As we know the United States has a document called the Bill of Rights, which states that all people have fundamental rights. Every human being has the right to free speech, the right to religious practice, the right to freedom, and the right of equality. These are all issues that not only the American people had to work hard to achieve, but also their ancestors. These are not issues that we should soon forget, but we have, at least in regards to our young people. Many forget that these amendments apply to both young and old, that children have the right to equal treatment just as much as adults. The difference is adults have to help children and teach them that "We are all created equally". The question is are all humans created equally? Should we all be taught the same way and taught the same things? Or should we look at the child's needs, their personal learning style, and their interest, then teach from there? If we do decide to take the individual child's needs into consideration, wouldn't gender come into play? The question is are the teachers being bias toward one gender or the other or just teaching to the individual?

Of course all people should be treated equally, but it can be argued that all people are created equally. We all look different, feel different, need different things, so it is easy to conclude that we would learn differently as well, and to go even further that some children would be naturally better at some things more then others. It has been proven by the United States Department of Education that girls perform better in reading and writing. Where as boys perform better in math and history. Now I ask, are these statistics true because of the differences in how teachers teach boys and girls, or that one gender is naturally better at one subject or the other?

This issue interests me because I'm studying to become an elementary school teacher, and it's surprising that teachers seem to have gender bias. I would think that if you are a teacher you would want to teach the children equally, which by the evidence out there, does not seem to be happening. According to the Women's College Coalition "Traditional teacher training has focused on teaching to boys' interests and behaviors. This strategy is thought to help keep order in the classroom. Boys predominately express their frustrations by acting out, disrupting the classroom in a variety of ways. Girls predominantly express their frustrations by acting in, becoming silent, withdrawn and non-participative. One way to control boys was to be sure that they were contributing therefore, teachers have traditionally called on boys more often than girls."

To be rather general boys tend to be the more rambunctious of the sexes. In the most part boys tend to play harder and are more competitive. It may be true that in order to keep the peace in the classroom teachers teach to the boys. Teachers don't want their classrooms to be loud and restless, and by the evidence the Women's College Coalition has given us, boys are the main contributors to these disruptions and will voice their opinions more. Where as girls tend to sit quietly and offer little indication that the subject has little interest to them.

Let me add that it does not help the problem that most of the people and concepts that we study in school, especially elementary school, are brought to us by men opposed to women. Sure there are the select few Rosa Parks, Betsy Ross, and Susan B. Anthony. But to be perfectly honest the impact that these women make on education is minimal to the impact that is made by the study of men. For example All the Presidents of the United States, Martin Luther King, not to mention all the dead white males that contributed to literature, the list can go on and on. It is no wonder that the interest swings toward the boys because most of the children's studies are about men or at least ideas that come from men. Therefore it is most logical to think that boys would do better in school then girls just by the shear interest levels.

It is not suprising that boys do better on standardized tests as well. According to the American Association of University Women that "On high-stakes test that determine college admissions, scholarships, an course credit-including the SAT and ACT-boys continue to score higher than girls do." This may be because of the fact that these tests are basically male related subjects. I didn't see any sections on the SAT devoted to the woman's ideas, I may go as far as to say that when it gets down to it, most of the SATs are devoted to the male thoughts.

As most know there are two sides to every issue. There are some that believe that teachers teach to boys, and girls are being treated unfairly. This is evident from what I just brought to attention. But there is also a completely opposite view, where teachers teach to girls, and boys are treated unfairly.

David Thomas, the author of "The Mind of Man" feels that boys are being treated more unfairly then girls. Thomas states that "Women teachers find boys too noisy, too aggressive, too boisterous. Unconsciously or not, they consistently reinforce and reward more "feminine" behavior. If all this is true, it is understandable that boys should not be as advanced as girls in the hands of women junior schoolteachers. There is a direct relationship between a child's academic achievement and a favorable response from the teacher."

I can not help but to somewhat agree in part with this statement. I have experience with this first hand. By working in an elementary school I see this strategy at work. I was helping out a Kindergarten class, which happened to have a female teacher. On the wall I noticed that there was a chart with all the children's names, on the top of the chart in big bold sparkly letters it spelled out "The Quite Chart". There was a line of stars next to the children who were quite. Most every girl had fifteen to twenty stars next to their names. The boys were considerably behind the girls with five to ten stars, with the exception of one. It just so happens that the girl who had the least amount of stars I knew through another program at the school. She is considered a "Tom Boy". She was the one who played Dinosaurs not kitchen, the one who would rolley polley hunt, not sit inside and color. Basically the one who played with the boys not the girls.

This is a prime example that feminine behavior is rewarded at least in the lower grades. It can be argued that this was a female teacher and that females relate better to girls, but the truth is that most of the instructors in Primary schools are females. Most can attest to the fact that the children with the more docile behavior were given the most rewards at school. But is this right, I'm not so sure. Should teachers be more rewarding of interaction with other students instead of trying to keep everyone quite all of the time. Trust me, working with children I know how nice it is when everyone is quite, but it makes me think I should reward more for actions not so much for quite or docile behavior, because the fact of the matter is girls are naturally more quite and docile then boys.

I don't know which one of these opinions is true or not, whether boys are treated unfairly or girls are treated unfairly, or if it boils down to a gender issue at all. What I do know is that there is a direct correlation between being academically successful and a favorable response from a teacher. Working at a school and see first hand that the students that are the "favorites" are the quite students, the independent students, and surprisingly the "good students". It make one wonder if these students learn better because they are quite therefore they end up good students, or because they are quite the teacher responds to them more favorably and that makes them the good students.

According to Thomas "Seventy-two boys and sixty girls at kindergarten.learned reading with a self-teaching machine. There were no difference between the sexes in their reactions to the mechanical gadgetry. Yet when the girls were tested on their reading progress they scored lower than the boys. Then the children were placed under the normal classroom instruction of women teachers. The children were tested again on the words they had been taught by the teacher. This time the boys' scores were inferior to the girls." So the question is, is one gender smarter then another, or does the difference come in the classroom?

There are two extremely opposite points of view on this issue. There is adequate evidence that shows both genders are being treated unfairly. To add some humor to this, at least it evens the playing field. But really I believe that although there is evidence supporting both sides of the issue, I do not think that one gender is more capable then the other. I do believe that this issue has to do with the individual teaching style of the instructor. Humans have natural biases against different things, humans are flawed, we all make mistakes, and unfortunately teachers are no different.

There may be no short-term quick fix for the gender bias issue because it takes time for people to be aware of it. But I think that is precisely the way that teachers can help to stop this problem, is to be aware of it. Gender bias's should be discussed in the University system, before soon to be teachers are able to go into the classroom, and should extend into the schools, maybe having yearly in-service for this along with other important issues. I believe that a lot of the problems have to do with an old way of thinking. I hope that with a new generation of teacher this problem will not be an issue any longer.

When I eventually start my career as an elementary school teacher I hope my students pride me as being a fair and impartial person. That my future students feel that they can come to me with their problems and know that whether the problem is with me or about something else, know that I will do everything to help them. I feel that what makes a good teacher is support for your students, being there for them when they need you regardless of gender. To teach a wide variety of subject matter, so there will be something for every student to enjoy. To teach all different ways Visual, Audio, and Kinesthetic. This way whoever you are, boy or girl, I will be able to teach to the individual. What makes an exceptional teacher is time to get to know your students, to judge them as individuals not by gender, and most importantly for your students to feel as if you made a positive difference in their lives.