Face Sheet - Helping Boys Pay Attention

Things to Know

Students around the world are struggling to pay attention in the classroom, and this impacts their learning and well-being. This is particularly relevant for boys. Common explanations for why boys struggle to pay attention include the rise of smartphones, unhealthy amounts of time spent online, and gendered expectations of behaviour. Notably, behaviours such as sustained attention, engagement, and academic effort are sometimes perceived as inconsistent with traditional notions of masculinity. As a result, many teachers face challenges with boys not paying attention during instructions and not completing work.

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The Current Reality for Most Boys:

• Attention matters for learning, and students who are engaged in school are more likely to achieve and report better subjective well-being

• Many professional expectations and requirements in the modern economy require people to sit still and focus, communicate openly, listen, and operate in a fluid workplace.

• Compared to girls, boys disproportionately struggle to pay attention during class, and boys are also twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.

• Up to 80% of classroom disruptions are caused by boys. Boys are also three times more likely to be

  suspended or expelled.

• Since the advent of the smartphone in 2012, many boys' social and entertainment lives moved online and are based in highly stimulating “apps.” Many of these apps are deliberately engineered to capture and hold boys’ attention, resulting in the frequent breaking or shifting of focus caused by competing stimuli or constant interruptions, known as attention fragmentation. Students with access to their phones often use them in class and pay less attention to teacher explanations.

• For some boys, time spent online can be an escape from an increasingly inhospitable world. Yet, growing up in the virtual world with constant stimulation leaves boys underdeveloped in social skills and other competencies, e.g. how to listen, find common ground, and disagree in a productive way. These skills are essential to achieve success in the real world.

• Masculinity pressures and dominant masculine norms influence boys. Paying attention during class is not something that ‘popular’ boys do. Learning is also considered a ‘feminine’ undertaking, placing all boys at a disadvantage when they are expected to engage in classrooms.

• Excessive video game use is an issue for teen boys. Research is beginning to show that use can alter the development of the adolescent brain in problematic ways such as decreased attention span and overstimulation of reward neural pathways linked to addiction. At the extreme, this manifests as Internet Gaming Disorder, characterised by compromised impulse control, cognitive control, and executive functioning.

• The most common challenges teachers report are students avoiding work, being disengaged, talking out of turn, or being deliberately disruptive. These behaviours can all result from an inability to sustain attention on a given task. When boys lose focus and attention, responses such as shaming, sarcastic remarks, or harsh punishments can result in conflict or further discourage boys from engaging in school.

Things to do

There are effective ways teachers can apply behavioral principles and tools to support boys’ learning and engagement. Sustained attention and academic engagement are skills that can be taught and practiced. Below are evidence-informed teaching tools tailored to support and improve the attention of boys in the classroom.

Make expectations explicit: If attention is a skill, boys can be taught exactly what it looks like. For example, when trying to gain attention, if a teacher says, “listen up,” this is unclear and imprecise. “Eyes on me, pens down, no talking” is a much clearer expectation. A variation of this is a narrated count: “Eyes on me in 3, no talking 2, nothing in your hand, 1.”

Develop attention over time: When students return from holidays or breaks, boys, in particular, are often out of practice when it comes to sitting and listening. Teachers can retrain boys to focus. In the first lesson of a year, a teacher might give a task that requires five minutes of focused attention. During the second lesson, the teacher might ask for six minutes of attention. Then build up the duration over the term.

Use priming before switching tasks. It takes time to switch between tasks. Signal to students that a change in attention is about to occur. For example, “You have 60 seconds to finish what you are writing, then I will ask you to look this way for your next instructions.”

Challenge the social norms that learning is unmasculine. Positively narrate students who are doing the right thing. This sets a social norm. For example, “Simon’s eyes are on me, Matt is sitting quietly, Ashhad is paying close attention.”

Don’t begin until all students are paying attention. Learning is directed by attention. If teachers begin instructing before all students are quiet, it inadvertently sends the message that not all students need to pay attention.

Avoid shaming boys by using waiting on a number. Instead of spotlighting students not paying attention, a more constructive approach is to simply say, “We are just waiting on two more students, now one more. Great. Let’s get started.”

Opt out of the power battle during a student-teacher debate. Student-teacher debates undermine effective classroom management. Expert teachers plan for these scenarios. Below are two tools that help in these situations:

• Partial agreement. Many boys will offer debate and counter responses to save face amongst their peers. Teachers can choose to defuse and respond in a manner that de-escalates the discussion. A teacher might say: “Jack, you are talking, focus on your work.” Jack often responds with “Other people were talking, too.” A teacher can reply with “Maybe they were, focus on your work, thanks.” This is less likely to promote debate because you are not disagreeing as opposed to ‘Yes, you were’ or ‘I don’t care what other students were doing.’

• Primary, not secondary behavior: If a teacher corrects a student (for example: “Move up to the front so you can focus”), it’s not uncommon for a boy to respond with secondary behavior such as rolling his eyes or muttering under his breath. Many boys do this to save face amongst peers. Avoid taking the bait and saying “Don’t you roll your eyes at me.” Tactically, ignore these secondary behaviours and focus on the primary behavior, which is whether the student is acting in line with your request, in this case, moving up the front and continuing to learn.

Fact sheet developed by Mark Dowley, D.Ed. with support from Task Force and Advisory Committee members