Teaching difference: Girls vs Boys

[mcdiddy1]

Hi everyone,

This is a topic I have been thinking about lately. I teach a number of students and am curious about what you feel the differences from teaching girls when compared to boys. Do you modify how you teach based on gender or do you feel there is no difference? Also do you feel being there is more of an advantage being a female teacher rather than a male. (I am a guy by the way)

In my opinion , although not always the case, boys have more energy and curious than girls are and can be a challenge if you are not used to them. Most of the girls tend to be shy and quiet and able to pay attention longer although not all of them fall under that category.

[drorperl]

I believe that it is completely an individual thing and not a gender issue.

I don't think you need to modify your approach due to the gender of the student but due to his/her interests and abilities.

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Dror Perl. Pianist, Composer, Teacher.

https://www.sheerpiano.com/

Sheer Piano: The First Full Color Piano Music Books

[keyboardclass]

Boys are very different - constantly leaving things to the last moment, starting stuff and not finishing, and needing a challenging environment.

[pianisten1989]

Girls should have a pink book, with songs about horses and flowers. Boys should have a blue or black book about with songs about cars and beer.

[mcdiddy1]

Boys are very different - constantly leaving things to the last moment, starting stuff and not finishing, and needing a challenging environment.

Yes I have a noticed that ...I know a couple students like that.

[fleetfingers]

In general, I would say that girls appreciate orderliness and structure and boys want to jump around a lot more, switching focuses often.

I get this question often as a parent - what the clear differences are between boys and girls. There are definitely some generalizations, but there are so many other factors that make up a child's personality and learning style. Birth order is a big one. Their environment at home is another.

For example, I have two students (a brother and sister) who both have short attention spans. During lessons, they will bring up subjects unrelated to piano, ask me random questions, complain about having to do simple things at the piano. They are my only students like this, and it has to do with their upbringing, not their gender.

Another example: I have a boy student who is organized and is careful to follow the instructions I write in his notebook, which is atypical. But, his mom is like that and he's the firstborn child, so it makes sense. Despite his need for organization, he is still as fidgety as the other boys.

[fourthnation]

I think there are definitely differences and some stereotypes are actually pretty close to the truth, even if people don't want to believe them... Now that I'm working mainly with boys, I wrote about piano music that I believe works really well with this gender in my blog recently. If you're a beginner or experienced teacher and looking for some new ideas, please check it out.

https://timtopham.com/2011/06/07/teaching-boys-repertoire-ideas/