Joanne (see blogroll at left) reports on a study that analyzed data from 1988 and determines that 8th grade boys perform better with men teachers, and 8th grade girls perform better with women teachers. My experience teaching 8th graders for six years tells me that this study is right on the mark.
Joanne has more tidbits as well as more links.
1 comment:
For the most part, I agree, although I always got along better with the boys because I raised two of the creatures from scratch. I truly think some well meaning female teachers that have never actually lived with a teenaged boy have no clue how they think, how they mask emotions, how they react to nagging and many other proclivities of the sex. I would say that men who teach girls either get fawned upon if they are young and cute, which can lead to a multitude of sins, or if older they are dismissed. Girls are far harder to reach when they don't want to learn something. Boys can usually be cajoled into it through appealing to their natural need for competition. Girls on the other hand, hold grudges more and sometimes with young women teachers are torn between feeling competitive and feeling as if they lack respect. It's not easy either way. I think I am a much better teacher for having had kids, but I am sure there are some successful teachers out there (I can think of a few) who never had kids. The key is to treat kids like they are people, not numbers. And with classes growing exponentially, that is hard to do.
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