This week we’re continuing our look at the issues boys face in education. We’ll turn our attention to girls in the next few weeks but because boys are so far behind (and have been since 1982!) it’s important to begin with them.
Let’s start with this from my good friend, Dr. Michael Gurian. This comes from the intro to his 2017 book, Saving Our Sons:
In thirty years of working with children (now 37 years—my added comment), I have never been more worried than I am right now for our sons. Some boys are doing very well but millions are disappearing into violence, imprisonment, social withdrawal, listlessness, virtual worlds, and real life self-destruction. If we don’t end this national pattern, our boys and young men will become increasingly destructive, both to others and themselves because nearly every social problem we face in our civilization today—unemployment income equality, incarceration rates, religious extremism, domestic abuse, mental illness, health care inequalities, and painful violence against women—intersects in some way with the state of boyhood in America. (p. vii)
In my work with Michael over the last 18 years, we’ve seen over and over again that the majority of questions parents ask center around boys. Again, our daughters matter. But we have far more resources devoted to helping them. Those raising, teaching, coaching, and working with boys often feel lost or in way over their heads.
I’m attaching a recent episode of the Wonder of Parenting Podcast, where a listener asks why it’s so tough to teach to and work with boys. Michael, as always, offers some compassionate, science-based, and practical insights. It’s worth a listen.
Here are some highlights:
40% of college students are male. 60% are female. Some predict that in the next several years that gap will grow to 1/3 male and 2/3 female.
When it comes to boys, Michael suggests that about 1/3 of them are doing fine in the current academic system. Another 1/3 are getting by. It’s the last 1/3 that are the cause of the growing education gap between boys and girls.
Many boys need movement-based learning including games and competition.
Male brains and female brains are set up differently in utero according to the latest scans. Helping our boys (and girls) thrive in the classroom will take these brain differences into account.
Generally, boys do more work on the visual, spatial side of the brain than on the verbal side of the brain.
Classrooms that use more “boy-brain” based teaching/learning styles not only see boys grades improve, but the girls do better as well.
I encourage you to listen to the whole episode, and better yet, subscribe!