writing that children were encouraged to do. Sporting activities are very suitable for recount style texts and sporting competitions also lend themselves to linear narratives (e.g. culminating in a win or loss). Possibly also because girls' literacy development was not seen as problematic, teachers' efforts were directed at boys. While it is not possible to make a firm conclusion, studies of teachers' perceptions of boys and girls suggest this may be a factor (Clark, 1989; Peterson and Bainbridge, 1999). Some also argue that the child-centred approaches which were evident at these two schools may actually advantage boys since 'process models of learning construct the ideal pupil as self-directed, self-motivated and selfregulated . . . all the qualities which are stereotypically associated with male children' (Clark, 1989:244). All this suggests that programs aimed at improving boys' early literacy should be considered carefully for their possible effects on girls' participation. As Askew and Ross (1990) conclude from their study of classroom gender dynamics: 'It is not enough to devise certain learning strategies without also taking into consideration the different ways that boys and girls may engage in them' (p. 19). In this case for instance, writing genres should perhaps include such text types as scripted conversations that would allow girls to record their free play.

CONCLUSIONS It is a sad reflection on our compulsory education system that so few 5-8 year old children enjoy school attendance. Given the relationship between motivation and achievement, boys are particularly disadvantaged. The study showed that enjoyment of school and a reduction in self-esteem increased with the age of the child. Primary school teachers appear to have differentiated 'work' and 'activity' to the extent that work is perceived by children as a negative, boring, controlled, compulsory component of school life that has to be tolerated to please teachers and reach the more enjoyable activity stage. This is most noticeable in the use of classroom computers where usage is regarded as a reward for the completion of 'real' and more important 'work'. Thus, there is a tension between children's desire to please the teacher and their desire to engage in more interesting and enjoyable activities, e.g. socialising activities at play-time and lunch-time, construction and active learning. The use of 'Time out' and universal punishment should be reconsidered, given the questionable value of punishments that involve no learning and create



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resentment. Ironically, the children who feared 'Time out' most were the compliant ones who had never been punished. Given the importance of literacy, the lack of book usage at home gives cause for concern. Findings suggest that there are benefits in the adoption of early literacy programmes that are child-centred, provide a degree of negotiability and opportunities for choice. There is obviously scope for more research into the longer-term effects of such programmes on the progress of both boys and girls. Finally, the study confirmed the need for learning through activity methods, especially in relation to boys. References Alanen, L. (undated). Modem Childhood? Exploring the 'Child Question' in Sociology. ERIC ED 354070 Jyvaskyla University Institute of Research, Finland (BBB08482). Alton-Lee, A. and Densem, P. (1992). Towards a gender-inclusive school curriculum: Changing educational practice. In S. Middleton and A. Jones (Eds.) Women and Education in Aotearoa 2. Bridget William Books: Wellington, NZ. Andenaes, A. (1994). Sma barns utvikling-sett innenfra og utenfra. 11. Et sosiokulturelt syn pa utviklingen hos fire-femariger. (Trans. 'The developmental process seen from the inside and the outside: A sociocultural perspective on development'.) Tiddsskrift for Norsk Psykologforening. June, 31(6), 481-493. Anderson, G. (1998). Barninteryju som forskningsmetod. (Trans. Interviews with young children as a research method) Nordisk Psykologi March, 50(1), 118-141. Askew, S. and Ross, C. (1990). Boys Don't Cry: Boys and Sexism in Education. Open University Press: Milton Keynes. Chisholm, L.E. (Ed.) (1995). Growing up in Europe: Contemporary Horizons in Early Childhood and Youth Studies. Papers presented at the international conference, 'Growing up in Europe', University of Halle-Wittenberg, 1994. Walter de Gruyter: Hawsthorne, NY. Clark, M. (1989). Anastasia is a normal developer because she is unique. Oxford Review of Education, 15(3), 243-255. Clark, M. (1990). The Great Divide: The Construction of Gender in the Primary School. Curriculum Corporation: Carlton, Victoria. Delamont, S. (1986). 'The formative years: Nursery, infant and junior schooling. In P. Porter (Ed.) Gender and Education. Deakin University Press: Geelong, Vic. Dencik, L. (1995). Modem Childhood in the Nordic Country - Dual Socialisation and its Implications. In L.E. Chisholm (Ed.) ibid. Doverborg, E. and Pramling, I. (1993). Understanding Children's Thinking. Report No. 7. Department of Methodology in Teacher Education: Gotenberg University. Ebbeck, M. (1985). Pre-school teachers interactions with boys as compared with girls: A report of an observation study. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 10(2), 26-30. Elgaard, B., Langsted, O. and Sommers, D. (1989). Research on Socialization of Young Children in the Nordic Countries: An Annotated and Selected Bibliography. Aarhus University Press: Aarhus. Goodnow, J. and Burns, A. (1985). Home and School. A Child's Eye View. Allen and Unwin: Sydney. James, A., Jenks, C. and Prout, A. (1998). Theorizing childhood. Polity Press: Cambridge. Kamler, B., Maclean, R., Reid, J. and Simpson, A. (1994). Shaping Up Nicely, a report to the Gender Equity and Curriculum Reform Project. DEET: Canberra. Kellmer Pringle, M.L., Butler, N.R. and Davie, R. (1967). 11,000 seven-year-olds. Longman Green: London. Lambert, L. and Streather, J. (1980). Children in Changing Families. National Children's Bureau. The Macmillan Press: London. Marton, F. (19 81). Phenomenography — Describing conceptions of the world around us. Instructional Science, 10, 177-200.


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Marton, F. (1988). Revealing educationally critical differences of the world around us. Instructional Science, 10, 177-200. Mayall, B. (1994). Children's Childhoods: Observed and Experienced. Falmer: London. Newson, J. and Newson, E. (1976). Four Years Old in an Urban Community. Penguin: Harmondsworth. Newson, J. and Newson, E. (1977). Seven Years Old in the Home Environment. Allen and Unwin: London. Morrow, V. and Richards, M. (1996). The ethics of social research with children. An overview. Children and Society, 10(2), 90-105. Nichols, S. (1995). You mustn't push him: The intersection of learning and gender as understood by parents. Paper presented at the 21st Australian Reading Association National Conference. Sydney, Australia. Oakley, A. (1994). Women and children first and last: Parallels and differences between women's and children's studies. In B. Mayell (Ed.) ibid. Ochiltree, G. and Amato, P. (1985). The Child's Eye View of Family Life. Institute of Family Studies: Melbourne. Orrelana, M.F. (1995). Literacy as a gendered social practice: Tasks, texts, talk and take-up. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(4), 674-708. Peterson, S. and Bainbridge, J. (1999). Teachers' gendered expectations and their evaluation of student writing. Reading Research and Instruction, 38(3), 255-271. Pramling, I. (1990). Att Lara Barn Lara. (Trans. Learning to learn: A study of Swedish preschool children.) Springer-Verlag: New York. Pramling, I. (1993). To be six years old in Sweden in the 1990s. In the universal and the national in preschool education. Papers from the OMEP International Seminar, Moscow, December 4-7. Organisation Mondiale Pour L'Education Prescolaire, Warsaw (Poland) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization: Paris. Pramling, I. (1994). Kunnandets Grunder. (Trans. The foundations of skills and knowledge. Goteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothenburgensis. Qvortrup, J. (1990). A voice for children in statistical and social accounting: A plea for children's right to be heard. In A. James and A. Prout (Eds.) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood. Falmer Press: Basingstoke. Qvortrup (1995). Childhood in Europe: A new field of social research. In L. Chisholm, P. Buchner, H. Kruger and M. du Bois-Reymond, Growing up in Europe. Walter de Gruyeten Berlin & New York. Renwick, M. (1984). Transition to School: The Child's Experience. Best of SET - Families and Schools, Item 6. New Zealand Council for Educational Research/Australian Council for Educational Research: Wellington, NZ. Richards, M. and Light, P. (1986). Children of Social Worlds. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass. Ritchie, J. and Ritchie, J. (1970). Child Rearing Patterns in New Zealand. A.H. and A.W. Reed: Wellington. Silva, O. and Stanton, W.R. (Eds.). (1996). From Child to Adult: The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Oxford University Press: Oxford. Smith, A.B. (1984). Children's ideas about teachers and principals. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 9(3), 25-34. Smith, A.B. (1996). Incorporating Children's Perspectives into Research. Keynote address to the New Zealand Association for Research in Education, Massey University: Palmerston North, NZ. December 1995. Smith, A.B., Ballard, K.D. and Barham, L.J. (1989). Preschool children's perceptions of parent and teacher roles. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 4, 523-532.