‘Teaching in the bed of Procrustes’: results of a 4-year interuniversity research project into boys’ academic underperformance in secondary education

‘Teaching in the bed of Procrustes’: results of a 4-year interuniversity research project into boys’ academic underperformance in secondary education
The project ‘Teaching in the bed of Procrustes’ departs from the problem of boys’ scholastic underachievement in Flemish secondary education: e.g. boys repeat a year more often and boys have higher drop-out rates. This interuniversity research project (Ghent University (CuDOS), KULeuven (ECEGO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (EDWE)) consists of a multidisciplinary team and combines sociology, psychology, pedagogy and educational sciences to (i) gain insight into the processes and factors which play a part in the observed drop-out of boys and girls and (ii) to develop effective strategies to turn the tide and make
sure that boys and girls can participate more successfully in education. Also, the project has a large valorization purpose and aims to develop effective gender-sensitive strategies to foster all students’ learning.
In gaining a comprehensive view on gender inequality in secondary education, the project focused on a broad range of topics including – but not limited to - gender identity, gender bias in classroom interactions, gender role attitudes, school involvement, school wellbeing selfregulated
learning and study motivation.
Large-scale longitudinal multilevel survey data were collected (57 schools, 662 teachers, and 4787 students were measured three times throughout three years). Also small-scale qualitative data such as such as video-stimulated recall interviews and classroom observations were conducted (6 schools, 30 teachers, 180 students). Moreover, a large-scale quasi-experimental intervention study was conducted investigating the effect of a teacher professional development program of collaborative teacher learning communities aimed at increasing
teacher gender awareness and gender sensitive classroom interactions.
The project officially ended in 2015 and resulted in both scientific and popularizing publications, teacher coaching trajectories and a hands-on toolbox that can be used by practitioners. The researchers involved in this project give workshops for teachers and teacher educators on a regular basis.
The continuation of the research project is guaranteed by means of external funding which is obtained for a duo of new researchers who proceed with analyses on the large databases that were collected during the project. Also, coaches and researchers continue to work together in order to facilitate the integration of research findings and practitioner knowledge.
During the presentation more information can be provided on the research projects’ set-up and findings as well as the valorization products. Critical reflections on the project and recommendations for future research and practitioners will be discussed.
More information on the project can be found at http://www.procrustes.be/over-het-project