Gaming to re-engage boys in learning | Ali Carr-Chellman | TEDxPSU
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0:21 - 0:23Good afternoon.
-
0:23 - 0:26I'm the only real live girl
who is going to be presenting today -
0:26 - 0:27on stage for you.
-
0:27 - 0:29And I'm happy to be talking about boys,
for some reason. -
0:30 - 0:32Not really sure how that happened.
-
0:35 - 0:38So I'm here to tell you
that we have a problem with boys, -
0:38 - 0:40and it's a serious problem with boys.
-
0:40 - 0:44Peg Tyrel will tell us
that we have a problem with boys. -
0:45 - 0:47Their culture isn't working in schools,
-
0:47 - 0:49and I'm going to share with you ways
-
0:49 - 0:52that we can think
about overcoming that problem. -
0:52 - 0:55First, I want to start
by saying, this is a boy, -
0:55 - 0:58and this is a girl,
-
0:58 - 1:01and this is probably stereotypically
what you think of as a boy and a girl. -
1:01 - 1:05If I essentialize gender for you today,
then you can dismiss what I have to say. -
1:05 - 1:08So I'm not going to do that,
I'm not interested in doing that. -
1:08 - 1:11This is a different kind of boy
and a different kind of girl. -
1:11 - 1:16So the point here is that not all boys
exist within these rigid boundaries -
1:16 - 1:18of what we think of as boys and girls,
-
1:18 - 1:20and not all girls exist
within those rigid boundaries -
1:20 - 1:22of what we think of as girls.
-
1:22 - 1:26But, in fact, most boys
tend to be a certain way, -
1:26 - 1:28and most girls tend to be a certain way.
-
1:28 - 1:30And the point is that, for boys,
-
1:30 - 1:33the way that they exist
and the culture that they embrace -
1:33 - 1:36isn't working well in schools now.
-
1:36 - 1:37How do we know that?
-
1:37 - 1:42The 100 girls project
tells us some really nice statistics. -
1:42 - 1:45For example, for every 100 girls
that are suspended from school, -
1:45 - 1:48there are 250 boys
that are suspended from school. -
1:48 - 1:51For every 100 girls
who are expelled from school, -
1:51 - 1:53there are 335 boys
who are expelled from school. -
1:54 - 1:56For every 100 girls in special education,
-
1:56 - 1:58there are 217 boys.
-
1:58 - 2:01For every 100 girls
with a learning disability, -
2:01 - 2:02there are 276 boys.
-
2:03 - 2:08For every 100 girls
with an emotional disturbance diagnosed, -
2:08 - 2:09we have 324 boys.
-
2:09 - 2:13And by the way, all of these numbers
are significantly higher -
2:13 - 2:14if you happen to be black,
-
2:14 - 2:16if you happen to be poor,
-
2:16 - 2:19if you happen to exist
in an overcrowded school. -
2:20 - 2:22And if you are a boy,
-
2:22 - 2:27you're four times as likely
to be diagnosed with ADHD... -
2:27 - 2:29Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
-
2:30 - 2:33Now there is another side to this.
-
2:33 - 2:39And it is important that we recognize
that women still need help in school, -
2:39 - 2:41that salaries are still
significantly lower, -
2:41 - 2:44even when controlled for job types,
-
2:45 - 2:48and that girls have continued to struggle
in math and science for years. -
2:49 - 2:50That's all true.
-
2:50 - 2:52Nothing about that prevents us
-
2:52 - 2:54from paying attention
to the literacy needs -
2:54 - 2:57of our boys between ages three and 13.
-
2:57 - 2:58And so we should.
-
2:58 - 3:01In fact, what we ought to do
is take a page from their playbook, -
3:01 - 3:06because the initiatives and programs
that have been set in place -
3:06 - 3:09for women in science and engineering
and mathematics are fantastic. -
3:09 - 3:13They've done a lot of good
for girls in these situations, -
3:13 - 3:17and we ought to be thinking about
how we can make that happen for boys too -
3:17 - 3:18in their younger years.
-
3:19 - 3:21Even in their older years,
-
3:21 - 3:24what we find is that
there's still a problem. -
3:24 - 3:25When we look at the universities,
-
3:25 - 3:2860 percent of baccalaureate degrees
are going to women now, -
3:28 - 3:30which is a significant shift.
-
3:31 - 3:34And in fact, university administrators
are a little uncomfortable about the idea -
3:34 - 3:39that we may be getting close to 70 percent
female population in universities. -
3:39 - 3:42This makes university
administrators very nervous, -
3:42 - 3:45because girls don't want to go
to schools that don't have boys. -
3:47 - 3:49And so we're starting to see
-
3:49 - 3:52the establishment of men centers
and men studies -
3:52 - 3:56to think about how do we engage men
in their experiences in the university. -
3:56 - 3:59If you talk to faculty,
they may say, "Ugh. Yeah, well, -
3:59 - 4:01they're playing video games,
-
4:01 - 4:04and they're gambling
online all night long, -
4:04 - 4:06and they're playing World of Warcraft,
-
4:06 - 4:09and that's affecting
their academic achievement." -
4:11 - 4:12Guess what?
-
4:12 - 4:14Video games are not the cause.
-
4:14 - 4:16Video games are a symptom.
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4:17 - 4:21They were turned off a long time
before they got here. -
4:21 - 4:24So let's talk about
why they got turned off -
4:24 - 4:27when they were between the ages
of three and 13. -
4:27 - 4:29There are three reasons that I believe
-
4:29 - 4:33that boys are out of sync
with the culture of schools today. -
4:34 - 4:36The first is zero tolerance.
-
4:37 - 4:42A kindergarten teacher I know,
her son donated all of his toys to her, -
4:42 - 4:48and when he did, she had to go through
and pull out all the little plastic guns. -
4:48 - 4:51You can't have plastic knives
and swords and axes -
4:51 - 4:54and all that kind of thing
in a kindergarten classroom. -
4:54 - 4:58What is it that we're afraid that this
young man is going to do with this gun? -
4:58 - 4:59I mean, really.
-
5:00 - 5:02But here he stands as testament
-
5:02 - 5:05to the fact that you can't go like this
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5:05 - 5:06in school today.
-
5:07 - 5:09You can't roughhouse
on the playground today. -
5:09 - 5:11Now I'm not advocating for bullies.
-
5:11 - 5:17I'm not suggesting that we need to be
allowing guns and knives in the school. -
5:17 - 5:21But when we say that an Eagle Scout
in a high school classroom -
5:21 - 5:24who has a locked parked car
in the parking lot and a penknife in it, -
5:24 - 5:27has to be suspended from school,
-
5:27 - 5:30I think we may have gone
a little too far with zero tolerance. -
5:31 - 5:33Another way that zero tolerance
lives itself out -
5:33 - 5:34is in the writing of boys,
-
5:34 - 5:37and Ralph Fletcher has done
a fabulous job of showing us -
5:37 - 5:40problems with reclaiming
boys' voices in writing. -
5:42 - 5:43In a lot of classrooms today,
-
5:43 - 5:46you're not allowed to write
about anything that's violent. -
5:46 - 5:50You're not allowed to write about anything
that has to do with video games. -
5:50 - 5:51These topics are banned.
-
5:51 - 5:53Boy comes home from school, and he says,
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5:53 - 5:54"I hate writing."
-
5:54 - 5:57"Why do you hate writing, son?
What's wrong with writing?" -
5:57 - 6:00"Now I have to write
what she tells me to write." -
6:00 - 6:02"OK, what is she telling you to write?"
-
6:02 - 6:04"Poems. I have to write poems.
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6:04 - 6:06And little moments in my life.
-
6:06 - 6:08I don't want to write that stuff."
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6:09 - 6:10"Well, what do you want to write?
-
6:10 - 6:12What do you want to write about?"
-
6:12 - 6:15"I want to write about video games.
I want to write about leveling-up. -
6:15 - 6:18I want to write about
this really interesting world. -
6:18 - 6:21I want to write about a tornado
that comes into our house -
6:21 - 6:22and blows all the windows out,
-
6:22 - 6:25and ruins all the furniture
and kills everybody." -
6:25 - 6:26"All right. OK."
-
6:26 - 6:30You tell a teacher that,
and they'll ask you, in all seriousness, -
6:30 - 6:32"Should we send this child
to the psychologist?" -
6:34 - 6:36And the answer is no, he's just a boy.
-
6:36 - 6:38He's just a little boy.
-
6:39 - 6:43It's not OK to write these kinds of things
in classrooms today. -
6:44 - 6:45So that's the first reason:
-
6:45 - 6:48Zero tolerance policies
and the way they're lived out. -
6:48 - 6:51The next reason that boys' cultures
are out of sync with school cultures: -
6:51 - 6:53there are fewer male teachers.
-
6:53 - 6:56Anybody who's over 15
doesn't know what this means, -
6:57 - 6:59because in the last 10 years,
-
6:59 - 7:02the number of elementary school
classroom teachers has been cut in half. -
7:03 - 7:07We went from 14 percent to seven percent.
-
7:07 - 7:09That means that 93 percent of the teachers
-
7:09 - 7:13that our young men get in elementary
classrooms are women. -
7:14 - 7:16Now what's the problem with this?
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7:16 - 7:18Women are great, yep, absolutely.
-
7:19 - 7:23But male role models for boys
that say it's all right to be smart... -
7:23 - 7:27They've got dads, they've got pastors,
they've got Cub Scout leaders, -
7:27 - 7:30but ultimately, six hours a day,
five days a week -
7:30 - 7:32they're spending in a classroom,
-
7:32 - 7:35and most of those classrooms
are not places where men exist. -
7:35 - 7:39And so they say, I guess this really
isn't a place for boys. -
7:39 - 7:41This is a place for girls.
-
7:41 - 7:43And I'm not very good at this,
-
7:43 - 7:46so I guess I'd better go play video games
-
7:46 - 7:48or get into sports,
or something like that, -
7:48 - 7:50because I obviously don't belong here.
-
7:50 - 7:52Men don't belong here,
that's pretty obvious. -
7:52 - 7:56So that may be a very direct way
that we see it happen. -
7:56 - 8:00But less directly, the lack of male
presence in the culture... -
8:01 - 8:04You've got a teachers' lounge,
and they're having a conversation -
8:04 - 8:08about Joey and Johnny
who beat each other up on the playground. -
8:08 - 8:10"What are we going to do with these boys?"
-
8:10 - 8:12The answer to that question changes
-
8:12 - 8:14depending on who's sitting
around that table. -
8:14 - 8:15Are there men around that table?
-
8:16 - 8:18Are there moms who've raised boys
around that table? -
8:18 - 8:20You'll see, the conversation changes
-
8:20 - 8:22depending upon who's sitting
around the table. -
8:22 - 8:25Third reason that boys
are out of sync with school today: -
8:26 - 8:29Kindergarten is the old
second grade, folks. -
8:29 - 8:33We have a serious compression
of the curriculum happening out there. -
8:33 - 8:36When you're three, you better be able
to write your name legibly, -
8:36 - 8:39or else we'll consider it
a developmental delay. -
8:39 - 8:41By the time you're in first grade,
-
8:41 - 8:43you should be able to read
paragraphs of text -
8:43 - 8:47with maybe a picture, maybe not,
in a book of maybe 25 to 30 pages. -
8:47 - 8:48If you don't,
-
8:48 - 8:52we're probably going to be putting you
into a Title I special reading program. -
8:52 - 8:54And if you ask Title I teachers,
they'll tell you -
8:54 - 8:58they've got about four or five boys
for every girl that's in their program, -
8:58 - 8:59in the elementary grades.
-
8:59 - 9:01The reason that this is a problem
-
9:01 - 9:04is because the message
that boys are getting -
9:04 - 9:08is, "You need to do what the teacher
asks you to do all the time." -
9:09 - 9:13The teacher's salary depends
on "No Child Left Behind" -
9:13 - 9:16and "Race to the Top"
and accountability and testing -
9:16 - 9:18and all of this.
-
9:18 - 9:22So she has to figure out a way
to get all these boys -
9:22 - 9:25through this curriculum... and girls.
-
9:25 - 9:29This compressed curriculum is bad
for all active kids. -
9:30 - 9:32And what happens is,
-
9:32 - 9:37she says, "Please, sit down,
be quiet, do what you're told, -
9:37 - 9:42follow the rules, manage your time,
focus, be a girl." -
9:43 - 9:44That's what she tells them.
-
9:44 - 9:47Indirectly, that's what she tells them.
-
9:47 - 9:49And so this is a very serious problem.
-
9:49 - 9:51Where is it coming from?
It's coming from us. -
9:51 - 9:54(Laughter)
-
9:56 - 9:59We want our babies to read
when they are six months old. -
9:59 - 10:00Have you seen the ads?
-
10:03 - 10:08We want to live in Lake Wobegon
where every child is above average... -
10:08 - 10:12but what this does to our children
is really not healthy. -
10:12 - 10:14It's not developmentally appropriate,
-
10:14 - 10:16and it's particularly bad for boys.
-
10:16 - 10:17So what do we do?
-
10:18 - 10:20We need to meet them where they are.
-
10:20 - 10:22We need to put ourselves into boy culture.
-
10:23 - 10:28We need to change the mindset
of acceptance in boys -
10:28 - 10:29in elementary schools.
-
10:30 - 10:34More specifically, we can do
some very specific things. -
10:34 - 10:35We can design better games.
-
10:36 - 10:39Most of the educational games
that are out there today -
10:39 - 10:40are really flashcards.
-
10:40 - 10:42They're glorified drill and practice.
-
10:42 - 10:45They don't have the depth,
the rich narrative -
10:45 - 10:48that really engaging video games have,
-
10:48 - 10:50that the boys are really interested in.
-
10:50 - 10:52So we need to design better games.
-
10:52 - 10:55We need to talk to teachers and parents
and school board members and politicians. -
10:56 - 10:59We need to make sure that people see
that we need more men in the classroom. -
10:59 - 11:02We need to look carefully
at our zero tolerance policies. -
11:02 - 11:03Do they make sense?
-
11:03 - 11:08We need to think about how to uncompress
this curriculum if we can, -
11:08 - 11:11trying to bring boys back into a space
that is comfortable for them. -
11:12 - 11:14All of those conversations
need to be happening. -
11:14 - 11:17There are some great examples
out there of schools... -
11:17 - 11:20The New York Times
just talked about a school recently. -
11:20 - 11:23A game designer from the New School
-
11:23 - 11:26put together a wonderful
video gaming school. -
11:26 - 11:31But it only treats a few kids,
and so this isn't very scalable. -
11:31 - 11:33We have to change the culture
and the feelings -
11:33 - 11:37that politicians and school board
members and parents have -
11:37 - 11:40about the way we accept
and what we accept in our schools today. -
11:41 - 11:43We need to find more money
for game design. -
11:43 - 11:45Because good games,
really good games, cost money, -
11:45 - 11:47and World of Warcraft has quite a budget.
-
11:47 - 11:49Most of the educational games do not.
-
11:50 - 11:51Where we started:
-
11:51 - 11:54my colleagues Mike Petner,
Shawn Vashaw, myself, -
11:54 - 11:56we started by trying to look
at the teachers' attitudes -
11:56 - 11:59and find out how do they really
feel about gaming, -
11:59 - 12:00what do they say about it.
-
12:00 - 12:05And we discovered that they talk
about the kids in their school, -
12:05 - 12:08who talk about gaming,
in pretty demeaning ways. -
12:08 - 12:11They say, "Oh, yeah. They're always
talking about that stuff. -
12:11 - 12:14They're talking
about their little action figures -
12:14 - 12:16and their little achievements
or merit badges, -
12:16 - 12:18or whatever it is that they get.
-
12:18 - 12:20And they're always talking
about this stuff." -
12:20 - 12:22And they say these things as if it's OK.
-
12:22 - 12:26But if it were your culture,
think of how that might feel. -
12:26 - 12:28It's very uncomfortable
to be on the receiving end -
12:28 - 12:30of that kind of language.
-
12:31 - 12:34They're nervous about anything
that has anything to do with violence -
12:34 - 12:36because of the zero tolerance policies.
-
12:36 - 12:38They are sure that parents
and administrators -
12:38 - 12:39will never accept anything.
-
12:39 - 12:42So we really need to think
about looking at teacher attitudes -
12:42 - 12:45and finding ways to change the attitudes,
-
12:45 - 12:49so that teachers are much more open
and accepting of boy cultures -
12:49 - 12:50in their classrooms.
-
12:50 - 12:52Because, ultimately, if we don't,
-
12:52 - 12:55then we're going to have boys
who leave elementary school saying, -
12:55 - 12:58"Well I guess that was just
a place for girls, it wasn't for me. -
12:59 - 13:02So I've got to do gaming,
or I've got to do sports." -
13:02 - 13:05If we change these things,
if we pay attention to these things, -
13:05 - 13:07and we reengage boys in their learning,
-
13:07 - 13:10they will leave the elementary
schools saying, "I'm smart." -
13:11 - 13:12Thank you.
-
13:12 - 13:14(Applause)
- Title:
- Gaming to re-engage boys in learning | Ali Carr-Chellman | TEDxPSU
- Description:
-
Ali Carr-Chellman pinpoints three reasons boys are tuning out of school in droves, and lays out her bold plan to re-engage them: bringing their culture into the classroom, with new rules that let boys be boys, and video games that teach as well as entertain.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 13:15
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Gaming to re-engage boys in learning | Ali Carr-Chellman | TEDxPSU | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Gaming to re-engage boys in learning | Ali Carr-Chellman | TEDxPSU | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Gaming to re-engage boys in learning | Ali Carr-Chellman | TEDxPSU |