Gender differences in education seems to have become a hot topic to debate recently with people thinking that in the past few years too much attention has been placed on the education of girls. Today though, the attention is being focused on boys and the idea that they have been falling behind academically and that this trend needs to stop. Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens article "With Boys and Girls in Mind" states that "our schools fail to recognize and fulfill gender-specific needs" (Noll 288). What exactly does this mean though? They believe that boys are falling behind in the schools because teachers are not accounting for the differences in brain structure between boys and girls. Due to the different areas of the brain, it causes girls to be better at subjects such as reading and writing and boys better at things involving spatial-mechanical functioning, such as math. The authors also believe in a nature-based approach which "calls attention to the importance of basing human attachment and education strategies on research-driven biological understanding of human nature" (292) I understand this to mean setting up teaching that takes into account the brain differences of boys and girls, which includes setting up classrooms in various settings to accommodate for differences and to also train teachers in how to incorporate different learning styles based on the differences in the brain make-up of boys and girls.
While I do agree with Gurian and Stevens that students have different learning styles that need to be accommodated for, I don't think it's solely because of gender differences in the brain. I just think that all students learn differently, which is why I agree more with Sara Mead. She believes that boys aren't doing bad in school, it's just that girls are doing better and the reason for the "boy crisis" is because it's newsworthy that people believe boys are falling behind academically, simply because girls are starting to catch up. She cites a lot of statistics from the "Nation's Report Card" which shows that in certian subjects, boys scores have increased up to 8th grade, but have decreased in the 12th grade. Compared to girls though, she states, "overall, there has been no radical or recent decline in boys performance relative to girls" (300) and that high schools need to not only fix how they teach boys but "they need to be fixed to meet the needs of all students, male and female." (300) While there is a decline in boys performance, she believes it is more due to a concern with racial and economic gaps, not gender.
After reading these articles I thought a good question to pose would be, Is there a certain way that boys should be taught as opposed to girls and do you think there is a gender gap when it comes to teaching kids? (Also, should differences in learning be solely based on brain differences?-you don't necessarily have to answer this one, I just thought it would be a good question to think about when answering the other one.)
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The two sides of this argument on the so called boy crisis is rather interesting based on the stats that Gurian and Stevens provide and Meade claiming that there is no proof of a crisis. I have to agree with Meade that this is not a boy vs. girl problem, but an "all students" realization of reaching their needs in education.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be an issue of a gender gap no matter the topic, why not include education of the American youth as part of the mix. In the postscript on page 307, there were many references to single sex schools. It wasn't that long ago when public school officials and/or experts thought the Catholic School philosophies of single sex high schools and uniforms were not important in the education of the students. Now, the public school systems are implementing uniforms and single sex high schools or charter schools. This is one way to solve the gender gap and address a different way and a specific way to work with boys and girls that are unique to their needs and requirements in learning.
Holt and Childress would be proud with the suggestion of "boy friendly" schools and "allowing the boys to choose reading selections that appeal to their interests" on page 304.
Who to believe…Sara Mead states, “ In fact over all academic achievement and attainment for boys is higher than it has ever been.” Gurian and Stevens give a list of statistics on page 291 that show us how poorly boys are performing across the United States. Are boys different than girls? Any parent or educator certainly would say that yes boys are different than girls. Should we make accommodations to include activities that both boys and girls traditionally excel? Yes, I think we owe it to our students to make reading materials available to our male students that they find engaging. Encouraging competition, making sure to make time for recess, including projects and being cognitive of the strengths of boys when planning lessons, are a few of the ways that we can help boys in the classroom. I am not convinced that a gender gap exists but if it does we can easily enough include activities that both boys and girls have equal chance to excel. I know in years past the concern has been that girls were left out of the math and sciences and a big push was implemented to include extra funding for girls in these areas. In college it was stressed that boys were called on more than girls, and we should be sure to call on both equally.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the first article, the authors (Guarian and Stevens)state that their are brain differences between male and female students, it even states the specific differences noted in the physiology of the brain. In my opinion, it comes down to the individualized education of all students. Not all students learned the same, male/female, white/black, etc. We should think of education for all students, yes there may be physiological differences in the brain, but environmental factors also influence a child's learning.
ReplyDeleteIn the second article of the text, Mead states that "American boys are scoring higher and achieveing more than ever before. But girls have just improved their performance on some measures even faster. As a result, girls have narrowed or even closed some academic gaps that previously favored boyes, while other long-standing gaps that favored girls have widened, leading to the belief that boys are falling behind.(MEAD, 296)"This statement is what I agree with, performance and learning hasn't changed the number and improvement of females have changed.
I do think a gender gap exists and I do feel that children should be taught in a variety of ways. As I read the first argument I found myself agreeing with much of what was being said; however, I felt like I was going to fall asleep and I kept repositioning myself to keep from doing so! I also remember barely being able to stay awake during a certain class. So I cannot agree with Gurian and Stevens that girls do not need to enter rest states (290). I also felt myself disagreeing with the argument that boys are less organized and need more space to spread out. I need lots of space and frequently make a mess, while my husband borders on being obsessive/compulsive. So I do not agree with the recommendations set forth by the authors as far as them being geared strictly towards boys. I agree more with Mead and her stating that this new argument is just a ploy for media stories and a new way for philosophers/doctors and the like to reiterate their old plans (301-302). While I do agree with the Gurian and Stevens that the minds of boys and girls are different… I still do not believe that all boys or all girls would benefit from one way of learning. All children learn in different ways and to be an effective teacher you must employ a wide variety of teaching styles and techniques into your classroom. This ties into our other issue about special education and differentiating instruction.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with jjones that environmental factors influence a student's learning. I also think that there is more too how a person learns than simply looking at the make-up of their brain. A student's interest level in a topic/subject is also going to have a factor in how well they are understanding something. The more involved a student is with the subject matter, the better they will perform with it because it is interesting to them and it motivates them to want to know more.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I recall when I was in 8th grade, I actually had my math and science classes split up from the boys so that we were in all girl classrooms and it was sort of an experimental thing that year because it was the first year my school district did that. As for myself, my grades/performance in those two subjects remained the same, but I can't speak for anyone else in the class so I think that it depends on the individual student and whether or not being in classes that are same-sex will be beneficial to them or not.
Yes, I think there is a certain way that boys should be taught opposed to girls. We are raising men to be men not ladies.... however, students are people so things need to be on a case by case senerio, because I don't think there is no one way to teach all male students either. This whole issue makes me think about differentiated instruction and how beneficial it can be as a tool for teaching. We need to be creative as teachers, which I consider to be the biggest challenge of teaching. The fact that there is information available on the male and female brains as it relates to learning is just another tool for educators to consider.... teachers need all of the resources out there now a days. Gurian and Stevens make reference to the (PET) positron emission tomography and MRI technologies in assisting in understanding student learning(Noll,p.288). It would be nice if this type of training was available to all educators, if not a part of teacher's training in the near future. Alders mention the "Quintessential element" in education being in the quality (Noll,p.22). He states it's "the quality of learning and the quality of teaching that occupies the school day"(Noll,p.22).It sounds to me this knowledge of male and female brain functioning can increase the quality of teaching and learning. I am a believer that its the teachers creativity in addition to skill that make some educators able to teach all students. People are different in gender, race, ethnicity and learning styles and due to these differences I do think there are certains ways to teach boys vs girls. Gurian and Stevens point out the gaps between gender in a variety of areas i.e. grades, behaviors, learning disability diagnoses, drop outs, brain disorders and college enrollment.(Noll p.291). So I would tend to think there is a gap. Unformtunately there are a lot of gaps in education like gender, race, economics to name a few.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there does seem to be a gender gap. I know that SES and race are huge factors as well, but I think boys are at a disadvantage in the way schools are usually structured (traditional style of sitting in rows, auditory learning, language based, paper/pencil, writing). I do feel that we expect them to sit and listen too long. And I wonder if we ask boys to do too many things at once and expect language and social behaviors that they may need direct instruction to understand and master (some girls too). Obviously there are girls that are similar to boys and there are some boys that act more like the girls, but in my experiences I have to agree that there seems to be real differences that we (educators) need to understand, respect, and use to make instructional and assessment decisions in the classroom. What I wish we could change is how many boys do not like to read.
ReplyDeleteI found a quote from Gurian in a Washington Post article that I thought was interesting: Michael Gurian, a best-selling author who says boys are in trouble, said in reaction to the report: "I truly don't mind if everyone took the word 'crisis' out of the dialogue." But he said he thought the report "missed the cumulative nature of the problems boys face." The federal education data it cites, he said, are "just a small piece of the puzzle.”
I was also thinking that even if there is not a gender gap in academic achievement, we should listen to the kids. Too many boys hate school and are VERY bored. Even if they can somehow learn enough to pass state tests and Mead is right that there’s not an academic “crisis,” isn’t it still a crisis that so many kids are bored and hate school? As a parent I think about how I want my kids to experience learning and feel about school when they get older. It puts everything into perspective – I want my kids to love school and learning. The only way this will happen is if they are allowed to be themselves and given learning opportunities that match their preferred learning styles. It comes down to each individual child, but there are some similarities with average boys. And maybe because there are so many female teachers, we don’t take the time to really understand life from a male point of view and give them what they need.
Jen B.'s comment about looking at things from a boys perspective is a very interesting and valid point. I agree also that many teachers have there rooms set up in ways that may not be that engaging for boys. But depending on the age I feel that those rooms are every bit as detrimental to girls as well. I really agree with Mead stating that as soon as girls started catching up and surpassing their male counterparts all these specialists started freaking out that boys were in crisis. As we have been talking and talking about we are all in crisis.
ReplyDeleteI found this issue very interesting. The thought that you could teach to the different genders and have it actually make such a dramatic difference in test scores. Gurian and Stevens stated on pg.292 that Edison Elementary had previously tested in the bottom of 18 district schools. After the teachers were involved in "gender training" the school scored in the top 5, sometimes even coming in first or second. The statistics from just that reading made me want to go to the teacher training myself!! It seems amazing that just "teaching to the brain" could have such a significant effect on the children's learning, and in result, their grades. I am however, a bit skeptical. It says in the list of criteria to help improve boys learning on pg. 294 to make lessons experiential and kinesthetic. Well after teaching 3rd graders I know that any lesson that you teach where the kids can use manipulatives and move about the classroom, they will retain the information better than just a normal book and text lesson. It doesn't matter whether you are a boy or girl. So that is where I am skeptical... but it sounds so wonderful in theory and I'm actually interested in learning more about this topic!
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Jen B's comment about how "because there are so many female teachers, we don’t take the time to really understand life from a male point of view and give them what they need". I think part of being a great teacher means you have to cater to the different learning styles and needs in your classroom. Boys are no exclusion, and I don't think that female teachers exclude boys' needs. Before reading this article, I had no idea that boys and girls had such differences in their brains, but I don't think that I have not been accomodating to their learning styles. I know that all students learn in different ways, and one thing I make sure to do at the beginning of the year is pinpoint my students different learning styles, and throughout the year make sure I am teaching to all areas.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ali's first post, after re-reading what you said, I agree I feel in the articles written that their are many generalizations made and nothing with true/hard facts. I have seen some very messy, unorganized girls, and some very unorganized boys, it just depends on the individual. Good Post.
ReplyDeleteI think this issue is a non-issue. I think it is not about teaching boys one way and girls another. It is about teaching the individual. This goes back to Dewey and putting the emphasis on the freedom of the learner.(7) Teach all children in a way that interests them, is meaningful and lasting and everyone will be happy. As far as boys being in trouble more(91), I do not think this is a new trend. Boys are troublemakers, we all know that. (Look at Tom and David.) I do think girls start their own share of trouble, it's just boys seem to get caught more. Again, the more engaging our lessons the less downtime and as a result less discipline issues and lost learning time.
ReplyDeletembiels stated "I am however, a bit skeptical. It says in the list of criteria to help improve boys learning on pg. 294 to make lessons experiential and kinesthetic." I totally agree with your point. It does not mention if the girls benefitted from the different teaching styles, but anyone who has worked with kids knows that true understanding comes from hands on experiences.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ali; as Jessica (J.) said, "it comes down to the individualized education of all students." You make a good point with: "I do think girls start their own share of trouble, it's just boys seem to get caught more." That is actually part of the premise of the book "Odd Girl Out" by Rachel Simmons. (I put a link to the movie version in our Resources folder.)
ReplyDeleteStill, there does seem to be some fascinating research out there; the question is, do we use it to "re-stereotype" (well, if re-segregation is a word...) our students, or, as David (the troublemaker!)suggested, as yet another tool to inform our instruction? (I agree with you completely, David, that it all comes down to the creativity of the teacher.)
"we should listen to the kids." Jen, apparently this was Bill Cosby's message when he spoke at the Cleveland School District's empowerment conference this past weekend. (The direct quote was, "Our children are trying to tell us something and we're not listening.") (--from the PD, 5/24/09) (I came across it while (unsuccessfully) searching for the article you referenced in resegration discussion; think you could bring it to class?...)
ReplyDeleteI agree with David’s initial comments recognizing that there is a difference between teaching boys and girls, but that there “is no way to teach all males either”. David also brings up differentiated instruction and creativity as the key to reaching all students. In her commentary Mead states, “there are many things – including biological, developmental, cultural, and education factors – that affect how boys and girls do in school” (Noll, 302). All students are individuals and learn differently. I agree with Jen and Ali that this may not necessarily be a “boy crisis”, but that we are all in “crisis”. Too many students, as Jen said, dislike school and learning and think of it as boring, boys and girls alike.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Molly that the training and implementation used to improve Edison Elementary (Noll, 292) was very interesting. If this “gender training” was so successful in Missouri it would be nice for all teachers to get some similar training…maybe an in-service topic. I don’t think we necessarily need to separate girls and boys during the school day, but we could use the knowledge of girls and boys learning differently to improve our differentiated instruction. I also agree that many girls seem to do very well with experimental and kinesthetic lessons.
ReplyDeleteI thought the article by Mead was just an example of what was stated in the article, which was "But while this information is intriguing, it must be interpreted with a great deal of caution"(Noll,p.304). Mead sited alot of studies and points out differences in male and female brains. But for me it is hard to believe. It seems like someone is always writing about how we are so different i.e race or gender or ethnicity. It would be refreshing to read about all of the similarities we share as people. Maybe we could find some commonalities and begin to build our educational system based on what we have in common. Stating our differences just seems to always open up another topic to debate. With all of this debating are we accomplishing as much as we can or just talking about issues? I realize that these topics are worth debating over, my hope is that one day we can agree on a plan that works in educating all of our students no matter what they bring to the classroom. Mead uses the (NAEP) results throughout the article. The information to me sort of became pointless. This whole topic again makes me think of teachers and their creativity or their ability to teach using differentiated instruction. If educators are utilizing a variety of resources, activities, visual aides, games, books, field trips, guest speakers etc. it may be the answer we are looking for. How many different ways can you teach someone something? Would it be harmful to expose males and females to each genders way of learning?
ReplyDeleteWell I guess Tom and I will be the subjects of this topic being the only males in the class, don't we feel special (smile). Jen B. has a wish that we could change how boys tend to not like to read. One of the strategies mentioned in our text is "allowing boys to choose reading selections that appeal to their interest"(Noll,p.304). This is a suggestion to help make schools "boy friendly". So I guess I do agree with some of the strategies suggested in the article i.e smaller class sizes (Noll,p.304-305).
ReplyDeleteI found this New York Times article...
ReplyDelete"Problem: Boys Don't Like to Read. Solution: Books That Are Really Gross"
It's all about the types of books that interest boys and how there's a new market of books now created for them that are silly, gross, and funny. I think of "Captain Underpants" and "StinkyFace" books. As long as they're reading....
The Plain Dealer article that I talked about on Sunday is on cleveland.com. Type in "Gallagher school" and there is a three-part story about a school in the Cleveland district struggling to make AYP and trying to prevent the school from getting shut down. The blogs after the articles are just as interesting as the articles. The article touches on all of the complex factors in a "failing school" : 60% of students speak language other than English, 25% are in special education, many come from poverty and homelessness, students who come from 31 different countries and speak 19 different languages, some are refugees from Asia and Africa who may have had little or no schooling, physical and verbal abuse in many homes, many relatives in jail, families with histories of illiteracy, hunger, medical issues, lack of preschool experiences because parents can't afford it, attendance issues...
ReplyDeleteI like this part: "But is Gallagher truly a failure? That depends on how you measure success."
"I'm amazed that teachers were never taught the differences between how girls and boys learn." (Noll, p. 288) --> I agree! I never really paid too closely but now that I think back to it, during our brain development classes, we never really focused on the differences between boys and girls learning techniques, we just accepted it and moved on. We should of been trained better! I was amazed to see the statistics in the United States on page 291 (70% of students are receiving D's and F's and fewer than half of the A's). Gurian and Stevens hit it right on with their last statement, " Then comes the practical application, with its sens of purpose and productivity, as we help each child learn from within his or her own mind." (Noll, p. 294) No matter if the child's gender is male or female, I think as educators we will know how to adapt and design our curriculum around that child's learning in order to improve the statistics and scores and close the gap between boys and girls.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara Mead when she stated, "The gaps between students of different races and classes are much larger than those for students of different genders -anywhere from two - five times as big." (Noll, p. 301) I noticed schools have been placing more emphasis on trying to close the gaps of students with different races and academic abilities. Depending on the district and some areas students attend, their scores especially for the OAT's are substantially lower than the general population of the district. When I was tutoring for an after school company, I worked with the minorities of the school. These students were in poverty and performing at a very low level (boys and girls). My job was to tutor them and give them test taking strategy skills to improve their scores. I noticed the skills I was teaching to them were very similar, but I noticed I tended to need more manipulatives for teaching the girls different math formulas. The boys were able to draw the picture out or complete with steps. Overall at the end of the tutoring session, both scores improved between the boys and the girls equally.
ReplyDeleteAli is completely right with her post earlier: "I think this issue is a non-issue. I think it is not about teaching boys one way and girls another. It is about teaching the individual." We all know boys are more active than girls in the classroom as well as outside the classroom. Our job is to tailor their needs and make their learning productive. If you are teaching a science lesson about the solar system, instead of just note taking, have the students volunteer, especially the boys, to be the planets and the sun and turn the lesson into an interactive lesson. Again as Ali stated, the lesson down time and the more the children are involved, the less there will be a difference between the genders, everyone will be actively learning and engaged working together learning from one another.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ali when she previously stated that this is a "non-issue. I think it is not about teaching boys one way and girls another. It is about teaching the individual." That comment is exactly how I look at my teaching - teaching to the individuals. If I am just learning about this gender training now, how many millions of other teachers out there have never heard of it, too? And I'm sure a good handful of those teachers are educating students well and are receiving good test scores. I would like to see some more statistics on this issue before I fully become a believer.
ReplyDeleteI am on the same "non-issue" team. Seems to me that with all the true issues in education, this is not one of them. I think that if we are using good techniques to impart information, then we are using different strategies to get that information across.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I agree that I wish we could focus on our similarities and race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, SES, etc. didn't matter. I found part of a commencement speech given by Bill Clinton:
ReplyDelete"But the most important thing I learned was that, genetically, all human beings are 99.9 percent the same. That is astonishing. Look at each other. Every difference you can see of gender, skin color, hair color, eye color, height, weight, you name it, everything you can possibly observe about another that seems different is rooted in one-tenth of one percent of your genetic makeup."
We already know that girls are smarter then boys. After reading Gurian and Stevens, I am convinced that Stevens lectured and Gurian typed! Can I have my 15 points now?!
ReplyDeleteOn page 294, Gurian types a great comment on the issue, "...understand the gendered brains of our children"...then comes the practical application, with a sense of purpose and productivity, as we help each child learn from within his or her own mind."
ReplyDeleteOnce again the overaching theme for all these issues goes back to the individual student and reaching that individual child no matter how big or small their brain is.
Both Mead and Gurian, I mean Stevens, make valid points on both sides of the issue, but I have to agree with Mead that girls are just narowing the gap that favored boys.(Noll,{Mead} pg. 296)
ReplyDeleteOnce again, placing the horse before the cart, Mead points out that it is not the issue of gender, but race and economic class. This is the bigger picture!
On page 303, research has concluded that one gender is not smarter than the other - on average, men and women, score the same on tests of general intelligence and women have higher scores than men on tests of verbal abilities. WOW, WHAT A SHOCK!
ReplyDeleteI know, minus 15 for Kueller!
I would also agree that gender is a non-issue, and this is supported by Tom’s recent comments. He pointed out Mead’s comment that it is not an issue of gender, but race and economic class (Noll, 296). There is definitely a “bigger picture”, and many other very serious issues to be concerned about in my opinion.
ReplyDelete