Two Genders, Two Worlds: ANC’s Road to Gender Learning

Gail discusses the differences in male and female brains and how this affects learning. Using both the teachings in the Writings and her study of brain-based learning Gail points out some fascinating distinctions and describes some of the ways this affects a New Church classroom. This article was originally published in New Church Life. -Editor

Nothing in the two sexes is the same, although there is nevertheless a capacity for conjunction in every detail. (Conjugial Love 33)

The Academy Secondary Schools are entering an era in which our long-held belief in the fundamental difference between the male and female and how they learn is finally coming into its own. For more than a hundred years, we have had separate schools for our boys and girls based on this very belief, but if hardpressed, it would have been difficult for teachers to explain the differences in male and female learning styles except in a general way. The good news is that now there is a growing body of secular scientific research that can spell out those differences in ways that affect our teaching style, our classrooms, our pedagogy, even the way our classrooms can be set up. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss this new research in very general terms. We will look at the education of both genders, but will end with a focus on what we can do for our girls. Before embarking on the innovations going on at the Academy Secondary Schools, let us take a moment to look (too briefly) at the history of female education. Please bear in mind that the history of education is a gargantuan topic, and I will not be able to do it any justice at all in just a few paragraphs.

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