HSC english: marginalising masculinities

Public concern for the differential performances of boys and girls in the New South Wales (Australia) Higher School Certificate English examinations, coupled with concerns about the feminisation of the teaching profession have been circulating for some time. Various explanations (and solutions) are offered in the media, in populist publications and in the academic literature for this perceived problem. This paper makes a contribution to the field by documenting some of the ways in which the NSW HSC English syllabuses, from their inception in 1965, have progressively marginalised hegemonic masculinities through the differentiated curriculum structures, the conception of the subject English and its pedagogical technology inscribed in the documents, and the subjectivities constructed for both teacher and learner in the documents themselves. It also looks to the new HSC English syllabus and poses the question – will this new syllabus perpetuate the previous problems?