Boyhood researcher: "We need to exercise our reading muscle"

Everyone has the right to feel safe and well in Finland, according to the government’s gender equality programme, which aligns with Nordic goals. 50 measures are proposed for education, the labour market and families. There is also a focus on violence against women.

The Orpo government wants more focus on the gender equality challenges affecting boys and men, especially to prevent the marginalisation of young men.

Falling knowledge

It is worrying that the so-called PISA tests show falling school results from many countries after the Corona pandemic. The tests have led to debate and demands for changes to teaching in Finland, especially to support boys who are doing badly.

15-year-olds sit identical tests in literacy, science and mathematics to measure their progress and that of the schools themselves. Performing worse in reading, maths and writing is bad while they are in school, but it also affects the pupil’s future in the labour market and as citizens.

As society, technology and politics change, children face growing challenges. The Finnish Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz pointed out the problem in an opinion piece when the latest PISA results were published.

“When we look at the PISA results, we see a growing gap between the genders. Girls are doing as well as they did before. But boys’ learning outcomes have fallen considerably.  Meanwhile, boys are doing better mentally than girls, who often struggle with anxiety and mental health issues,” wrote Adlercreutz.

No need for a PISA panic

Finnish boyhood researcher Harry Lunabba wants to avoid rough generalisations about boys’ poor progress or the idea that schools are badly suited for boys. He talks about a “PISA panic” where results are exaggerated.

But it is true that gender equality has not been fully realised in schools, says Harry Lunabba, who is a researcher specialising in social work at the University of Helsinki. 

This development makes him sad and frustrated. Boys are labelled as problematic and disruptive in class.

"While we have not completely failed all boys, statistics show there are fewer boys at the top and more boys at the bottom. The large majority are still doing well in Finnish schools," says Harry Lunabba.

There is a problem with groups of boys who do fall behind, and it is being explained away with a “boys will be boys” mentality. But this could be linked to typical boy behaviour not being accepted in school.

“Boys develop a bit slower than girls, as has been proven many times, and the girls’ results can partly be explained through different maturity levels.

“It looks like schools would like to compete only for the students with the best grades. They don’t want to risk accepting weaker students and helping them reach their full potential,” says Lunabba.

“We know quite a few boys do well later on, also academically,” says Harry Lunabba who counts himself in that group.

One problem could be the prevalence of individual student-centred work in classless upper secondary schools, where many boys do less well without adult guidance.

“Students are expected to make decisions they might not be mature enough to make. Perhaps education should change to allow performance and practice to take place collectively and in the classrooms, under the guidance of adults, ideally all the way through upper secondary school.”

The debate about homework and parents’ role in students’ futures is hotter in Sweden than in Finland, notes Lunabba. Homework has been turned into a question of class, where students with parents who can help with homework benefit.

Lunabba nevertheless believes that having individual assignments helps, as learning to do homework is part of the maturation process. But the majority of schoolwork should take place in school.

Boys may need more support, and this cannot be outsourced to their homes, according to Lunabba.

“There is a lack of ambition to do something about the problem, as well as a lack of concrete ideas. We need an ambitious political programme on gender equality aimed at flattening the curves. It is not enough to present populist ideas like boys should start school at a later age.”

Lunabba believes schools can benefit from a culture of development where new teaching methods and new ideas are really promoted. This can later be combined with solid studies to truly assess their effect.

Insensitive about “failed” men in rural areas

Lunabba is puzzled about the declining initiatives for vocational training in Finland.

“There is this ambition to be an equal society, but our upper secondary schools and universities are very white while vocational schools are more culturally diverse. 

“In that context, it is very strange that vocational schools have become a target for budget cuts. It is extremely puzzling, considering the important role these play in society,” says Lunabba.

Lunabba does not believe today’s school is the result of a conscious gender agenda specifically designed with girls in mind.

Instead, he sees a lack of gender-specific and gender-sensitive initiatives. He wants to include boys in gender equality efforts and points out that this benefits everyone.

“It is, above all, a sign of failure that we have not been able to convince people that the gender equality movement is for everyone, based on solidarity.”

Lunabba sees a great deal of insensitivity in Finnish society around many issues that men in particular struggle with. Men in rural areas are sometimes seen as pathetic – as if they should simply 'pull themselves together and do something.' 

However, they have lived through a structural transformation in which rural areas have been depleted and downgraded in many essential aspects. 

Knowledge needed for future labour market

Harry Lunabba worries about students who are struggling more at school and with reading than earlier. 

“I think schools in future must learn how to handle new media like podcasts and video. That is what students and adults are consuming more and more of.”

However, the universities' autonomous responsibility is to ensure that students become competent and learn the skills that are relevant to working life.

"We cannot transform the world into a playground; instead, the world needs knowledge," argues Lunabba. 

The risk is a polarisation between those who excel in reading and AI and those who struggle with fundamental issues. The ones who know something are going to be those who succeed in the future labour market.

Wants to make reading “great again”

Right now, Lunabba is doing research but will return to teaching one year from now. When he does, he will also take on the challenges around reading.

“It is very worrying to work at a university where students say they cannot even finish reading one book. The answer is not that we stop reading books,” says Lunabba. He wants to exercise what he calls “the reading muscle” through collective reading sessions. 

In the “reading gym” the students can exercise reading and take their time just like they would do in a sports gym.

“These are the things we used to take for granted that 20-year-olds could do. Perhaps we have to teach them again in a new way."

Harry Lunabba wants to make reading “great again” as some might say in the USA, the country where boys’ social exclusion is already said to have led to discontent and political power shifts. 

“There are no rowdy boys here, not many boys at all for that matter” 

Sonja Sajavaara and Viggo Kalman are sitting in front of their screens, working on a group task about images. They are students at the Swedish School of Social Science, part of the University of Helsinki. Both have noticed the surplus of female students and a reduced interest in reading. 

Boys being more rowdy or doing less well is not an issue at the Swedish School of Social Science, but it is also hard to gain access there. The “rowdy boys” disappear and choose other paths, like vocational education.

Viggo Kalman and Sonja Sajavaara study at the Swedish School of Social Science and read a lot of text as part of their studies.

Viggo Kalman also says he was a bit of a “tinkerer”, one of these young lads who likes tinkering with motorbikes, mopeds and computers in their spare time. But it did not turn into an occupation for him. He is now in his fourth year studying political science in Helsinki. 

He is from Åland, while Sonja Sajavaara, who is studying journalism, is from Helsinki.

Escapism rather than reading

She finds it shocking that so many young people do not read at all. Netflix has taken over. But Sonja and Viggo point out that most of the university students do read a lot of text for their studies.

“So it is quite logical that you are tired and don’t want to read even more when you come home.”

But it becomes a habit and many are not in the habit of reading, says Sonja Sajavaara. She believes in promoting reading habits from an early age. It becomes a habit that you keep when you grow older.

Viggo Kalman also thinks it is important to learn to read books when you are young. He read a lot as a child, now he reads far less. 

“Still, I have never had any problem with reading comprehension. It’s more that… I just get a bit too distracted by mobile phones and films. And I do watch a lot of films, which take time from reading.

Although it is a tiresome cliché, Sonja and Viggo want to highlight the negative impact of screens.

“It is just getting worse when you look at people our age – and others too. The increase in screentime… at the same time this is escapism from studying.”

But sitting in front of the computer screen can also be exhausting. It is not really relaxing to scroll through short videos for hours on end. Reading lets you relax much more than being constantly stimulated, says Sonja. 

The Helsinki University seems a bit more old-fashioned than for instance Uppsala, which Viggo has experienced. The University of Helsinki has much more focus on essays and the ability to write well. 

You have to write a lot when studying here, especially if you want to succeed. At the same time, Sonja points out that she had to write even longer essays when she studied in Utrecht for a while. 

Yet that is not the only way to compare the quality of the education or its ability to provide the foundation for success.