Gender Bias

                When I first meet a student, I try no too, but deep down I have already made a judgment about them or the class as a whole.  Then, a couple of weeks into school year, I have to change my preconceived notations about the student.  I usually think that my girl students are going to be smarter than my boy students because the girls talk in class, express their thinking patterns, and visibly show interest in the class.  Boys, on the other hand, are quieter in class discussions, sleep in class and do less homework assignments.  Girls might put forth more effort in my Algebra 2 class, but the boys outscore the girls on the test.  My boys might be able to outperform the my girls, but I find myself catering to the females because they are more willing to ask questions, come to tutorials, complete assignments and have positive attitudes.

                After looking at the data from all three journal Gender Roles: A Matter of Nature or Nurture, Men’s Issues: A Myth that Schools Shortchange Girls and The Silent Gender Gap, I feel that gender bias has been over dramatized.  All three articles point out that females have increased in academics and are passing males, but the margin is very slim.  When looking at the data, the difference between male and females are just a few points different in the females’ favor.  Over the past decades, there has been a push for females to be competitive with males and now that they have just edged the males in academics there is sudden panic. 

                Boys and girls think differently and have different expectations.  In the County Boys episodes, there are more males attending The David School than females.  The David School does not push the boys as hard.  They let the boys create a newspaper or start a choir, but the teachers do not force the male students to do extracurricular activities.  The school system has changed in teaching styles, which favor females over males.  Best practices teach that students retain more when they write down what they learned after being taught a lesson.    This is a great practice, but it is like pulling teeth for my male students to summarize a concept, but females do not have as many issues writing a summary.  In my math class, I require every student to show their work for each problem.  My male students tell me all the time, that they can do the work in their head.  I have never had a female student complain that she wanted to do all the work in her head and just give an answer.  Boys and girls think differently, but we cater more to girls thinking patterns than boys.