A documentary called "Most Likely To Succeed" is being shown at the Garden Valley Collegiate Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
The film ponders the legitimacy of modern day education and asks, "Is the way we do this still relevant?"
Another reason to show the documentary, according to Jantzen, is to highlight the discrepancy present in many schools: that, on average, girls are out-performing boys in the classroom
"Our male students aren't working to their potential like some of the female students are," Jantzen said.
In a blog post on the school website, Jantzen writes, "The gap starts in the early years, widens in the middle years, and continues to grow as students proceed through their high school experience."
A pair of studies done in 1995 showed that, in the later elementary years, females do better in a number of verbal skills than boys, including verbal reasoning, verbal fluency, comprehension, and understanding logical relations. Spatial skills, however, are where males outperform females. Skills like mental rotation, spatial perception, and spatial visualization were all best accomplished by males.
Nevertheless, the average female will finish high school with higher academic standing than the average male.
"Are there ways we could increase engagement for all students, that would result in our boys caring more about their learning and putting forth their best efforts?" Jantzen asked.
So far Jantzen has theories for why this gap exists, but nothing solid: another reason to show the "Most Likely To Succeed" documentary, to encourage dialogue about the problem.
"It's a problem that our staff are excited about trying to tackle," he said, adding he was curious what parents and community members think about some the questions the film will raise.
Following the documentary, there will be an opportunity for discussion.
Tue, Apr 23, 8:00 AM
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