Laddishness and Self-Worth Protection, 2004

This is a mixed-methods collection.<br> <br> The research investigated the hypothesis that ‘laddish’ behaviour serves to protect the self-worth of some pupils. There were four main research questions.<br> <br> 1) In what ways does ‘laddish’ behaviour act to protect self-worth?<br> 2) How can schools and teachers reduce ‘laddish’, anti-school attitudes?<br> 3) Are some girls adopting ‘laddish’ behaviours, if so, why?<br> 4) Are some groups of girls and boys more likely than other groups to adopt ‘laddish’ behaviours, if so, which groups, why and with what effects?<br> <br> Six secondary schools were involved: four co-educational, one girls’ and one boys’. There was a mix of pupils in terms of social class, ‘race’ and ethnicity, and a mix of schools in terms of overall examination results and gender of intake (single-sex and co-educational). All pupil participants were in year 9 (aged 13-14) at the time of the study (academic year 2003/04). Questionnaires were administered to the entire year 9 cohort in each school. There were three questionnaires in total. Two explored students’ academic goals, self-concept, self-handicapping behaviours, and perceptions of their learning environments in English and maths respectively. A third, explored pupils’ views about ‘laddishness’ and popularity.<br> <br> Interviews were conducted with 153 pupils; 75 girls and 78 boys. They took place over the spring and summer of 2004, during the school day, in school and lasted approximately 30 minutes. The interviews were semi-structured and covered a number of topics, including attitudes and approaches to schoolwork; Standard Assessment Tests (SAT); pressures in school; ‘lads’ and ‘ladettes’; friends and popularity. <br> <br> In addition, an average of five teacher interviews were conducted in each school: 30 in total (17 women and 13 men). The teacher sample was diverse in terms of: subject specialisms; number of years in teaching; seniority in school; time at that particular school. The interviews took place in school.<br>