February 2003

Accelerated Learning newsletter, February 2003

This month we look at the perennial question of gender in education, focusing on brain differences between boys and girls and what this might mean to the classroom. In the same vein, we see how one pyramid’s success with boys has led to the rolling out of these strategies across the LEA. We bring you some of their ideas, together with the usual collection of tips, recommended reading, something to make you smile and Part IV of the popular 20/20 vision series.

Gender: Does Brain Difference Mean Learning Difference?

That men and women are different is undisputable. Our bodies are obviously different; our behaviour is different, and our brains are different too. Researchers frequently discover physiological differences between the brains of men and women. But do structural differences account for thinking and learning differences and, if so, should these affect the way we teach? Three recent research findings convey the complexity of the issue.

White matter and getting lost

Although men generally have larger brains, men and women consistently score equally well on intelligence tests. However, some recent research by Drs Ruben and Raquel Gur, M.D. of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Centre, showed that the men scored higher on tests related to spatial skills while the women were more proficient at verbal tests. This is because of the proportional difference between white and grey matter in men and women’s brains.

Male brains, they found, have a higher volume of cerebrospinal fluid and white matter. White matter facilitates the transfer of information across the brain, thus creating an individual's sense of spatial orientation. Female brains, on the other hand, are denser in grey matter, consisting of neuronal cell tissue and connection-making dendrites, which enable women to make quick computations. These differences make men and women different types of thinkers. In navigating their way around somewhere new, for example, men would tend to use their more highly developed spatial skills, whilst women would depend on their neuronal ability to link things together quickly to identify sequences of landmarks and figure out how they all connect. One method is not necessarily better than the other, just different.

Mathematical skills

Is the male brain innately better for spatial tasks? This view is supported by the work of Dr. Godfrey Pearlson, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Behaviour Science & Mental Hygiene at Johns Hopkins University Medical School and director of the Division of Psychiatric Neuro-Imaging. In an ongoing series of studies he has found that a part of the brain, the inferior parietal lobe, is generally larger in male brains after other factors are adjusted for, than in females. The inferior parietal lobe is involved in spatial and mathematical reasoning skills, at which boys tend to perform better than girls. However, we must be careful in jumping to conclusions, says Pearson; what we’re seeing are differences between groups of males and females, not between individuals. Of course, individual girls and boys vary—sometimes wildly—from one to the next.

Hormonal activity

According to research conducted by Sally Shaywitz, M.D. and colleagues at Yale University, anatomical differences are not all that separate how men and women's brains function; hormonal differences may also play a part. Oestrogen, it appears, may contribute to the brain's capacity for reading. This conclusion was reached after post-menopausal women who were given oestrogen showed more pronounced activity in the left hemisphere as they encoded words or figures, and more activity in the right hemisphere as they retrieved these stimuli than a control group given only a placebo. This provides a possible explanation for why women generally perform better on language tests than men, as the oestrogen appeared to affect the relevant brain circuitry.

The point? Be careful about causal links between one isolated research activity and an explanation as to how boys and girls learn! There are sex differences within each individual brain. Male-female differences are most marked at the extremes of ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’, and incapable of distinction at the overlap. Brain research alone does not yet justify sitting boys next to girls, or encouraging boys’ earlier language development, or girls to be more competitive!

Signposts – Behavioural Research

So what is it that women tend to be better at and vice versa? According to studies of behavioural differences, results that as yet cannot be attributed to brain function difference, the following lists can be drawn up. (from The Brain’s Behind It, Alistair Smith, Network Educational Press, 2001)

Females are better at:

• tasks which involve perceptual speed such as the ability to rapidly identify matching items

• most language functions

• tasks of ideational fluency e.g. list objects of the same colour and on verbal fluency e.g., words, which begin with the same letter

• tasks which involve arithmetic calculation

• remembering whether an object or a series of objects has been displaced

• controlling distal musculature - muscles further from the trunk

• precise manual control such as replicating finger-tip touching patterns

• co-ordinating several movements together

• rapid access and retrieval of information from memory

• landmark as opposed to geometrical navigation

• remembering faces and associating them with feelings

• studying by separating things out , practising until successful then moving on to the next.

Males are better at:

• tasks which are spatial in nature such as navigation in two and three dimensions, and maze performance,

• mechanical skills including assembling pictures, manipulating blocks and mental rotation of objects

• Guiding or intercepting projectiles using gross motor movement

• Simple repetitive movements such as hitting a single key

• tasks which involve mathematical calculation

• seeing and thinking in concepts and patterns, finding abstract relationships and forming links between them

• concentrating on an abstract idea or theorem and dissociating it from other 'distracting' information.

• disembedding shapes from surroundings

• covert counting (in their heads).

• persisting longer in covert retrieval (answering from memory)

• geometrical as opposed to landmark navigation

• atomising a task and therefore persisting with it (mature males).
  

Such general findings as those above are yet to be proved by neuroscience. But it is still useful to study behavioural differences between males and females. The actress, Jane Fonda is interested enough to donate $12.5 million to Harvard Graduate School of Education. With the money a Centre for Gender and Education will be established.

A better deal all round!

So what should be done, if anything? Here are some observations and suggestions. There are many, many exceptions: what we identify are some patterns.

The Early Years
From the moment they are born boys and girls are treated differently by the adults in their lives:

• Boys are encouraged to be more physical in their play and are bought toys and talked to in ways which reinforce this expectation

• Boys are more likely to be bought video and computer games

• Computer software for the early years is highly stereotyped

• Boys talk less as they play

• Girls are given less space to play in and are dressed in clothes which make exploratory play more difficult

• Girls spend more time in the presence of, and thus listening to, adults

• Girls are encouraged to talk about themselves, about motivations and behaviours

• Boys’ vocabulary is less reflective and more active

Some patterns of School Behaviours

• Boys are heavily influenced by prevailing peer culture

• Girls get praise for neatness, accuracy but not risk taking and behaviour

• Boys get praised for engagement with task, completion and behaviour

• There is an expectation that boys will be more robust, misbehave more, be irreverent and skilled in diversionary endeavour

• There is an expectation that girls will co-operate, bring resources and equipment and be better at focused engagement

• Boys prefer aural and kinesthetic work to extended writing

• Boys often operate at JIT and BM – ‘just in time’ and ‘bare minimum’- and are often expected to do so

• Language skills can seem irrelevant and mundane to boys

Groups

• Boys dominate groups especially without a pre-designated role

• Group work without clearly demarcated outcomes and time frames exacerbated boys stereotypical behaviours

• Placing boys and girls in mixed groups without careful prior preparation exaggerates gender difference behaviours

• Girls find it easier to work collaboratively, without undue concerns about status and hierarchy

• Girls need more opportunities to learn in mixed groups and thus develop a wider range of strategies for assuming responsibility, be assertive, share thinking and take risks

• Quieter boys and girls can be overwhelmed by boisterous and dominant behaviour and lack the assertiveness to get their voices heard
  

South Birmingham Networked Learning Community

Five Junior Schools and one Primary School in South Birmingham are focusing on accelerated learning and on thinking skills as part of their collaborative three year project. With support from the National Primary Trust, Newman Teacher Training College and the Local Advisory Service, the sic schools are actively looking to form alliances with schools and clusters who have experience in this area. The community also include leadership, research, ICT and networking amongst their priority areas. If you are interested in forming alliances with this group or nay other in the UK or abroad contact us directly via the website and we will pass your messages on.

Learning the FA way…

Alite have finally been endorsed as the English Football Association’s designated learning consultants. In a two stage project spread over three years, Alite will work with the FA to develop a unique learning philosophy and then begin to apply that philosophy to all the FA Coaching, Training and Development programmes. Alite chairman Alistair Smith has found his old tracksuit and quietly removed the Scotland badge.

Cliff Hopwood’s Big Adventure

The sporting family Hopwood are heading for New Zealand and taking their bikes with them. Alite trainer Cliff Hopwood has donned his padded pants and he and the family are set to cycle the length of New Zealand – north and south – in the cause of charity, restlessness and adventure. They do plan to come back. If you should wish to sponsor Cliff contact Melanie at the Alite Office for details

The Best on Motivation and Learning – Manchester, 11th April

Alite’s Motivation and Learning Northern Conference is on 11 April at Manchester’s Renaissance Hotel. This prestigious conference is likely to prove very popular so book early!

The line up includes 12 Case Study Presentations and Keynotes from:

• Tanni Grey-Thompson, international athlete – ‘motivation and the top performer’
• Dr Mike Gibbons, Lead Director Innovation Unit – ‘motivated to innovate’
• Alistair Smith – ‘the science and sense of motivation and learning’
• Dame Jean Else, Headteacher – ‘motivation and your school’

The Case Studies include three strands - LEA, Primary and Secondary - and three themes - innovation, leadership and collaboration.

Find out about an authority wide approach to Thinking for Learning and about how another large authority helped teachers to think and teach outside the box. Discover a Primary school which uses learning to motivate pupils, staff and parents and does so with spectacular success; how to introduce a multiple intelligence programme in your school; the City Learning Centre which integrates technology and thinking skills; two Secondary schools with a radical and shared approach to Accelerated Learning; a whole school holistic approach to motivation and learning in a secondary which started from challenging circumstances; how to combine thinking skills and accelerated learning – and more!
For full details visit the Alite website at www.alite.co.uk.

The Kirklees Pyramid approach

Some research suggests that differences emerge during the pre-school stages, and are found at all stages of primary and secondary schooling. Such gloomy news spurred a pyramid of schools in Kirklees to work on raising the achievement of their boys nearly a decade ago. They realised the importance of starting as early as possible in the schooling of each child. Consequently, Newsome, the High School of the pyramid, has seen the average gender gap at GCSE (5 A*-C’s) reduce by over 15% as both boys and girls’ performance continues to rise.

Through structured discussions with boys aged between four and 11, the pyramid began by identifying attitudes that seemed to affect the boys’ learning. These included the desire to be involved in active play, sometimes to the exclusion of all else; a growing disenchantment with perceived ‘girlie’ things, like reading; and the apparent disinterest in presenting work neatly.

After exploring the reasons behind these attitudes, the pyramid devised several strategies to help engender a more positive attitude to learning amongst the boys. What seemed most important, though, was that the boys knew that they were being monitored and that the strategies were designed to help them.

Gary Wilson, currently seconded from Newsome High School to Kirklees Education Authority as Raising Boys' Achievement Coordinator, puts much of the success down to the schools working in partnership. Sharing knowledge of the children (and the same communities) enabled them to track the pupils more easily and to develop a consistency in their approach to raising the boys’ achievement. And, as both boys and girls’ attainment rises, the difference between the genders diminishes.

Some strategies for encouraging boys:

• Develop peer tutoring systems (including paired writing)
• Introduce shared reading (pairing trained, competent boy readers with those of low self-esteem)
• Group pupils carefully from nursery onwards to provide specific learning opportunities
• Develop strong home-school partnerships, including encouraging the older males at home in early work on reading (studies have shown that parental and societal stereotyping affect the achievements of boys)
• Monitor teacher talk (there is evidence to suggest that, although teachers believe they treat boys and girls the same, it rarely seems to be the case)
• Devise clearly structured lessons, connected to their learning with outcomes made clear
• Evaluate the gender bias of resources and topics for study
• Enhance self-esteem through rewards and display of work
• Make references to appropriate role models (Steven Biddulph says that children are “role-seeking missiles”)
• Have high expectations of them (build in challenge to engage and enhance performance and set stepped, achievable targets)
• Talk to the boys themselves to discover their expectations and aspirations, their fears and concerns, and support and encourage them every step of the way.

Gary Wilson will be one of the twelve Case Study presenters at Alite’s Motivation and Learning Conference on 11 April at Manchester’s Renaissance Hotel.

Some readings – Gender and Learning

• Biddulph, S. (1997) Raising Boys. Thorsons
• Bleach, K. (ed) (1998) Raising Boys’ Achievement in Schools. Trentham Books
• Gurian, M. (2002) Boys and Girls Learn Differently! A Guide for Teachers and Parents. Jossey-Bass
• Moir, A. and Jessell, D. (1991) Brainsex: The Real Difference Between Men and Women.
• Millard, E (1997) Differently Literate: The Schooling of Boys and Girls. London, Falmer Press
• Neall, Lucinda. (2002) Bringing the Best Out in Boys: Communication Strategies for Teachers, Hawthorn Press, Stroud
• Noble, C., Brown, J. and Murphy, J. (2001) How to Raise Boys’ Achievement. David Fulton

Muddled Metaphors of the Month

With thanks to Frank Burke and Alan Flinton. The following are taken from English language exam papers.

The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

McMurphy fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a paper bag filled with vegetable soup.

He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds that had also never met.

Alite for Numeracy

Ex-professional footballer and mathematics genius Chris Tomlinson will be presenting another of his acclaimed accelerated learning-based numeracy training days in London on 3rd March for Primary schools. Drawing on his extraordinary success using AL to teach maths, Chris shares a wealth of innovative and effective ways to develop and improve your numeracy strategy. The course may also be booked as an INSET. For reviews and more details please visit the website at www.alite.co.uk

Coaching for Performance with Will Thomas

Performance Coaching is of real value to teachers and educational leaders who want to get the best performances from students and colleagues.

Coaching is a powerful process, specifically targeted at helping others to achieve their maximum potential. The programme is closely focused on promoting independent thinking and empowered problem solving in others. The course is packed full of relevant coaching theory and performance enhancing techniques. It offers you the opportunity to understand the psychology of performance and develop the practical skills of coaching excellence.

Will Thomas is a Training Consultant and Performance Coach who works with individuals from school age to old age. He is a former Head of Faculty in a large comprehensive school and has used coaching extensively to enable people to maximise performance and overcome personal barriers to success.

Coaching for Performance takes place on 2nd April in Manchester at the Le Meridian Hotel. Places on the course are limited. Full details are available on the website at www.alite.co.uk

Alite public courses coming soon

Full details and dates for all our courses and conferences are available on the website. Book online now.

• Accelerated Learning in the Classroom with Alistair Smith
• Alite Masterclass Series with Alistair Smith and Paul Ginnis
• Alite National Conference, Manchester – The Best on Motivation and Learning
• Alite 4 Numeracy with Chris Thomlinson
• How to Create an Accelerated Learning School with Mark Lovatt
• Coaching for Performance with Will Thomas
• Train the Trainer with Alistair Smith
• Alite 2003 National Conference, London – Making It Happen

20/20 Vision: 20 ideas for transforming motivation, teaching and learning (Part IV)

The 20/20 Vision is where we offer some radical and not so radical ideas to transform your school. Don’t take them all too seriously!

1. Re-design the school planner to include, motivational sayings on each page, writing frames, target setting cards, to do lists, marking proformas, key words by subject, the best websites to visit by subject and problem solving templates
2. Employ part-time staff whose job it is to phone or contact parents whose children are absent from school
3. Ban smiley faces, ticks and crosses for marking in workbooks
4. Change groupings in science at the end of first term in year 7, which is when boys have just begun to dominate lessons
5. Have a mini-baccalaureate for multiple intelligence at platinum, gold, silver and bronze for KS3 pupils
6. Introduce juggling and circus skills classes for pupils
7. Get involved in the RSA Opening Minds Project which focuses on teaching five competencies: learning to learn, citizenship, relating to people, managing information and managing situations
8. Provide ‘how to help your child's learning’ classes for parents as part of consultation evening
9. Set up a school radio station, then get an FM licence and set up a community radio station
10. Give classroom assistants responsibility points for taking on functions such as careers, library, assistant year head,
11. Place small whiteboards next to larger board on which outcomes, key questions and key words are recorded prior to each lesson
12. Teach breathing and meditation techniques and mental rehearsal of success patterns to exam sufferers
13. Every department to put the levels into plain English and mount a display of such levels in their department area
14. Use standardised assessment proformas for pupils to self assess work, staple the proforma into the book and have parents add comments
15. Elect to teach classes in bigger numbers higher up the school and smaller classes, focussing on independent study skills, further down
16. Ban all holidays in term time
17. Have a testimonial wall, comprising letters from ex-pupils of all ages saying, on a page, what they are doing and what their advice is
18. Provide laptops for all teachers to help record, input and share all assessment and other pupil data, such as attendance and details of any SEN
19. ‘Do up’ the toilets, putting in artwork, mirrors and plants
20. Use consultation evenings for target setting and target review: agree a target setting proforma, assemble the targets in the proforma and discuss the specific targets with pupil and parent(s)

For all 20/20 Vision ideas for transforming motivation, teaching and learning see the scrolling list at www.alite.co.uk

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