Author to discuss “The Trouble with Boys”
The UF Lastinger Center for Learning the University of Florida College of Education’s Office of Educational Research invite COE faculty members and students to attend an insightful and compassionate discourse about a hidden crisis that has many parents deeply concerned about the mismatch between their sons and schools. This lecture and panel discussion is a must for anyone concerned about equity in education and making sure that none of our students are lost in a system reacting to social realities.
Journalist and writer Peg Tyre is a prize-winning investigative reporter and the author of the controversial and widely praised book, The Trouble With Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Schools and What Parents and Educators Must Do (Crown, 2008). Facing acute criticism from academic feminists charging this book as a backlash against increasingly high-achieving girls in school, Tyre wrestled with the topic of underachieving boys for some time before publishing her controversial ideas. Tyre contends that though the struggle for gender equity in education continues to be a very real concern for many, educators should not dismiss the equally poignant struggles of boys in school resulting in decreasing representation at the postsecondary level. Tyre is a graduate of Brown University. She is a frequent speaker at public and private schools around the nation. She continues to write about education, social trends and culture. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is a non-resident fellow at The Education Sector, a non-partisan educational think tank in Washington, D.C.
Tyre will be introduced by Dr. Mary Ann Clark, Associate Professor of Counselor Education and a B.O. Smith Research Professor at UF’s College of Education. Clark is an internationally renowned researcher on gender differences in educational achievement whom Tyre contacted while writing her book, after reading about Clark’s work in a College of Education news release in 2006. The two agreed to work together on a lecture and symposium at the University of Florida to coincide with Tyre’s book publication and promotional tour. As part of her introduction, Clark will briefly describe the gender-learning work of her UF research team in the Alachua County public schools system. Following Tyre’s talk, Clark will moderate a panel of UF and COE education researchers in a discussion of Tyre’s lecture and the latest information on the gender-related learning gap. A reception and refreshments will follow the program, with Tyre available to sign copies of her book. The UF Bookstore will be at the reception selling copies of her book.
