Gurian, M., Stevens, K. (2004). With boys and girls in mind. Educational Leadership, 62 (3), 21-26.
An Annotation
A good article outlining the difference between girls and boys ability to process language and emotion. While it seems that girls are innately more equipped to deal in the world of language and emotion, we can help boys by increasingly involving and linking centers of the brain involved in “spatial-mechanical functioning” with tasks requiring language. For example bouncing a ball while working through or tapping into and then verbalizing emotional issues, or challenging students to talk or write about what they are doing or building rather than feeling or thinking
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Teachers, please don’t take this article seriously. Neither author is a neuroscientist or has any clue about sex differences in the brain, which are real, but much, MUCH smaller than these stereotypes portray. None of their ball bouncing or other silly methods has been validated. When it comes to academic skills, and even self-regulation, the range of ability WITHIN each gender is far greater than the average difference between boys and girls.
If neuroscience has taught us anything, it is that there is no truth to the “learning styles” hypothesis. What works are frequent, low-stakes quizzes, daily practice, exercise, and a positive nurturing relationship with the teacher. Please don’t buy the snake oil, teachers. Every child, boy or girl, is an individual, and will only thrive when viewed as such.
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