Teenage Boys and High School English

Practicing high school English teacher and author Bruce Pirie has found the evidence unmistakable: teenage boys are not as successful in English studies as girls. Boys are also less likely to enjoy reading or see themselves as committed English students. Why is that? And, more important, what can a teacher do about it? His book answers these questions and offers practical strategies that address boys’ difficulties. Pirie has been able to map the hurdles that stand in the way of boys’ achievement. The essence of his findings revolves around the kinds of thinking and feeling the English classroom values, and the kinds teenage boys are able - or allowed - to express. What Pirie offers is a beautifully written book of possibilities: for young men to grow beyond limiting, damaging stereotypes, and for masculinity and literacy to enter into a new, more fruitful alliance.