To what extent can an intervention for writing boost motivation and subsequent attainment in 11 year old boys? Claudia Hawes, Year 6 Teacher and Art Co-ordinator, Oakridge School Introduction ‘Boys have been stereotyped as being not good at English and not seeing any value in literacy for success in life.’ (Ofsted, 2005b) Boys’ attainment and lack of motivation to write compared to girls at primary school has become a national cause for concern and therefore many primary schools are now focused on closing the gender gap by increasing boys’ enthusiasm to write in both school and at home. A growing increase in research concerning this issue indicates how significant this subject is perceived to be by head teachers and teachers. While there has been more research questioning the reasons behind the decline in boys’ attainment and motivation to write, school effectiveness in improvement initiatives have not completely overcome the problem. Oakridge School’s development plan states that we need ‘to improve the quality of writing across all subjects through the development of children’s reading and writing of non-fiction texts.’ My main concern as a class teacher is if the boys in my class do not have a passion for writing, how can I engage them in enjoying writing in their favourite cross-curricular topic? Moreover, how can they make progress and achieve their expected level of attainment if they have no interest in what they are producing? My chosen area of focus is assessing the effectiveness of a variety of interventions based on current literature and pupil voice to improve boys’ motivation to write, thus increase their attainment.
Research Analysis of the current literature on the topic of raising boys’ motivation and subsequent attainment in writing led me to a deeper understanding of the interventions which have been proven successful in school settings. Previous studies have been based on a singular intervention focus. Therefore I decided to use a variety of strategies in my research. The main interventions discussed in the current literature which I adopted in my own research are as follows: The use of ICT to draft the boys’ written work with ease and reduce the impact of their negative attitude towards handwriting. A variety of drama strategies, offering the boys the opportunity to act through their creative ideas and imagine their characters. The use of a visual image (a film) to reduce the stressful feelings of creating their own settings and characters. Through conducting a questionnaire, I decided that the boys’ opinions concerning reasons behind their negative attitude towards writing were extremely important. I therefore decided to use pupil voice, as well as current literature, when choosing the details of the interventions. Findings From the boys’ two pieces of independent writing before and after the study, there was a clear difference in progress in attainment between both groups, with the
intervention group’s progress double the sub-level progress of the control group.
attitude towards their writing after the intervention strategies. Opinions obtained through interviewing the group of boys after each intervention supported the attainment and motivation results. At the beginning of the research, a child from the intervention group had said ‘I don’t think I’m the best writer because I don’t always like what we are writing about.’ His attitude towards writing changed throughout the intervention period and in his last interview he exclaimed ‘I feel really confident today. I’m really proud of my writing.’ Recommendations Continue the study’s writing group for boys’ intervention group to assess attainment. Introduce the concept to other teachers in school – begin writing group for boys with focus on pupil premium children during pupil premium intervention time. Implement these strategies in whole class setting to engage boys in English lessons.
Repeating the questionnaire after the study also highlighted the difference in motivation between the two groups. It was clear that the intervention group had a more positive