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Good skeptical analysis: http://reason.com/blog/show/125292.html http://reason.com/blog/show/125292.html "Giedd suggests a thought experiment: Imagine trying
by Prrometheus 19y ago
Good skeptical analysis:
http://reason.com/blog/show/125292.html http://reason.com/blog/show/125292.html
"Giedd suggests a thought experiment: Imagine trying to assign a population of students to the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms based solely on height. As boys tend to be taller than girls, one would assign the tallest 50 percent of the students to the boys’ locker room and the shortest 50 percent of the students to the girls’ locker room. What would happen? While you’d end up with a better-than-random sort, the results would be abysmal, with unacceptably large percentages of students in the wrong place. Giedd suggests the same is true when educators use gender alone to assign educational experiences for kids. Yes, you’ll get more students who favor cooperative learning in the girls’ room, and more students who enjoy competitive learning in the boys’, but you won’t do very well. Says Giedd, “There are just too many exceptions to the rule.”"
Of course, given that public schools often use the “one size fits all” criteria to sort educational experiences, perhaps gender sorting is a step up (and one that bureaucracies can understand).
- pchristensen 19y agoJust please, please, don't make it a hard sort - offer different teaching/learning styles and let kids switch or sample. Some girls would benefit from being taught "like boys" and some boys would benefit from being taught "like girls." All kids could benefit from being taught better.
- pixcavator 19y agoI agree! It's interesting but he doesn't seem to realize what his alternative in this thought experiment is. It's a co-ed locker room!
- pixcavator 19y agoCan’t help it but here’s another thought. He thought experiment is upside down! The subject of discussion is whether it makes sense to try to figure out person’s traits or abilities based on his/her gender. He is talking about how hard it is to figure out person’s gender based on the height (or a trait). Totally opposite! The right question should be: can you estimate person’s height based on gender? The result would be much more positive.
- tel 19y agoAnother criticism of the article: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005422.html http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005422.h... The Language Log tends to be a little scathing, but this is a bit more restrained.
- Alex3917 19y ago"Of course, given that public schools often use the “one size fits all” criteria to sort educational experiences, perhaps gender sorting is a step up (and one that bureaucracies can understand)." s/gender/sex/