The Education of Boys

I've been receiving an internet newsletter about caregiving called Anchors and Sails for some two years now. In it, the author sends along write ups of recent research she's dug up. Here's an excerpt from a recent edition on the education of boys:

"Chris Spence played football, then studied education and taught school in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario. Along the way he became convinced that boys learn differently from girls, that they need more physical activity and that one of the reasons they score poorly in schools was that education was not noticing their unique needs. Spence is now education director at the Toronto District School Board and has announced Oct 2009 a new policy for the board. He wants full service school with facilities for the entire family, better digital technology in classrooms, more green energy initiatives but most of all, he wants to set up the province’s first all-boy elementary public school. He says that boys need strong role models in a ‘fatherless’ world, and notes with dismay that in Toronto public schools last year boys were suspended 3.5 times more than were girls. Glenmerry Elementary School in Trail BC has had some all boy and all girls classes and district board chair says boys’ test scores there have improved significantly. Spence also wrote a book “The Joys of Teaching Boys.” The school he is proposing would be kindergarten to grade 3."

If you would like more information, you can email the author at bevgsmith@alumni.ucalgary.ca