What you learned in school
Educational psychology textbooks taught that boys and girls had fundamentally different learning styles due to biological brain differences. Students learned about "boy brains" versus "girl brains" with distinct educational needs requiring different teaching approaches. This was used to justify single-sex education and gender-specific curricula.
What we know now
Educational psychology taught that boys and girls had fundamentally different learning styles due to biological brain differences. Students learned about "boy brains" and "girl brains" with distinct educational needs. While there are some statistical differences between male and female brains, most cognitive and learning differences between boys and girls result from socialization, cultural expectations, and educational practices rather than inherent biological differences. Brain plasticity means that environmental factors strongly influence development. Single-sex education based on supposed brain differences has not shown consistent benefits.