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The truth of single-sex education
The truth of single-sex education
The truth of single-sex education
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In 2002, there use to be only 11 single-sex schools, but now there are about 547 single-gender classes. Out of those 547 single-sex classrooms there are about 91 single-sex schools (Meyer). In Denver, Colorado a school was approved to open called Girls Athletic Leadership School (GALS). GALS will be a school that includes sixth and seventh graders and soon eighth through twelfth graders (Meyers). Founder of the school, Elizabeth Wolfson says that “By separating them out, we can work on the girl-to-girl piece.” The program GALS is to help promote the girls health and wellness. Bridget Ambler is excited for her daughter to learn in a single-sex classroom. Bridget says “Studies have show that girls in middle school will immediately back down in math and science when a boy raises his hand.” Some Organization advise against single-sex schools, because separation does not help get boys and girls ready for the real world (Meyer).
Rosemary Salomone is a professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and she wrote the article “Rights and Wrong in the Debate over Single-sex Schooling” which was published in the Boston University Law Review, which says that in the United States elementary schools always had boys and girls share the same classroom (973). Single-Sex schools starting showing up in the seventies. Colleges separated boys and girls. Colleges like Princeton, Yale, and Harvard were only offered to boys, and the girl colleges were not supported financially enough and did not did meet the girls learning needs (Salomone 974).
Having boys and girls in separate class rooms can be expensive. Leonard Sax a American psychologist and family physician says that it would be a bad idea to start up single sex schools because of the cost (...
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...to girls that want to be in a career that is considered for boys. Girls tend to speak up less when boys are in the class room, especially in classes like math or science (Cherney and Campbell). Girls feel more comfortable around their own gender, and they feel more comfortable speaking up in class. Girls in single-sex classrooms tend to have higher self-esteem (Cherney and Campbell). Salomone says that girls perform better in class without boys. Girls who are in a single-sex school were more likely to show up to class everyday (Salomone). In single-sex schools there is less competition, and the girls feel more obligated to participate in class. Girls and boys in single-sex schools participate in class more.
Boys and girls in coeducation classrooms can be distracting to the learning process.
Boys and girls learning in separate classrooms puts less pressure on them.
For much of Public School's history, the academic standards had little to do with whether or not you were a male or a female. Much of one's placement in a classroom or school depended on the age or academic standing. Other issues such as the consolidation of schools and the Americanization of immigrants were given a higher placement of importance. The subject of gender was almost taken for granted and when the issue did intrude, historically the reaction was one of arbitrary response. The public was much more concerned with the development of their men than the equality of their children (Pollard, 1993.)
In “Teaching Boys and Girls Separately,” Paul Reva, argues about the strategy of the Principal of an American elementary school, to separate the boys and girls into different classroom because of their behavior and ineffective way to learn. He thinks that schools should separate boys and girl because they learn different, and they have different experiences, the students would feel more comfortable in same-sex classrooms, and girls won’t feel mistreated during class. Indeed, boys and girls should attend school separately so that their grades improve and teachers can control their behavior better.
When I was about to enter kindergarten, my parents initially wanted to enroll me into an all-girls preparatory school. However, my parents changed their mind and believed that co-ed schools had better opportunities and a better way to create more diversity in our society. Some may argue that single-sex schools have been proven to have students attend and graduate from four-year universities. This then allows both respective sexes to focus on their studies rather than their appearance and physical attraction. However, single-sex schools are only going to lead to segregation and separating genders in the classroom should not be a place for it to bloom from. communication with the other sex is important to where it preps students for the real world. Though single sex and co-ed schools have both pros and cons, co-ed schools provide a more realistic portrayal of what would happen in the professional working field. Co-ed schools provide and develop social communication skills between both genders instead of one.
According to Leonardo Sax, the founder of the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education, “...whenever girls and boys are together, their behavior inevitably reflects the larger society in which they live” (Stanberry, 3). (1) It is a part of nature for girls and boys to socialize and get prepared for the real-world and develop skills to interact with another gender. (2) In the real-world it is conventional for both genders to work together and communicate everyday. (3) According with the journal “Forbes”, when students are separated by gender, they miss an opportunity of working together with different perspectives and developing their own, new, and unique thoughts as well as ideas (Saunders, 1). (4) Advocates often argue for schools to be a reflection of a ‘real’ world to prepare young adults for the future (Jackson, Ivinson, 15). (5) When both genders learn together, they learn from one another and benefit from absorbing various learning styles (Saunders, 4). (6)
Education was sex segregated for hundreds of years. Men and women went to different schools or were physically and academically separated into “coeducational” schools. Males and females had separate classrooms, separate entrances, separate academic subjects, and separate expectations. Women were only taught the social graces and morals, and teaching women academic subjects was considered a waste of time.
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).
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.
Imagine your life with only members of your gender. Not all the time of course. Just during your school day or even part of your school day. Same sex classrooms would make that imagination your reality. Before you turn down the idea, because god forbid you go a few hours without seeing a cute boy take a moment to learn about all the benefits same sex schooling can provide. Most students are against same sex schools. They want to flirt with the cute guy in math or ask the shy girl in history for a pencil even if they already one. Same sex classrooms provide a multitude of benefits, because they promote better behavior, higher grades, improved self-esteem, and are able to cater to student’s needs.
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...
The first all female schools began in the early 1800’s. These academies favored more traditional gender roles, women being the home makers and the men being the bread winners. The first generation of educated women was the result of single-sex colleges in 1873. Wendy Kaminer, an investigative journalist, states that “single-sex education was not exactly a choice; it was a cultural mandate at a time when sexual segregation was considered only natural” (1). Women of this time were technically not allowed to attend school with males. Feminists of this time worked hard to integrate the school system and by the early 1900’s, single sex classrooms were a thing of the past. In 1910, twenty-seven percent of colleges were for men only, fifteen percent were for women only and the remainders were coed. Today, women outnumber men among college graduates (Kaminer 1). After all the hard work of early feminists, there are thousands of people today who advocate bringing back the single sex classroom.
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...
...having a hard time in their early educational career due to the lack of focus or lack of a comfortable environment, single-sex education should be highly considered. In order to obtain our goal, we must be willing to try these new routes of education; you never know what can happen and you just might enlighten the student in their educational course by changing the environment in which they’re learning in.
Finally, there is no one sex school is going to be right for every student. There are many advantages and disadvantages mentioned in that essay before. But it's thought all over the world that the coeducation is preferred worldwide. About 90 % of schools all over the world are stuck to co-education. Mixed-sex education has achieved higher success rate. They also graduate students who are settled emotionally and able to deal with the real society. "There are not any dominant blessings for single-sex schools on academic grounds. Studies all over the world have failed to expose any major variations.'' - Academician Alan Smothers, director of education and employment analysis at the University of Buckingham 2011.
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.