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Are single gender schools better for students
Single-gender schools are better for students
Are single gender schools better for students
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1. What are the students’ views of single-gender classes? Do students think gender plays a part in equal educational opportunities for boys and girls? Why or why not?
For the most part, the students enjoyed the single-gender classes with, “62 percent stating they could focus better without the opposite sex present” (p.5). The sentiments did change a little as the students progressed from 6th grade to 8th. “Both boys and girls in 6th grade referred to their opposite-gender peers as “noisy” and “annoying”” (p.5), showing their support for the single-gender classes. Whereas, by 7th grade the boys were seeing a problem with bullying and the girls were beginning to experience some cattiness. One of the 8th-grade boys felt the answer to the bullying problem could be solved by joint gender classes. His feelings were that “the guys who pick on us would be more interested in impressing the girls,” (p.7) if they were in a mixed gender classroom.
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The single gender classrooms allow them to ask questions and more freely give answers, without feeling they would be ridiculed. One 7th grade girl “reported a definite improvement in her grades, noting that “I can concentrate better. I am not afraid to raise my hand” (p.6), in the single gender classes. For one boy the single gender classes allowed him to feel ““more challenged” in his all-boy classes because he enjoyed the competition” (p.6). The girls in this study gained greater benefits and were able to get past the social issues that came up from single-gender classrooms better than their male
Sadker, Myra, David Sadker, and Susan Klein. "The Issue of Gender in Elementary and Secondary Education." Review of Research in Education 17 (1991): 269. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
...male students had no problem befriending me, as well as the female students. I did know of a lot more “emotional” male students that were bullied, mainly by other male students. The main point of this article was to show that femininity is still looked at, as a bad thing because of the traits it has been given. It also brings up the fact that people are treated; whether they are male or female different, if they tend to lean more towards the feminine gender side. A persons gender is how they act and how they are but it is not what they are and that is the overall argument of this article(Shaw, Lee 126).
Sending a child to a gender based school, is a very big decision to make. The decision is so big, that looking at what research has to say about the topic could alter one’s decision to send their child to a gender based school. “Educators must apply different approaches in teaching make, and female students” (Gurian). This is said by Gurian, because he also believes that boys and girls learn differently. “Social pressures can be gentler and your child can learn at his own pace” (Kennedy).
In this paper I will use a multitude of research that shows scholarly evidence on why single sex education is harmful to one’s over all wellbeing and physiological health throughout one’s life. Single sex education is defined, as “the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools”(Pinzler, p. 785, 2005). The controversy over single sex education involves aspects such as its effectiveness and social ramifications of binary genders. Supports of single sex education believe that there are fewer distractions because everyone is of the same sex. Supporters also believe single sex education is also seen as a way to break down stereotypes such as women not doing well in the math and science field. They believe that single sex education helps males also break out of typical gender roles such as hyper masculinity. However, proponents believe separating girls and boys makes little to no difference in their academic achievement and is actually more harmful to your identity.
It seems that single-sex education perpetuates gender stereotypes and promotes gender bias among students (Taylor). Gender-separate education requires schools and teachers to create gender-oriented courses, facilities, and learning environment. As a result, sing-sex schools exacerbate sexist attitudes and “feelings of superiority toward women” (Guarisco). It is fair to argue that the best way to achieve gender equality is to promote rather than eliminate interaction among girls and boys. However, girls in the sex-mixed class receive less attention from teachers than boys, which may lead to gender bias. More precisely, boys always have disciplinary issues, such as interruption; teachers have to pay more attention to boys’ behaviors in order to proceed the lecture more smoothly. Girls may feel less important and supportive in male-dominated classes; boys may think that males are smarter and far superior than females. Single-sex schools can address both girls’ and boys’ issues of gender stereotypes directly and accordingly. Male students may be freer to engage in some activities they have not considered before in mixed schools. For example, boys feel pressure to follow some non-macho interests when girls stay around them; however, the all-boys schools eliminate their pressure toward gender stereotyping to pursue music, dance, and drawing. Single-sex schools would help boys explore and develop themselves. Also, girls in sex-separate schools show more confidence and power (Guarisco). They could receive full attention from teachers and express their opinions in science classes without worrying about the boys’ banter. They may realize that they are as important as boys. Hence, both girls and boys can be free from gender stereotypes and benefit from a same-sex learning
Did you know that single-sex classrooms are the worst classes ever? Over the past decade, single-gender classrooms have been opened in at least 230 schools in the rural, suburban, and the urban areas. Single-gender classrooms are classrooms where either young girls’ are in one class together, or young boys are in another class together. Single-sex classrooms were created because studies showed that boys and girls learn differently and they could benefit from being in a classroom with peers to whom they can relate. Since 2008, single-gender education has been the key to improved educational performance among boys and girls throughout the years. Today, gender differences among girls and boys are steadily rising in the classrooms they are in, and single gender classrooms are increasing. Teachers go by the theory that “separate sexes meant equal education.” While some educational experts believe single-gender education is best, parents have begun to notice the development of sexual stereotypes, and the children work better together. Furthermore, single sex classrooms cause more students to fail and have behavior problems. Reasons for this are: students are more distracted and lack focus, boys and girls develop sexual stereotypes, their learning abilities are different, and single sex classrooms cause boys to be very problematic.
In a school of all girls or boys, students will have a less distracting learning environment. Meghan Coyle illustrates this very well when she explains “Single-sex schools say boys and girls can focus better on schoolwork when they are separated”(Coyle). Meaning when both genders are separated there are less distractions when compared to when both genders mix together. For example in a coed school, a girl can be dist...
Same sex classes make it possible for teachers to cater to student needs in a more efficient way. In general boys benefit from hands on learning, but girls benefit from calm discussions (Mullins 3). Girls tend to doubt themselves while boys think they can do anything. Boys need to be brought down from the clouds while girls need to be dug out of a hole (Mullins 3). David Chadwell says, "Structure and connection are two key concepts when examining gender in the classroom. All students certainly need both, but it seems that teachers need to consider the issue of structure more with boys and the issue of connection more with girls" (7), and Kristen Stanberry’s research has shown, "Some research indicates that girls learn better when classroom temperature is warm, while boys perform better in cooler classrooms. If that's true, then the temperature in a single-sex classroom could be set to optimize the learning of either male or female students" (1). These observations further support the idea that same sex classrooms can cater to student’s...
The proponents of single-sex education argue that boys and girls have differing needs and that their styles of learning are different. Education which respects personal differences must take this into account. ( Mullins 124) Single-gender schools seem logical, than, to a public that accepts that gender differences are real and likes the idea of expanding choices. (Silv...
There are many reasons that parents, students and administrators look down upon single gender education. One of the largest of these reasons is the issue of stereotypes. According to Kim Gandy, presi...
Some people think that single sex schools are good because girls and boys feel free to talk, ask and raise their hands without being made fun of, "The theoretical approach termed 'girl power' argues that girls lag behind boys in some subject in co-ed classrooms." (predit, 2014). However, Single sex schools are very bad because it affects children attitude, they will find difficulty in communicating with their colleagues in college as they were secluded and didn't interact with other sex in school. Boys and girls should know from a young age how to deal with the opposite sex, instead of facing that when they become adults, and don't have experience on what to do. Students in single-sex classrooms will one day live and work side-by-side with members of the opposite sex .Educating students in single-sex schools restrains their chance to work helpfully and cooperate effectively with parts of the inverse sex. "It is not long before the youth of today will be the parents, co-workers and leaders of tomorrow" (strauss, 2012). "Anything we organize along any variable, if we're saying boys he...
It's the first day of school, and a fifteen-year-old girl walks in the front doors of her new all-girl school. She immediately feels uncomfortable and misses her guy friends from her old school. As she pushes through the year, she learns how to work well with the other females and becomes accustomed to the single-sex environment. Her sixteenth birthday comes around, and it's time for her to get a job. As she goes around applying at different places, she realizes everywhere is co-ed and is overwhelmed with feeling nervous and freaking out because she doesn't know how to work well with males. Several studies have shown that co-ed classes are a more successful option. Therefore, boys and girls should not be in single-sex classes because co-ed classes help raise students grades, prepares students for the future, and help avoid discrimination between sexes.
The teacher tossed a Styrofoam basketball to the outstretched arms of a fifth grade boy. Catching the ball was the incentive for the boys to point out missing conventions in a paragraph. The teacher projected a paragraph on the board with omitted punctuation for the students to add. The other boys in the class watched him as he went to the board to add the missing comma and then tossed the ball back to the teacher. A few seconds later, other arms shot up in the air to point out other missing conventions (Stotsky). A simple incentive of competition for the boys made them enjoy learning and actually got them to participate in class. Although single-sex classrooms can develop stereotypes for both genders, separating boys and girls can be beneficial for the students. Single-sex classes are more effective because they raise test scores, create fewer distractions, and make kids interested in school.
Thesis: Considering the scientific studies behind the intellectual differences in both males and females, many believe that members of the opposite sex should be separated in a classroom setting. However, sex-segregated classrooms negatively affect the overall classroom environment and social skills required to positively affect a child’s overall development in future studies and careers. I. Recently, many sex-segregated classrooms have become dramatically prevalent due to the belief on how gender separated classrooms “positively” influence how each gender grasps their academic performance. a. The legislation Title IX composed by the Department of Education provoked innumerable amounts of single-sex courses to prevent gender discrimination,
...ry, 2001). Furthermore, single-sex education doesn’t just improve students’ academic performance, it also helps in creating more well-rounded people. Single sex has been shown to widen students’ horizons, allow them to freely explore their interests without gender stereotypes constraints. Moreover, single-sex schools should not be seen as a competition for coed schools. It can be seen as an alternative for students that are lagging behind.