Should women be able to teach teenagers to adults?

[Milkyway!]

Now, I'm certainly not saying women are incapable of teaching a teenager, nor an adult how to learn. I'm saying generally, every female teacher I've ever had since the 9th grade, has sucked compared to the males.

Now call me sexist, but theres a few reasons why I think this. With males therees an instant respect between one another. I've never heard a child, my age group raise their voice to a male teacher in the classroom. Males are more dominant, bodily wise (No offense) and it seems to affect the students as well. Where as with a female, nearly every class people don't do their work, raise their voice, talk back, etc.

Women are programmed, naturally to raise the children. You may consider this sexist, but I disagree. Who makes a better Kingergarten teacher? Males or Females? Without the female in child raising, a child can lack the main qualities they need for their mind to develop. Such as trust, inferiority, and autonomy. Without the woman such qualities could be fairly hard for a child to develop propperly. When done by a man, qualities like mistrust, inferriority, and doubt seem to occur more often. Women are there to nurish, and nurture the child into a growing adult. From ages 12-19 an adolcent is undergoing an identity crisis more often than not. A male can really help navigate a child more so in this area, than a woman can.

Motivation. This is a more personal quality than anything. But when a woman tells me to do something, I'm kinda like fuck it almost as soon as she tells me to do it. Whereas a male tells me to do something I hop on it almost immediately in hopes for mutual respect.

A lot of these qualities are mostly personal, so for me a male is better than a female. The question is, in general, is a male teacher better than a female teacher for ages 13 on up?

 

[HBK-aholic]

Of course they should be allowed, the title of this thread is unbelievably stupid, whether that's what you're arguing or not. I've had plenty of great female teachers in High School and college. Gender doesn't make a difference in teaching quality. If students are being stupid and sexist by misbehaving solely due to a female teacher being present it's them that need sorting out.

 

[Milkyway!]

Of course they should be allowed the title of this thread is unbelievably stupid whether that's what you're arguing or not.

The title was simply to draw attention to the thread. It wasn't meant to actually pose the question on whether a woman should legally be aloud to teach me. But it certainly drew attention to your eyes, and made you post here, no? As you can see in the thread, if you actually read the post, thats not what I asked nor said at all.

I'm not saying its impossible for a woman to teach teenagers, nor adults. As my top 3 teachers ever, do involved a female. But she taught with understanding, and respected us, just as any male teacher I've ever had. Most women on the other hand, treat us like 5 year olds.

I've had plenty of great female teachers in High School and college.

As have I, and from my eperiance, grades, and test scores. My grades are better in a males class, then a females class.

Gender doesn't make a difference in teaching quality.

I think it does. I think children, and teenagers reply diffrently to the types of gender they're responding to. Males seems to be more understanding when it comes to classroom discussions as well, they treat us with mutual respect. Where as almost all female teachers I've ever had go by that dumb raise your hand rule, and treat us all like 5 year old.

If students are being stupid and sexist by misbehaving solely due to a female teacher being present it's them that need sorting out.

I tend to act diffrently and reply diffrently to a male, then I do a female. Simply because it seems that females never want us to grow up. Everyone wants to be treated like an adult, especially at my age.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I believe it's naive to think that teenagers respect male teachers the same as female teachers. Adolescent boys see male teachers as sort of an authority figure and female teachers not so much. I didn't have problems in high school because most of my teachers were female and so we didn't encounter any problems. There are instances where female teachers don't get the same respect their male counterparts do but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to teach.

 

[HBK-aholic]

The title was simply to draw attention to the thread. It wasn't meant to actually pose the question on whether a woman should legally be aloud to teach me. But it certainly drew attention to your eyes, and made you post here, no? As you can see in the thread, if you actually read the post, thats not what I asked nor said at all.

I did read it, hence why I said "Whether you're arguing it or not". The point remains, the thread title is stupid.

I'm not saying its impossible for a woman to teach teenagers, nor adults. As my top 3 teachers ever, do involved a female. But she taught with understanding, and respected us, just as any male teacher I've ever had. Most women on the other hand, treat us like 5 year olds.

I've never got this. I mean, I'm sure there are a few teachers who do act like that. But you're making a huge, unfair generalisation of gender here.

As have I, and from my eperiance, grades, and test scores. My grades are better in a males class, then a females class.

Good for you. Mine are pretty much the same. Gender really isn't a big factor in how I think about teachers.

I think it does. I think children, and teenagers reply diffrently to the types of gender they're responding to. Males seems to be more understanding when it comes to classroom discussions as well, they treat us with mutual respect. Where as almost all female teachers I've ever had go by that dumb raise your hand rule, and treat us all like 5 year old.

I had the "Raise your hand" rule in make classes as well. Just so you know.

I tend to act diffrently and reply diffrently to a male, then I do a female. Simply because it seems that females never want us to grow up. Everyone wants to be treated like an adult, especially at my age.

"Where as with a female, nearly every class people don't do their work, raise their voice, talk back, etc."

What exactly are you arguing? That you know some sexist idiots? The sexist shit your friends act like should never mean the teacher is worse. It's them that need to be spoke to and have the world explained to them. You blaming the teachers is stupid.

 

[Dexter]

What exactly are you arguing? That you know some sexist idiots? The sexist shit your friends act like should never mean the teacher is worse. It's them that need to be spoke to and have the world explained to them. You blaming the teachers is stupid.

I know you have to play the whole "I'm a girl rah rah rah" card here Becca, but you know as well as I do it's not sexism, it's biology. We can be as feminist and enlightened as we wanna be and that doesn't change hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Females are the nurturers. Males are larger, more imposing, and more authoritarian. Again, not sexism. Biology.

Growing up and going to school, it was always the female teachers that had more of an issue with classroom management as compared to the male teachers. You can't blame the kids for that... kids are going to be kids. You can't expect a 9th grader to act like a full grown adult. They aren't, and they won't. They're going to try to get away with absolutely as much as they think they can. Thus it absolutely IS up to the teachers to manage their classrooms and keep some semblance of order so their students can learn. If they don't, they're a failure as an educator. It's just part of the job.

Now, I'm not saying women shouldn't be teachers. Of course they should. They should just expect to have to do more classroom management than the male teachers.

 

[gd]

Now, I'm certainly not saying women are incapable of teaching a teenager, nor an adult how to learn. I'm saying generally, every female teacher I've ever had since the 9th grade, has sucked compared to the males.

Well, your've been unlucky then or you are just sexist. The best teacher I've ever had in high school is a female and I've had other female teachers that have been very good. The same is true with male teachers. Gender doesn't really play a factor at all.

Now call me sexiest, but theres a few reasons why I think this.

Sexist.

With males therees an instant respect between one another.

Why? I haven't respected all of the male teachers I've ever had simply based on their gender, that's just stupid.

I've never heard a child, my age group raise their voice to a male teacher in the classroom.

And they've raised their voices to females? I don't recall any student actually raising their voice to a teacher in my high school experience, I guess I have a pretty nice school.

Males are more dominant, bodily wise (No offense) and it seems to affect the students as well. Where as with a female, nearly every class people don't do their work, raise their voice, talk back, etc.

Being physcially dominant shouldn't have anything to do with it. It has to do with what the teacher is like and how strict they are. I've had plenty of male teachers who are dumbasses, and the students jump on that. The more I here from you, the more it sounds like your high school sucks.

Women are programmed, naturally to raise the children. You may consider this sexist, but I disagree. Who makes a better Kingergarten teacher? Males or Females? Without the female in child raising, a child can lack the main qualities they need for their mind to develop. Such as trust, inferiority, and autonomy. Without the woman such qualities could be fairly hard for a child to develop propperly. When done by a man, qualities like mistrust, inferriority, and doubt seem to occur more often. Women are there to nurish, and nurture the child into a growing adult. From ages 12-19 an adolcent is undergoing an identity crisis more often than not. A male can really help navigate a child more so in this area, than a woman can.

There are some decent points in here, but just because a woman has motherly instincts, that doesn't mean she can't teach older children. As long as they are a qualified teacher who knows what they are doing, they should be able to do a good job regardless of gender.

Motivation. This is a more personal quality than anything. But when a woman tells me to do something, I'm kinda like fuck it almost as soon as she tells me to do it.

This is just being sexist. You sound like some guy from the 50s who doesn't think women should be let out of the kitchen. If a female teacher tells you to do something, you should do it. She is older than you and has spent years to become a qualified teacher. You refusing to do what she tells you just because she is a female is incredibly stupid and disgusting.

Whereas a male tells me to do something I hop on it almost immediately in hopes for mutual respect.

Did you not grow up with a father? Serious question, becuase it seems like you are looking for a male role model more than anything.

A lot of these qualities are mostly personal, so for me a male is better than a female. The question is, in general, is a male teacher better than a female teacher for ages 13 on up?

Of course not. Gender may play some of a factor, but nothing major. A teacher should be able to teach students equally well regardless of gender.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I know you have to play the whole "I'm a girl rah rah rah" card here Becca, but you know as well as I do it's not sexism, it's biology. We can be as feminist and enlightened as we wanna be and that doesn't change hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Females are the nurturers. Males are larger, more imposing, and more authoritarian. Again, not sexism. Biology.

It has nothing to do with feminism. He's basically just admitted he knows people who "don't do their work, raise their voice, talk back, etc." because they have a female teacher. I understand the physical difference in regards to most men looking more of an authority figure. But acting bad because of the gender of your teacher IS sexist.

 

[Dexter]

It has nothing to do with feminism. He's basically just admitted he knows people who "don't do their work, raise their voice, talk back, etc." because they have a female teacher. I understand the physical difference in regards to most men looking more of an authority figure. But acting bad because of the gender of your teacher IS sexist.

You just ignored that whole thing about not expecting kids to be adults, didn't you? I'll repeat it.

Kids are going to do everything in their power to get away with as much as they possibly can, particularly high school teenagers who are going through that whole "test authority" phase. They're going to be more prone to attempt that on their female teachers because they perceive them as weaker. Once more, that's not sexism, it's biology.

You seem to be under the impression that kids are sitting there consciously plotting against their female teachers. They're not. They're just testing their boundaries and trying to push them as hard as they can, because they're kids. You just can't bring these kind of high moral issues you're trying to raise into a discussion about biology and child psychology. It doesn't apply.

 

[HEEL Blazy]

One of my worst teachers was a male so some male teachers can suck also. My favorite was a female teacher. In my class when I was 13 I had two teachers and my worst and favorite was in there. The male teacher always wanted to spread the work out and be hard on us and crap and we all hated it. Got to a point where I just couldn't take it and told him to lightin up on us...which got me in trouble. Anyway when he was out we only had one teacher and it was my favorite. She would let us do our work as we got done with others so we mainly get done before lunch and then have along time to have some fun. So female teachers can be just as good and respect as a male teacher.

 

[2012isbs]

I think it has nothing to do with gender so much as how they act and right now in 8th grade I have a 50/50 mix of male and female teacehrs and all of them use teh rasie your hand rule which is fine IMO it organizies the discussion, and if a teacher is less strict then things will get out of hand last year I had a female teacher who was very easygoing to a certain point which was good. And then I had a male teacher who was easygoing in fact he was so easy going that he didn't tel me I had missing Assignments that were daily 100 problem multiplication untill I had 37 i mean 37 there is no way in hell I could do 37 assignment most were done I just hadn't passed them in put by then I had lost them so I was screwed that semester. And students raising their voice to a female teacher it's just sexist to assume because she's a woman she would fight back. And yes I guess women tend to have a different style then men at teaching but if done right both are great methods. So either you are sexist, are in a bad school or your fellow students out of control.

 

[Milkyway!]

Well, your've been unlucky then or you are just sexist.

I'm 110% certain I made it very clear I'm not trying to be sexist. In any manner whatsoever. I never said it was impossible, but I was just wondering what are the actual statistics on male teachers to women teachers.

The same is true with male teachers. Gender doesn't really play a factor at all.

I'd have to disagree. I'm sure there are some factors that play a role. The male is a more dominant figure, no offense to any women here. A male can control a classroom much easier than a female due to the such. Which, at my age. Is what every boy and girl honestly needs. A good authority figure.

Sexist.

It was a typo. I didn't catch it

Why? I haven't respected all of the male teachers I've ever had simply based on their gender, that's just stupid.

Yes but some children aren't as smart as you nor I. Or should I say, have the morals you and I have. I know people who honestly will get away with anything they can, and will. Now, then. I also believe a male is more likely to stricten up his class, and less will be done. (I've seen it with my own eyes. Boy who get A's in a males class, and F's in the females. My best friend, Hunter, for example)

And they've raised their voices to females? I don't recall any student actually raising their voice to a teacher in my high school experience, I guess I have a pretty nice school. The more I here from you, the more it sounds like your high school sucks.

I have one of the best highschools in the country. We're a blue ribbon school, which makes up one of the top 50 high schools, test score wise, in the entire country. We have more scholarships going to children in our highschools, than any other school in our state right now. So we must be doing something right.

I'd also like to point out 60% of our teachers are males. 35% of which I would HATE to have in a class. 5% of the other females are some of the best teachers I've ever had.

There are some decent points in here, but just because a woman has motherly instincts, that doesn't mean she can't teach older children. As long as they are a qualified teacher who knows what they are doing, they should be able to do a good job regardless of gender.

Of course. I never said a woman isn't capable of doing so. Its just in my experience males are the better teachers, compared to females. But it could just be my school I go to.

This is just being sexist. You sound like some guy from the 50s who doesn't think women should be let out of the kitchen. If a female teacher tells you to do something, you should do it. She is older than you and has spent years to become a qualified teacher. You refusing to do what she tells you just because she is a female is incredibly stupid and disgusting.

Heh its not that, really its not. My motivation factor is slim to none either way you look at it. I could give a shit about school, because of the fact I'm going in the Air Force. They will pay for my schooling, after I spend my 6-10 years in there. Its just, most of the male teachers we have are highly respected as some of the smartest people many of us have ever met. Thus, my motivation around them is much higher, compared to the few woman, that are just downright terrible.

Did you not grow up with a father? Serious question, becuase it seems like you are looking for a male role model more than anything.

My parents divorced around the age of 7. I have only seen my dad once a week ever since. My mom had a boyfriend for about 6-7 years afterwards? So I guess, but not really?

Of course not. Gender may play some of a factor, but nothing major. A teacher should be able to teach students equally well regardless of gender.

I've been looking for some statistics in the diffrence between a male teacher, and a female teacher. Simply out of a curiosity. I am by no means sexist.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Now, I'm not saying women shouldn't be teachers. Of course they should. They should just expect to have to do more classroom management than the male teachers.

A lot of it has to do with how things are handled on the first day of class. I've been teaching business courses on the college level for years and can say that first impressions are vitally important, whatever the gender of the teacher. After I've had them for a few days, they see that I have much to offer them and things go just fine. But the first week is when you have to make them sit up and take notice that you are here to teach and they are here to learn.

Can women do this as well as men? Yes, but there's no denying that much of society has the preconceived notion that a man who comes in and takes charge is commanding and worthy of respect......while a woman who does the same is regarded as a bitch. And yes, female students are as guilty of this attitude as males.

Chauvinism will always exist, but everything depends on how you start out when you first meet the class. Reach them at the beginning and there won't be problems later; that's been my experience.

 

[Nitafrong]

Surprisingly I have to disagree with all that Milky and Dexter have written here. I know that they don't really believe what they write here- they just have to play their I'm a male card, ugg ugg ugg

In all seriousness, I am really surprised by what I have read here. The male is the more dominant figure? Females being genetically unable to deal with people who won't respect them because they don't carry the requisite authority? Not to bring this back to personal experience (because ultimately these forms of argument are fairly useless- anyone could claim anything and people would have to accept it) but the very worst teacher I have ever had in my life was male. The principle one was my second year Irish teacher who was mocked openly and half way through the year the boys used to start stealing his books. Thankfully this guy was gone within the year. And this guy was fairly big- but size hasn't meant dominance in any class room I have ever been in. Its about respect, and since our teachers never used corporal punishment, physical appearance hasn't really meant anything. Conversely one of our most respected teachers was my history teacher from 1st to 7th year. She was small and middle aged and yet controlled the class completely for all of the 7 years. She barely needed to ever raise her voice or give out punishments- she had authority and everyone knew it and respected that.

Now I understand why some males like to attribute size and respect together- they tend to be larger physically and so like to see themselves as the ones with control, able to deal with the worst behaving classes that would leave us poor females faint and fluttering I don't believe this though (no way to prove it though). I think respect is dependant on the individual teacher, and I had plenty of good and bad male and female teachers throughout my schooling. (Amazed though now in university that so many lecturers are so poor at speaking to their classes.... )

 

[Dexter]

Anecdotal evidence to the contrary aside, Nita, as I've stated more than once, we're not talking about misogyny here. We're talking about simple psychology and biology. It's hundreds of millions of years of evolution manifesting itself in interpersonal relationships. I'm not going to pull the tired "fairer sex" card on you or anything, but women are, evolutionarily speaking, the nurturers. That explains why you tend to see more women than men teaching (particularly the earlier grade levels, it balances out later), but it always explains why women have to focus a bit more on classroom management.

And of course, getting back to your anecdotal evidence, there are exceptions that prove the rule. I had an 8th grade Geography teacher (female) that terrified me. She threw a book at a filing cabinet once and dented it when we were being too noisy. On the other hand, I had a 7th grade teacher (male) that was a total pussy. We tormented that poor man to the point that I wouldn't be surprised to get a bill for psychotherapy from him.

Those exceptions aside, and repeating a point I made in an earlier post, kids are going to be kids, and they're going to test their boundaries, and it's only natural for them to be more prone to testing them against a female teacher that they're going to perceive as less strict. That's why Mustang's point is so valid, first impressions are key. If the female teacher walks in the first day and makes it perfectly clear that she's not fucking around, that'll set the tone for the year. But if she walks in the first day all mousy and asking nicely for everyone to settle down, that'll set the tone for the year too.

In conclusion: ugg ugg ugg.

 

[Nitafrong]

I agree with you Dexter on the point that kids will be kids and that they will push boundaries. I just don't agree that you have proved, or that it is indeed a fact that they will do so more against women than they will against men. If a male teacher, nay if any teacher comes in and doesn't establish the proper levels of respect, then the kids will act up. Gender doesn't have any impact upon respect in my mind. As much as you try and disguise it under explanations of evolution, or the fabled nurture principle it comes down to the fact you are trying to explain that women are less capable of doing a tough job, and that people- in this case school kids do not respect women as much as they do men. I don't believe this to be true and is based on the old prejudice against women as weaker and more sensitive and unable to do tough jobs as much as men. In households do kids take advantage of their mother and not their father? I don't see this happening in the majority of cases.

In my mind men and women are equally important when it comes to raising children, a father figure is equally as important as a mother. Just because women held a previous role for hundreds of years doesn't mean that they are genetically disposed to doing so. An argument like this is similar to any eugenics argument, just because some races were slave races doesn't mean they could be considered genetically or by means of evolution to be fit for these tasks.

So yeah girls/women are great teachers na na na na

 

[Dexter]

Interesting study here (link) on this topic, demonstrating the different techniques and challenges between the sexes. It illustrates the difference between male and female students, male and female teachers, and how each sex relates to each other in the teacher/student relationship. Particularly interesting part here:

According to the students, the male teachers behaved more agressively and they humiliated the students in the classroom setting. With respect to the male students, female teachers behaved less agressively but they favoured female students and spoke fast in teaching process. Gender is an inborn feature and it can be easily identified. This feature affects our roles and expectations in a society. Bennet (1993) conducted a research on the primary school students from different classroom levels and he found that the teachers behaved differently towards the male students. According to his research findings, the teachers' perceptions of male students were more negative than the female students. (Tauber 1997, 44). Furthermore, Moore & Johnson (1983) and Tauber (1997) found that the teachers had some prejudices related to the sexes of students.

So the prejudice isn't just student->teacher. It's teacher->student as well. Playing around on Google for 10 minutes or so, I found a LOT of research on this topic but unfortunately most of it only gave you access to the abstract and wanted money to view the full study. I figured quoting an abstract wouldn't make for a particularly strong argument here but if you're interested, try plugging "teacher gender classroom management" into your search engine of choice.

Technically speaking, it really should be "teacher sex classroom management" since the word 'gender' only refers to masculine and feminine forms in language, but try typing "teacher sex" into Google and see what comes up. You'll hit your back button and try "teacher gender" real quick.

Point being, I rule.

 

[blood and thunder]

oh my god what a ridiculous thread

Motivation. This is a more personal quality than anything. But when a woman tells me to do something, I'm kinda like fuck it almost as soon as she tells me to do it. Whereas a male tells me to do something I hop on it almost immediately in hopes for mutual respect.

That's your problem - maybe you weren't bought up well or something, but for whatever reason you have a bad attitude towards women which is kind of pathetic - I've done well academically so far, and pretty much all my teachers in secondary school and college were female - if some little shit in class doesn't listen to a teacher because they're female, it's their fault. And male teachers got shit too at my school so maybe you just live in a really backwards place or something?