Staff Training

5 September 2011

FemaleDolls

Story completionPeople

Male

CarAction

ImmediateObjects

Peer Group

Collaborative CompetitiveHierarchical

Female Male

Male strengths

Confidence

Risk-taking

Problem solving

Speculative thinking

The Average MaleDoes first and then (hopefully) thinks!Likely weaknesses

Linear process skillsCommunication skillsReflective thinking skillsAttention to detailWriting skillsReading skillsOverestimates ability

Female Strengths

Communication SkillsReflective ThinkingCollaborative WorkingPeople SkillsAttention to detailLinear process skills

The Average FemaleThinks first then (hopefully) does!Likely weaknesses

Risk averseOverworksGuiltBlames herselfOverly detailedSpeculative thinkingUnderestimates her abilities

Hierarchy of LanguageDescriptive

Reflective

Speculative

How

Why

If

Boys generally miss out the reflective step

Boys need time and space

Boys do first, then think

Girls think first, then do

Boys – failure averse

Girls – risk averse

Hands up?Boys want to answer but won’t have thought it through so can’t answer the question – “Why?”

Remember Girls instinctively want to impress their teacherBoys want to impress their peers

WritingFor boys writing can switch them offMoving around keeps boys engaged

Instead of – think then write Try – think, communicate, write

Writing alone will not help children to remember. Try – read / read aloud, think, communicate, write

StrategiesReading aloud

Guided reading

Paired reading

Boy + girl seating has significant impact on improvement and makes the classroom environment safer for talking and learning

Go for Five

• Think of five possible solutions to a problem and then select the best

• Think of five reasons why something might have happened before deciding on the most probable

• Try to find five reasons for something and five reasons against something before making a decision

• Find five good things and five bad things• Find five unknown things prior to seeking

information

To develop speculative and reflective thinking skills