How do we motivate boys to learn to read and write?
Ben was six. Before walking into my classroom for the first time I already knew he had an anger issue, he was disruptive, and he was not showing progress as he should.
On meeting him, I immediately liked him. He communicated directly, contributed to group discussions, and while he did get easily angered when frustrated, he was also able to take on board some simple behavioral techniques to manage his emotions.
But he was not at all interested in reading.
As he turned headed towards seven, he was put forward for special reading assistance. Nothing was making an impact, so I sat down with him and asked him one very simple question, “Ben, don’t you want to learn how to read?”
His answer? “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s that I don’t need to.”
I was shocked—of course he needed to read! So I asked him why he believed it wasn’t so important.
He replied, “I’m going to be a builder when I grow up, and builders don’t need to know how to read.”
I was a little dumbstruck. Ben wasn’t lazy, or slow as others had thought. Instead he was envisioned, focused and choosing to put his energy into the things he believed mattered.
There was an easy fix for this—I invited a builder to come into the school and talk t him about why he needed to read for his job, and how it helped him every day, and Ben was a changed boy.
Within ten weeks he was not only reading on a par with his peers, but was in the top reading group, and much of his frustrated behavior also reduced.
Part of the issue with many boys in education is that they are often driven to seek the higher purpose of a task. A girl tends to be driven by a desire to please—her survival process (whether we like it or not), is to keep the adult who is responsible for her on her side, and she does this by being compliant, and willing to do what is asked of her. This fits our education system far better than a boy’s all too common desire to survive through independence, and exploration.
A boy needs to know why. What is the reason for learning this? Does it fit in with his plan? He’s not particularly interested in YOUR plan, if it’s not in line with HIS plan. We need to create a need for him, before we provide the solution.
In early years this can be helped by adding clipboards, and paper and pens to the process before letting boys loose with carpentry tools, or with blocks or Lego. Give them the option of drawing down their ideas. Help them make lists of the materials they might need, and help them get to a point where they are frustrated that they can’t record their findings the way they need to during a scientific process, because they cannot not yet write. Through that haze of frustration, we can provide them the solution of teaching them how to read and write.
We need to tap into the types of books and writing young boys love. Create signs to tell birds to keep off the garden, or create books made of photos of thier favorite Lego creations, or block work, with their pointers of how they created them. (Boys’ art tends to be non-permanent creations, whereas girls’ art tends to be beautifully two dimensional, and far easier to keep and store.) Use non fiction books as reference books and the internet to explore fascinations.
Instead of us trying to fit boys into a girl styled education system, let’s reshape the process to fit them and how they learn best. Isn’t that what teaching to the individual needs is all about?
Read more in Education.
Image credit: woodleywonderworks/Flickr
Rachel – Thank you for bringing up this important issue, but…..Really? “Ben was six. Before walking into my classroom for the first time I already knew he had an anger issue, he was disruptive, and he was not showing progress as he should.” Seriously? How would you feel if someone wrote,”the pretty little 6 year old girl, was dressed in pink frilly lace, I knew she would never like science. She would only want to play with dolls.” I’m glad you talked with him and invited someone to your classroom to spark his interest in reading. But, as a teacher,… Read more »
Hi Thank you for your reply I fear I won’t respond in the fullness you deserve- but I’m just about to step into a workshop, then have a full schedule for four days- and wanted to reply First- I was told Ben had anger issues by the AP, his previous teacher and his parents. I went in with their thoughts in mind, but quickly disregarded their perception when I saw why and how his anger was represented, and helped him work through it. I personally. I am delighted you an advocate of Reggio. Me too! 🙂 The school this was… Read more »
Great article and insights. I teach English at a Midwestern university, and I will definitely implement your suggestion to explain the purpose of our assignments and activities. I’ve already tried doing this, but I am sure I can emphasize purpose more frequently, clearly, and tangibly. Thanks!
I always liked reading, but I didn’t like school literature. Maybe teachers should look for books that are fun to read (like Winnie Pooh for starters) and not for books that you should have read.
I also think it is helpful to let boys know there are GREAT stories that could interest them reading wise. I never needed encouragement to read, but I found that there were so many stories worth exploring. I got my first library card when I was five, and that summer I read every single Hardy Boys book that existed at the time. I also read lots of books about military planes and guns and war. If more books in school were aligned with a boy’s interests, he’d be more inclined to read.
As the mom of a 7 year old boy, this really hits home. I think there’s also a place for allowing children to come to reading and writing when they’re ready. We push it on all kids from preschool, but I know enough children who jumped whole-heartedly into reading at 7 or 8 or 9, rather than 4 or 5 to say that some kids are interested in other things first. I also think it’s a mistake to say that this type of teaching – engaging the child’s interest first in order to stimulate their desire to learn – is… Read more »
I think trying to think of the differences between the minds of boys and girls as superficial is going to bite you Lorraine. These differences aren’t superficial or cultural in nature, or at least not completely. The differences are evolutionary linked to thousands of years of human history and human biology. Certainly education can be changed to better engage girls, but that really doesn’t mean what aids or benefits one gender will necessarily benefit the other gender to an equal amount. In my opinion the big issue with education today is we try to treat all children the same, which… Read more »
I am thinking of more of a middle ground. The thing is, single-sex education can greatly benefit a large number of boys and girls out there who learn the way that children of their particular sex tend to learn best at, some are simply more comfortable with being only with kids of the same sex as them, and sometimes really motivated teachers get themselves in to these sorts of jobs. It really doesn’t work in some cases, even when done well. A girl who is legally blind had huge difficulties seeing in her all-girl classroom, where the lights were a… Read more »
I’m not sure why you think that I “think the differences between the minds of boys and girls [are] superficial,” since I didn’t say that and I don’t think it. My point was that there might be broad differences (on a population level) between the way boys and girls learn, but it’s a mistake to generalize and try to teach all boys or all girls in a particular way because of their gender.
I actually think you and I were trying to make the same point – teach to the individual child.