Boys' Education: Identity and Character Development

“…feminine boys are comparatively both under-researched and under-named (Francis, [16]; Francis & Paechter, [18]). Where researchers do manage to find and focus on them and consider identities and peer relations from their perspective, this tends to be in the context either of a much wider study in which they are one group out of several in a particular setting, or through the use of proxy identifiers. Neither of these is entirely satisfactory, and we need to find ways in which we can approach more directly the question of what it is to be a feminine boy. “

“…our results suggest that if parents exhibit gender-stereotypical labour market behaviour, children of the same sex are more likely to choose a gender-stereotypical education. The associations are strongest for sons….We find no evidence suggesting that school and/or residential location are important drivers of the documented intergenerational correlations.”

“Studies on gender differences in other self-conscious emotions experienced in the moral sphere, such as guilt and shame, have found that, like empathy, these emotions are felt more intensely by women in different age groups, a finding which has important implications for their moral functioning (Benetti-McQuoid & Bursik, 2005; Etxebarria, Ortiz, Conejero, & Pascual, 2009; Tangney & Dearing, 2002; Walter & Burnaford, 2006). Is the same true of moral pride? More specifically, do girls report their experience of authentic moral pride as more intense than boys?... If the answer is yes, then this would indicate the presence of a weaker intrinsic reinforcement of moral behavior in boys, thus pointing to the need to pay more attention to this emotion (as well as empathy and guilt, for example) in their moral education, both at school and in the family environment.

Whatever the case, there is, as yet, no firm evidence to indicate that girls feel more authentic moral pride than boys, at least not in the context studied, namely Basque society, whose social parameters are comparable with those of most European countries with a medium-to-high economic and social development, especially as regards gender equality (EUSTAT, 2016)…. Our efforts in the social field, and in particular in the educational realm, should therefore focus on fostering moral sensitivity among boys (although obviously without overlooking girls) and defending everyone’s right, be they male or female, to feel any emotion, both weak and strong, especially when they are justified by one’s own actions and fulfill an important function in those actions, as is the case with moral pride.

"Among boys, requiring PE and the number of minutes spent exercising in PE were negatively related to body size perception….The number of days spent in PE and the number of minutes spent exercising in PE were positively related to perceived attractiveness among boys… Based on the results of this study, PE may be an important and cost-effective way of reducing negative body image among adolescents,… Therefore, school policy implications are discussed. Expanding school programs that promote physical activity, such as PE class, may be a great way of improving body image for a large number of students."

“This paper focuses on the under-researched phenomenon of primary schoolchildren’s construction of their sexualities, paying particular attention to the ways in which they construct their gendered and sexual identities during their interactions while playing and conversing about football. The specific focus of the paper is football, whereby football is conceptualised in more complex ways and not simply as a masculine sport. Rather, the paper engages with football as a vital resource that boys and girls draw on as they construct themselves as heterosexual subjects.”

“This paper critically analyses children’s (6–11 year olds) contradictory, socio-spatial responses to ‘gender and sexualities education’ in English primary schools. Drawing on ethnographic, interview and focus group data from an 18-month study, the paper foregrounds ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ spaces of learning in order to illustrate how children’s gendered and sexualised subjectivities are both constituted within – and constitutive of – the spatialities of schooling. Utilising subjectivity and performativity theory after Butler, a ‘good student’ that performs ‘acceptance’ of liberal discourses of gender and sexual diversity in classrooms is distinguished from a ‘good peer’ that is simultaneously compelled to reinstate (hetero)gender/sexuality in the playground, toilets and corridors. These contradictory sociospatial stances, which came to the fore in focus groups that defy ‘formal’ or ‘informal’ categorisation challenge gender and sexualities education centred on equalities and anti-bullying. Findings from this study point to the urgent need to acknowledge and counter the dominance of wider heteronormative ideals.”

Goodform is a four-session universal program that aims to reduce body dissatisfaction and prevent the use of muscle-building supplements among 14-to-16 year old adolescent boys…. The program is intended to be delivered by HPE teachers within the classroom setting….. Although there is capacity to discuss Appearance and Performance Enhancing supplements within the Australian Curriculum, very few resources exist to facilitate education about these substances or to facilitate changes in attitudes and behaviours towards APES in the school setting. Traditional resources to support education about performance-enhancing drug use in sport are generally developed along a moralistic, and value-based framework, rather than one that addresses the psychological and behavioural drivers of supplement use.