lad culture and boys' confusion aobut behaviour

"Lad" culture may be a way for boys to conceal their confusion about how they are supposed to behave.

These are the findings of Dr Gabrielle Ivinson of Cardiff University, working with Dr Patricia Murphy of the Open University, reported at the International Conference on Communication, Problem-Solving and Learning at the University of Strathclyde on Thursday, 28 June, 2001.

Pupils get messages about what they are supposed to say and do as a boy or girl: these messages come from both fellow pupils and teachers. When these messages from teachers and pupils are similar, students censor themselves - they only produce knowledge which is generally viewed as appropriate for their sex group.

When the messages are different boys often fall into behaviours (ways of talking, writing and producing artefacts) which reflect a "laddish" culture because they lack the support to cope in any other way. Some boys concealed their knowledge, seeming to conform to the gender "rules" in the classroom, while producing work and responses that were highly valued by their peers and teachers.

"The ways in which boys resolve these conflicting messages in class can sometimes be to the detriment of their learning", said Dr Ivinson, "we refer to two extreme ways of coping as expressions of ‘restricted’ and ‘emancipated’ gender identities."

Strategies can be used to exaggerate and narrow ideas about gender-appropriate ways of talking, doing and producing artefacts.