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Chapter Three Survey of local authorities

The case study schools and authorities were identified through a brief survey, using a questionnaire approach. Questionnaires were issued to 31 of the 32 local authorities (Appendix 1); only one authority declined the invitation to participate. While addressed to Directors of Education, or their equivalent, the covering letter asked that the questionnaire be completed by whoever held responsibility for equity issues within the directorate. (The term 'gender (in)equality' was used for the sake of brevity, although it was acknowledged that other terms might be used by authorities to reflect similar concepts.)

In the event, 25 of the original 32 were completed and returned (78%), most of which were completed by advisers or education officers whose remit included equity issues. As the numbers are relatively small, the actual figures are reported here.

The purpose of the questionnaires was to determine the local authority's approach to gender inequalities issues and to identify potential case study schools, i.e. examples of good practice of specific gender-related strategies in operation. Authorities were also asked, where appropriate, to provide relevant documentation, such as policy statements, to the project team. Several respondents appeared to have had difficulty completing some of the questions on the grounds that 'gender' has become part of a more general inclusion policy and therefore difficult to separate out from other initiatives. A total of 18 local authorities identified examples of where strategies had been developed ( Appendix 2).

3.1 Policy and planning

Nine of the respondents indicated that their authority had a written policy statement on gender (in)equality, 13 said it did not and 2 reported that a draft policy statement existed. Of the 9 with policy statements, 1 covered education establishments only, while 8 covered all aspects of policy provision. Fourteen of the 25 reported that the authority's Improvement Plan made reference to gender issues in schools.

One question asked whether the authority would expect schools to have a written policy on gender (in)equality, regardless of whether a policy statement existed at authority level. Seven said that they would, while another 7 indicated they would not; the remainder did not answer. They were then asked to estimate the percentages of educational establishments in each sector (pre-5, primary, secondary and special) that they thought had a policy, whether it was a requirement or not. Expectations varied from none to 100% of all establishments. For example, 5 authorities expected 100% of establishments in all 4 sectors to have policies in place. Another authority expected 100% of all establishments other than pre-5 to have a policy in place, while 2 other authorities expected 100% of pre-5 establishments and between 50% and 80% of the others to have one in place. It should be noted, however, that the documentation supplied by authorities did not normally match the reported incidence of policies and practices (see Section 3.2).

Authorities were asked to indicate, broadly, the nature of the policy for gender in schools within their authority. Twenty authorities replied, all indicating that it was either an integral part of the inclusion policy, permeated other policies or was a combination of these. No authority indicated that they had a stand-alone policy for gender. Comments included:

• Not necessarily a stand-alone policy on gender but all schools have an equality policy.
• Most policies relate to equal opportunities, including gender, race, religion, disability etc.
• Policies on gender will also be part of policies on all equality issues.

Twenty authorities expected that, where schools had policies, they would refer to the National Priorities ², and 6 expected them to acknowledge the General Teaching Council (Scotland) Guidelines ( GTC, 1991). Sixteen authorities expected to see gender issues on school development plans, where this was relevant to the context of the school. Others indicated that this would be the case only if an issue had been identified within the school itself.

• Gender issues would only appear as a stand-alone priority if through self evaluation a particular issue was identified.
• Some schools will have specific strategies to tackle boys' underachievement, but this would be part of a whole school policy on raising attainment.
• Schools would be expected to include aspects of inclusion and equality in [their] development plans and gender equality would be monitored in all aspects of school life.

A total of 18 authorities responded to a request for documentation on equal opportunity policies in relation to the topics addressed in the questionnaire. The responses were analysed to provide further contextual information.

3.2 Policy documentation

Of the 18 who responded to the request for policy documents, 1 stated that there was no specific equal opportunities policy in relation to children, while a further 11 provided copies of equal opportunities policies that were concerned with employment. Most of these were general local authority or 'corporate' policies where a range of factors leading to possible inequality were identified. They ranged significantly in scope and detail.

Six authorities provided documentation that referred specifically to schools. (Two were supplied in addition to conditions of service.) One provided a generic policy statement that schools were required to adopt and customise with their own name, etc. It focused on access to the curriculum and encouraged positive attitudes and the countering of stereotypes and prejudice. Gender equality was explicitly mentioned. Two other authorities provided policy statements that set expectations for staff in schools, both of which specifically referred to gender as a factor in discrimination and inequality.

The final 3 focused on gender as an issue in achievement in particular and, in one case, provided further detail on one of the strategies investigated as a case study in the fieldwork phase of the project. One authority had published a support pack for schools. The pack provided a review of the literature and offered practical guidance on catering for the needs of boys and girls in order to raise achievement. It also stated that while the issue of boys' underachievement was important, the issue of equal opportunity for girls remained very relevant. Another provided no overall policy statement but sent documentation relating to the implementation of single gender classes, including a brief review of the strategy by external consultants and achievement data from one secondary school that had implemented it. (This contributed to the case study report in Section 4.)

Three pieces of documentation were received from the final authority - a general equal opportunities policy, a learning and teaching policy and a learning and teaching toolkit designed to provide practical advice to teachers. The learning and teaching policy talked about inclusion, meeting the needs of the whole learner, multiple intelligences, flexible curriculum structures and lifelong learners, although gender was not specifically mentioned. The statements were supported by references to expert views and research reports ( e.g. Black et al, 2002). The toolkit expanded on the policy statements and contained a significant section on gender, particularly boys' underachievement. Teachers were directed to a number of websites where they could find further information and advice, should they choose.

In general, there was little documentation received from authorities regarding an overall policy for schools which included gender as either part of an inclusion agenda or as a stand-alone issue. It is possible that authorities misunderstood the request, sending general equal opportunities policies instead of school-specific ones, but as they were sent by the same people who completed the questionnaire and who provided examples of gender-related strategies, this is a difficult argument to sustain.

A very small number had produced detailed guidance for teachers in schools, most of which was concerned with raising achievement.

3.3 Staff development and research

One section of the questionnaire asked for information on any staff development activities that might have been undertaken in relation to gender (in)equality, relevant to any strategies that might have been adopted by schools.

The most frequent themes for staff development were 'attainment differences' and 'learning and teaching styles' (17 authorities each). 'Access to specific curricular areas such as literacy', 'class organisation' and 'pupil support' were identified by 12, 11 and 10 authorities respectively. Five or fewer authorities reported that staff development events had been undertaken on 'exclusion', 'access to the curriculum through e.g. option choices' and 'access to equipment e.g. computers'.

More authorities reported that strategies to address gender inequalities had been adopted across these themes than had held staff development sessions on them. (Eighty responses were received to the staff development question and 111 to the question on strategies, indicating that, in some instances, strategies had been introduced without the support of staff development.) The most frequently cited strategies were in relation to 'attainment differences' and 'learning and teaching strategies', with 16 and 17 mentions respectively. Thirteen authorities reported strategies to deal with 'access to specific curricular areas e.g. literacy' and 'pupil support', while 11 identified 'class organisation' as a theme being addressed. Ten reported strategies for 'access to the curriculum e.g. through option choices' and 7 authorities were addressing 'access to equipment such as computers'. Seven authorities also indicated that 'exclusion' was being addressed in schools within their area.

Authorities were asked whether the strategies that had been adopted were based on any research findings or publications, and 19 authorities responded. Several reported that analyses of attainment data, including the Scottish Qualification Agency ( SQA) statistics, had influenced the decision to address specific issues. Analysis of reading data in particular had led to a number of literacy initiatives with the focus on boys: 'influenced by 5-14 attainment data … has identified a focus on reading and has led to initiatives such as 'Blokes and books' and 'Bags of books'.

Some mentioned specific publications or support packs, e.g. Insight 4 ( SEED, 2003b) and the South Lanarkshire support pack, 'Taking Account of Gender'. Two authorities identified research undertaken by staff - in one case, an Assistant Head Teacher, and in the other an Educational Psychologist - as influential.

The project team were interested in the extent to which authorities had brought in 'experts' or researchers to assist with policy, practice or staff development. Most mentioned external staff development activities that were subsequently developed within the authority and/or school, e.g . 'Key people have attended Geoff Hannan courses and taken issues forward in own school'. Overall, a range of different agencies were identified in responses, including:

• private consultancies, e.g. Learning Unlimited, the Learning Game and/or individual educational consultants;
• academics from the higher education sector; and
• local authority advisers.

The final question in this section asked respondents to identify what they considered to be the two priorities in relation to gender (in)equality in education today. Twenty-two of the 25 completed forms identified two priorities. The key themes were:

i. attainment/achievement
15 respondents referred to attainment/achievement, 6 specifying attainment of boys and 1 referring to girls, eg
'difference in attainment by gender'
'continuing underachievement of boys up to S4/5'
'achievement of girls (especially in relation to SQA results)'.

ii. learning and teaching strategies, including learning styles
7 respondents referred to the need to develop effective teaching and learning styles for both groups of pupils, eg
'to raise awareness of the impact of differing learning styles'
'different learning styles between boys/girls'.

iii. career options
a total of 5 respondents cited career-related issues, eg
'career stereotyping'
'ensuring career option choices are not gender stereotyped'.

A number of other issues were identified by 1, or at the most 2, individual respondents, including: disaffected boys; exclusion; subject uptake; boys' literacy; lack of male role models; girls' reluctance to take risks/be speculative; active schools; and substance abuse (and its impact on attainment, attendance, etc). Two respondents stressed the need to maintain awareness of gender issues, while 1 asked for 'clear understanding of, and evaluation of, strategies adopted to address inequality'.

3.4 Strategies to address gender inequalities

The final section of the questionnaire asked schools to identify up to 3 examples of strategies adopted within the authority that might serve as examples for the project. The questionnaire specifically asked for examples across the sectors - pre-5, primary, secondary and special schools.

A considerable range of examples was supplied by 18 authorities (Appendix 2). Achievement, particularly boys' underachievement, accounted for 9 of the examples given, while 8 examples relating to literacy were provided, 4 of which focused on boys. Learning and teaching strategies were mentioned 4 times, while single gender classes and the involvement of fathers were each mentioned twice. The remaining strategies covered specific areas of the curriculum, e.g. science, or referred to general themes such as 'Getting the best out of Boys' and the 'Alternative curriculum'. Active learning, promoting health improvement and Handle techniques for addressing developmental disorders were also mentioned by individual authorities.

The examples identified by authorities were supplemented by instances gathered from other sources such the internet. The project team then identified a number of strategies for further investigation (see Table 1). Overall, the case studies were selected to provide a range of strategies across a number of authorities.

Table 1: Schools and strategies included in case studies

* It should be noted that most strategies were intended to improve attainment for both boys and girls, but there tended to be an emphasis, whether in the original plan or subsequently, on boys.

Although interview schedules were developed, the strategies varied significantly, as did the groups involved (parents, pupils, school and/or authority staff). Therefore schedules were developed which contained common themes but allowed the interviewer to adapt the specific questions in line with the particular strategy being investigated (Appendix 3).

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