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I wouldn't be so quick to write this off as the isolated concerns of a single parent. None of what you said addresses the authors claim that boys are statistica

I wouldn't be so quick to write this off as the isolated concerns of a single parent. None of what you said addresses the authors claim that boys are statistically falling behind girls in every academic measure. There are more substantive sources that have made similar claims, for example this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-WAR-AGAINST-BOYS-Misguided/dp/0684849577 http://www.amazon.com/The-WAR-AGAINST-BOYS-Misguided/dp/0684...

MarcScott 12y ago
What I said specifically addresses the issue, but not just for boys, but for every group within a classroom. The girls in my classroom work harder than the boys. I know this to be true from observation. Maybe boys just like to slack off a little more. Maybe boys don't like competing with girls. Maybe boys are less inclined to seek approval from their teachers. The fact is however, if I had fewer students to teach, I could focus more energy on those boys. I've also tutored students on a one-to-one basis, and in such situation I see no difference between boys and girls.
- gress 12y ago
  Sounds like when you teach a class, you are doing so in a way that suits girls better than it suits boys. It also sounds as though you don't understand why. As you say, smaller classes would probably help, however what would also help is to actually try to understand why your teaching methods are less suited to boys than to girls.
- bostonpete 12y ago
  To me, your comments seem to reinforce the article's point -- namely that the structure of typical modern classrooms does not help boys succeed as much as girls. The only other way to read your comment is that boys are just inherently less capable/motivated than girls, which seems just as objectionable to me as historical attitudes which dismissed women or minorities as less capable and/or motivated. I don't think the only possibility here is 1-to-1 education for boys. Many believe that there are other ways of structuring the learning environment and school schedule (e.g. more gross motor breaks) in a way that would help draw out the strengths of boys. In the end, I wonder if this won't steer us more towards separating the genders for at least part of the school day. This would be politically challenging in many public school systems though, in particular because of the historical abuses of "separate but equal" systems.

MarcScott 12y ago

What I said specifically addresses the issue, but not just for boys, but for every group within a classroom. The girls in my classroom work harder than the boys. I know this to be true from observation. Maybe boys just like to slack off a little more. Maybe boys don't like competing with girls. Maybe boys are less inclined to seek approval from their teachers. The fact is however, if I had fewer students to teach, I could focus more energy on those boys. I've also tutored students on a one-to-one basis, and in such situation I see no difference between boys and girls.

gress 12y ago
Sounds like when you teach a class, you are doing so in a way that suits girls better than it suits boys. It also sounds as though you don't understand why. As you say, smaller classes would probably help, however what would also help is to actually try to understand why your teaching methods are less suited to boys than to girls.
bostonpete 12y ago
To me, your comments seem to reinforce the article's point -- namely that the structure of typical modern classrooms does not help boys succeed as much as girls. The only other way to read your comment is that boys are just inherently less capable/motivated than girls, which seems just as objectionable to me as historical attitudes which dismissed women or minorities as less capable and/or motivated. I don't think the only possibility here is 1-to-1 education for boys. Many believe that there are other ways of structuring the learning environment and school schedule (e.g. more gross motor breaks) in a way that would help draw out the strengths of boys. In the end, I wonder if this won't steer us more towards separating the genders for at least part of the school day. This would be politically challenging in many public school systems though, in particular because of the historical abuses of "separate but equal" systems.