This part of the book focuses on what boys like to do and why they do it. The fact that boys are getting a bit of negative attention for falling short in school (this being a generalization) is a narrow view, they are in fact succeeding in other aspects of their lives. "If boys are successful outside of school, then it raises the question of whether it's the context or the kids that are to blame for their problems in school." (Smith & Wilhelm, 2002). They set out to develop a study; to have the boys that they were working with to rank the activities they most enjoyed and explain why. They then interviewed the boys one on one. Excerpts from the interviews are used to re-enforce the concepts that they addressed in the rest of the book. For the sake of this section, they focus on the activities that the boys enjoy doing. What they found was that the boys that the were working with did not fall in line with some of the defined generalizations of other studies. Rather then looking toward gender oriented studies, Wilhelm and Smith look to the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist that researches a concept central to some of the ideas in this book which he calls "flow".
"Flow" according to Csikszentmihalyi is "joy, creativity, the process of total involvement in life" and his research is based on the simple premise that "more than anything else, men and women seek happiness". Wilhelm and Smith narrow down the flow experience into four main characteristics
1. A sense of control and competence: The consensus among the boys interviewed was that they liked to engage in activities that they enjoyed doing and were good at. The feel ing of cotrol and competence in an activity was important to them
2. A challenge that requires an appropriate level of skill: Being challenged was an important factor in the level of engagement. If the boys weren't challenged in a particular activity, they would likely lose interest. The same was true if the challenge was beyond their achievement, they would likely avoid the effort. Self-efficacy was important. With regards to the reading in school, some of the boys felt overmatch or had a hard time getting into the reading, particularly the more aesthetic texts like novels and plays.
3. Clear goals and feedback: This relates to being challenged, overcoming that challenge and gaining a sense of competence and having immediate feedback was important. For example, reading a novel does not provide an immediate feedback like more efferent instructional text do. The same is true of magazines and newspapers.
4. A focus on the immediate experience: "To these boys, the immediate experience was key" (Smith & Wilhelm, 2002).
These elements of "flow" are re-enforced and supported by the Vygotskian theory of ZPD (zone of proximal development) referenced by the authors on pages 37 and 40 "which stresses that learning can only occur when the learners are challenged and is able to perform with assistance what he or she would not be able to do alone". With that being said, there is a social aspect of which is very important. as was mentioned before, it's always better with friends.
Now, I know this post is about school children, but I feel like I follow this same method with my own boyfriend. Because he is a man, and I a woman, I think it's important for him to feel like he is in control of particular situations, even when we fight. Setting clear expectations for the relationship is key, and giving feedback is something that I also do. It's funny that this study revealed this is how some boys learn, as I am finding that I do some of these things in my own relationship.
ReplyDeleteBack to the educational aspect of it, I think the whole topic of how men and women need to be treated differently because they learn differently is fascinating. It has nothing to do with sexism, we are all just wired different. I think creating a constant challenge, but having the goals attainable and making the kids feel like they are in control of their own projects/ grades is spot on. I'm really enjoying your posts because I find this topic so fascinating. Cheers!
I went to a singe sex school on exchange in high school for a year (in Australia) and I really wish that we followed the same ideas here in the US, or at least had options available. I also did a year of student teaching in England at a single sex school (kinder).
ReplyDeleteI know that as my kids go through middle school, i really, really wish we would explore single sex schools. We are trying everything else to "fix" our failing schools, so why do we seem to shun single sex campuses? In my opinion, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. I would love to explore and read more research and wish it was easily attainable here in the Southwest. :)
I've read how simple things such as a few degrees temperature in the classroom can affect how boys and girls perform. Or how boys do better standing, and moving around as they are allowed to work. Older kids wouldn't be so self-conscious about speaking out in a classroom if they weren't worried about how they looked to the opposite sex as a insecure 13 year old. We have plenty of time to learn how to socially interact with the opposite sex. I don't see what the rush is. I would rather have a very self-sonfident, sure of herself, able to speak and voice her opinion child than one who spends an hour straightening her hair every morning, fighting with so called friends over who likes who and who is stealing whose boyfriend at age 14. just sayin'. Kids need opportunities to explore and find out who they are as they approach the teen years and into high school. I think the schools can help with this more than do and create safe environments for kids to try different hats on as they grow.