Do single-sex classes encourage learning or do they just reinforce prejudice? This article seems quite skeptical about a recent study which claims the latter. What do you think of the studies mentioned? Does the article treat the arguments fairly? Is segregating students by gender similar to segregating by race? Would you like to go to a single-sex school? If you were a parent, would you like your children to? Why or why not?
I’ve chosen the article because of being interested in education. In the modern world, everywhere we can see or read articles about improvement in education. There has been done a lot of research in the world and there are lots of companies helping students to take their exams. Modern society wants to change all stereotypes used in the past, but is it really helpful?
ReplyDeleteOne of the studies dealing with single-sex classes described in this article, tried to explain, if it’s good to separate the males and females at schools. Advocates of single-sex schools contend that there may be brain differences between girls and boys. We can understand this statement diversely. I don’t think there’s a difference in learning styles. Personality of boys is totally different from girls. So it’s the reason for not being separated. If there were single-sex classes, boys would have less experience in treating with girls and vice versa, which means there would be a bigger barrier in relationships.
We can see another reason for not making single-sex classes. Some boys or girls can like the activities which are not usual for their gender more and they wouldn’t have an ability to practice it. The girl who is keen on football or hockey wouldn’t be able to show her talent, if she were in girls’ class having interest in drawing or dancing.
Segregating students by gender can be considered in some ways similar to segregating students by race. I mean, there’s no reason for separating these students, because, they can acquire a lot of knowledge from each other.
I wouldn’t like to be at a single-sex school, because the girls in my class have influenced my life to a great excess. I really appreciate it.
There can be lots of other articles, surveys, statistics, which might present new ideas about education. However, not everything new has to be better that the old.
One of the studies mentioned in the article states, that if women are in a minority(less than 50%), they can not unlock their true potential. However, I will have to disagree with this. In my previous school I was one of 7 girls in the class of 30 people,but two out of four people that usually got the perfect score were girls.
ReplyDeleteThe article follows a group of pre-schoolers, that had very good results, once separated. I think, that this is more a result of their freedom of choice. Everybody likes diferent subjects and when you let them choose what they like you will probably get a better result. Boys and girls are interested in diferent things, for example I have never seen a male teacher of Slovak language in my life.
The problem starts when kids have to go to school, there is no more a freedom of choice(except IB) and the poor children have to study everything. That is why I do not see any particular reason, why should single-sex schools have better academic results. If they do, it must have something to do with the fact, that single-sex schools usually require an entrance exam, as the author said in one of his comments
If we separated kids by their gender, they would probably pursue different interests outside the schools, more likely to be characterized as “girly” or “boyish”. However, I do not see why these interests should reinforce prejudice, if prejudice is not one of the interests.
What are shcools good for? Not only to educate children, but also to raise them. In the fact, I think that raising kids is more important than teaching them. And these one-sex classes skip that huge part.
ReplyDeleteSchools are made to make us useful in practical life. For that, we need BOTH education (to not be a total ignorant) and nuture (to be accepted by society). Without the second part, we are only half a human. One-sex classes DO raise kids, but their abiliy is limited, because they have only one sex to work with.
I do not argue with study, one-sex classes students may have better results in tests, but they weren't testing their social lives, in which, I bet, there would have been not as good outcome as in tests. This is the major problem of this idea.
Therefore, I would NOT want my kids to go to theese schools, nor would I want to attend it.
This article caught my attention since about two years ago I was attending the St. Helens girl’s school for about a month in London, U.K. This “test” month I spent in the school gave me an interesting experience, for which I am thankful for. The school certainly provided an extremely high education level, but to me the girls seemed associated and their mentality was a bit different than the other girls I know.
ReplyDelete“Advocates of single-sex schools contend that there may be brain differences between girls and boys that benefit from different teaching styles, though neurologists have found no brain differences linked to different learning styles.” This statement from the article clearly provides the information of a non confirmed scientific reason in favor of the sex segregation in schools. Moreover, the article sites that there are “negative consequences of separating by sex” which in my opinion is a very controversial statement since research proved that students from single-sex schools have a higher education. The research shows that students from sex segregated schools participate more in class, develop much higher self-esteem, score higher in aptitude tests. In contrast, the students from single-sex schools are to have good influence on each other. I think students should get to know behavior and manners of the other sex too. The teenage years of children is the best time to expose it to the company of the other gender and get to know each others’ behavior and therefore be prepared for their further adult life. As Milan already pointed out, I also think that knowing how to act and behave with another gender is a very important part of our lives.
Since everybody has a freedom of choice the students (their parents) can pick whether to attend a school separated by sex. I think it depends on the person’s priorities and goals. I personally would not choose to attend a separate-sex school and if I was a parent I definitely wouldn’t like my children to attend one. The interaction with the opposite gender and a social life is important for further experiences in life in my opinion.
This is a comment on comment, I'm commenting mainly on Milan's comment.
ReplyDeleteSchools should raise us, so that we would be able to interact with other sex. This statement seems logical, but I do not think that schools should concentrate on this, while neglecting, what their true purpose is. That is, to help students reach the best academic results.
If sex-segregated schools provided better academic results(which I'm not saying they do) then that would be the only argument I would need to decide. The interaction with other sex does not need to be only in school and the readiness for life does not depend on your familiarity of other sex.
Well even though what I said, I agree that I would not send my children there, it is just not worth it.
This is also a comment on comment, this time on Rasto's comment (and a little bit on Janka's comment on comment) Also I wish to comment on the fact that commenting as a comment on a comment written by a commentator commenting on an article seems to be impossible on this comment based comment page. (no comment) My comment begins here.
ReplyDeleteWhat most of you fail to see, is what could be gained by separating sexes. Do you believe me when I say that every problem in the world is basically caused by the fact that there are two sexes? If not, I dare you to tell me one in school and I will be more than glad to prove you wrong.
Let me paint a little picture. Imagine ten men that survive a plane crash and are stuck on an island and all they can do, is wait for rescue. (for the sake of my point, let's pretend they have no shortage of food or water) On that island, there are two tables. One table has a big screen television on it that is set to the channel broadcasting the current football match and another table that has ten guns on it. Which table do you think these ten men would go to? The first one of course. Now imagine the men have been stuck on that island for two years, when suddenly a woman gets washed up on the beach. Which table do you think the men would approach now? THAT is what you get when there are two sexes.
It is the law of nature. The stronger one wins. Its built into our nature because it is nature's way of ensuring the survival of the strongest individual's characteristics through the process of reproduction. Two sexes create competition. Competition creates hatred. Hatred creates enemies. Enemies breed fights. Fighting leads to defeat. Defeat leads to the thirst for revenge. Voila. You are worried about the development of their attitude towards the opposite sex. Are you sure it will not be more good than bad?
This is a comment on comment that is aimed at Nina’s response to the article.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Nina’s final statement that „The interaction with the opposite gender and a social life is important for further experiences in life“, after all, it is said that younger people learn to do things and adapt to diverse environments a lot easier than adults. Therefore, I think that if a person doesn’t get used to communicating and interacting with the opposite sex during their youth, it only gets harder as time goes by.
I have never attended a single-sex school, for which I am extremely grateful to my parents, so I do not have a first-hand experience like Nina. She states that the girls she met at St. Helens school were different from the ones she knows from co-ed schools, but she did not mention precisely how they were different. Although I find this extremely interesting, there might be a fault in this opinion, as she only attended that school for one month. I do not think that one month is enough time to get to know someone very well, since most people I know are very different from my first impression of them.
To sum it up, like Nina and all of my other classmates that commented on this article, I would also not send my children to single-sex schools. Except for the reasons that have already been mentioned, part of my decision also lies in the fact that most of the boys I know I got to know through mutual classes, and life would have been a lot more boring if I had not met them.
This is a comment on comment. I am commenting on Milan's comment.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Milan, that schools are not good only for educationg children, but also for raising them. Children should learn how to work and live with the other sex. They are very limited and they will have it much harder in social life when they will be older, if they will not know the other sex.
However, I do not agree with Milan's statement, that you are only half a human when you attend a single sex school. You definetely are limited and you will haveit much harder to be accepted by society and create relationships with other sex, but you are not half a human if you attend this kind of school.
Even though I am not completely against single sex schools, I do not think it is a good option, and I would not want my children to attend this kind of schools.