Gender Differences in Learning: One Size Does Not Fit All

Gender Differences in Learning:One Size Does Not Fit All

Session Goals

• Garner insights into differences in attention, learning, and actions based on physiological gender characteristics.

• Learn effective and differentiated (at times)strategies to engage all students.

• Understand why boys struggle in a primarily feminine culture.

• Acknowledge the differences rest on a spectrum and not on absolutes.

THE CORE ISSUE:

MEN ARE LIKE WAFFLES

WOMEN are LIKE SPAGHETTI

GENDER STEROTYPESThe masculine boy and the feminine girl…

Gender covers a spectrum from “absolute to, it depends” on the situation, where you grew up, what your personal interests are, your temperament, and the survival skills you learn at home and at school.

Susan Kovalik, Highly Effective Teaching 2009

MEN AS NATION BUILDERSThey were the first builders, explorers, hunters,

artists, doctors, scientists, architects. They developed roads, bridges, shelters, covered wagons, weapons, log cabins, wheeled carts, cars, trains, trucks (all uses from the smallest to the largest excavators), created mines, logging mills, boats, ships, canoes, houses, water wells. They are mechanics, veterinarians, farriers, create MODERN MARVELS, engage DIRTY JOBS, and are everyday scientists.

They developed roads/highways, telephone lines, inventions old (from zippers to fax machines to palm pilots) and new, planes, jets, rocket ships, space station, subways, technology: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates……..blackberries, ipods, to the pixel technology used during the Inauguration.


Today many boys are bystanders in a virtual world

THE POWER OF VIDEO GAMES

They are in charge of the action

Immediate Feedback

Meets the need for action

Can lose themselves in the game

Highly competitive

CULTURAL AUTISMThe end result of a childhood with more time spent in front of a computer than outdoors is what author Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods, coins as cultural autism resulting in tunneled senses, feelings of isolation and containment and a wired ‘know-it-all’ state of mind.


SILENT EPIDEMIC7,000 a day drop out of school

Will earn $290,000 less over their lifetimes

68% will need public assistance

20% likely to be involved in violent behavior

Children see

“BOYS ADRIFT” BY LEONARD SAX

Possible considerations for the changes in boys today:

School HomeVideo GamesEndocrine DisruptorsMedication

PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

The brain differences between boys and girls are more profound than anybody ever guessed.

Key areas to understand:

Hearing

Vision

Emotion

Boy’s eyes focus on movement-

WHERE IS IT GOING?

Avoid sitting by the windows or working in the hall

COLOR RANGE

Girl’s eyes focus on the details,

WHAT IS IT?

COLOR RANGE

THE EYES HAVE IT

VISIONWhat attracts the attention of

newborns:

Girls - Human faces

Boys - Moving objects- a mobile

VISIONThe male retina has mostly the larger, thicker ganglion

cells.

Where is it? Where is it going?

The female has predominantly the smaller, thinner ganglion cells.

What is it?

Females gather information about color, texture , and many details.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CLASSROOM

Boys should sit in the front of the class so they can clearly hear the teacher and are not distracted by what others are doing.

Windows are a distraction and so is working out in the hallway

The range of sounds surrounding speech are difficult for boys to hear.

They should sit in the front of class to hear teacher

Communicate with a boy while in a car

Girl’s hearing is 10X more acute than boys.

Loud voices, loud music, sidebar chatter are distracting, if male teacher has loud voice they believe they are being yelled at.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

HEARING

Newborns-music in the nursery

Range of sound surrounding speech

Can they hear you?

Girls are distracted by noise levels about ten times softer than noise levels that boys find distracting

Boys draw verbs:

Crashing

Flying,

Speeding

Fighting

Skiing

Skating

Girls draw nouns:

Houses

Family members

Trees

Pets

Flowers

Rainbows

NOUNS AND VERBS

Recess for boys is:

running

kicking balls,

catching balls, playing tag.

Recess for girls is:

Talking

Talking

Talking

Talking

FAVORITE RECESS ACTIVITY

brainstorm

Boys enjoy competition, being on a team, not letting their team mates down

Girls prefer to “talk about” it and come to a solution where everybody wins.

COLLABORATION/COMPETITION

Boys will do it if it interests them!

Projects that require making something, solving a problem or inventing a new game

Girls will do it because they care about what the teacher thinks of them

HOMEWORK

For Boys:

Stress enhances the growth of neural connections in the male hippocampus,

and improves learning in some situations

Girls:

Stress inhibits the neural connections in the hippocampus

STRESS

The developmental language area of a five year old boy looks like the language level of a 3 ½ year old boyBoys spatial memory develops 4 years earlier than girls

Girls fine motor and language skills mature about 6 years earlier

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE

If a boy fails in kindergarten, especially today when the Kindergarten curriculum is equivalent to the first grade of years past, they hold the idea that they are not smart.

PERCEPTION IS REALITY

BoysHard to verbalize as the connection between the limbic system and the language system are not as wired as a females

An action movie, car chases, good guys and bad guys, shooting and crashing.

GirlsA good ‘chick movie’, a television show that expresses feelings (American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover all, “feel good” experiences

HOW DO YOU FEEL?

Boys take the risk because it is there

Engage in risk taking events within the family.

Girls ask, “Why would they do that?”

RISK TAKING BEHAVIOR

The gender differences are so specific that, in many ways the second grade girl is more like a twenty-five year old woman than a second grade boy.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS BEHAVIOR

Rough and Tumble

Like recess best, running, throwing balls etc.

Punches pal to show he likes him

If in a fight, will be best friends tomorrow

FEELINGS

Asking a 7 year old to tell you why they are sad or distressed is difficult for them because the wiring from the emotional center of the brain has little direct connection to the verbal center in the cerebral cortex.

EMOTION AND GIRLSReflective Thinking

Journal Writing

Reading

Sharing with other girls

GIRLS AND RECESS

Girls like recess best because they can talk with their friends

SCHOOLThe curriculum of kindergarten

today is essentially the first-grade curriculum of thirty years ago.

Starting students reading before they are ready can actually boomerang and turn them off to reading.

-Boys who fail to do well in kindergarten develop negative perceptions of competence, and those negative attitudes are difficult to reverse as they progress through school.

It is much more difficult to unlearn something learned incorrectly than to learn it correctly the first time.

WHERE OUR BOYS STAND:

SCHOOL WORKGirls are more likely to do their

homework even if the assignment doesn’t interest them. They want the approval of the teacher.

Boys will be less motivated unless they find the material intrinsically interesting.

-Fine motor and language skills mature about six years earlier in girls.

In boys spatial memory matures about four years earlier.

Once over thirty these differences even out.

ADOLESCENT EMOTIONSBrain activity dealing with emotions

moves up to cerebral cortex, language center (reflection, reasoning, language)

A 17 year old girl will be able to explain why she is sad in great detail

Not so for boys!

LITERATUREIntroduce a piece of literature by

reading the most exciting, action-filled pages first….

Have them do some predicting and then begin in earnest

In processing literature have boys draw maps of the setting indicating where events took place

TO IMPROVE WRITING

Encourage boys to brainstorm with pictures before they write their stories.

MALES ARE PROBLEM SOLVERS

They want to attend to something presented and stay with it until completion. (Must be interesting and best if involves physical movement)

Movement between classes doesn’t count.

STRATEGIES-Guyify your classroom to balance-Ask yourself the question, “What

will they DO in order to learn skills, concepts, standards, knowledge?” and make their learning involve movement as often as possible.

-Become informed about what they are good at outside of school

-Consider offering instruction in some gender specific settings

COLLABORATIONBoys will collaborate as a team to

win the competition, they don’t want to let their team down.

Moderate stress improves boys’ performance on tests – while the same stress degrades young girls performance on tests.

BOYS TAKING RISKSThree principles when reducing risk

behavior that could lead to serious injury:

1. “Boys in groups do stupid things.”

2. Supervised is better than unsupervised (organized sport, skiing, camping, scouts)

3. Parents and teachers assert your authority “Don’t argue, don’t negotiate, just do what you need to do.”

ADEQUATE TIMESchool schedules hamper

completion of a problem and/or the attainment of success.

Think about drama, sports, dance, or any activity where assessment is authentic- we give it adequate time.

ADULT GENDER DIFFERENCESMen are like waffles, his thinking is

divided up into little boxes that have room for one issue at a time.

When he is at work, he is at work

When in the garage, he is in the garage

When watching sports, he is watching sports

MALES FEEL BEST:WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM TO SOLVE

When what they do makes them feel successful

Knowing that the computer makes predictable moves and gives predictable feedback

WOMEN/SPAGHETTI

LIKE spaghetti, every thought and issue is connected to every other thought and issue in some way. Life is a myriad of connections

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

FEMALES PERCEIVE the WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.

They want order out of disorder, and something significant to do.

HOW WAS WORK TODAY?A female response……………………

A male response……………..

Projects

Team events

Science Fairs

Field Trips

Aerobics

Clear targets for each lesson

Role playing

Enrichment activities

Extensions to lessons

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS

Environmental estrogens:– bisphenol A and phthalates found in plastic bottles (soda, water, baby) pacifiers,


ENVIRONMENTAL ESTROGENS

Effects not confined to the brain

They appear to make boys and girls fat contributing to childhood obesity

Causes fat cell to get bigger

63.7 percent of boys have their first broken bone by age 15 (39.1% of girls)


RESULT OF TOXINS:

Girls are both masculine and feminine

Boys are neither masculine or feminine

Boys today have 3x more genital abnormalities than 30 years ago

Lower testosterone levels

Leonard Sax, Why Gender Matters, “boys adrift”

WHAT YOU CAN DO?Avoid plastic bottles, use glass instead,

for babies and the rest of us!Do not use plastic wrap on food you are

reheating in the microwaveCook or reheat in microwave with glass

plates and not plasticLook for products labeled “PVC-free”Do not put sealant on your children’s

teeth unless the dentist can prove they are phthalate-free


ADHD

Primarily boys who don’t focus, fidget, are inattentive….

Onset before seven years old

www.amenclinic.com

Some medications may damage the crucial area of the brain responsible for drive and motivation.


ALTERNATIVE TO MEDICATION:

Questions to ask regarding activity in classroom:

1. What besides seat work is presented?2. Are there projects?3. Class plays?4. Variety of movement?5. Art projects in class?6. BEING THERE EXPERIENCES?


WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS?A SMALLER AND SMALLER

PROPORTION OF BOYS ARE GOING TO COLLEGE-CURRENTLY 42 PERCENT ARE BOYS, 58% ARE GIRLS

Most girls will eventually earn a degree, most boys won’t.

WHAT SCHOOLS MUST DO Increase projects

Physical activities

Major problem solving opportunities

RECONSIDER SEAT WORK LOAD

Offer gender specific classes “Why Gender Matters” Dr. Leonard Sax

WE ARE THE ONLY SPECIES THAT CREATE THE CONDITIONS THAT CREATES WHO WE BECOME.


RESOURCESWhy Gender Matters by Leonard Sax, Ph.D.

Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax, Ph.D.

Boys and Girls Learn Differently and The Minds of Boys by Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens

by Michael Gurian

Real Boys by William Pollack

Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A STUDENT StartStartStopStopStartStartStopStopStart…Start…

StopStopStartStartStopStopStartStartStop…Stop…StartStartStopStopStartStartStop…Stop…StartStartStop…Stop…StartStartStopStopStart….Start….StopStopStartStartStopStopStStartartStop….Stop….StartStartStopStopStart…Start…StopStopStartStartStopStopStart…Start…StopStopStartStartStopStopStart….Start….Stop………..Stop………..

EveryEvery Hour Of The DayHour Of The Day

REGRESS/PROGRESS

R---------------------P R---------------P

R------------P

R-------P

Documents

Gender Differences in Learning: One Size Does Not Fit All