This article discusses the manner in which boys learn, what they are
passionate about and how activities that promote literacy do not rank
high in this area. Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi is the psychologist who
discusses the idea of "flow", or being totally involved in an activity
so much so that time passes by without notice. Reading and literacy
activities are not noted asactivities which promote "flow" in boys according to this article.
I tend to agree with this idea. I do believe that there is a difference
in the learning styles of boys and girls. However, I am not sure if I
want to make the generalization that all boys require this heightened
sense of involvement that is outside of literacy activities in order to
experience flow.
In my own teaching, I have encountered boys
who enjoy reading for pleasure and are actually happiest with their
nose in a book. At the same time, I have encountered girls who need a
lot more encouragement in the area of reading and find more enjoyment
in other areas. This is not to say that I disagree with the premise of
this article, which is that more frequently than not, boys need to be
encouraged with a variety of means in order to become students who
enjoy reading. Boys and girls are inherently different, so it is no
surprise that learning styles differ between the sexes. I guess that it
is the job of the teacher to figure out how to bring reading and
literacy activities to life for those students who would do not prefer
this type of thing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I agree with you and you made a good point about the girls involved in literacy reading also. I have a son so I definitely see the correlation that the psychologist discusses. I do not think that it is fair to generalize either. One thing is for sure and that is that everyone enjoys "flow" and once immersed in it learning is definitely more enjoyable, attainable and remembered.
I remember reading somewhere a synopsis of the new book titled something like "Why our Boys are Failing". Basically is touches on the idea that boys do learn differently than girls and the way our instruction and curriculum is structured, it favors a girl centered learning environment. What happened to recess??????????????????
I think you hit upon an important point; that as educators it is unsafe to generalize whole groups, be they age, race, socio economic, or gender and the way they learn!
Post a Comment