Men may still be the dominant force in the halls of political and business power, but the facts presented in this Op Ed piece show the reality of what is really going on in the classroom, boys are falling behind.
As one of my favorite books, Raising Cain, points out, the majority of teaching techniques are geared towards female styles of learning. Boys do not do well with sitting still and being quiet which are both major skills required to get ahead in most schools. Studies in Raising Cain have shown that in schools where boys have an option to learn standing up or have frequent physical play times they do much better. A friend of mine from Finland told me that the children have 10 minutes of running around outside in between every class. Most schools only have Physical education once a week and recess sometimes only once a day. This is not to say that children should not learn the skills of quieting their bodies and mouths in a group school setting. But we are doing boys a real disservice if we assume both sexes have the same learning methods.
All this is not to say that girl should be pushed aside. Girl athletics are well known to be shortchanged financially and the gains mentioned in the article in girls’ performance in science should not be forgotten. But as long as boys are falling behind, being disciplined more frequently, and are consistent low scorers on major aptitude tests something needs to give in the way we approach their education. This is not to say that special attention to other groups fall by the wayside while white middle class boys take the focus. But the more attention that is given to the way boys learn will do more than help their scores, it will help to manage their behaviours (which will benefit all students with fewer interruptions taking focus from the class), help them to focus on their work, and allow them to have physical outlets of a positive nature.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28kristof.html?src=me&ref=homepage
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