From Growing Up Creative, by Teresa Amabile (New York, Crown Publishers Inc., 1989).
Does Sex Make A Difference?
Anne Chapman, academic dean at Western Reserve Academy and cochair of the Council for Women in Independent Schools, discusses the different way that males and females communicate in the classroom: “Although students of both sexes claim that the teacher’s sex has no effect on their class participation, studies show that with male teachers men speak about three times as often as women, whereas in the classes of female teachers, women speak only slightly less than men...’' The gender balance of the class also affects student participation. In a recent independent school study, nearly three-quarters of the girls and over half the boys said they talked less in classes where they were significantly outnumbered by the other sex.
“Women’s higher rate of being interrupted has negative effects. Once interrupted, women sometimes stay out of class discussion for the rest of the period.’'
From The Difference It Makes: A Resource Book on Gender for Educators, by Anne Chapman (Boston, National Association of Independent Schools, 1988).
Teaching Aids/Teaching Ads
Marilee Rist, a senior editor of The American School Board Journal discusses Connections, a “wall magazine’’ produced by Whittle Communications, the creator of “Channel One’': "[Whittle] calls Connections a ‘teaching aid.’ According to a promotional brochure, students ‘take the information to heart. And they learn.’ One series of four posters...counsels kids on being high school students. Along with the posters’ simple advice--on such teenage concerns as how to get over feeling shy and how to build a grade point average--appear Safeguard soap ads ‘for a great smelling student body’ and Crest toothpaste’s admonition to ‘Get fresh with your main squeeze and fight cavities, too.’...The two products are distributed to ‘just over 20,000 schools,’ says Chris Whittle.’'
“And advertisers, eager to reach the target audiences, pay up to $2.4 million a year for an advertising spot....Schools that make their students available to these advertisers receive no share of the advertising revenue.’'
From “Mass Marketers Have a Sweet Deal For You, But There Are Strings Attached,’' by Marilee Rist (The American School Board Journal, September 1989).
But Not An Administrator
Robert Krajewski, a consultant, and Ronald Ruff, a clinical psychologist, discuss why good teachers sometimes don’t make good administrators: “An administrator’s school day and school year are much longer than a teacher’s. The administrator’s day can seem out of control--a function of unanticipated problems, time demands, and crises. Sometimes, too, the school executive must stand at serious odds with the community or make decisions that fracture collegial bonds with teachers....To many teachers, these aspects of administrative work are less than appealing. But to great teachers, the most profound loss in moving from the classroom into administration is losing contact with students.’'
From “Why Your Best Teachers Might Not Make Great Administrators,’' by Robert Krajewski and Ronald Ruff (The Executive Educator, October 1989).
