Reaching Boys, Teaching Boys

Michael Reichert, Ph.D., is a clinician, consultant to schools, and supervising psychologist at The Haverford School. He also serves as executive director of the Center for the Study of Boys' and Girls' Lives. Richard Hawley, Ph.D., headmaster emeritus of Cleveland's University School, was the founding president of the International Boys' Schools Coalition, and is author of many books about children, schools, and learning.

"Anyone involved in the educational process, teachers, counselors, administrators and parents, should take a look at this book. Incorporating the testimony of the students and their teachers into the book, the authors let the parties involved explain what does and does not work." (Bookloons.com, September 2010) Psychologist Reichert and educator Hawley teamed up to investigate the "crisis" in boys' academic achievement by conducting a study of teachers' methods and students' performance in all-boy, college prep, middle and high schools in six English-speaking countries. Their insights into young males' own "rules of engagement" led them to three key insights: boys are relational learners who rely on a give-and-take approach with their teachers; boys elicit the kind of teaching they need via a feedback dynamic that teachers need to heed; and lessons for boys must offer at least one element to arouse and hold students' interests. Over 100 examples of successful, creative lessons from a host of instructors demonstrate what really works with boys, including stage fight techniques as part of studying Shakespeare; figuring out the odds of winning at cards; and creating a comic strip about the immune system. Much is made of how novel these lesson plans and projects are, but many of them are the familiar stuff of traditional private school curricula. A book more appropriate for teachers and administrators than parents, it is a real rubric for making learning lively and memorable in boys' lives. (Aug.) (Publishers Weekly, July 19, 2010)

• About This Book viiForeword by Peg Tyre ixAcknowledgments xiiiThe Authors xvIntroduction xviiPart One: Effective Lessons1 Transitivity at Work: Five Effective Lessons 52 Creating Products 173 Lessons as Games 354 Motor Activity 655 Role Play and Performance 856 Open Inquiry 1077 Teamwork and Competition 1218 Personal Realization 1379 Novelty, Drama, and Surprise 171Part Two: Effective Relationships10 A Teacher’s Presence 19511 A Teacher’s Knowledge 209Part Three: Lessons for Educators12 Enhancing Teacher-Student Relationships 22313 Activating the Eliciting Process 22914 What Schools Can Do 237Appendix: Design and Research Methods for the Teaching Boys Study 243References 257Index 259