Do You and Should You Consider Gender in Your Classroom?

Getting Ready # 11 Teaching Is Not an Easy Profession – The variables that we must contend with are endless. As we plan for the coming year, we must consider standards, curriculum, classroom environment, socio economic issues, and even gender. For those not in this profession, it is difficult for them to understand the body of knowledge and skills required to be an effective teacher. The following research relates to gender differences that need to be considered along with a plethora of other variables facing us on a daily basis.

Jensen’s Teaching with the brain in mind. In chapter 9 of his work, he shared, “But the quantity, range, and quality of studies on physical, brain-based differences is staggering. Here are just five of the differences between males and females that researchers have found: • Mean and median brain size varies, even when adjusted for body size (Ackney, 1992). • Developmental schedules vary (YurgelunTodd, Killgore, & Young, 2002). • (Allen & Gorski, 1991). • Functional emotional processing differs (Killgore et al., 2001). • Differences exist in language areas of the brain (Shaywitz et al., 1995). Differences exist in cross-hemispheric connections Teachers know that 1st grade girls are typically more ready to read than are 1st grade boys. But there are other, lesser-known, maturational differences. For example, in one study of 30 boys and girls (Yurgelun-Todd et al., 2002), researchers used an MRI to track gender differences in cerebral tissue volume and both gray and white brain matter during adolescence. In the boys, greater white matter (more connective axons) was positively correlated with intelligence; information processing was faster and verbal abilities were higher. Surprisingly, the researchers found no significant correlations between cerebral tissue volume and stronger cognitive abilities in girls. This finding suggests that a slew of other compounding variables may be clouding our understanding of gender-specific brain differences. It’s plausible that because male and female brain development is on such different time trajectories, we need to qualify any data emerging from studies where time is not considered as a factor. Still, these are the kinds of results that make it difficult to speak definitely about gender-based differences in the brain. Researchers believe that biological differences do lead to functional variations in the brain, but they still don’t know enough to make causal statements in this area. For example, in female brains, the anterior commissure, a bundle of nerves that functions much like the corpus callosum, is larger than it is in male brains. But can that difference— and the greater access it might provide females to “cross-hemispheric” (often called intuitive) knowledge— really be behind “women’s intuition”? (Jensen, 2005).

How does this tiny bit of research transfer to standards? I believe the most important aspect of this research with regard to practical application in the classroom relates to developmental stages and readiness. Considering this possibility, should we use the same standards for each gender at each specific grade level? For example, if females are generally more likely to be ready for reading instruction in grade one, can we hold males and females to the same ELA standards in the early elementary grades? These are questions that remain unanswered; however, they are worth considering for discussion in PLCs and as you develop lessons and classroom assessments.

Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind (2nd Edition). Alexandria, VA, USA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD), 2005. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 10 August 2015.

Copyright © 2005. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD). All rights reserved.