Why Johnny Can't Read: Schools Favor Girls

Submitted by anthony on Wed, 2006-09-27 10:57

This article makes several good points regarding schools being more "girl friendly".

"But a new study finds that the problem cuts across socioeconomic lines and pins part of the blame on schools, whose techniques cater to the strengths of girls and leave boys utterly disinterested."

-- combined posts from same submitter ---

This article suggests boys are better off with home schooling. It makes perfect sense considering boys are the "second" sex in the public school environment.

Diane J Hulse:

"Research shows that American elementary school classrooms have a female orientation and a feminine inclination."

"In a boys’ school, boys seem to have more options available to them as they define their own masculinity."

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

Studies say that girls do better educationally in all-female environs and boys do better in all-male environs. Yet the world is not all-male and all-female.

My own take is that mixed-sex schools are necessary to raising people who can live in a mixed-sex society, something all but the most virulent form of feminist, the separatist, says she wants to see ("feminist separatists" believe men and women should be kept utterly separate, sort of like how the Taleban and other religious extremists believe, but in their version of this world, men would be reduced to a small part of the population and existing in abject nth-class status while women live quite well just with one another-- need I comment further?). [BTW, I do believe that schools have become so girl-oriented that it is seriously hamstringing boys, but I don't think the fix includes sex-segregating the schools. Instead, an acknowledgment of this fact and the taking of steps to improve matters to the point where children excel based, to parapharse MLK, Jr., on the contents of their brains and not the contents of their pants, is what needs doing.]

The recent story in the NY Times on women's colleges having trouble staying single-sex, for example, has seen six letters published about it, five of these in favor of keeping women-only colleges and only one against. All those in favor were women who had attended such colleges or have a vested interest in them. (See here and here.)

It seems that at the extreme ends of the gender divide, there are folks who want boys and girls raised and educated apart from one another. Is this the way to ensure fairness, justice, understanding and tolerance? I don't think so. Segregation based on sex, race, or other such factors has never contributed to the long-term betterment of social and cultural justice and stability. It merely reinforces the drawing of lines and clashes of interests and wills, in the more extreme cases leading to violence, war, and the downfall of entire civilizations (think I am being dramatic? Go read up on both ancient and recent world history, then we'll talk).

Well it looks like we can't seem to get away from bigotry in this species of ours, can we? At least some of us can try to fight it when we see it, but I do despair that in many ways, it's one for St. Jude.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by mcc99 on Wed, 2006-09-27 15:48

"Girls mature more quickly than boys," she said. "They enter school with bigger vocabularies and better fine motor skills, so it's easier for them to learn to write."

I've never been comfortable with the "girls mature" faster theory. I can't see how that can be documented or proven with reliable statistics.

Boys and Girls develop DIFFERENTLY!

An elementary school teacher (usually female) needs to identify the different way boys and girls develop (I prefer develop over mature) Teachers seem only concerned with female development. These same teachers display ignorance when expecting boys to act or behave like little girls. Apparently a girl who excels in a structured environment is "easier" to teach than boys. Having a 2nd grade boy draw pictures of rainbows conflicts with his particular biological needs. Can a female teacher really understand male development?

Many teachers simply do not understand (or believe) the biological differences that exist between boys and girls. When they do acknowledge the fact, its usually negative regarding the boy, and positive towards the girl (ie: girls mature faster)

If girls/women posess a stronger vocabulary, how does that equate to maturity? Heres a theory: (vocabulary and commincation skills)

Women talk more than men. I took a gender coarse (not woman studies) that discussed interpersonal communication and how it relates to gender.

For Example...If a man and woman are required to articulate the same story, it takes girls longer to express the meaning which subsequently leads to more verbalization and vocabulary usage.. Male commication is considered more effecient and concise. The male, when reading the same story, uses less communication by identifying only the important facts. (this holds true with young boys and girls)

Does this sound familiar: A woman you know is explaining her day at work, and you think to yourself, GET TO THE POINT!

If it is true that men don't really listen to women, it might be because women talk too much. My attention span suffers when my girlfriend babbles about a simplistic event or story in her life. I tell her, GET TO THE POINT!

anthony

p.s.

correction on my part: the second article deals with single sex schools.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by anthony on Thu, 2006-09-28 10:03