tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post540393023955752744..comments2024-03-28T06:53:24.022-05:00Comments on a blog about school: If only these boys could be more like girlsChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12919030671050831251noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-69517159875763030082012-01-14T23:12:51.632-06:002012-01-14T23:12:51.632-06:00The person I was thinking of is Richard Whitmire. ...The person I was thinking of is Richard Whitmire. He wrote a book called "Why Boys Fail" and he also had a blog at edweek.org. I can't say I'm hugely familiar with his work.<br /><br />Karen W--I've heard the concerns about math before, and this happened a little with our son. For any child who has math skills that are ahead of their reading/writing skills, I think that can be frustrating.<br /><br />I'd agree that it is meaningful for the boys to have male figures that they can connect to at school. I'd agree, especially that for behavioral expectations, modeling the expectations is the most important thing of all...rather than lectures, etc.<br /><br />There does seem to be a greater number of male teachers at the junior high level, and from what I gather at the high school level as well.<br /><br />One thing I have noticed that is sort of a pendulum swing from years ago when we would all learn about lots of accomplished males in our social studies classes, is that at least in our school there seems to be little focus on important historical figures. I think boys of today definitely like to learn about important people in history....it'd be nice to see a happy medium, especially for those kids who have less access to libraries, etc., to independently pursue learning about people that might interest them.KDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07883213697051461818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-63383153953337342922012-01-14T22:23:30.662-06:002012-01-14T22:23:30.662-06:00Thanks, Mandy. The link to that video didn't ...Thanks, Mandy. The link to that video didn't seem to work right, so <a href="http://youtu.be/YUDPgEspb7w" rel="nofollow">here's another try</a>.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-10922979407520470062012-01-14T17:09:04.824-06:002012-01-14T17:09:04.824-06:00I think this is a really interesting post. It'...I think this is a really interesting post. It's clear that boys and girls are different. They develop at different rates, they mature at different rates and their learning styles might be different (pretty big generalizations I realize) I think it would benefit both boys and girls to have teachers if even for the most basic reason to model that being a male teacher of young kids is not a novel occurrence. <br />Just from my observations it seems the further up in education you go, the more male instructors you run into. <br />I know my nephew who is a new teacher was told by various instructors, supervising teachers, principals and advisers that he should really consider teaching Kindergarten. He shared with me that he thought parents would not welcome that. I told him that he would be welcomed with open arms among the parents I knew and how refreshing it would be. I wonder if there is some unspoken stigma or something associated with men teacher younger elementary age kids. In the end, because of many districts having hiring freezes he ended up taking the first job he was offered, 6th grade. <br />I wonder if there are any readers who are teachers who have some insight? <br />Because of my son's needs, I've been reading quite a bit about Universal Design Learning (UDL). Here's a link to a short video from Ira Socol who blogs about education and UDL <br /><a href="http://youtu.be/YUDPgEspb7w</a> It addresses a lot of the same concerns about individual learning styles.Mandynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-44338383525805096222012-01-14T14:02:03.166-06:002012-01-14T14:02:03.166-06:00Thanks, KD, Honu-girl, and Karen. I'm always ...Thanks, KD, Honu-girl, and Karen. I'm always surprised how little attention schools pay to the idea of modeling, which strikes me as by far the most powerful way of teaching kids how to interact with other people. Instead, the school tries to lecture, scold, bribe, and punish the kids into good behavior. This seems very misguided, unless you're trying to produce lecturing, bribing scolds. <br /><br />I certainly don't think that boys are immune to modeling by female teachers, but I think there's a tension there that isn't as present with girls. Girls can find a much more complete model of how to act by watching female teachers than boys can. That may be due to gender role expectations that we can wish were not there, but recognizing that fact doesn't make the boys' choices any easier.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-65275247916218772432012-01-13T19:23:59.216-06:002012-01-13T19:23:59.216-06:00I have seen a number of blog posts in the last yea...I have seen a number of blog posts in the last year or so about schools becoming increasingly unwelcoming to boys in other ways. For example, requiring writing in math class, daily journaling, assignments asking children to share their feelings, assigning girl-friendly young adult novels rather than more non-fiction/more boy-friendly fiction.<br /><br />I will second KD in that I also probably didn't think much about how boys might experience things differently until I had my son. Certainly worth reflecting on how schools can provide positive experiences for all children.Karen Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075997477474697121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-37731563774173268082012-01-13T13:41:20.786-06:002012-01-13T13:41:20.786-06:00As a parent of a boy and a girl, this resonates.
...As a parent of a boy and a girl, this resonates.<br /><br />G loves school. She thrives with the expectations of her (all women) teachers. When she acts up, it's in an "accepted" way. She gets rewarded for her good behavior, and responds well to it. She doesn't behave well to get rewarded, but rather because she wants to please her teachers.<br /><br />K doesn't like school. Part of that is that K acts like a boy, and often then gets in trouble. Even his teachers recognize he's not a "bad" kid, he just functions differently. This year, with a male teacher, in general he's done much better. (Although I must give his current school credit - it is MUCH more accepting of his different behavior than his kindergarten school.) K doesn't respond well to a rewards-system, either - he will want to be rewarded because he's been good (for something that should just be expected) and cries foul when he is not rewarded or when rewards are applied unfairly.<br /><br />I don't know what the solution is. But one-size-fits-all education is really harming ALL our children.honu-girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16726685972705747245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-16891039019736012322012-01-13T11:46:55.383-06:002012-01-13T11:46:55.383-06:00This is a great post. I'll probably comment m...This is a great post. I'll probably comment more later, but I think the general subject of your post definitely needs more exploration by educators.<br /><br />There is someone who writes about the experiences/needs of boys in the educational system, but right now his name escapes me...maybe another reader knows what I'm talking about.<br /><br />I'm a mom of a boy. I'll be honest before having a son of my own I probably really didn't give much thought as to how the experiences of a boy might be different than those of a girl, especially in the school system.<br /><br />I think this can be a hard topic to talk about, without feeling as if one is stereotyping boys vs. girls.KDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07883213697051461818noreply@blogger.com