It is no surprise that girls are out doing boys in the classroom. This has been the trend for quite some time. But it should focus our energies on how we can teach boys in a more effective manner.
Girls are teaching their male classmates a lesson, blitzing them in almost every subject in Victoria’s classrooms.
Details of NAPLAN tests conducted last May also show Melbourne students narrowly outscore their country cousins, while those with highly educated or professional parents get the best marks.
Girls scored better than boys in 19 of the 20 categories measured in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Nationwide, boys fell behind in almost all categories. Overall, Victoria’s students placed second in half the categories and lead the nation in three.
Year 9 boys were cause for the most worry – 15 per cent failed to meet the writing standard. However, their struggles matched those across Australia, meaning Victoria was still the best in the subject.
There are matters I would like to raise on this topic:
1. We must do more to engage our boys. Whether it’s a lack of male teachers or a teaching style that doesn’t work as well with boys, we must get to the heart of the problem and help mend the disparity.
2. It is absolutely mind-boggling that in todays age we do not have more women in high positions and on multi-national company boards. It is insane that we even need to talk about employing a quota system to get more female C.E.O’s. Whilst it isn’t always the choice of women to sacrifice other aspects of their lives for a time-consuming and stressful career, there are many who are keen to get as far as they can go up the corporate ladder. The argument that positions should be filled by those who are most qualified and capable is true. However, that should result in females overtaking males in these leadership positions, because they are proving how much better they are in critical areas of learning and thinking. Unfortunately, I suspect competency has nothing to do with it.
Tags: Boys, Education, English, Feminism, Girls, Language, life, maths, naplan, News, Reading, Teaching, Writing
Topical Teaching 
May 2, 2011 at 2:31 am |
“However, that should result in females overtaking males in these leadership positions, because they are proving how much better they are in critical areas of learning and thinking. ”
There is only one indication for this claim, namely schooling. Other indications, including cognitive tests, point to the opposite. If we then factor in that the school systems have become geared at girls, that female teachers dominate, the problems with dumbing-down, that girls often get better grades for the same work, and the fact that girls develop faster than boys, the real problem lies with the school system and/or misleading grades. (With minor reservations for a different situation in Australia than e.g. Sweden and the US; however, with the same trend, the same explanation is likely.)
In addition, you have to consider the greater male variance in various regards (including cognitive abilities; averages do not determine everything) and that educational results today</em will not reflect a workforce containing people born as early as the 1940s.