Classrooms have become unfriendly places for boys, who are expected to sit still and focus when all they want to do is get up and move, according to Doug Rowe. The guidance counsellor at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School spoke at the Career SMORG 2010 held at Red Deer College on Wednesday.

He said while boys often understand better with hands-on learning and when they can play, move and get out of their desks, in today’s classrooms they are often required to sit still and do more theoretical learning for long periods of time.

Rowe said the effects on their future prospects can be seen in how many boys compared to girls currently attend university. In the 1940s, the university student populace was overwhelmingly male, but in 2008/2009, 70 per cent of the students at the University of Alberta were female and that same year at Red Deer College 62 per cent of the students were female.

Rowe said in the past classrooms were male dominated and a shift needed to be made, but now the pendulum has gone too far in favour of education being geared towards girls.

Curriculum demands involving more paperwork have taken over from hands-on learning and field trips.

He said insurance demands and fear of children getting injured has also reduced the ability of schools to have as many field trips as in the past.

Rowe, who teaches martial arts and is a level 2 boxing coach, said a more boy-friendly classroom would have competition and play that would get boys up and moving and using their hands.

“Boys love it. They love to get up. They love to get their hands into what they’re working on. They like to get energized and if they are allowed to do that they learn better and they retain better,” Rowe said.

During his talk, he showed a CBC video of a teacher who moved treadmills into her classroom, which her students used for 20 minutes before doing their math lesson. She found not only substantial improvement in their behaviour in the classroom, but also their scores.

Asked what it could mean for the future if things don’t change, Rowe said: “When you look at 30 per cent of males between the age 22 and 30 in the United States have not left home and are still living at home, I think the future is now. I don’t see that getting any better unless we make some changes.”

Rowe’s session was one of more than 20 attended by 250 career educators, including health teachers, guidance counsellors and people offering career related curriculum from all over Central Alberta. The event is in its sixth year and was organized by Central Alberta Career Prep and sponsored by Alberta Employment and Immigration.

Evelyn Storm, executive director of Central Alberta Career Prep, said the Career SMORG gives career educators professional development that give them the tools and resources they need to make their teaching more effective and help students not only transition from high school to post-secondary, but also from high school to the world of work.

sobrien@reddeeradvocate.com