5月1日
Boys will be Boys
New findings about the differences between girls’ and boys’ brains may lead to classroom changes
Teachers see it. Parents see it. Boys tend to fidget in ways unlike a typical girl. Scientists see it, too. Brain studies suggest boys, compared to girls, process language and emotions less efficiently.
A growing number of researchers agree: Males and females, on average, show differences in learning skills-differences that may be hard-wired. And the evidence is compelling enough that schools rooted in equal treatment should reassess their teaching methods to keep more boys engaged.
At age 12, boys’ brains are three times more likely than girls’ to misfire enough to be medicated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In 2003, one out of 11 American boys, age 12, took medicine for the condition.
Surveys show boys receive more school suspensions than girls. They also bring home 70 percent of the D’s and F’s. Certainly, lots of boys excel. Lots of girls don’t. But boys as a group have long puzzled teachers and parents.
New worldview
Researchers say more mysteries than answers exist. But a surge of findings, aided by advances in brain imaging, is spurring changes many hope can enhance boys’ schooling. In recent years, mind-mapping technology has revealed more hints of boys’ learning hurdles. Neural pathways between the two brain hemispheres generally allow girls to “cross-talk” and activate both. Most boys, when hearing instructions, are thought to activate only the left side. Teachers sold on “brain-based learning” are using more visual and physical stimuli to help boys retain lessons.
For Amy Cameron, who teaches English, the research has turned around a worldview. “It used to be, ‘every child is equal-male or female.’…Now it’s, ‘They really do think differently, and it’s biological.’”
Advocates of single-sex public schools are touting neurological data to justify separating classrooms by gender-to help both sexes.
Specialized Terms
Hard-wired (adj) 与生俱来的 referring to inborn and mainly unchangeable behavior patterns
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n) 注意力不足多动症 a condition in which someone, especially a child, is often in a state of activity or excitement and unable to direct their attention towards what they are doing
Stimulus (n) 刺激 something that causes growth or activity
Neurological (adj) 神经生物学的 relating to the nervous system
Vocabulary Focus
Fidget (v) to make continuous small movements which annoy other people
Compelling (adj) if a reason, argument, etc. is compelling, it makes you believe it or accept it because it is so strong 急需引起注意的
Reassess (v) to think again about something in order to decide whether to change the way you feel about it or deal with it
Misfire (v) to fail to connect
Surge (n) a sudden and great increase
Spur (v) to encourage a development to make it happen faster
Brain-based learning 脑本位学习法
Worldview (n) one’s way of looking at and understanding life 世界观
Tout (v) to advertise, make known or praise something or someone repeatedly, especially as a way of encouraging their sale, popularity or development
Discussion Question
Discuss your school experience in relation to your gender (being male or female). Do you think you had (or have) an easier or more difficult time because you are male or female? Explain
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