Boys learn differently than girls
By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi' Bureau
CHINLE, Dec. 1, 2011
Scott Trowbridge, a teacher in the alternative Edventures program, cautions against putting too much credence in recent scientific studies that show differences in male and female brains.
"A lot of them have been discredited," he warned.
Still, even most boys would agree they learn somewhat differently from girls.
Willander Charley, a young medical technician who found himself in the gender minority in his classes at Northern Arizona University, said he started observing what made the girls tick in an effort to learn why so many male students were dropping out.
"There was this one really hard accounting class," he said. "By the middle of the semester, half the class had dropped it. It was just me and six girls."
The girls, Charley observed, seemed to be content with the goal of finishing the tough class. Charley needed more motivation than that.
"I had to keep telling myself that I needed the class to finish my degree, and I needed the degree to get the job I wanted," he said at a recent anti-suicide conference in Chinle.
Boys do seem to do better with clearly defined long-term goals, Trowbridge conceded.
"A lot of girls will do the right thing just because they're told it's the right thing," he said. "Boys tend to ask, 'How is this going to help me in my life?'"
So if you're a parent of a boy, one thing that may help is to sit down with your son, ask him about his long-term goals, and help him outline a plan to achieve them.
In a 2004 article in Educational Leadership magazine, Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens made some other suggestions for parents and teachers:
Teach boys beadwork or another fine motor skill at an early age. Most boys lag behind girls in fine motor development when they enter school.
Make sure your house or classroom has a variety of books within easy reach to pique curiosity and independent learning.
Make lessons as hands-on as possible.
Keep verbal instructions to no more than a minute because the male brain is not good at processing long strings of verbiage.
Allow the boy to personalize his desk, coat rack or cubby to increase his sense of ownership in his education.
Encourage boys to nurture each other through both healthy competition and empathy.
If you're a single mom, look for a strong male role model for your son - an uncle, grandfather, or neighbor your son looks up to - and invite him to participate in family activities.