Does A Teachers Gender Play A Role In Education?

[Wyrm]

Well, it's been proven that boys learn at a different rate from girls, so classrooms that are single-gender do promote better learning. This is the first I've heard of teachers following that idea as well though, but it does seem to make sense. The study in the article was based on 8th graders, who never really pay attention to anything anyway, so if we can find a way to make them listen more, I say go for it. I don't really remember my elementary years, but I was taught (like most people I'd imagine) primarily by women until I got to college.

The woman they had, Greenberger, counter-arguing the guy cracked me up a little.

"I don't think there are many parents or students, looking back over their educational careers, who haven't been inspired by a teacher of the opposite sex," she said.

I guess being inspired by 1 teacher who has a passion for something you're probably already interested in > field data that looks at general classroom learning. I'm not really certain how/why a lawyer should be commenting on this anyway...

I think the other commentator, Weaver, hit it closer to the mark when they said

"Students benefit by having exposure to teachers who look like them, who can identify with their culture ... but this is just one variable among many," Weaver said.

As for myself, I would think it's infinitely more important to get a good teacher that has a passion for teaching and is sensative to the fact that boys and girls learn differently rather than to take mediocre teachers and put them with same-gender students just because of a statistic.