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| Summary: Do boys and girls benefit more from being taught together or separately? |
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Author:Eliot Jones ( Tunisia )
Eliot Jones is a freelance communications consultant.
Created: Friday, November 10, 2000
Last Modified: Thursday, August 20, 2009
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Studies in the past have shown that boys gain more academically from studying in co-education schools, but that girls find segregated schools more conducive to achievement. But academic results are not the only criterion on which the success of the education system should be judged. In the States, a long-standing controversy over the Virginia Military Institute resulted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling, in June 1996, that the institute must admit women. However the Court left room for private (i.e. not state-run) single-sex institutions and also such schools where needed to redress discrimination. This debate can apply both to secondary school and college level, but single-sex institutions are found more frequently at the former. |
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| Women in particular benefit from a single-sex education; research shows that they participate more in class, develop much higher self-esteem, score higher in aptitude tests, are more likely to choose ‘male’ disciplines such as science in college, and are more successful in their careers. In the USA Who’s Who, graduates of women’s colleges outnumber all other women; there are only 83 women’s colleges left in the States today. |
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1998 survey from the American Association of University Women, a long-time advocate of single-sex education, admitted that girls from such schools did not in fact show academic improvement. That they are more inclined towards maths and sciences is of questionable importance to society as a whole. As the report noted, "boys and girls both thrive when the elements of good education are there, elements like smaller classes, focused academic curriculum and gender-fair instruction". These can all be present in co-educational schools. |
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| The inclinations of children in the formative years, between 7 and 15, are to gravitate towards their own sex. They naturally tend towards behaviour appropriate to their gender. It is therefore easier to implement an education strategy geared specifically towards one gender. Certain subjects are best taught in single-sex classrooms, such as sex education or gender issues. |
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The formative years of children are the best time to expose them to the company of the other gender, in order that they may learn each others’ behaviour and be better prepared for adult life. The number of subjects benefiting from single-sex discussion is so small that this could easily be organised within a co-educational system. |
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| Boys and girls distract each other from their education, especially in adolescence as their sexual and emotional sides develop. Too much time can be spent attempting to impress or even sexually harassing each other (particularly boys toward girls). Academic competition between the sexes is unhealthy and only adds to unhappiness and anxiety among weaker students. |
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In fact boys and girls are a good influence on each other, engendering good behaviour and maturity – particularly as teenage girls usually exhibit greater responsibility than boys of the same age. Academic competition between the sexes is a spur to better performance at school. |
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| Single-sex schools for women are a natural extension of the feminist movement; there are co-educational schools, men have had their own schools, why should women not? It would still be discrimination if there were only male single-sex schools; as long as both genders are catered for, this discrimination is redressed. |
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Single-sex schools (such as the Virginia Military Institute) are a throwback to the patriarchal society of the past; in many historical cultures, only men were allowed an education of any sort. To perpetuate this is to remind women of their past subservience and to continue to hold them from full social inclusion. |
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| Teachers themselves are often discriminated against in single-sex schools; a boys’ school will usually have a largely male staff where women may feel uncomfortable or denied opportunity, and vice versa. |
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Teachers frequently favour their own gender when teaching co-educational classes; for example, male teachers can undermine the progress and confidence of girl students by refusing to choose them to answer questions etc. |
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| | This House believes in single-sex education
That boys and girls should attend separate schools
This House would educate boys and girls separately
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Meg O
Member
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Posted: Thu Feb 4, 2010 07:19 pm
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I believe that single sex schools deny students the opportunity to learn about the behavior and habbits of the opposite sex. Also, school is designated to prepare students for the world after school, correct? Well a part of that preparation would be for females to learn to concentrate while an attractive male may be in the room and vise versa. Im 15 and i know it is hard to concentrate sometimes; however, as I said, that is a part of preparations for the future. To learn to concentrate under uncomftorble or akward conditions. |
j_o_h_n-_-@hotmail.com
Member
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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 05:55 am
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yea... co-ed schools are better. prepare students for future challenges in the future in the society. :D |
j_o_h_n-_-@hotmail.com
Member
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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 05:55 am
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yea... co-ed schools are better. prepare students for future challenges in the future in the society. :D |
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