Jun. 13, 2006 - 20:02 MDT

VARIED DIET

Interesting, and something I had never thought about. An article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News by David Brooks of The New York Times herein quoted in full:

BOYS NEED READING MATERIAL TO BUILD ON

"Researchers in Britain asked 400 accomplished women and 500 accomplished men to name their favorite novels. The men preferred novels written by men, often revolving around loneliness and alienation. Camus' The Stranger, Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye and Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five topped the male list."

"The women leaned toward books written by women. The women's books described relationships and are a lot better than the books men chose. The top six women's books were Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Handmaid's Tale, Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice and Beloved.

Over the past two decades, there has been a steady accumulation of evidence that male and female brains work differently. It could be, in short, that biological factors influence reading tastes, even after accounting for culture. This wouldn't be a problem if we all understood these biological factors and if teachers devised different curriculums to instill an equal love or reading in both boys and girls."

"The problem is that even after the recent flurry of attention about why boys are falling behind, there is still intense social pressure not to talk about biological differences between boys and girls (ask Larry Summers). There is still resistance, especially in the educational world, to the findings of brain researchers..."

"Young boys are compelled to sit still in schools that have sacrificed recess for test prep. Many are told in a thousand subtle ways they are not really good students. They are sent home with new-wave young-adult "problem" novels."

It shouldn't be any surprise that according to a National Endowment for the Arts study, reading rates are falling three times as fast among young men as among young women. Nor should it be a surprise that men are drifting away from occupations that involve reading and school. Men now make up a smaller share of teachers than at any time in the past 40 years."

Dr. Leonard Sax, whose book Why Gender Matters is a lucid guide to male and female brain differences, emphasizes that men and women can excel at any subject. They just have to be taught in different ways. Sax is a big believer in single sex schools, which he says allows kids to open up and break free from gender stereotypes. But for most kids it would be a start if they were assigned books they might actually care about. For boys, that probably means more Hemingway, Tolstoy, Homer and Twain."

"During the 1970s, it was believed that gender differences could be eliminated via consciousness-raising. But it turns out gender is not a social construct. Consciousness-raising doesn't turn boys into sensitively poetic pacifists. It just turns many of them into high school and college dropouts who HATE READING."

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Seems to me that the "time study" type bean counter has been holding sway on school systems for some years now. Schools in our city are getting report cards. In other words they are graded on what tests their pupils pass - - - - regardless of the current method of teaching.

I remember our son struggling with the "New Math" concept back in the 50s. Seems like there is always a new set of high falutin' schemes to make geniuses out of our kids.

Sort of goes along I guess with the philosophy that every kid needs a college degree. I don't hold with that either. Many people would be happier I think going to some kind of trade school rather than a four year college, seems to me that if nuts, bolts and mechanisms are a man's love -- a trade school is the place for him to be in order to perfect his skills.

Has apprenticeship disappeared ? Perhaps it is being done in with the virtual disappearance of union organizations. Trade schools and apprenticeship to my mind fit like hand in glove.

It all seems strange to me, as I could read before I went to school. Mother was my mentor in choosing books to read but soon let me go my way. There were books on the shelf above the window that she and Dad thought of as adult books and that I wouldn't get into them. They found out later that I had read "Lady of the Camillias" by Dumas (the story from which La Traviata, the opera came), not only read it but understood it. My character guidance came from our societal interaction rather than supervision of what I read after that.

There was a bookstore I frequented, sort of a seedy place where if one behaved oneself all books were fair game. One day I discovered "Psychopathia Sexualis," by Havelock Ellis, a thick heavy tome, which I carried to the counter with inner trepidation, paid for and brought home to try to understand more about sex. I learned. Also learned that not all experts knew everything about their favorite subject. Many books are a picture of conjecture I think.

I was not and never will be a gourmet reader, more of a gourmand am I. But the thought of someone telling me I had to read certain books is an anathema to me. I managed to do the required reading in school, and found much to enjoy and also learned much from that reading, but along with that I devoured much other reading material also. And, Joy - - - - summer reading was mine, all mine.

It was obvious from the beginning that different things interested girls than did boys, including books.

I guess one of the happiest moments in life came when someone I respected said something to the effect, "If you start a book and don't like the way it goes -- don't force yourself to keep on reading it." I haven't culled many, but some were beyond my interest.

So it seems to me that many of our high-octane educators and seemingly uneducated school boards should get their act together and set up curricula that is understandable for the age group intended and is of great interest to both male and female -- however they decide to do that.

I just don't think "test-prep" is the way to go, kids will have more fun at recess and come back invigorated and interested to find out what is next, providing the grown ups can provide learning experiences that deeply interest them.

Seems to me that is why electives begin to have a place in Junior High (middle school now) and on through high school. Not everyone is interested in the same things, the same paths and electives are a great way to go.

However it does go though, reading is the heart of learning I think. And through intelligent choices the schools can give a reinforced reading VARIED DIET . . . . . . . . .

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