“5. Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils” (Department of Education, 2013). This is what every qualified teacher, Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) and PGCE student are expected to do for every class and lesson that they have all along their teaching career as it is one of the eight main Teachers’ Standards imposed by the British Department of Education. However, the point number 5 of the Teachers’ Standard which is about differentiation does not seem to include the difference – yet significant – that exists between boys’ and girls’ learning. As the standard 5. d) stipulates it, a teacher needs to:
“have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them” (Department of Education, 2013)
Therefore, it is easy to observe that every kind of pupils is covered by this standard except the boys, who should probably be part of the pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) as they need a special education in a way. Then, it is interesting to notice that, even though the underachievement of the boys has been proved a long time ago and there is articles written about it every year in the British newspapers, no measures have been taken in order to improve boys’ performance in education.
In my phase 1 and phase 2 schools from my PGCE year, I have been able to observe only one teacher who was actually adapting her teaching depending on boys’ needs. She was sometimes, in the middle of the language presentation, encouraging the boys to call out the answers and she was writing on the board the...
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... a boy, who usually does nothing at all and prefers looking at the window than focused on the lesson, was very eager to participate, and speaking Spanish did not seem to be a problem.
Thirdly, apart from games, I have sometimes included challenging tasks for them to do. For instance, in a writing activity which was the last one of the lesson, I have constructed the paragraph that they had to write by levels. I have explicitly explained what they had to include in order to get each level and I have added a challenge in order for them to improve their work and to get a level 5 – which they normally could not have as they are not being familiar with the past or future tense yet. I have given them an example of a sentence and I have translated this example. This added challenge worked with some of the boys in the class but unfortunately not with the most disturbing ones.
The students in our classrooms, both special education and general education classrooms, require individualized education to reach their full potential. Each child’s potential is different just as each child’s road to reach it is different. Our job as teachers is to be there for the student’s to help them reach their potential through their own unique way.
Sending a child to a gender based school, is a very big decision to make. The decision is so big, that looking at what research has to say about the topic could alter one’s decision to send their child to a gender based school. “Educators must apply different approaches in teaching make, and female students” (Gurian). This is said by Gurian, because he also believes that boys and girls learn differently. “Social pressures can be gentler and your child can learn at his own pace” (Kennedy).
Previous government legislation in the UK supported the medical model approach in regards to education of children with special educational needs (SEN). Children with SEN were seen as handicapped and placed in segregated educational provisions under the direction of medical professionals (Huge and Copper, 2007). However, with the introduction of the social model government legislations in regards to education began to change. Legislations and polices such as the Warnock Report (1978), The 1981, 1993 and 1996 Educational Acts and the 1997 Green Paper Excellence for all Children, all pushed for a more inclusive educational system. In the last 15 years further legislations have been put in place to strengthen the educational rights of children with SEN.
All students deserve an education that nurtures them, providing opportunities and experiences that inspire their creative and intellectual minds. Whether a student gets this education from a man or a woman should not make a difference. The fact of the matter is that in many cases the gender of a teacher does affect a student's ability to learn. In many instances, it also matters to some teachers if the student is a girl or a boy. Why would this be so? From research and personal observations and experiences, I will answer this question.
Teachers must pay attention to presenting to their students, is very important in their education. If the student finds it too much of challenge there will give up and if it’s too easy there will be bored. An example of teaching strategies is scaffolding strategic support that teachers provide that allows children to complete a task they could not accomplish independently (Vygotsky, 1978; Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976). Teacher needs to plan out a task according to the child ability to help they respond and engaged the lesson there increase their independent performance in school. It creates an understanding of English is pronouncing and how to read, both of these skills are important in life. By making these an important part of early child development it reinforces these
• Lessons should be kinesthetic and experiential. Use a variety of manipulatives. Be aware of ambient temperature—try to keep the boys from warmer areas in the classroom. Males do not hear as well as girls, so move them closer to the instruction.
Same sex classes make it possible for teachers to cater to student needs in a more efficient way. In general boys benefit from hands on learning, but girls benefit from calm discussions (Mullins 3). Girls tend to doubt themselves while boys think they can do anything. Boys need to be brought down from the clouds while girls need to be dug out of a hole (Mullins 3). David Chadwell says, "Structure and connection are two key concepts when examining gender in the classroom. All students certainly need both, but it seems that teachers need to consider the issue of structure more with boys and the issue of connection more with girls" (7), and Kristen Stanberry’s research has shown, "Some research indicates that girls learn better when classroom temperature is warm, while boys perform better in cooler classrooms. If that's true, then the temperature in a single-sex classroom could be set to optimize the learning of either male or female students" (1). These observations further support the idea that same sex classrooms can cater to student’s...
In the present United States, a mixture of males and females make up a university classroom. In life, males and females have different conversational styles. The ways that they communicate to each other in a conversation, as well as how they communicate with their instructors and peers in the classroom. Although there is a combination of both genders in the classrooms, schools gravitate more towards using learning techniques that are more applicable towards men than women (Tannen 369). When teaching with a mixture of people that learn differently, it is difficult to have a certain technique to use that would help everybody in the same way. Yet it is important that equal opportunities are given to both genders that allows them to do their best and succeed in their academic careers. Educational professionals need to understand the conversational differences in gender and have better teaching strategies that fit both male and female conversational styles.
...school teachers was increasing. Boys, however continued to out-perform girls in scientific and technical subjects where teaching was still dominated by men" (122). With the statistics provided we can see that boys are performing poorly academically when in the hands of women. It isn't known for sure what's causing this problem or how it can be fixed, but one must start by realizing that there is a problem.
Bonomo, V. (2010). Gender matters in elementary education: Research-based strategies to meet the distinctive learning needs of boys and girls. Educational Horizons, 88(4), 257-264
In female based classes the teachers are known to be more delicate and understanding, while in male classes the teachers tend to have a more authoritarian approach (Schroeder 71-73). The teachers having different ways of treating the students symbolizes the problem of sexism. Concepts such as this rise the question equality (Strauss). There is a specific example brought about by a court case in 1954: Brown v. Board of Education. It states that things can be separate but they have to be equal. Although the initial case was referring to race, the main meaning behind it still stands. All classes aren’t going to be equal if the teachers (not each individual teacher, but teachers for boys and girls) have different classroom expectations (Piechura 21). This is where the main problem falls in the case of single gender education. Parents wishing to enroll their child in school want to provide their son/daughter with an equal opportunity with a chance to thrive academically. If the teachers aren’t giving each boys and girls the same shot is it actually worth it? Yes. The teachers classroom expectations are built to match the needs of the gender, not the opposite
A struggle for many teachers could be the idea of implementing differentiation in their classrooms. Making twenty-four lesson plans for the twenty-four children in a class is not practical or appropriate. Children should all be learning the same basic ideas in differentiated lessons but how much as well as how a child learns is what will vary (Tomlinson, 2001). Tomlinson describes three major ways in which the content that children are learning can be differentiated: readiness, inte...
...appy. With the difference in gender, both a male and female teachers' exposure to society's youth is critical, and male teachers are just as important as females in the educational field.
When teaching students with disabilities it is important to know and understand the needs of all the students in the classroom. Ultimately, the goal for any educator is to educate all of the students in the classroom and ensure that appropriate accommodations are being made for students with disabilities. By utilizing these skills in reading, writing, and classroom management, an educator will be able to help all students be successful.
This problem occurs in schools everywhere and is starting to become more evident in today's society. The problem is that boys and girls learning potential are not being reached when put into the same teaching atmosphere. Girls seem to be out smarting boys in many classes. While boys excel in math and sciences and girls seem to be better in English. The styles in which boys and girls feel comfortable with are extremely different. The learning styles of girls usually contain socializing and context. For instance, most girls like to talk in small groups about the current discussion. They also like hands on activities or real life situations to compare things to. Boys are confrontational and formal. They need to be challenged by their teachers to help motivate them to become better students and be prepared. In contrast girls do not like to be confronted by teachers who are asking for an immediate answers. In most cases, girls seem to be more reserved and modest than boys about their intelligence ("What are someÉ) are. Their differences may not seem evident but make a difference to reaching their highest learning potential.