Pilot project aims to let boys be boys – and excel

Submitted by anthony on Fri, 2009-03-13 19:55

Story here. Excerpt:

'St. Thomas School in Waterdown wants to get its boys excited about reading. By doing so, school and Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board officials hope they can boost the primary boys’ literacy scores and assist in closing the 20 per cent reading gap identified between genders.

But while the test scores ranked above the board and provincial averages, broken down, the results indicate a reading gap between the school’s boys and girls. “All my girls are at an A level in reading and most of my boys are at a B level,” explained principal Michael Goffredo. “They are doing well, but there is a gap, a 20 per cent gap.”
...

“We decided that we have to change the way we teach,” said Goffredo. Implementing two strategies in each Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3 classroom, teachers have restructured their lessons to target boys and further engage them.

Boys, explained Goffredo, tend to appreciate shorter lessons. “Boys like bite-size, digestible and time-limited activities,” he said. At St. Thomas, 40-minute lessons have been broken down to allow for brisk, well-paced lessons.'

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Comments

I am glad that the educational system has concern about boys and putting some effort into fixing the problem, but I am not very optimistic as the educational system usually fails at everything they do.

I worry that they wont truly have an understanding of boys and will just do more of the same that isn't working.

One area of concern is the so called 'bench mark' (at what age they should master what skill) and how they are measuring the mastering of these skills. Some research suggests that male and female brains are so different at the elementary ages that they should not be expected to be at the same level at the same time. Also the way schools measure mastery of these skills tends to favor females. So a boy may very well have these skills, he just can't show it the way the teacher is asking him to.

This is not to say boys are behind, it means they are different. The skills boys tend to be good at are the skills that the schools do not care about and therefor do not measure.

For example, young girls tend to learn to read earlier, but young boys can build more complex 3D designs (of course schools don't measure this). In a book I read it explained this because the area of the brain needed for these types of skills develops at different stages for boys and girls.

Eventually all parts of their brains develop and boys and girls catch up with each other in most areas. Unfortunately most boy's self esteem have been crushed by this time. As the educational system is all based on female development stages and female skills, IMO.

The school system needs a complete overhaul to be of any service to boys.

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Submitted by Kris on Mon, 2009-03-16 19:01

Just a few off the wall comments about this.

The Waldorf method of teaching (also related to the Steiner method) suggests not teaching reading to boys until age 7. Of course by this time boys are already labeled as ADD/ ADHD.

Because I am a dancer, I have always had fun teaching my boys dance steps. They have picked it up rather fast. And when they were in preschool I taught a few dance lessons to the class. We did stepping which is a form of line dancing. Many of the boys who could not count on demand if you asked them, could remember that in our step routine they were to tap 4 times followed by two claps, etc.

So even though these boys may seem like they are unable to count in a pencil and paper evaluation (or orally as it would most likely be in preschool), they can count when it involves movement.

Before I had kids of my own I taught Sunday school at my church. I couldn't stand the thought of kids sitting still through a boring lesson (plus I wouldn't know what to teach), so I asked if I could teach dance instead. I taught 6,7 and 8 year olds how to step. My Sunday school class became the most popular and my class size doubled in just a few weeks. (I miss that job)

I have always thought of dance as a good skill that incorporates many things. This also follows the Waldorf philosophy of teaching that says boys learn better when physical activity is involved. Of course the schools would never dream of incorporating Waldorf philosophy

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Submitted by Kris on Mon, 2009-03-16 04:44