Rant about the boy unfriendliness of schools where I live

[Smoutwortel]

I've a very low view about the Quality of teaching where I live.
Today I will be complaining about how the schools make the world a lot harder for boys than for girls.
Not, because that's their primary problem, but because I've been reminded of this specific problem in more recent history.

First the things I actually blame the teachers for:
Gymnastics: girls get a simplified grade for a lot of things this would be no problem for the things they are actually hampered for by their biology and if this was also done by boys. The problem is that this is not the case.
A few examples:
- elementary school kids also get this difference in judgement, while the biological difference only shows up in the teenage years.
- depending on the teacher girls and boys either get judged equally or in favor to the girls by gymnastics, while boys are actually biological and sociological the less good in gymnastics than girls, because their excessive muscle and length growth means that they have to stretch their muscles way longer to get the same results.

Art:
Thanks to a family member of mine who studies pedagogy I finally know why boys like the art lessons less than the girls: they get judged by their ability to create art like a girl. Boys make art more object oriented and girls more subject oriented and the teachers judge by how well the subject is drawn.

Questioning:
Teachers tend to use long fused sentences to ask the Questions and boys handle that a lot worse than girls.
An example of such a Question: "draw a picture of the English flag, danish and french flag with a blue border and a star around it."

Writing:
In elementary school they will teach you to always write cursive, but in everything after that they will expect you to instinctively understand that they now want it in block. Girls seem to have a lot less trouble with this instinctive step and I don't understand how it could be a reasonable expectation of the students that they should see this coming.

Exception handling:
Due to the overly female staff boys are seen as "the exception" and thus more often send to schools for "special" kids.


Something I don't blame the teachers for:
The lack of male teachers causes a lack of role models for boys and a lack of understanding of their problems by the staff.

[Rydiro]

Those seem like minor obstacles.
Teaches the boys to overcome them in an adverse world.
Its pretty much in line with how masculinity is generally treated, they have to take obstacles by themselves.

[oogaboogagoblin]

so what? not to be an ******* but at most these are mild annoyances. its not "boy unfriendliness" its mild bias, coincidence, or you grasping at straws as far as i can see.

[Tyndmyr]

I've a very low view about the Quality of teaching where I live.
Today I will be complaining about how the schools make the world a lot harder for boys than for girls.
Not, because that's their primary problem, but because I've been reminded of this specific problem in more recent history.

That might well be a problem with the prescriptive style of education enforced by the whole Austrian model of teaching. It was designed to train good factory workers, and thus emphasized uniformity and conformation. The world is less factory focused nowadays, and it seems likely that individual differences are not well handled in many schools...be those differences in gender or for any other reason.

We don't need everyone to be exactly the same. A more self-driven, explorative model might be more useful for many kids. Montessori, etc sorts of schools have dabbled with this to some degree, and homeschooling probably takes an even more radical approach to this.

After all, even if we were measuring all boys together, surely there would be those who were more or less suited for gymnastics or any other task. If someone never learns to write cursive, that is probably not a great hindrance in the modern workplace. Outside of signing my name, I haven't had much cause to use it. If your area adopted a teaching style that focused on enabling the student to explore the subjects they find most interesting, you might see your complaints greatly reduced, entirely apart from gender.

[Sholos]

Citation needed on basically every claim made in the OP. Who exactly is saying that boys produce art that is object oriented versus subject? What does that even mean? Are you talking about still-lifes versus portraits? Because there's a LOT more to art than just that.

I also don't understand your complaints about questioning or writing. Are you saying that boys are inherently worse at figuring out complex sentences? It doesn't help that your example question is poorly worded as it could result in a number of different readings. And I'd love to see the study that determined boys have a harder time moving from cursive to block, especially since everyone I know hand writes in a mix of the two.

[Razade]

In fairness, they said it seems that boys have a harder time switching. I don't think they're talking about it as if it's some scientific finding. Your anecdotal "everyone I know" is just as valued as their "it seems to me" in that case Sholos. Some of the other stuff is stated as if it's just a fact, and at least with my time in the education system...it seems mostly just their personal conjecture. People do learn differently but it's not on some gender line.

[Liquor Box]

It seems possible that, because most educators are female, they teach in a way that is more intuitive to girls than to boyz. It's basically the inverse of the common argument that in parts of society dominated by men, things are structured in a way conducive to men rather than women. Possible, but not demonstrated to be true in my opinion.

If it is true though I think describing it as "a lot" harder is an exaggeration though. It might trend to being slightly more difficult.

[warty goblin]

There is a reasonable level of educational research that does in fact suggest that schools work better for girls than boys. IIRC some (not all) of this effect is due to girls being on average developmentally about 6-9 months ahead of boys at the same calendar age for much of primary and middle school. Girls also appear to be more motivated by adult praise than boys (again at a population level), though whether this is an inherent sex difference or cultural is debatable.

[Kurt Kurageous]

I'm a high school teacher. The following is a list of generalities and not meant to be classified as hate. I'm not an expert, and I am sharing an impression as a person who has looked at it with at least a casual interest.

To begin, boys are more engaged by competition, girls with cooperation.

Young boys have a generally greater need to run around and burn off excess (nervous?) energy. They have a much harder time learning if this need is not met.

Young girls do, too. The difference is the frequency required, much like the difference between a Jack Russell Terrier and a Basset Hound. They are both canines, both need exercise, one needs it more.

Compare the difference in education tactics and strategy in all boys private schools and all girls private schools. And note that the US Public system is closer to the girls schools than the boys.

Look at the male/female college enrollment and degrees awarded. Attend a college graduation.

Attend a high school graduation and note the accessories and regalia (indicative of extracurricular participation and academic achievement) relative to males and females. Attend several and note how many male valedictorians/salutatorians you see. Look up high school dropout rates (if you can find them!) for males vs females.

And then draw your own conclusion.

[Peelee]

I'm not an expert

My dad actually was an expert, but sadly I can't ask him about it.

[Vinyadan]

Here's a pretty long article that touches on these subjects. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/opinion/economy-education-women-men.html
I do generally see many more girls in lyceums and many more boys in professional and technical school, but that could be a local thing.