Teaching Girls
Dani Ensminger
Embedded Files
Pictured: Moving image of two animal friends studying
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
Be able to distinguish the different learning styles between boys and girls.
Determine the understanding of the connection between female teachers and girls.
List different/new ways we can teach and empower girls in the classroom.
Teaching girls has been a topic discussed throughout history. Initially, the topic was "Should we teach girls?" Now, the topic is "How should we teach girls?" History has shown us how girls have been seen throughout the years; letting women into the educational fields was a recent advancement. In this lesson, we will discuss how girls learn in the classroom and explore effective ways to teach them in the long run. As you read through this lesson, you should be able to answer the review questions at the end and have something to take away from this lesson!
Let's look into a scenario where we can teach girls--
Here we have an example of a young girl in her science classroom. Let's call her Amelia! Amelia loves science and looks forward to learning every day. On this day, her usual science teacher isn't here, and instead, a substitute comes in to teach. The substitute begins to ask questions, and Amelia raises her hand to answer. The sub looks at her, but then looks behind her and calls on the boy behind her to answer. Amelia is a bit confused as he looks right at her, but figures the boy raised his hand first. However, throughout the class, Amelia raises her hand and tries to participate, but the sub continues to call on boys in the class.
Here we have an example of a young girl in her science classroom. Let's call her Amelia! Amelia loves science and looks forward to learning every day. On this day, her usual science teacher isn't here, and instead, a substitute comes in to teach. The substitute begins to ask questions, and Amelia raises her hand to answer. The sub looks at her, but then looks behind her and calls on the boy behind her to answer. Amelia is a bit confused as he looks right at her, but figures the boy raised his hand first. However, throughout the class, Amelia raises her hand and tries to participate, but the sub continues to call on boys in the class.
Amelia grows more and more confused as to why she hasn't been called on. She notices that the sub has only called on the boys in class to answer his questions. Soon, the bell rings, and once other students leave, Amelia works up the courage to ask the substitute why he won't call on her. "Excuse me," starts Amelia, "I noticed that when I raise my hand, you look at me, but don't call on me. You've only called on the boys in class, why won't you call on me or any other girls?" The sub looks surprised at her asking this question. "Oh! I didn't think you actually knew this material, so I assumed you raised your hand to ask to use the bathroom. I thought the boys in this class knew the answer better and understood it more. After all, this is a boy's topic." Amelia stood there, quietly shocked. She processed what he said, and without another word, grabbed her stuff and left. "What?! A boy's topic?" She thought to herself. "Why would he assume I didn't know anything... And why does he think the boys understood better? Is science a subject meant for boys only? Why is that?"
She thinks long and hard about why she feels this way. As her parent comes to pick her up from school, Amelia begins to ask questions. "Can I ask a question? Is science only meant for boys? My teacher said it was a boy's topic, does that mean I can't like science?"
NOW- Imagine you are Amelia's parent in this moment. What is something you would say to her to teach her that fits in with learning about teaching girls?
Pictured: An AI-generated image of a young girl in her science class, excited to learn.
Pictured: An AI-generated image of a young girl talking to a substitute teacher; she is upset with him.
Pictured: An AI-generated image of a young girl sitting in a car, looking sad.
Reflection
Reflecting on what I have researched and experienced, there is importance in understanding female students, as well as how we can teach them more effectively, and their male counterparts. Teachers should design lessons that include and encourage female students, while also recognizing the positive role that female educators play in supporting girls’ aspirations (Card et al., 2022; Evans & Le Nestour, 2019). As a future teacher, I have learned that encouraging girls to take risks, value collaboration, and embrace the idea of “bravery over perfection” can help them thrive (Lead, 2021). The only limit young girls and students have is the limits put on them by those around them. We remove those limits and we see how far they can go.
Put your knowledge to the test!
See if you learned from this lesson and can answer these two questions!
Which of these examples are important to teach girls?
A. Collaborating with classmates.
B. Letting them take the stage in class.
C. Separating the classroom by gender.
D. Singling them out in a classroom.
Imagine you are teaching a history class, and you notice the boys dominate class discussions while the girls stay quiet. What strategies could you apply to encourage equal participation?
A. Call out all the girls for not talking and pushing them to speak up for themselves.
B. Let the students talk amongst themselves, and don't intervene in how they handle their lesson.
C. Only call on those who raise their hands and focus on those who want to learn.
D. Place students in small groups and give girls leadership roles to help them speak out.
References
Baker, D. R. (2018). Teaching for gender differences. NARST. https://narst.org/research-matters/teaching-for-gender-difference
Card, D., Domnisoru, C., Sanders, S. G., Taylor, L., & Udalova, V. (2022). The impact of female teachers on female students' lifetime well-being (No. w30430). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Evans, D., & Le Nestour, A. (2019, May 23). Are female teachers better for girls’ education? . Center for Global Development. https://www.cgdev.org/blog/are-female-teachers-better-girls-education
Jacobs, C. E., Kuriloff, P. J., Andrus, S. H., & Cox, A. B. (2014). Reaching girls. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(1), 68-73.
Lead, F. (2021b, November 16). Teaching girls bravery instead of perfection. The Female Lead. https://www.thefemalelead.com/post/teaching-girls-bravery-instead-of-perfection-in-the-classroom
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2023, November 20). Equity vs. Equality: Differences & Examples. https://www.aecf.org/blog/equity-vs-equality
How I used AI
I used AI in this lesson when generating images of the girl and the substitute teacher. I used Canva AI Generator to make the images. The AI I used was beneficial in creating an image I had in my head for the specific scenario I wanted. It also helped me realize that most AI tools never have the same image or character in them, so it took a few tries to get the same-looking character. https://www.canva.com/ai
AI in the process was difficult at times to navigate. I tried to use a couple of other sources at first, but they wouldn't generate the correct prompts I wanted. Another annoyance I have with AI is that when an image is generated and you want to generate a similar image, it will not generate the same characters or background as the first one. I did not use AI for my writing and only used it for generating the scenario images.
I am not the biggest fan of AI use, but I will say that the use in this class has changed my perspective on it. I have used AI in previous assignments for the class regarding writing. Sometimes AI can help write by providing helpful phrasing and ideas on how to write a sentence. My policy for AI is not to use it for my work, as I believe it won't help me learn and will just tell me answers I want or whatever I want to hear.
Answers: 1: A 2: D
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