This book illustrates how gender equity (and inequality) occurs in primary classrooms. It uses the findings of current research to provide teachers with recommendations for promoting equity amongst boys and girls. Each contributor summarizes recent research in the area of specialization before looking specifically at issues relevant to primary teaching and learning. The areas of the primary school covered include the National Curriculum subjects of literacy, numeracy and science, and broader topics such as working with boys, children with special educational needs, primary/secondary transition, playground cultures and children's construction of gender identities. The book uses classroom-based research to provide accessible accounts of investigations into gender and primary schooling. At the same time, it offers a critique of the whole drive towards 'evidence based' research. Boys and Girls in the Primary Classroom is aimed particularly at primary teachers and student teachers although the research will be of interest to academics and undergraduate students.

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

Based on many years of teaching experience and drawing on her research among rural and urban children, this book is addressed to students of education and psychology, and can be used as a core text. Dr Ranganathan discusses the theories of education and the philosophical orientation of important thinkers. She studies the physical, emotional, social cognitive and moral development of children, as also their needs and interests. She also deals with the situation of exceptional children. The author has taken care to ensure the book is sensitive to issues of gender, class and caste. Each chapter ends with a summary of the main ideas dealt with therein. The book also contains a select reading list.

How can we understand the educational disengagement of urban, working-class young people? What role do schools and education policies play in these young people’s difficult relationships with education? How might schools help to support and engage urban youth? This book critically engages with contemporary notions of 'at risk' youth. It explores the complexity of urban young people's relationships with education and schooling and discusses strategies for addressing these issues. Drawing on a two year study of urban 14-16 year olds, educational professionals and parents, the book focuses in depth on the views and experiences of ethnically diverse young Londoners who had been identified by their schools as 'at risk of dropping out of education' and as 'unlikely to progress into post-16 education'. It provides an informative and accessible overview of the key issues, debates and theoretical frameworks. It is important reading for school leaders, teachers and learning support assistants as well as trainee teachers and educational researchers.

Within the context of empirical research undertaken by the authors during the course of a 4-year research and intervention project on Raising Boys’ Achievement, the book will focus on approaches that are successful in raising achievement for boys, and the reasons for that success. It will explore the whole aspect of boys’ achievement, and look at how primary schools are addressing the issue, and the processes involved in schools working collaboratively and voluntarily to share good practice. Case study material will be used to illustrate the different contexts in which the strategies have been studied, and of great importance is the incorporation of boys’ and girls’ own perspectives on their educational experiences.

Two of the largest World Bank investment projects in Bangladesh are the general education project and the female secondary scholarship and assistance project. This paper evaluates the expected results of these educational projects using the household and school survey data recently collected in rural Bangladesh. Bangladesh spends only 2 percent of its GNP on education, compared to 3.2 percent in an average low-income country and 6 percent in an average high-income country. Low investment in education results in low literacy (only 35 percent), which in turn results in low productivity, low incomes, poor health, and, above all, high population growth. To counter these trends, Bangladesh has invested substantially in the education sector in recent years, with the help of the World Bank and other donor agencies. The objective of this investment has been to improve both the quality and quantity of education, especially among the female population. The general education and female secondary school assistance projects are, in particular, geared to promote better access to primary and secondary education, as well as higher school participation and educational attainment. Based on the rural household and school survey data on both supply and demand factors, this report concludes that school interventions such as more and better schools, better trained and educated teachers, more female teachers, and better water and sanitation facilities in schools promote literacy and improve school participation and school attainment rates. Independent of school-level interventions, complementary investments in village infrastructure (roads and electricity) also have beneficial effects on educational outcomes. The effects of all these interventions are more pronounced for girls than for boys. Contains 28 data tables and figures. (Author/TD)

Girls’ bullying is more subtle and less physical than that perpetrated by boys; however, it can be just as powerful, and the emotional repercussions of bullying among girls can be more destructive and longer lasting than the effects of more obvious forms of bullying. Teachers report that quarrels between girls are far more time-consuming and difficult to resolve than the disputes of boys, yet not enough information is available to guide them on dealing with girls’ fighting and unhappiness caused by their relationships with other girls, many of whom may have been their closest friends. Understanding Girls’ Friendships, Fights and Feuds illuminates the issue of girls’ bullying – an issue that can cause a great deal of distress but which is sometimes ignored or dismissed by adults. Drawing on close observations of girls’ behaviour, Val Besag provides an in-depth understanding of girls’ bullying, exploring the mechanisms and language that girls use to entice some into their groups and exclude others. The book offers detailed practical advice for dealing with girls’ bullying, which will help both students and teachers to understand and combat different kinds of bullying, as well as comprehensive guidance for preventing or reducing bullying activities among girls, including: Whole school approaches Programmes for developing emotional literacy and resilience Approaches for dealing with gangs Using methods such as art and drama Developing conflict resolution skills Student – parent programmes Peer support programmes This is key reading for teachers, trainee teachers, educational psychologists and social workers, academics and researchers in the field, and others who have an interest in creating bully-free schools and societies.

* What is good teaching and learning in the primary school? * How can teachers manage the whole curriculum and still educate the whole child and raise standards? * How can teachers be in critical dialogue with each other and with the curriculum in their search for improvement? * What is the role of the teacher in the new primary curriculum? This wide ranging book seeks to address these questions and to provide a comprehensive overview of the whole primary curriculum. It aims to develop teaching throughout primary education and to support teachers in the effective delivery of the curriculum. There is a particular focus on recent changes in primary education. The contributors consider how teaching methodologies need to adapt to these changes to meet the needs of children and raise standards in school. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on effective teaching and learning methodologies, the importance of quality interaction in the classroom, the role of the teacher in teaching and learning and the experience of the child. Exemplars of good teaching are provided in each chapter, as well as thought provoking ideas for good practice.

What is it like being a boy or a girl? How do boys and girls learn to be men and women? How do families, schools and children’s peer groups influence the ways in which children think of themselves as male and female? Being Boys, Being Girls explores how boys and girls learn what it is to be male and female. Drawing on a wide range of studies from around the world, the book examines how masculinities and femininities are developed and understood by children and young people in families, in schools, and through interaction with their peers. One of the key concepts underlying this book is that our identities are constructed and performed in particular ways which help us to understand who we are and how we fit in with the world. This means that these identities are constantly changing according to where we are, what we are doing, and whom we are with. Who we are, and what we think about ourselves, only makes sense in relation to what is going on around us. The author provides a clear explanation of the underpinning idea that children’s understandings of gender are developed and constructed in local communities of masculinity and femininity practice. She brings together research on children and their construction and understanding of gender across the 0-18 age range and includes explicit suggestions for strategies and interventions. This book is essential reading for students and academics in childhood, education and gender studies and for those with an interest in gender development and the construction of masculinities and femininities.

This book examines the post of subject leader in primary schools in the light of the four key areas defined by National Standards for Subject Leadership: * strategic direction and development * teaching and learning * leading and managing staff * efficient and effective deployment of staff The book combines existing research data and new material gathered by the authors. It presents the underpinning principles and analyses the complex set of roles and responsibilities undertaken by subject leaders. Most importantly it provides practical advice for subject leaders illustrated by a series of case studies and tasks which are addressed directly to subject leaders. The authors have taken a generic approach, looking at issues such as changing roles and responsibilities, planning for teaching and learning, working with colleagues and others, managing resources and bringing about school improvement, that have to be addressed by all subject leaders whatever their particular area of responsibility. Throughout, the book emphasises the importance of leadership, children's learning, professional development and collaboration. The book will be of value to all primary school teachers, and especially subject leaders.