Spending a weekend together blending neuro-science with evidence- and research-based practical strategies becomes a source of systemic growth in schools and organizations, and personal growth in relationships with students and children.

To fully understand academic and emotional success, we need to plumb the depths of what “boy” and “girl” are, including the gender spectrum.  We will do this and more at our summer institute, and we hope you will join us.

Today’s blog is one of a series over the next few months in which we will feature our SI speakers and trainers.  Dr. Michael Gurian leads us off with his work in sex/gender and the academic/emotional intelligence link.   Michael’s presentation at the SI will explore how the minds of boys and girls learn and grow, including brain differences that impact education and social emotional development throughout the lifespan–and most of all, what we can each do to fully serve boys, girls, and every child.

Michael will provide insight into new genetic resources available to schools and families; the impact of environmental and cultural neuro-toxins on the learning brain; best teaching, parenting, counseling, and mentoring practices for both girls and boys; and safe, effective electronics and technology standards for various stages of child development. Academic and emotional life these days filter through digital media, and there are science-based standards teachers, professionals, and parents can use to protect children.

This presentation will include PET, SPECT, and MRI scans that display brain differences, and Michael will bring the latest research in his newest books, Saving Our Sons (2017) and The Minds of Girls (2018), which focus on educating, raising, and counseling boys, and educating, raising, and counseling girls.

Michael will show the ways in which “female emotional intelligence” and “male emotional intelligence” are both blended and distinct.  The under-utilization of male emotional intelligence in schools, homes, communities, and organizations grounds a number of our most crucial and dangerous social issues.

Looking at the growing brain through the lens of gender science, Michael will explore themes on everyone’s mind today, including transgender questions and gender fluidity, what constitutes “toxic masculinity”, girl drama and relational aggression, girls and STEM learning, and brain-based boy-friendly learning strategies.

Michael will also lead two working lunch discussions.  The books that underlie these discussions are Saving Our Sons for Saturday and The Minds of Girls for Sunday.  We hope you will read these books ahead of time.  In these working lunches, we will study and strategize regarding violence/suicide prevention, mental and emotional health in our school communities, and much more.

We hope you’ll visit https://gurianinstitute.com/events/gurian-summer-institute-2019/ right now to sign up.  See you in Carlsbad this June!