Collaboration leads to change: a student-teacher partnership & its work on boys’ literacy underachievement

The dilemma of adolescent boys’ literacy underachievement has been widely discussed and researched over the past several decades. Numerous studies have indicated that boys universally earn inferior grades, score lower on standardized tests, and develop less literacy skills as compared to their female counterparts, both in the U.S. and abroad (Berg & Klinger, 2009; Hartley & Sutton, 2013; Knell & Winer, 1979; NAEP, 2013; OECD, 2014; Skeleton & Francis, 2011; Watson, 2011). In a previous study I conducted on this topic, male students pointed to their teacher relationships as a key factor of their literacy performance. This study analyzed both this relationship and the gender gap through the formation of a student-teacher (ST) partnership, called the UBC. The purpose of this instrumental case study was twofold. First, it was to create and examine a ST partnership so participants, which included a diverse group of male students and secondary English teachers, could share their experiences, better understand each other and possibly build a stronger relationship. The second purpose was for participants to work together to examine the cause of this gender phenomenon in our middle-class, suburban high school. The UBC met several times over the course of a school year, during which time participants shared their thoughts and perspectives on numerous topics related to the gap. They analyzed classroom artifacts together and observed each other for an entire school day. Transcriptions of these meetings, as well as focus groups interviews and written observational field notes, were the main data sources. The findings are organized into three sections which identify possible causes of boys’ underachievement and illustrate what happens when students and teachers collaborate as equals. The main contributors of the gap include boys’ disruptive behaviors, constrictive gender norms, poor classroom instruction, and a strained student-teacher relationship. Several vital elements of a ST partnership were discovered, with the most important being mutual respect, honesty and meaningful work. Lastly, UBC members were significantly impacted by the partnership, as they gained a deeper understanding of each other, developed camaraderie and empathy, and changed their actions in the classroom.Ed.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Antoinette E. DeNise Barrig