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Despite our efforts to educate boys and girls equitably, study findings continue to show incongruences in academic outcomes. For example, the Brookings Institute studied high school graduation data and found that 88 percent of high school girls graduated on time, but only 82 percent of boys did. High school gaps lead to higher education gaps, as well. The Wall Street Journal reported that men accounted for a whopping 70 percent of the 1.5-million-fewer students who enrolled in college last year when compared to five years prior.
There are gender disparities in students’ behavioral outcomes, as well. For example, a University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) study revealed that for every two boys who were suspended from school, only one girl received the same consequence. Educators, parents, and community members are eager to know what can be done about this.
To investigate how we can better educate and nurture male students, I reached out to Olga Hofreiter, who is Assistant Principal of Academics at a private all-boys high school. She attended an all-girls high school growing up, providing an added lens to analyze differences between the two environments, and she served in many teaching and administrative roles in between. I talked to Hofreiter about how teen boys learn and how we can best help them succeed.
Jenny Rankin: What have you discovered about how boys learn?
Olga Hofreiter: Well, let me preface this by saying that every single student is unique; I can’t say that these generalities apply to every single young man, but they are pretty solid practices that address boys as learners and as individual people.
JR: What are the main takeaways, with the caveat that every student is unique?
OH: The first thing you need to know about an all-boys school is that sports are super important, but not every student is an athlete. Robotics, the performing arts, and leadership are also critical. Working hard to get every young man connected to a group, activity, or adult advocate is critical. They must understand that they are there to figure out who they are and what their purpose is.
JR: I love that focus on purpose. What else should educators know?
OH: In the coed classroom, the girls temper the boys, but boys are different when they are in a class with only boys. They are less filtered, more authentic. They are competitive, sometimes with others, but mostly with themselves. They like to give each other a hard time, and they can be hysterically funny and entertaining. They don’t like asking questions; a teacher needs to poke and prod and pull the questions out of them, so they save face. They cannot stand being embarrassed in front of their peers, but they are contrite and apologetic when you address them quietly after class. They do not tolerate hypocrisy. Words are important, but your actions are what they absorb.
JR: Despite the similarities with girls, I can imagine how an all-boy environment makes strong tendencies even more apparent. Are there developmental inclinations?
OH: They are not very good note-takers as a general rule. Mostly because they have a tough time writing fast. They have poor handwriting, somewhat poor fine motor skills, they can’t sit in those cages we call desks for very long. They have short attention spans and need to be engaged in meaningful ways.
JR: What about social-emotional factors?
OH: They appreciate honesty if they trust you. Betray them? They won’t work in your class. It’s how they punish you for letting them down.
JR: What should teachers know about delivering instruction?
OH: Visual input is absolutely critical for boys. If you can combine the visual with the auditory, then you will reach them better. They do well with bullet points on slides, and they need the font big so they can see clearly from the back of the room. They need quiet time to write down information because they have a tough time listening to a teacher and writing down information at the same time.
JR: What can help teachers in classroom management?
OH: Boys don’t respond well to high-pitched grating voices; using deep tones gets their attention. If you yell, they just talk louder. They want structure and consistency. They need to move, so having them stand up to answer questions or talk to a partner, or allowing them to go to the standing desk in the back of the room helps them stay focused and to self-regulate. Boys want to know what they are there to learn and what you want from them, and more likely than not, they will meet your expectations. But make no mistake, they will push hard to see what they can get away with; you need to be firm, clear, and consistent. If you say something is a rule, you must enforce it.
JR: What do boys wish their teachers knew?
OH: They are constantly on their phones, but they don’t really want to be; when you tell them to put their phone in the caddy, they are secretly relieved that they are free of that thing even if it’s for 45 minutes at a time. They don’t want to come in to ask for extra help because it’s admitting defeat. You need to invite them, sometimes require them to come in for help. If the help works, they will come in regularly. But that’s more about the relationship and trust than it is about the content. Boys will move mountains for you if they think you genuinely care about them, and they build incredibly strong bonds with their classmates that remain strong far into the future.
Boys are loyal to a fault. They need to be needed; no matter how capable you are to carry a box across campus, several boys will offer to help. Let them help, because they need to do it. And I guarantee that the ones who challenged you the most, who were the biggest rebels, who honestly didn't seem to get on board with the program, those are the boys who come back to visit every chance they get and even come back to the school to teach or work because they valued the experience so much. Ultimately, an all-boys school allows boys to be boys in the most positive and nurturing ways, but it teaches them discipline and study skills and social skills in an environment that values them as young men and as male learners.
JR: Those are really beautiful sentiments. Thank you for your time, and for all you do to help boys grow academically and socially emotionally.
