Chapter 2: Today's Students

In The Joy of Teaching: Making a Difference in Student Learning, Gene Hall discusses the effects of gender on today's students, looking at the perspective for both boys and girls.  Hall explains that the beginning of the differences between girls and boys is in the brain, with females preferring activities associated with the left hemisphere of the brain, such as reading and writing, while males prefer the right hemisphere of the brain, which controls mathematics and science.  As Hall explains, this difference in the brain activity of males and females affects not only their particular strengths in school, but also their process of thought and the way that girls and boys learn best.  Hall concludes the section about gender by describing society’s and culture’s influences on gender, such as the many stereotypes surrounding boys and girls and creating false ideas about what is required of each gender.