The document discusses how boys experience learning in grade 7 based on interviews with two grade 7 boys, Joe Student and Elijah Green. The boys indicated that they like school when engaged through active and hands-on learning, but get bored with passive activities like note-taking. They prefer learning later in the day and having choice in activities. The document reflects on expectations that boys would dislike school, but found that these boys enjoyed learning when their needs were met through interactive approaches. It calls for using integrated, interactive curricula to better meet the needs of male adolescent learners.

1. Think back to Grade 7.
Picture the most disengaged
student in your class. What is
this person doing/not doing?
Why?

2. Used with permission, Clive School
Boys Education:
WinWin Program, 2002
Think WinWin
Working INteractively,
Winning INdependently
Brent Galloway,
Middle Years Program Coordinator, Red Deer College
Brent.galloway@rdc.ab.ca
Used with permission, Clive School MiddleYearsGuy@Twitter.com
WinWin Program, 2002 gallowayteacherconventionsessions.blogspot.com

3. Boys Education:
The Galloway Vault
Dr. Michael Gurian, author of Boys and
Girls Learn Differently, believes “that
many poor learners can be turned around
if we just acknowledge the differences
between boys and girls and re-educate
ourselves on how to help them thrive.”
Used with permission, Clive School, WinWin Program, 2002

4. My Background/Interests
•My personal experiences learning in the middle years
(grades 6-8)
•The experiences of my sons as learners in the middle
years (grades 6-8)
•My personal experiences as a classroom teacher and
administrator
•Brain research on gender differences
•Designing “WinWin” Program for unsuccessful students
(mainly boys)
•Wolf Creek Administrators Book Study Group: “Boys and
Girls Learn Differently”
•Current Teaching at UofA: EDES 340 – Active and
Interactive Curriculum and EDES 440 – Curriculum
Retrieved from Integration (Middle Years Education Program at Red
http://www.michaelgurian.com/Deer College)
•Research on student engagement (as part of work as
AISI coordinator for Wolf Creek Public School Division)
•Current doctoral research
“‟At risk‟ students are those who leave school before or after
graduation with little possibility of continuing learning”
…Roland Barth

5. Just the Facts about Boys:
True or False
The male brain is 10-15% larger
Boys develop and mature later than girls, both physically ,
emotionally, and cognitively
Many boys are kinesthetic learners – they learn best by moving their
bodies and doing things rather than sitting passively and listening
Boys tend to be deductive thinkers vs. inductive thinkers (girls)
Boys favour abstract or concrete reasoning (e.g. moral debates.
arguments, problems)
The male brain secretes less serotonin than the female, making males
more impulsive in general as well as fidgety
Boys get bored more easily than girls; this often requires
more and varying stimulants to keep them attentive
Boys tend to use more space when they learn
Boys need to move more when they are learning; this helps
them to stimulate their brains, and to manage and relieve
impulsive behaviour
Boys tend use less sensory data than girls (smell, taste, hear);
their visual sense is typically the best (e.g. tv and video games
suit a male brain)

8. Frontal Lobe Occipital Lobe Parietal Lobe Temporal Lobe
More active in females Females see better in low In females more data Females Stronger Neuron
light moves through = more Connections = Better
Improved Verbal
tactile sensitivity Communication Skills
Communication Males see better in bright
light In males less movement = Males require more processing
Males more impulsive
better at “zoning out” time
Left Hemisphere – More developed in female brain = females
superior at listening, communicating, all language based learning
Right Hemisphere – More developed in males = males are superior at
abstract thinking, spatial relationships, visual understanding
From the work of Dr. Abigail Norfleet Jones

9. Retrieved from “What did you
do in school today?”, Canadian
Education Association, 2009

10. What is
happening
here?

11. Used with permission, Speak Out,
Wolf Creek Public School Division, 2010

14. 1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Why are these
rated as less effective?
Do we abandon these or
just do them better?

15. 1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Why are these
rated as less effective?
Do we abandon these or
just do them better?

16. Inquiring Minds Want to Know
• The Candidates: Joe Student and Elijah Green
• The Big Question:
How do boys experience learning in grade 7?
• Open Ended Questions:
• Additional Questions:
• The Pre-interview Activity
• Compare and Contrast
“The average boy is quite different than the average girl,
and that‟s due to nature, not nurture.”
– Gabrielle Bauer, “Boys Must be Boys” Canadian Living

17. Open Ended Questions
• What is the best thing about being in grade 7?
• What is the hardest thing about being in grade 7?
• What are the challenges you find being a boy in grade 7?
• How do you think learning is different for girls in your classroom?
• If you had one idea to make your school better, what would you do?
• What do you look forward to the most when going to school?
• If you could choose the topics to learn in school, what would you
choose?
• How would you describe the optimal learning environment
(classroom/school) for yourself?
• Describe a recent successful learning experience. What made the
experience successful for you?
• Besides school, describe other places where you learn about topics of
interest?
“Schools …… have begun to focus on academics at too early an
age, leaving boys hating education from their earliest days.
Programs that focus more on fun and less on academics up to
age seven or eight would reap educational dividends.”
Leonard Sax, Boys Adrift

18. Additional Questions
• Describe you favorite teacher. How did this teacher teach you?
• Who have been your favorite teachers through the years and what do
they have in common?
• How would you change your classroom if you could?
• If you were principal for a day, what would you do to make your school
a better place for you as a learner?
• What topics in school have you enjoyed learning about?
• What additional topics in school would you like to learn more about?
• If you were an architect designing the future classroom of the 21st
century, what would it look like?
• If you went to school for only three days a week, what would you do to
fill your free time?
• What would you like less of in school, and of what would you like more?
• Describe something that you have done in which you were very proud?
“Schools …… have begun to focus on academics at too early an
age, leaving boys hating education from their earliest days.
Programs that focus more on fun and less on academics up to
age seven or eight would reap educational dividends.”
Leonard Sax, Boys Adrift

19. Pre-interview Activity
• Make a two column chart with words/drawings/diagrams showing school/class
activities that you like and another column of those that you don‟t like as a
student in grade 7
• Make a schedule of a typical school week in your life. Use colors (to color code
– e.g. one color could be for school, one could be for routines, one could be for
“out-of-school” activities, etc. ) and a legend if you like (e.g.  for things you
like,  for things you don‟t like)
• Create a timeline of this current year (January to December) outlining three
to five events that were most exciting to you (or that you are looking forward
to). Your timeline could include words and/or pictures.
• Make 2 drawings: one of yourself in a classroom learning activity you enjoyed;
and one in a classroom learning activity that you did not enjoy. Use little
drawings/stick men to show me what is going on and/or use thought
bubbles/words to tell your story.
“Educators often lack understanding of „typical boy‟ traits
such as physical aggression, verbal and emotional
reticence, and interest in objects moving through space”.
Michael Gurian , Boys and Girls Learn Differently,

20. Pre-interview Activity:
Joe Student

21. Pre-interview
Activity:
Elijah Green

22. The Top Hat: The Results
“The way North American schools teach boys puts them at
risk of underachieving”
– Michael Gurian, author of Boys and Girls Learn Differently

23. Summary/Analysis of Data:Reflections
…..These two grade 7 boys
• like school as long as they are engaged
• like to be active in schools and get bored easily from passive activities
like taking notes and reading
• like technology
• prefer learning later in the day
• like to play and work with their hands (e.g. projects)
• like teachers who “accept” them as male learners; most often these are
“male” teachers
• like working collaboratively and like to have choice
• perceive that the students who do not like learning and who get “in
trouble” are boys
• like learning and want to be involved in school
• have limited opportunities to express themselves artistically
(music/art/drama)
“If we want to have engaged brains in the classroom, we have to
have an interactive environment” …
Spencer Kagan, Cooperative Learning Structures

24. My Interpretive Account:
Expectations, Findings, Reframing
What I expected to find?
• Boys who did not like school and were withdrawn
from learning (“intellectual disengagement”)
• Boys who only liked school because of the friends and
the activities
• Boys whose needs were not being met accurately
• Boys who were not being successful in school
• Boys who liked “hands on/active” learning
• Boys who liked using technology as a learning tool
“It takes a “whole global village” to raise a “whole” child
21st century adaptation of African Proverb, Brent Galloway

25. My Interpretive Account:
Expectations, Findings, Reframing
What I found that was expected?
• Boys like to be active as learners
• Boys like to use technology as learning tools
• Boys like authentic learning opportunities (field trips,
projects, etc.)
• Boys like to have fun in school (e.g. games, sports, etc.)
• Boys get distracted when they are not engaged
• There are less opportunities for boys in larger schools
• Boys do not like “passive” activities (e.g. notes,
worksheets, teacher talk, lecture, etc.)
“We have school-induced ADHD because schools aren‟t
brain compatible with the brains of today‟s children
…Dr. David Sousa

26. My Interpretive Account:
Expectations, Findings, Reframing
What I found that was surprising?
 These boys really enjoy school and like talking about it
 These boys like learning but did not care for the “topics”
that were being studied (e.g. First Nations)
 These boys did not have opportunities to express
themselves artistically (e.g. music, art, drama, etc.)
 These boys like to express themselves physically/
socially through sports
 These boys were eager to be involved in their school
 Boys do not “get lost” in larger schools
 Teachers still engage in many “traditional” practices
 There was almost no evidence of curriculum integration
“Assessment is about being fair, not equal”, Rick Wormeli

27. Boys Education:
Think WinWin
Reframing my question
How can we, as educators, use integrated and
interactive curricular approaches to better meet the
needs of male adolescent learners in our middle years
classroom of the 21st century?
“Fairness is everyone getting what they need in school”
…Martha Kaufeldt,”Begin with the Brain in Mind”

28. Female
Seeing the World Differently Male
• Objects (nouns) •Objects in motion (verbs)
• Warm Colors (red, yellow, green, •Cool Colors (silver, blue, black,
orange) grey, brown)
• Descriptive •Inventive
• More cones (colors) to P cells •More Rods (black/white) to M
(description) cells (motion)
• Active in class through writing, •Active in class through moving and
discussion hands on
• Illustrations are highly colored •Coloured illustrations not
• Female teachers do not move important
around a lot •Male teachers move around a lot
• Female teachers have rich, •Male teachers see opportunity in
colourful classrooms energy
• Use 3000K lights •Use 4000K lights

29. Female
Male
Hearing the World Differently
• Hear better than males • Variety of volume to help boys
• Interprets loud/deep voices focus
as yelling • Loud talk is not uncommon
• Teachers need to be calm and • Teachers need to vary their
patient when talking to girls volume when talking to boys
• Keep noise distraction to a • Accept tapping (use squish
minimum toys)
• Sit girls in the middle or back • Sit boys front and center of
of the room the room

30. Female
Engaging the World Male
Differently
• Brain remains alert while seated • Brain needs movement to stay alert
• Brain focuses on verbal activities • Brain focuses on kinesthetic activities
• Engage girls in discovery where they • Engage boys energy rather than
can discover and process with peers trying to control it (toss ball to
answer questions)
• Provide extended periods of time to
complete tasks (lots ot time to • Boys respond better to time
answer questions) pressures and competition (less wait
time for boys)
• Give full directions and answer
questions before working • Give brief directions and have
students start working immediately
• Female students sit and work with
others • Allow standing when taking notes
• Prefer warmer rooms (75 degrees) • Prefer cooler rooms (69 degrees)
• Give females break time for activity • Give males break time for sports and
and socializing activity
• Encourage risk taking with girls • Boys love choice
• Seat girls face to face • Sit boys side by side (less conflicts)
• Stress decreases blood flow to brain • Stress increases blood flow to brain

31. Good Ole Boys
– Advantages for Boys in Schools
 The majority of sports funding and
community support goes to male athletes
e.g. 73% of high school athletes are boys
 Boys tend to be louder, more physically
aggressive and more prone to attention
getting devices in the classroom, thus
more attention from the teacher
 Boys are approximately 2 to 4 points
ahead of girls in math and science scores
 Boys score slightly higher on SAT and
college entrance exams
 Boys have less psychological disorders
than girls (e.g. bulimia, suicide,
depression)
 Some school networks and work settings
still have the “good ole boys” network
leading to more privileges for boys

32. Gender Issues in Education
 Boys are 5 times more likely to have  Boys are four times more likely
learning disabilities and 3 times more than girls to be prescribed Ritalin,
likely to require speech pathology. commonly used to treat
 Boys receive a majority of all school hyperactivity and attention-deficit
suspensions disorders
 Boys achieve 10% less than girls on
 Boys are 4 times more likely to the highest levels in standardized
“complete” suicides reading and writing tests in grades
 85% of homeless people are males. 3 and 6
 Boys are diagnosed with Attention  Boys are disciplined 5 to 10 times
Deficit Disorder almost 10 times as more often than girls in elementary
often as girls and middle school.
 Boys are 90% of the discipline
 Most people with drug addictions are problems in High School and 80%
male (70% of serious drug/alcohol of the dropouts
problems)  Fewer boys than girls go on to
 Twice as many boys as girls are kept college, and the number of boys
behind a year at some point in their seeking higher education degrees
education has dropped drastically
 Boys make up 2/3rds of the learning  In the past four years, the
disabled and 90% of the behaviourally unemployment rate for young men
has risen more than women
disabled; they number 100% of the
most seriously disabled.  Boys are more likely victims of
violence on school property by a 3
to 1 margin.

33. Instructional Strategies for Boys
Male
• Cooperative Learning (Stand up, Sit Down, Round
Robin, Numbered Heads, etc.)
• Games (Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, The
Puzzler, Front Page Challenge, Spelling Baseball/
Hockey, Pictionary, Cherades, Slap Happy)
• Team-building energizers
• Debates
• Field Trips, Festivals, Fairs
• Simulations
• Storybook Theatre/Reader‟s Theatre/Role
play/Skits/Drama
• Technology Integration (e.g. Web Quests)
• Service Learning
• So many others

34. based on the following 10
Beliefs:
• Students learn better when class • Students learn best when there are
sizes are smaller. fair and logical consequences for
• Students learn better with fewer inappropriate behavior, and when
transitions. there is recognition for positive
• Students learn better with an behavior.
integrated and interactive • Students learn best when the
curriculum based around the physical space accommodates their
students’ needs and interests.
needs.
• Students learn better when their
learning styles are addressed.. • Students learn best when there is a
• Students learn best when they “team” approach to teaching and
have the help that they need. learning.
• Students learn best when they are • Students learn best when they are
empowered to be the best that they given opportunities to help others.
can be.

35. The Results
Year 1 Year 2
(Grade 9): (Grade 7/8):
• Best Practices • Report Card Results
• Mission Statements • Parent Survey Results
• Report Card Results
• Student
• Parent Survey Results Survey/Interview
• Student Survey Results
Results
• Reading Results (CTBS)
• Discipline Referrals
• School wide Satisfaction
Survey Results

36. Boys Education:
Think WinWin
What “WinWin” idea will you take with you today to
help better meet the needs of your male learners?

37. Wise Words
“The way North American schools
teach boys puts them at risk of “We have school-induced ADHD because
underachieving” schools aren‟t brain compatible with the
brains of today‟s children”
– Michael Gurian, author of Boys and …Dr. David Sousa
Girls Learn Differently
“Fairness is everyone getting what “Educators often lack understanding of
they need in school” „typical boy‟ traits such as physical
…Martha Kaufeldt aggression, verbal and emotional reticence,
and interest in objects moving through
“All kids in our society are at risk space”. – Michael Gurian
…Dr. Richard Brokenleg
“If we want to have engaged brains in the
“The average boy is quite different classroom, we have to have an interactive
than the average girl, and that‟s due environment” … Spencer Kagan
to nature, not nurture.”
– Gabrielle Bauer, “Boys Must be “‟At risk‟ students are those who leave
Boys” Canadian Living school before or after graduation with
little possibility of continuing learning”
There are no „bad‟ kids, just
…Roland Barth
kids with „bad‟ problems”
…Harold Brathwaite “Are we training kids to write tests for life,
or are we training kids for the tests of life”
….Art Costa