#ukedchat - gender differences

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Wow! Another furiously paced #ukedchat this week. They are great, but mentally exhausting and made even more difficult when your three year old doesn't want to settle down to sleep!

The theme of tonight's chat was whether there is a difference in the way boys and girls learn, and whether or not it matters. About half way through the hour a strand developed which focussed on whether there was something that we as professionals could do that turns this on its head.

I believe that there are ways of removing gender differences in learning, and that much of this has to do with ethos building. Setting of expectations for behaviour has such a fundamental effect on the behaviour observed, and as teachers, leaders and educators in general we have fantastic opportunities to be the influencers. (see my earlier post about two percenters)

In my classroom I truly believe that everyone is equal. Boys and girls. What's more, I believe that every child is an individual. As a result I believe that each child will have a unique set of characterstics that will motivate them to learn at their optimum rate. This could sound like a recipe for choas, but it builds upon the notion that there are many attributes that groups of learners will share (e.g. being treated with respect, being treated curteously, being challenged, being secure). Therefore these common attributes (and I'm sure there are others that could and should be added to the preceeding list) develop the core ethos of the practitioner.

This sounds a lot like a class charter doesn't it? Everyone does a class charter now. They are en vogue. However, does everyone live and breathe that charter beyond the second week in September? I would argue that too many don't. This is because as the hustle and bustle of the term builds we fall back to our default personality in the classroom, and if your default personality isn't aligned with the class charter...

So, it takes effort. It also takes demonstration of the values and ethos through the practitioner behaviour. If I want to be treated curteously, then I must treat everyone curteously. Sometimes this is hard. Sometimes I want to scream at that child who has raised their voice and upset someone for the third time in the day. Sometimes I fail, and do shout. However, I must work hard to ensure that this is a very small minority of the time! However, without fail, the effort to live by the values that I want mirrored by the learners in my care is repayed with multiple interest. This is irrespective of gender.

However, I mentioned the need to tailor to the individual. This is essential if all learners are to thrive. Again, there is an investment of time required here. The teacher must know their children as individuals. They must know which children will be motivated by a humourous remark, who is prompted by competition, who is impelled by carrot and stick and apply the appropriate strategy.

The development of ethos must transcend the whole school, and this is the responsibility of the whole school staff but particularly the leadership team. One of the points raised by contributors to the #ukedchat was that developing the ethos amongst the parents can sometimes be difficult as there is a societal expectation that the gender differences will have an impact. My argument here is that we have to be counter cultural as educators. If through research and practice we find pedagogical responses that deliver great results that go against societal expectations then we should shout out about them, not retreat into behaviours that might reinforce the societal stereotypes.

This is a truncated argument, and I do accept that there is strong evidence of gender difference in outcomes in several subject areas. However, many attitudes to learning are formed during primary school that remain with the learner for life. By setting an ethos and expectation of fairness and neutrality in our schools we may be able to work against gender differences. Sadly we may not know if we have been successful for another 30 years or so, when our current crop of learners are parents of children in our schools. That doesn't mean that we should give up. Let's shout from the rooftops about ethos, and model the behaviours we want to see in the mirror!

Good luck!