Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Book Review of Gurian

Overview and Significance of the Book

Michael Gurian's Boys and Girls Learn Differently! has been a bestseller and a widely respected handbook on gender differences in learning since its publication in 2001. Beyond its market success, the book has made a positive impact on parents, teachers, counselors, and others interested in education and human development because it delves into the neurological, chemical, and hormonal differences between boys and girls. It is a well-presented narrative grounded in the author's extensive experience as a teacher, family therapist, and researcher — and his ability to communicate those experiences clearly.

There are many significant points in the book that make it valuable in today's educational setting. For one, the author offers a believable, reader-friendly narrative explaining why boys and girls process information differently. For another, when Gurian explains that the young female brain has a "learning advantage," he backs it up with empirical research and psychological theories that validate his assertions. For example, when he explains that the female brain may not be as large as the male brain but that girls' brains mature more quickly than boys', he leads the reader step by step through the fundamental differences in learning styles. "Boys tend to be deductive in their conceptualizations," he writes, but "girls tend to favor inductive thinking."

Throughout the book, an alert reader is frequently reminded that if teachers, parents, and counselors truly understand the chemical and biological changes children go through — and how those changes affect them emotionally, intellectually, and socially — adults can be far more effective in providing the right environment for children's learning and achievement.

Brain Development and Gender-Based Learning Differences

As a special education teacher, I know that educators need to continue learning about why students behave as they do and why they succeed or struggle academically. I also have twelve-year-old twins — a boy and a girl — whose learning styles are quite different. Gurian's book has given me a better grasp of how my own children process information and why they differ. I particularly appreciated his section on special education, where he notes that the male gender brain "is especially fragile… and is more vulnerable to a learning disability" (Gurian, 247). He goes on to explain that when this neurological fragility is combined with male hormones, it drives "disabled males toward aggressive, uncontrolled, and inappropriate behavior more than females…" (247). His suggested innovations — creating a class within a class (250–51) — are worth trying in any classroom, including mine.

In Chapter 1, Gurian takes time to fully explain the functions of various parts of the brain, building the case that there are dramatic differences in brain development between girls and boys. He explains that the "corpus callosum, the bundle of nerves that connects the right and left hemispheres" of the brain is 20% larger in girls. In terms of learning, this means that girls develop more quickly in the frontal lobes — which assist in decision-making — and in the occipital lobes, where sensory processing takes place.

Moreover, girls take in "more sensory data than boys" (27). They actually hear better, have a keener sense of smell, and are more developed in their ability to receive information through touch. After reading Gurian's many examples of how and why girls are ahead of boys in these areas, one wonders how boys ever catch up in later life — or whether many simply do not. According to the book, girls also generally do better at: (a) controlling impulsive behavior; (b) self-monitoring "high-risk and immoral conduct"; (c) managing any tendency toward "natural aggression"; and (d) developing verbal abilities and relying on verbal communication as they move into adolescence.

Boys, meanwhile, (a) rely "heavily on nonverbal communication" because they are less developed in verbal expression than girls, and (b) possess stronger "spatial abilities" in areas such as measuring, mechanical design, geography, and map reading. It will come as no surprise to elementary and middle school teachers that girls bond more quickly with other girls than boys do with other boys. Girls "bond first and ask questions later," whereas boys "might be aggressive first and ask questions later" (28). Boys strive to dominate in group settings, while girls tend to utilize "egalitarian alliances" (28).

Several other gender differences in the book merit mention. Girls are less likely to be overwhelmed by stimulation, while boys excel at managing "spatial relationships" involving objects and theorems. When it comes to singing in tune, six times as many girls can do so compared to boys. Girls respond immediately and "acutely" to pain, but their "resistance to long-term discomfort is stronger than in males" (30). Girls also process emotional stimuli "through more senses, and more completely" than boys do. Perhaps most relevant to classroom instruction, boys' "aggression-and-withdrawal response short-circuits intellectual and academic learning" because their process of emoting uses "less reasoning" and "takes longer" (32). This finding, as Gurian notes, will not surprise teachers at any level of K–12 education.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Michael Gurian should be given great credit for producing a book that is packed with real-life anecdotes and yet does not rely too heavily on personal storytelling, philosophical or psychological theorizing, or clever analogies. It is substantive, science-based, and filled with worthwhile strategies for teachers. Boys and Girls Learn Differently! should be required reading in any teacher-training program.