Full transcript
0:00we live in a country where men and women
0:02are meant to be equal same pay same
0:05careers same opportunities but children
0:08as young as seven think that boys and
0:10girls are fundamentally different
0:12I think boys and women and girls men are
0:17like being in church I would describe
0:21the girl as being pretty and that these
0:24differences will define the lives they
0:26live as adults if the woman has a child
0:29the men have to go to work and earn some
0:32money
0:33no no more successful because they could
0:36have more harder job I don't believe
0:39that biology alone can explain these
0:41differences I think the answer lies in
0:44the society we live in
0:46[Music]
0:49what if they called you all sweetpea
0:53[Music]
0:58gender neutral you've got to start going
1:01to the same toilet I can change the way
1:05they think about themselves everyone can
1:08have a chance to do what they like and
1:09the way they think about their future I
1:12do not like reading but I like being in
1:14that book and if I can do that perhaps
1:17there's a chance of making their adult
1:19lives really equal made to be underpaid
1:22would you address your daughter in that
1:23it kind of makes something that seems so
1:26innocent not really that innocent after
1:28all but
1:29isn't going to be easy I want it to go
1:34back to porzingis I didn't think I could
1:38do it at first what we're trying to do
1:40could actually be very difficult I think
1:42in struggle every child deserves the
1:45same opportunities in life but unless we
1:48stop treating our boys and girls
1:50differently that simply isn't going to
1:52happen
1:53[Music]
2:04this is lanes n primary school on the
2:07Isle of Wight you please line up ready
2:09for assembly a local school with a good
2:13academic record run by head teacher
2:16Caroline sighs good morning
2:23300 boys and girls ranging in age from 5
2:27Tula Graham Andre teaches one of the two
2:31year three classes right
2:33how could you describe the gladiator
2:35Andre 23 2008 and night hello everyone
2:44the same time that the UK was drafting
2:47the Equality Act the most comprehensive
2:49legislation anywhere in the world
2:51against sex discrimination these
2:56children have lived their entire lives
2:58in a world that says it once men and
3:01women to be treated the same get things
3:04written down but is that how things
3:06really are
3:07come on and give it a go love mazie what
3:11we're doing now is you just come in with
3:12sending me gladiators so we're
3:14describing what we're seeing it seems to
3:22me that's how they will see themselves
3:27now let's see finger space is of course
3:30my love we always need finger spaces we
3:33treat them the same
3:34maybe we can transform their views
3:36[Music]
3:38future might hold them so what do you
3:42the children in grams class think about
3:43how different or similar they are
3:46amenable cuz they're stronger and they
3:50got more jobs I think I would describe
3:54the girl as pretty lipstick dresses love
4:00hearts football I think strong is a
4:09boiler because they can fight lots of
4:11people right tell me who's more
4:13important girls voice
4:14morally i boys save and I protect girls
4:17I think no no more
4:20because they could have more harder job
4:23and no more I think men are better like
4:29being in charge I think boys are
4:32cleverer than girls because they don't
4:36they get into president easily than they
4:39Louise I think from the moment they're
4:43born they are aware of gender those
4:47children are becoming that mindset that
4:49this is what they are the boys will play
4:50football there the girls will do drawing
4:53an art they would tell me what jobs they
4:56can or can't do so it's very much that
4:59they've still got very set views on what
5:02is acceptable for their gender Shh
5:05why smiley that we need to be quiet
5:07everyone
5:10it's common sense that there are basic
5:13biological differences between the sexes
5:15but do these differences explain the way
5:18the children think
5:20to find out I've come to see Professor
5:23Gina Ripon one of the country's leading
5:25experts in neuro imaging to see if
5:28there's something about how the
5:29children's brains work that could
5:31explain it what the difference is
5:33between boys and girls brains
5:36anatomically $64,000 question
5:39structurally there appears to be very
5:42very few differences which is quite a
5:45surprise to a lot of people who have
5:46assumed for hundreds of years that males
5:48and females are different because their
5:50brains are different so you couldn't
5:51look at a brain scan and say oh that's
5:53brain scan of a male or a brain scan of
5:54a female that really doesn't explain why
5:56boys and girls might behave differently
5:58then if you say the structure of the
5:59brains are that there's no
6:02differentiation between the structure
6:03well the other thing that we now know
6:05about is that the brain is very very
6:07plastic moldable changeable that
6:10something isn't necessarily fixed and
6:11invariant which is what was all sought
6:13about the brain what we now know is
6:15brain development is very much entangled
6:18with society experiences upbringing and
6:23the differences we're seeing and not
6:25because they were determined at the
6:28moment of conception it's because this
6:30hungry brain arrives in the world and
6:32the world is instantly plunging it into
6:34a tsunami of pink and blue and I think
6:37we have not been aware too recently of
6:40how big that influence is if Gina's
6:43right the differences between boys and
6:45girls aren't set in stone
6:48they're there because their experiences
6:51have taught them different skills and
6:53mental attitudes did you find people on
6:56your phone in Texas I haven't got a SIM
6:58card or any credit okay which means I
7:01should be able to reduce the differences
7:03between the boys and girls in grams
7:05class of 70 watts mutant boys to do
7:10research at Stanford University has said
7:13that 7 is a key age for children because
7:16it's at this point that they are
7:17beginning to have fixed ideas about the
7:20differences between a man and a women
7:22excellent and well we'll just share
7:24yours but not so fixed they can't still
7:27be changed 5 and to there'd be quite
7:30loud
7:30think about the patterns in the twos and
7:32the fives times tables Riley so I've
7:36asked dr. Stella Mavs Ravelli
7:37from the psychometric lab University
7:39College London to run a series of tests
7:42to gather some data measuring these
7:44differences I am a scientist I work with
7:50children and adults and I help them
7:52learn a little bit more about themselves
7:54and you will be helping us learn a lot
7:57more about children your age these tests
8:00will look at the differences between the
8:02boys and girls when it comes to one is
8:04only men - is only women 3 is postmen
8:08women so these are jobs ok their levels
8:11of self-esteem how clever they think
8:16they are known as perceived intelligence
8:18we have to write we have no idea
8:22their understanding and levels of
8:24empathy if my mother is happy I also
8:28feel happy assertiveness and how good
8:33they are resisting impulses to act a
8:36trait that has linked an aggression bad
8:39behavior and lying you will be allowed
8:42to eat one sweet but then you've got to
8:45leave the rest until the end of the day
8:52right we need to get back on with our
8:54mass and how much vocabulary they have
9:02to describe their emotions excited
9:08[Music]
9:09joyful smiley funny joyful fun family
9:22love it's light enjoyable I don't know
9:31can't think of any I can't think beneath
9:35gram also scored each of the children
9:38four levels of classroom behavior
9:40hyperactivity and poor conduct thank you
9:45so much you've done amazingly well
9:52Stella has sent me the results of the
9:54week of tests and and they are shocking
9:57I'm seeing here evidence that the girls
10:00significantly underestimate how clever
10:02they are and have less self-esteem and
10:04self-confidence and the boys can't seem
10:08to express their emotions except anger
10:11which is really disturbing and the girls
10:13and seemed to use words such as ugly
10:17lipstick pretty soul or everything to do
10:20with looks to describe themselves I'm
10:23disappointed by these results Gina has
10:27told me that boys and girls brains are
10:29the same so there's absolutely no
10:31biological reason why the results should
10:33be like this
10:36what is really worrying is that lanes
10:39end is a school like any other in the
10:41country so if these results are true for
10:44them then they're probably true for
10:45every other class in every other school
10:49[Music]
10:52so I'm heading back to the Isle of Wight
10:55where for the next five weeks I'm going
10:57to stage a number of classroom
10:59interventions does it remind you of
11:03Maisie what does it remind you of love
11:05these are designed to tackle the
11:07differences I've seen in the boys and
11:09girls in our series of tests and change
11:12them when dr. Steiner retest the
11:14children at the end of the term on the
11:16cou sit properly please anvil Oh Cara
11:18love what does the love remind you of
11:20and to ensure that any changes that take
11:23place are down to my interventions we're
11:25going to use the other year three class
11:27as a control group they will be tested
11:29at the beginning and at the end but
11:31apart from that they'll have a term but
11:41before I do anything I want to talk to
11:43Brad to find out if what he knows about
11:45the children he ties up with what I
11:47found so this is a really interesting
11:51thing I think something called perceived
11:52intelligence by okay so there was a
11:54little test an object was to ask them
11:57what score they thought they would get
11:58it as high as yeah and overall many many
12:01more girls underestimated what they
12:04would achieve higher boys and actually
12:06three times as many boys overestimated
12:09what they were jeev well when compared
12:11to the girls half girls underestimate
12:13their ability and boys overestimate and
12:16in fact one of the girls
12:18Lexie there yes it means showing against
12:20three out of ten is old nine out of ten
12:22Wow
12:23ditto for grace and Tiffany there I
12:24definitely think that's something that
12:26we do see within class that the boys
12:28actually have this greater belief in
12:30their own abilities and will the girl
12:32seem to be a bit more quiet about it all
12:34and see that Tiffany Grace and Lexi I
12:36can see they're girls actually there are
12:37quite low on confidence grace came to us
12:40from a different school and she was
12:41really low on confidence especially when
12:43it came to things like maths the most
12:44telling for me personally was the
12:46emotional vocab and so it gave them
12:48a word when you ask them to give a
12:51number of words associated to one okay
12:53and across all of these emotions they
12:56are one the girls scored more flowers
12:59and they're a new one they didn't school
13:01Morin was so angry Wow
13:03so boys had more words to describe angry
13:05that yells but already at this point
13:07something's happen somewhere that girls
13:09can express their emotions much more and
13:12you see that in class yeah we do
13:14actually it's harder for the boys to
13:16express their feelings
13:17you can ask them they they get angry
13:18sometimes and you can say to them why is
13:20it you are angry and they're not happy
13:22it's just time I'm just an angry it
13:24wasn't just differences in intelligence
13:26or emotion that were revealed in our
13:28testing the self-esteem and 50% of the
13:32boys describe themselves as the best but
13:35only 10% of the girls with one girl
13:39describing herself as ugly girls also
13:43had no scores for self-confidence
13:45while boys struggled with empathy it was
13:49a shock looking at some of the data and
13:52the assessment that would claim that
13:53there are some quite big challenges
13:55there for the children especially girls
13:57that underestimated their own ability
13:59and also there's complete biased views
14:01about what boys are expected to do and
14:03what girls are expected to do and I'd
14:05really like to change that that's the
14:07only thing I'm really nervous about
14:08actually do this and nothing happens
14:10because I really want there to be a
14:12difference
14:18[Music]
14:27the first thing I want to do is address
14:31the differences that the children told
14:32me about themselves
14:34so like wherever they look I want them
14:38to be faced with things that highlight
14:39their similarities and not their
14:41difference not knock Sondre hello Janet
14:45how are you all do you know what we're
14:48up to
14:50right what we're gonna do is we're gonna
14:52try and change the classroom we're gonna
14:54ensure that the boys and girls are
14:56treated equally because you can all do
14:59as well as each other so here we've got
15:01some boards which you're all going to
15:03help put up it says that boys are strong
15:07but so a go it's not putting some stuff
15:13up then yeah you could put on the table
15:15it doesn't have to stay there forever it
15:17could change every week where's the best
15:19place to put this sign so that people
15:21see it these signs have been written to
15:23challenge when the children
15:25selves have told me about how they view
15:27boys goats
15:28where do you think it would have the
15:29best impact what you'll say jzuk it cuz
15:32that you agree girls are clever this one
15:45looks like it's just a few words on the
15:48walls but it's about more than that it's
15:50about the language the climate the
15:51environment in which the children find
15:53themselves they're now receiving lots
15:56and lots and lots of small messages
15:58together the some of which has far
16:00greater than their parts and it's
16:02telling them boys and girls are equal
16:04they're in there for many hours a day
16:07most of the days a week so it's a big
16:10thing the biggest influence in the
16:15classroom is great oh it's a new joy
16:18Beauty guys I will just find out from
16:21head teacher missus I see how she thinks
16:24he does at treating the children the
16:26same mr. Andre is a great teacher but
16:29his biggest strength is his relationship
16:31with the children he knows those
16:33children really well however when we
16:35were doing observations when he was
16:37asking questions and gathering answers
16:39often would ask more boys than girls why
16:43do you think fellas and this is what we
16:45had picked up in observations with him
16:47so yeah really important to see if we
16:50could change mr. Andre and ensure that
16:52his children were getting an equal sort
16:55of experience in his classroom I've got
16:58an idea that I think will do just that
17:00what do you think this might be what is
17:02it say on there grace what is it failing
17:06they're lazy Orien one of the most
17:10telling findings in the testing was the
17:12girls low levels of academic
17:13self-confidence got your names on it
17:16which is partly expressed in the
17:18confidence that they have to speak up in
17:20class we know that you might be skewed
17:23toward letting one of the kids answer a
17:25question if they're noise you're allowed
17:27so this is a way of making it entirely
17:29fair and straight down to chance
17:33say Roth Ely do you think this is a good
17:36idea yeah you think it's a good idea and
17:42we are going out actually now for a bit
17:44of an early break lily and today it's a
17:48night there's little point in doing all
17:51I can to even out differences when every
17:54time Graham opens his mouth he uses
17:56names that massively reinforced the idea
17:58that boys and girls are different
18:01[Music]
18:04have you ever noticed that mr. Andre
18:07calls you boys mate or fella Suzie oh so
18:14it's made only for men okay what about
18:17this what if mr. Andre called you all
18:19sweetpea from those reactions it's clear
18:32that this kind of language has power so
18:36I want to challenge Graham on his use of
18:38love and mate we count through one of
18:42your morning sessions but number times
18:43you call the girls love my earthly
18:45darling is weepy yeah it was a hundred
18:48and forty a guy yeah and Manny the boys
18:51you call the boys make Ladd fella or sir
18:54I it was 47 okay you know I'm so I'm
18:57really aware that I do this it's also
18:59the fact that you do tend to endear
19:01yourself to the girls twice as much as
19:04the boys right crumbs that's a line it's
19:06it's sort of ingrained it's something I
19:08do so I find it really hard not to do
19:11it's all too easy to laugh this off as
19:14not really matter in but constant
19:17reminders of difference sink in and have
19:20a lasting effect on the children I've
19:23got an idea for a way the children
19:25themselves can help Graham change his
19:27ways
19:29what do you think you might be here we
19:33go so we've noticed that mr. Andre likes
19:38to call some of you love and sweetpea
19:41and some of you mate and fella we're
19:43gonna put this up and every time you
19:46hear him say love or May or sweet pea or
19:49fella or my darling you can put a sad
19:51face next to whichever one that he's
19:54said what do you think about that
19:57well you've got to be honest with this
19:59you have to be honest if I stand any
20:02chance of effective change then
20:04everything that marks the children our
20:06plan is different based solely on being
20:08a boy or a girl
20:09who needs to be gotten rid of and
20:11nothing will do that more than pet names
20:15so yeah you've seen the small things
20:17that we've put up all around the room
20:18and how we're going to change the words
20:20we use so the small beginning but this
20:23is your new classroom what do you think
20:26this is just a beginning Ronnie what
20:30there's a bit an interesting day today
20:32we've Javid coming in I'm a little bit
20:34worried about the board at the back of
20:35the classroom I think because the kids
20:37are part of that too they're going to
20:38keep an eye on me and help me to to do
20:40that and I know it's for the greater
20:42good I know it's it's it will have an
20:44impact on the children which is like
20:52dinner's Louie you know yourself a form
20:53of food Thank You Riley
20:54I look forward to seeing him it's a new
20:57day and lanes end primers and already
21:04Graham is struggling with the pet names
21:08it was about two minutes Lilly won it
21:11sworn in it was a real accident as well
21:14let's see you right there love let's see
21:21it's much harder
21:24although to be fair I do honestly think
21:26T's not too bad I would have by now
21:28looking at 23 children I would have
21:30called each one of them a term of
21:32endearment I think at least once this
21:33morning so twos not too bad but it's
21:35still not correct it's really really
21:37really hard I really have to think about
21:38what I'm doing so wrong answers I'm a
21:40cure for assemblies and pick a ball out
21:42and this person will be the longing
21:43leader we could have a different person
21:45each day you can wait what Bella
21:50it's an encouraging first step to see
21:53the children and crayon being challenged
21:55by the changes I've made in the
21:57classroom
21:59but next I want to tackle one of the
22:01questions that all children have an
22:03answer for and I go up I want to be home
22:07you know one driver when they grow up I
22:09want to be a pop star because of that
22:11reason I start to be a or EF pilot um to
22:17be a teacher as part of our testing the
22:21children were given a long list of jobs
22:23these range from one set of
22:25traditionally thought of as either
22:26female or male like babysitter and
22:29plumber to less obvious ones like baker
22:32or dentist
22:35we then asked which jobs a woman would
22:37do I think a hairdresser a babysitter
22:43and a nail designer and which would a
22:48man do football Preston SP um tennis
22:54people captain please what was
22:58shocking was just how certain they were
23:01that these jobs were only for men or
23:03women and I think a hairdresser is a
23:08girl top because it's a girl dog
23:12I think a firefighter is for a boy
23:16because they need to hold up big ladders
23:20and more a really heavy boys are can
23:24only be police officers because they're
23:26faster so they can catch the wall boys
23:28if before us a nurse
23:31being a boy it kind of sounds a bit
23:35weird and it would kind of look a bit
23:37weird as well on one level this sounds
23:41like harmless kids talk but at just
23:43seven years old there is no doubt in
23:45their minds some jobs men do and some
23:48women do and that is limiting what year
23:53three switch-like stand up I want to try
23:56and show them that it doesn't
23:56necessarily have to be that way
23:59here we go I'm going to show you this
24:01and on this hour four jobs over here
24:05there's a ballet dancer a magician the
24:07makeup artist and a mechanic what I want
24:10you kids to do is to get as creative as
24:13possible drawing their body draw in
24:15their arms
24:15imagine what tools they might need
24:17imagine what color hair they've got what
24:19clothes they'd wear but I also want you
24:21to do one thing which is really
24:22important I want you to give them a name
24:24ready
24:32we want to make a naked you can do that
24:34how many mechanics you know that work
24:35naked okay
24:38the jobs I've chosen aren't really the
24:40important part I'm not trying to turn
24:43all the girls into want to be magicians
24:44but what I do want to do is to explore
24:47the kind of region
24:49they show in our testing so you're
24:51thinking about who might do this job yes
24:54a girl okay permanent normal jobs like
25:01their makeup office would normally be a
25:04girl and a car mechanic would normally
25:07be a boy your magician is a mr. see
25:10what's in here
25:11mr. bubble my car mechanic I might call
25:16a diamond see she's a ballerina because
25:23they don't you get an ad my little
25:27office is a woman she's gonna have a
25:30mirror and lipstick because it's makeup
25:32and lipsticks makeup and if they have
25:34mirrors for me yeah it's basically a
25:37woman because it's a Newton eight one
25:39month and a ballet dancer it's called
25:41and liquors lots and lots and lots of
25:44ballet dancers and girls it's surprising
25:47how fix the children's ideas are almost
25:50without exception the mechanics and
25:52magicians and Men and the makeup artists
25:54and dancers winning
25:56but there is absolutely no reason why
25:59that should be so I want to show them an
26:02alternative
26:07[Applause]
26:08are we ready come in come in come in
26:12look what your hands to your mouths are
26:14so you were drawing for people earlier
26:17weren't you why don't introduce
26:21ourselves and we'll find out
26:22I'll ask my name's Rob and I'm a makeup
26:24artist I'm Andrea and I'm a car mechanic
26:28hello my name is Dane and I'm a dancer
26:30hello I'm Karina and I'm a magician come
26:37for me come on right right
26:42five ladies would you like to come with
26:45me so my name's Rob and I work on films
26:58like Star Wars and Avengers yeah eating
27:02role models can be hugely influential
27:05turn
27:07like this or something they see and go
27:10very good very good because what we
27:13learn in them is more likely to change
27:15our behaviors and beliefs it's part of
27:20the exhaust and what it does is it
27:22collects all the nasty suit is it really
27:25really hot it gets incredibly hot you
27:28guys ever met a few mellow mechanic yeah
27:30where have you met one select see if you
27:35enjoyed meeting the mechanic yeah I
27:37think that it's really cool that it's a
27:40girl okay so sometimes you have to paint
27:43a little background someone in the in
27:44the film might happen that I get punched
27:46in the face I like it
27:56a boy get the chance to be makeup art
27:59it's not always a girl looks sort isn't
28:02it sticking with me and he's been the
28:11coolest person you've met I scouted the
28:14dance of the guys I don't know why I
28:17just like it
28:19I think there everyone jobs because
28:21everyone can have attached a chance to
28:24do what they like
28:27this was not a hard thing to do to get
28:30some people in the room and show the
28:32children but there's an alternative to
28:34what they think as the inevitable path
28:36for men and men while making them face
28:40their own assumptions we've made a
28:41lasting change all high five level yeah
28:47it would be easy for schools to do
28:50something like this but they aren't and
28:52that means another generation of
28:55children growing up with fixed and
28:57limiting ideas about what they can
28:59achieve so what do we need to say to all
29:01these wonderful people to come and see
29:02yourself I do apologize to some of your
29:10children what's happened to them after
29:11noon I don't know but I they have lots
29:14of things that we can tell you about
29:16states are amazing today did your
29:22[Music]
29:29fundamental make it makeup artists which
29:32done this surprised yeah I think if we
29:36did if we did the same activity that we
29:38did earlier again tomorrow then you'll
29:41get probably a whole different set of
29:43pictures on those bodies I'm sure you
29:46would actually think this is dis could
29:47be a step in the right direction of the
29:50change in their views while changing the
29:58children's perceptions is a start I
30:00think it's just one part of the problem
30:03in our testing the girls scored 30%
30:07lower than the boys in self-confidence
30:09in maths 2 4 6 8 the ability to process
30:19and understand numbers shapes and how
30:21objects fit together known as spatial
30:23awareness is key to success in a number
30:26of traditionally male-dominated
30:27professions according to the Office of
30:33National Statistics less than 10% of
30:36Engineers and 20% of architects are
30:39women I want to know why it is that men
30:43dominates when it comes to spatial
30:45awareness people are very interested in
30:47the fact that on average girls tend to
30:51do worse on on what we call spatial
30:53tasks and seems to be very much a
30:56function of encouraging boys or boys
30:59having more experience with visual
31:00spatial skills they've got their head
31:02stuck in a Lego instruction book for
31:04example so people have looked at whether
31:06or not you could improve performance by
31:09training so these are scans of girls who
31:12had opportunity to play Tetris
31:14intensively for 3 months what they found
31:17was that their spatial skills improved
31:19and actually there were structures in
31:22the brain which changed so it's
31:24physically changed it's going thicker to
31:29put it in simple terms so a male child
31:32might be much more encouraged to play
31:34with games that are to do with spatial
31:38awareness so the brain is rehearsed and
31:40practiced that that develops more and
31:43it's actually the child becomes better
31:45at it and we know that if your practice
31:46makes perfect yet speak
31:48and also if you're better at something
31:49you enjoy doing it more
31:51[Music]
31:58Gina has given me an idea of how I can
32:00brain train my class to even out these
32:03differences and build their confidence
32:05in their abilities that affects subjects
32:08like maths and science special ability
32:11is a key component in the STEM subjects
32:14of thus others of science technology
32:15engineering and maths and those subjects
32:18are crucial for future careers
32:20potentially in engineering architecture
32:22even surgery okay kids what we're trying
32:25to show today is to see if any of you
32:27are better than the others at spatial
32:30awareness being able to look at physical
32:32objects and seeing how they relate to
32:35each other and mr. landreaux and I are
32:37gonna have a quick test now hang on here
32:41we go
32:42look at this big colorful Straits again
32:45right this is a tangram puzzle mr. Andre
32:49and eyes task is to make this shape out
32:52of these all right so should we go for
32:55the ends first one in tangram puzzles
32:59use seven geometric shapes that can be
33:02arranged into various complex patterns a
33:05green triangle that needs to go to be
33:08good at it you need to be able to
33:10manipulate shapes understanding how they
33:12fit together and how they change new
33:15flip or rotate them well that's a thing
33:19isn't it it's gonna go this trains the
33:22temporal lobes of the brain that are
33:24responsible for processing shapes just
33:26leaves teamwork teamwork now
33:34you're each going to get one and you're
33:37going to practice right now with one
33:39particular shape okay this is the shape
33:42I'd like you to make you've got it in
33:44front of you what is it remind you of a
33:46sailboat where you go
33:54[Music]
33:59I've given the children ten minutes to
34:01try and reproduce the shape that looks
34:03like a ship if you're a boy who's been
34:06playing with Lego or minecraft his whole
34:08life you're much more likely to be
34:10better at this type of task and more
34:13confident in it and have confidence in
34:16those subjects like maths and physics it
34:19looks like the boys have done it before
34:20so is it that they're more practice that
34:22it more rehearsed and the point of this
34:24is to give them all an even playing
34:26field in terms of rehearsal practice and
34:29exercising that part of the brain comes
34:48off there's a couple actually
35:02Tiffany's really struggles I think you
35:05know 15 minutes a day 10 minutes today
35:08not long after the school day could
35:10really help exercise fish and get them
35:12all up as well you know we just fall
35:15into your numeracy types moving
35:17brilliant brilliant
35:19there's clearly a huge gap between boys
35:21and girls which I hope this intervention
35:24will go some way to blows
35:30the brains class isn't unique it's
35:33worrying to think that the difference
35:35I've seen here you could well be found
35:37in other classrooms in the country and I
35:43don't think people are doing enough
35:45leaving generation after generation of
35:48little girls excluded from future
35:50careers that require a militants in STEM
35:52subjects it is five to three million a
36:01car off you go to gamestop rest of you
36:03and go home it's easy to think that boys
36:10are just better when it comes to
36:12developing their spatial awareness
36:14skills the girls don't like playing in
36:20that kind of way they naturally
36:22preferred dolls to boys toys
36:25[Music]
36:27I want to put that to the test because
36:29I'm pretty sure that that idea is
36:31rubbish toys are just toys so I'm going
36:40to conduct an experiment something a
36:42little unorthodox I've gathered some
36:45babies and swap their clothes for the
36:49next couple of hours
36:51Marnie becomes Oliver and Edward becomes
36:55Sophie because I want to see the kinds
36:57of behaviors and assumptions adult
36:59volunteers make when they think they're
37:01playing with a little boy or girl even
37:03when they're not look at this look at
37:07this do like a doll a look of the dollar
37:10you're a good little girl I give Sophie
37:13look what does this say
37:15sweet dreams sweet dreams oh and what's
37:26this but this Sophie
37:29what startling is the assumption that
37:31because Edward is dressed as a girl the
37:33adult thinks he wants to play with the
37:35soft toy
37:37meow-meow oh not the toys that encourage
37:43understanding shapes were being
37:45physically confident she thinks she had
37:48any favorite yes I do I think she liked
37:50that pink dolly the best if I were to
37:52tell you actually that Sophie is Edward
37:55ahh
37:56does that change anything I maybe
37:57thought oh this is a little girl so I
38:00have to give a little girl things you
38:02made the choice for this and yes to play
38:05with that doll yeah so what I'm saying
38:07is when when adults choose the for the
38:09children how they play what with what
38:12long they're gonna have then they're
38:14gonna end up there yes what do you want
38:22to play with Jessie my robot
38:26[Music]
38:31Alisha's maybe chances are cool in
38:33handling the child
38:39fellow what's this one ah what's that
38:48one - it's a road what about this one
38:53you like that one what does this one do
38:57okay whatever you've gone for you could
39:03say boy toys possibly possibly in my
39:06subconscious but it's it's me I was just
39:09going for what was around me but I
39:10smoked my subconscious was automatically
39:13playing a trick on me that if I tell you
39:15that he is actually a girl really yes
39:18oh wow that's really interesting
39:22I suppose it's because of the stereotype
39:24and then that changed your behavior
39:26towards the child it's it and your
39:28behavior was generative so how does that
39:31make you feel like you changed your
39:33behavior really shocking because you
39:36know children today we're trying to
39:38teach children that you can be what you
39:40want to be but yet we're still forcing
39:43an identity on a child this identity
39:49based on how we think a child should act
39:51isn't harmless it has much deeper and
39:56longer lasting consequences than
39:58choosing which toy to play with
40:01gender differences in emotional health
40:03so here it says women with anxiety
40:06disorders are more likely to internalize
40:08which results in typically loan enlist
40:10withdrawal and depression men on the
40:13other hand are more likely to
40:14externalize which leads to aggression
40:16impulsive behavior coercive and
40:19non-compliant behavior there's an
40:21article on men natural born criminals
40:24the prison numbers don't lie say less
40:26than five percent of the country's
40:28prison population is female people who
40:30research masculinity in prisons men
40:32don't cry men take it on the chin you
40:34can't be soft simply being born a boy
40:37means you're much more likely to end up
40:39in prison but they're much more likely
40:41to earn more than a girl the gender pay
40:44gap there are less women
40:46full-stop at in the top 100 companies as
40:49bosses and there are men called John the
40:52sum of all of these statistics others
40:55potential for that to be really quite
40:57sinister or insidious if you don't stop
41:00to think about why
41:01[Music]
41:03these statistics have really brought it
41:06home to me that some children across the
41:08country have a difficult and uncertain
41:10adult life because of what we tell them
41:13it means to be a man or a woman
41:19[Music]
41:25so let's go do the boat and you've got
41:27to choose a hundred-word challenge to be
41:30honest I'm really proud of what I've
41:31done so far just to have this numbers
41:33good gram might be feeling positive but
41:37I'm keen two weeks into my time at
41:39Lane's end to hear what changes he's
41:42seeing in the children you think they've
41:44noticed some changes yeah I do think
41:46they've definitely noticed changes
41:48they're taking on board they are making
41:51links between you know these positive
41:53signs and things that we're saying in
41:54the classroom I think what will be
41:56interesting to see it the end to see how
41:58much they've changed in a relatively
42:00short space of time has there been any
42:02resistance from one or two of them not
42:05with anything we've done yet I want to
42:16challenge another of the areas from our
42:18testing what the children think about
42:21strength I'm going to say some words
42:26yeah and I want you to save they're a
42:29boy or a girl word strong boy weak woman
42:39go strong important lesson because
42:43they're stronger than girls boys boys
42:47because they run round more boys because
42:51they go to the gym more
42:52I think strong is a boy but because
42:55normally boys have finished your muscles
42:57if user can't row strongest person he's
43:01a boy in the children's minds there is
43:03no doubt boys are stronger they've got
43:06bigger muscles girls are comparable
43:08anyway as a doctor I've got an
43:10understanding of our bodies how we grow
43:12how we change and what I know is that
43:15there's actually no difference in muscle
43:16mass and strength between boys and girls
43:19right up until the age of puberty but
43:22strength isn't just about biology our
43:25testing showed that the boys had limited
43:28vocabulary around expressing their
43:30emotions that they linked being strong
43:33with not showing how they felt do you
43:36cry no but I do get angry and what you
43:40do what happens when you get angry I try
43:42to break my bed and I break when I go do
43:46you cry yeah I think girls cry more
43:51because because boys are stronger and
43:54they they can hold their - sir what
43:59about crying do you cry no is it okay
44:03for boys to cry no stop these children
44:09have such different ideas when it comes
44:11to strength and there really is no
44:13reason for it I want them to understand
44:16just how similar they are in terms of
44:19physical strength even if that forces
44:21the boys to challenge the belief that
44:23they will always come out as a strongest
44:26so I've built a little surprise for them
44:29on their playing fields let's march all
44:35right come around here okay kids now
44:39we're gonna test your strength
44:45listen but before we get to doing that
44:48you've got one minute now I want you all
44:52to line yourselves up from strongest to
44:56weakest go
44:59everyone's running to the left so I want
45:03to see a line ID says he's in the middle
45:15why do you think you're the strongest
45:17I'm rolling boys we're not fighting 20
45:24there's been a bundle for who's the
45:25strongest a little little scuffle for
45:29the boys they're trying to put
45:30themselves in the strongest position no
45:32compromising but there's it's certainly
45:35a preponderance for boys at the
45:37strongest end and most of the weaker end
45:40knowing that these children are more or
45:42less equal when it comes to their
45:44biology this isn't really about strength
45:46right thank you very much for doing that
45:48now come back together I believe it's
45:52about the children's self confidence
45:54levels of self-esteem so I'm gonna ask
45:57each one of you to tell mr. Andre and I
46:00what you think you're actually going to
46:03score Ronnie what do you think you'll
46:04score 10 our tests showed that the girls
46:09massively underestimated what they
46:11thought they could achieve really you
46:14think you'll score high okay Tiffany
46:17what you think you might score fine with
46:21a simple demonstration of how strong
46:22they really
46:23I can challenge that and hopefully
46:26improve their levels of confidence Lexi
46:30I think I'll score five what you think
46:34you'll score Bradley nine Riley what you
46:36think you'll score ten great the bow
46:39okay quite high predictions there yes
46:42now kids thank you for doing that one by
46:45one you're now going to come up and test
46:48your strength they will each have three
46:51attempts to ring the bell
46:52what happens if we miss the button if
46:54you miss the button that's it you just
46:56have a bit simmer yeah absolutely Lily
46:58okay Orion choose your weapon Thor's
47:02hammer
47:02so he goes each and eye coordination
47:05concentrate to go Bella yeah give it a
47:27good effort
47:28Oh
47:34see if you gotta go come on Lexi Lexi
47:38estimated that she would scored just
47:40five out of ten
47:43you can do it Lexi because you're happy
48:09why why are you happy then Lexi so
48:14didn't think I could do it at first yeah
48:16and you're really happy because you did
48:18we're really happy because you did - is
48:20it happy tears that's the right now we
48:23don't know that like this
48:24that's brilliant Lexi next up Riley he
48:33has predicted hitting the belt and
48:34getting a maximum when we tested the
49:02boys 63 percent of them had problems
49:05dealing with their emotions including
49:07Riley why do you think that why are you
49:12kicking the hey what do you think you're
49:17gonna get a chance if you do it again at
49:19the end of course you are yes why do you
49:24think it didn't work no it doesn't
49:29matter it's all about trying isn't it
49:35aren't even happy that your friends did
49:38well why not see you're quite
49:44competitive on you so listen when you
49:46throw yourself on the mud like that
49:48what's that achieving
49:52why'd you have that reaction Riley it
50:00was overconfident and of course he got
50:02upset on to the whole class not scoring
50:04anything he doesn't use words to
50:07describe negative emotions and that's
50:10quite telling right what do we see here
50:15look at Grace she thought she would get
50:16sick she got ten Cara thought she would
50:19get six she got ten Ronnie Bradley
50:22Lily Lexi down here Lexi five so many of
50:27you goes in what I want to tell you is
50:29this at your age
50:30boys and girls have exactly the same
50:33strength as long as that's a good point
50:37Cara so you're the same size as another
50:39boy or girl your muscles are exactly as
50:42strong as each other so what do thinking
50:44about that boys and girls are as strong
50:46as each other not a surprise and good
50:51for them to see the boys having
50:53confidence in themselves that estimating
50:55they'll score highly but with the girls
50:57why do they underestimate themselves six
50:59of the girls thought they'd score six
51:01points or less in fact five of them then
51:04scored 10 so they are achieving what the
51:07boys can achieve they can they're seeing
51:09that they can do that but they don't
51:10have the belief in themselves in the
51:12first place and hopefully all that we're
51:14doing is going to change that
51:17I can't get it I thought I was gonna get
51:20a five and Dara's happy crying because I
51:25will attend I feel really happy and
51:29proud of myself I think that boys
51:33stronger than girls because everyone
51:36just said that but no I think that girls
51:39and boys can be strong seeing the girls
51:42actually coming up and achieving as good
51:45as good if not better most of them are
51:47far better but I think actually that's
51:49probably instilled in them that
51:51confidence so actually to see that that
51:54change and I think it is a real change
51:57it is it's exciting today ryley I think
52:07you can yeah do you know what the first
52:09time you do it if you miss take your
52:11time okay and be positive you can do it
52:17although Lexi's had a really nice little
52:19breakthrough this represents a big
52:22setback for Riley and there are 23
52:24children in the class I've been here two
52:27weeks three weeks I'm worried that all
52:30I've done is upset a load of kids and
52:32none of this is having the slightest
52:33effect
52:35I've realized just how entrenched these
52:37differences are for boys and girls and
52:39that interventions in the classroom
52:42aren't going to be enough
52:46next time did you like being a girly
52:49girl I take the fight home to the
52:52parents because it's all very pink and
52:54girly Wow challenging them yes I'm
52:57afraid that has to go and the children
52:59II said look mom I've got hanging gun
53:02you can't take this one off me if I have
53:07succeeded I wanted to go back to poison
53:09dose with my class of gender neutral
53:12seven words Chinese gets its monsters a
53:15girl
53:26you