Summary Of The Gender Gap At School By David Brooks

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If the average adult was asked who they believe is smarter: a boy or a girl, chances are that the answers would be evenly distributed. The unfortunate truth is that girls have an unfair advantage in learning at their schools because of the way that curriculum is set up. In his piece “The Gender Gap at School” David Brooks explains how male students are not given an equal opportunity to maximize their learning potential in school and how we can fix this issue. This is a very concerning issue that if not fixed, could end up destroying future male generations. This trend can be fixed by separating male and female students into different classes, by rewarding students with positive reinforcement, and by teaching different curriculums. Male and …show more content…

It has been proven that “Women use both sides of their brains more symmetrically than men”, therefore teachers should also alter their methods of teaching to accommodate this (Brooks 391). Brooks states that boys wouldn’t be falling behind in school “… if teachers devised different curriculums to instill an equal love of reading in both boys and girls” (391). Currently, the curriculum favors females because “reading rates are falling three times as fast among young men as among young women” and “… men are drifting away from occupations that involve reading and school” (Brooks 391-392). As of now, the curriculum is set up in a way that girls are reaping the benefits of the system while boys are slowly losing interest and hurting their future. Sax states “that men and women can excel at any subject. They just have to be taught in different ways” (Brooks 392). The current construction of the curriculum is in dire need of change because “It just turns many of the[m] [boys] into high school and college dropouts who hate to read (Brooks 392). Some may say that it is the boys’ problem that they aren’t learning at the rate of the girls, but shouldn’t the teacher be at blame for not being able to relate and accommodate to all the student’s needs? Does it not feel like if a specific gender is performing at a higher level than the other gender that there is some type of bias in the instruction method? These issues would be fixed if we introduce two different curriculums that excite students and allow them to strive for their best

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