Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Dealing with all of that male testerone
It's happened to me once again, and I cannot stand it. Once again, I've been given a class of mostly guys. Out of 19 students, there are only three girls (and very quiet ones at that). Also, half the class is made up of football and rugby players. You know the type. The real "men's men" type. Don't get me wrong. These are a great group of guys. They do their work, they don't complain (too much--they are high school students), and they're respectful and polite. However, they show no interest in anything. They do their work, but they are lifeless about it. I can give a literary assignment, they'll do it, but don't even think about getting them to share their opinions or asking them to discuss what they read. They just want to write their views down and move on. It is a completely unemotional group. The girls have become just as bad. They won't say anything because they are afraid of being made fun of by the guys for showing interest. How does one deal with this situation? How can you motivate a group of guys and get them to show some emotion when they have been trained not to show emotion, that emotion and interest are for girls? They just want facts and logic. That's it. Unfortunately, literature is not just facts and logic. It's about having a response to it. What to do?
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2 comments:
It is interesting that you bring up this situation because recently, a school district in Georgia has decided to segregate their student's by sex. Their argument is that since boys and girls learn differently, test scores and achievement should improve if the students are segregated by sex.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/feb/26/na-georgia-district-to-segregate-students-by-sex/?news-nationworld
I see their thinking behind this because teachers can build their lessons around the needs of each group. However, I sympathize with Donald's situation because it is hard to have genuine conversations about art with a group of rowdy teenage boys. If classes are evenly distributed with males and females, certain students will feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts. While
I havn't been put in a situation as severe as Donald's,
I understand his frustration. I say NO to segregatoin and NO to high testoterone levels in the classroom.
There is plenty of "art" in the world of sports. What makes good art is universal. Get their attention with "Their Art". Find the beauty in what they like and teach from there.
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