Review of our national conference: Raising the Achievement of Boys in Inner City Schools

Conference feedback and comments.

Nearly a hundred delegates attended the national conference on "Raising the Achievement of Boys in Inner City Schools" at the Barnsbury Centre on May 23. Key note Speaker Gary Wilson was, in the words of delegates, "inspirational", "full of passion", "stunning" and "awesome".

Graham Smith provided a "valuable" overview of the local and national context. Ann Braham gave an "informative and encouraging" outline of Islington's efforts to engage men in learning and Kate Kelly and Scott Cohen presented the Arsenal Double Club's work, which was "a very good incentive for other similar schemes" particularly for non-Islington delegates.

There was something for all phases of practice in the workshops which covered getting boys to read, reading into writing, gaming and boys' achievement, visual literacy and boys, superhero play, popular culture and boys, and successful strategies from the foundation stage to GCSE.

Workshops were well received; "lots of excellent strategies", "such good practice", "lesson plans we can take away and teach" and "changed my way of thinking".

The conference closed with an outstanding presentation on peer mentoring by the Central Foundation Boys' "Anti Bullying Massif", who delegates said were "excellent role models for school and society", "positive role models of what it looks like when it all comes right" and "brilliant young people doing a brilliant job".

Great lunch too.

Overall feedback for all aspects of the conference was:

Very Good: 147 Good: 89 Satisfactory: 31 Unsatisfactory: 0

Key Points from workshops

Challenging macho values (Marc Thompson)
Three key points:

• Good lesson plans that teachers can use to directly tackle issues.
• Training needed for teachers in using the packs.
• Section on praise is helpful but would like to see more of this.

Reading into writing non-fiction at Key Stage 3 (Peter Ellison)
Three key points:

• Use talk and problem solving as a way into engaging boys' attention.
• Deconstruct texts through reading to show how writers build up effects. Role-play/forum theatre to lead pupils into construction of own text.
• Develop shared success criteria for writing activity with class (but they need guidance).

Visual literacy and boys at Key Stage 2 (Kim Clapham)
Three key points:

• Plan in lots of time for speaking and listening activities. All pupils benefit from being able to discuss their ideas.
• Grouping is important. Knowing the pupils in order to place them in appropriate groups and allocating roles within groups e.g. observer to judge how the group worked together.
• You can use film and DVD as a visual text. You can use drama in the literacy hour.

ULTRALAB: Gaming skills and learning styles for raising the achievement of boys. (Tom Stacy)
Three key points:

• Research shows many positive benefits from game playing - that are not necessarily obvious.
• A range of skills is learnt from game playing that are transferable and relevant to other learning.
• Teachers can develop literacy skills using games.

Superhero play (Anita Mohindra and Diana Pearl)
Three key points:

• Establish tracking system to monitor medium and long-term effects of encouraging super hero play in boys' attitudes to learning.
• Consider developing this work in Key stage 1 as a natural progression.
• Superhero narratives are part of a continuous tradition you can trace back to Homer.

Exploring successful strategies with boys from foundation stage to GCSE (Gary Wilson)
Three key points:

• It is important to reflect every 10 to 15 minutes in lessons.
• Parental involvement especially male role models are very important.
• We should understand and use positive aspects of street culture.

Getting boys to read (Pam Dix and Jenny Hewitt)
Three key points:

• Boys enjoy a wide variety of literature and choose emotive fiction as well as more traditional "boy" books. Don't stereotype boys. If reading is promoted as a good thing to do in schools, more boys will feel it is "safe" (good) to read and enjoy it more.
• Boys choose books that are well illustrated, sometimes using text in unconventional ways. Always use good quality books.
• Boys choose books with unresolved endings quite often, leaving space /opportunities for further discussion. This gives teachers lots of possibilities for extension activities.

Popular culture and boys learning in the foundation stage (Gilles Shewell)
Three key points

• What is culture? Consider feelings around culture.
• "High" culture versus popular culture an issue for debate. Who creates and controls popular culture?
• It is important to tap into popular culture as a shared experience among children. There is a liberating effect using popular culture with children as a shared language.