Boys & Girls

A lot has been written about the learning differences between girls and boys. Attached to this is the debate about single-sex versus co-ed classrooms.

Our experience supports much of the research in gender difference, and when all things are considered in the bigger picture, we are clear that personalised learning programmes in co-ed classrooms offer the most balanced, healthy and empowering approach for individual students.

It is an indisputable fact that there are significant differences in the ways girls and boys generally learn and that these differences are greatest among the youngest children. As children grow, gender based learning differences diminish. By the end of high school, personal learning style differences play a far greater role than any remaining gender differences.

The major difference between girls and boys is in the sequence of development of the various brain regions rather than any difference in actual brain structure. Boys mature faster than girls in some areas, and vice versa. One of the obvious differences is that boys tend to develop their visual/spatial abilities very early whereas young girls tend to have well developed audial/language abilities. For the visual/spatial learner, this has a huge impact on their ability to learn in a formal, teacher centred classroom where language is normally the major teaching tool.

Another key difference is in the fundamental motivating factors between girls and boys. Girls are more concerned than boys are with pleasing their parents and teachers whereas boys will be less motivated to study unless the material itself interests them. With numeracy, boys are often interested in the inherent properties of numbers themselves whereas for girls it’s more effective to make numbers relevant by tying them in to the real world. In literacy, boys tend to prefer non-fiction; how things work or descriptions of real events. They prefer excitement, whereas girls are more likely to be interested in fictional books about emotional relationships.

In practical work, we have noted that girls are more able than boys to organise themselves and concentrate on progressing the job at hand. Boys have noticeably shorter concentration span and tend to digress into related activities more readily.

In the personalised learning environment at Seven Oaks, we employ a number of educational strategies which are aimed to create a highly effective learning environment for all children whatever their gender or learning style. These include the study of each child by their educators resulting in student-specific guidance and support, communication techniques which work for both audial and visual learners as well as listening to the student’s own voice in what they are ready and able to learn and how they are best to go about it.