Gender and Education
Stephanie at Throwing Marshmallows shared a pair of posts that discusses gender and education. The posts, Should Boys Be Homeschooled? and Girls Rule?, bring up an interesting point worth thinking about for all parents. Do boys and girls learn differently? And if so, should they be taught separately because of it?
The nature v. nurture debate is one that can cause many flames. Most of us known the stereotypes of boys being rowdy and rough, while girls tend to be calmer and quiet. Are they really that way, or does our modern society put this image on them? Do we as parents help play into this by limiting our children and fitting them into these neat little roles? Or are they hard wired, for lack of a better term, to fall into these spots?
There are many people who truly believe what they believe on both sides. Those who are more religious often say that males and females were created to be different. While many others on the other side believe that it is taught to children how to behave.
I am one who feels that nature and nurture go hand in hand, and can cancel each other out. Though I can only base my ideas on my own life lessons. Being a girl who climbed trees, went hunting, and worked on cars I certainly did not fit into the typical girl role as a child. I was loud in class, I day dreamed often, I was sent to the principal’s office in 2nd grade for bringing my baseball cards to class. Now I have boys who are very much so the stereotypical boys. Is this because they are boys, or because they are my offspring? If I wanted to have tea parties more than hike in the woods would they be calm and quiet, or would they still be loud and adventurous? Do I treat the way I do because it fits their personality, or because it is how we are expected to treat boys? The answer is there is just no way of knowing.
Either way you feel, homeschooling still stands out on top to me. If you have a child who would rather run in circles screaming than sit quietly at a desk for 45 minutes you can accommodate that, regardless of the gender.
gender, education, nature v. nurture
February 4th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
[...] Summer adds her thoughts over at Mom is Teaching [...]
February 4th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Hi Summer- I don’t homeschool, but I thought this was a great post and wanted to chime in.
Ok, I started writing a novel here and decided I would just go ahead and post about it at ToddleBits. Hope you check it out later tonight (or tomorrow, I know it’s late)!
Thanks for the thought provoking post!
February 6th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Hi Summer, I discovered your site via MomBlogNetwork and glad I did.
Great post! I agree with most, especially nature “versus” nurture. When children are born, there personalities are first defined by nature. Period. As they develop, we, as parents, greatly contribute to shaping them.
Therefore, it’s important to let our children express themselves and refine the behavior (and personality) that nature has given them. How we raise them is the “nurture”, and it’s possible to make some boys more feminine and some girls more masculine. That’s something to keep in mind. Personally, I want education to cultivate the traits and talents that nature has given my children, and that means recognizing that they are different.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
[...] Boys: The Debate Goes On by Summer Minor The conversation lately on educating boys verses girls is still ongoing. It has ben interesting to see the ways that different people see this topic [...]
February 10th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
As a former homeschooling mom, my daughter is now attending Junior College, I appreciate your comment on how homeschooling can allow accommodate different learning styles and situations. Think how the number of ADD cases would decline if more parents homeschooled their active children.
February 11th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I thought your article was very interesting. I am with you in that I think nature and nurture both play a role in who someone turns out. I do, however, believe that on some level that women and men are different by nature, but nurture can make a difference in how they end up. I do think that on some level they will always be a little different.