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Are same-sex classrooms a good idea?
Filed under: Development/Milestones: Babies, Day Care & Education
Title IX was enacted in 1975 to prevent sex discrimination against students and employees of educational institutions. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education relaxed the Title IX rules, making it easier for schools to offer same-sex education to improve student achievement, expand diversity or meet student's individual needs.
Beginning in August, some students in the Metro Nashville area will have the opportunity to enroll in classes that are divided by gender. School officials hope that separating the boys from the girls will result in less distractions and more learning. Teachers and principals will receive training and the district will track the progress of students to determine if same-sex education really does make a difference in student learning. If all goes well, the district will consider expanding the program and creating same-sex schools.
Leonard Fax, a psychologist and director of the The National Association for Single Sex Public Education, says that because boys and girls experience brain development differently, it makes sense to educate them on different subjects at different times. According to Fax, students in elementary school will benefit the most from single-sex classrooms, especially the boys.
Not everyone likes the idea, of course, Some critics are worried that this dividing of the sexes will reinforce gender stereotypes. Jocelyn Samuels, of the National Women's Law Center in Washington, says "What the department has done has open the door for schools to offer single-sex programs for the most stereotyped of reasons without any of the (legal) safeguards."
For elementary school students, I can see an advantage to dividing students into classrooms where they are learning at the same pace as their peers. But dividing them based on gender does sound like stereotyping to me. As for older students, they might be on to something there. I was most definitely distracted by boys by the time I reached middle school. Keeping the boys and girls apart might have helped us all focus on learning and less on each other. What do you think about same-sex education?
Beginning in August, some students in the Metro Nashville area will have the opportunity to enroll in classes that are divided by gender. School officials hope that separating the boys from the girls will result in less distractions and more learning. Teachers and principals will receive training and the district will track the progress of students to determine if same-sex education really does make a difference in student learning. If all goes well, the district will consider expanding the program and creating same-sex schools.
Leonard Fax, a psychologist and director of the The National Association for Single Sex Public Education, says that because boys and girls experience brain development differently, it makes sense to educate them on different subjects at different times. According to Fax, students in elementary school will benefit the most from single-sex classrooms, especially the boys.
Not everyone likes the idea, of course, Some critics are worried that this dividing of the sexes will reinforce gender stereotypes. Jocelyn Samuels, of the National Women's Law Center in Washington, says "What the department has done has open the door for schools to offer single-sex programs for the most stereotyped of reasons without any of the (legal) safeguards."
For elementary school students, I can see an advantage to dividing students into classrooms where they are learning at the same pace as their peers. But dividing them based on gender does sound like stereotyping to me. As for older students, they might be on to something there. I was most definitely distracted by boys by the time I reached middle school. Keeping the boys and girls apart might have helped us all focus on learning and less on each other. What do you think about same-sex education?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
4-06-2007 @ 10:29AM
Caelligh said...Bad idea. Dividing by gender isn't going to magically make everyone learn at the same pace. Differences between the male and female brain are not such that one can make broad generalizations about how they should be educated. Dividing by gender will also remove classrooms even further from the real world, where people need to interact with others of different ages, genders, and social backgrounds.
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4-06-2007 @ 11:13AM
JenInTX said...Ooohhh- I think this is Such a bad idea! As a former female engineer in a male dominated industry, I think it's imperative that girls grow up with all the same course offerings, instructors, and challenges as the boys- especially in math and science. Also, being able to interact well with boys creates women who interact well with men in the workplace. This is such a step backward for women.
I homeschool my kiddos, but I still hate to see the public schools making poor decisions. It will hurt us all in the long run.
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4-06-2007 @ 1:50PM
Christine said...I also disagree with this. I know that my daughter sort of thrives off of learning at the same pace as the "smartest boy"... I think that the bigger the groups of the same sex "cliquing" together.. the more machismo will come out in the boys and the more cattiness will come out in the girls. Since they wont have that "ewww boys" thing to go with it will be "ewww look at THAT ugly girl...".
I also agree with a previous commentor that it is important they be mixed especially on the math and science level.
When I was first starting school in Chicago in the early 80s the boys and girls were split up at recess... the boys got the good playground... and us girls got the grassy area and had to play stupid games like the farmer in the dell... I still am disturbed by that. LOL.
Why are we trying to go backward here?? Perhaps then, we should put aside an hour each day to school the girls in pie making and sewing, too.
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4-06-2007 @ 2:59PM
SKL said...My first reaction has always been against segregating the sexes. However, having read and heard many experiences (anecdotal and statistical) with same-sex classrooms, I am not sure.
In a science or math class with all girls, the observation has been that girls will strive to do their best to be the top student in the class, while if they are in a class with boys, they often set their sights lower because they somehow don't expect to be as good as boys in those fields. I don't understand why that attitude persists, but apparently it does, at least among some girls.
On the other hand, boys tend to have a very different learning style than girls, which may tend to prevent their functioning at a high level in classrooms where more quiet, still, listening versus active behavior is expected (the environment that is generally conducive to learning by girls - per statistical studies). As a result, boys may not be learning to their full potential in certain mixed classrooms.
My friends from other countries who studied in same-sex classrooms include many highly successful female doctors, engineers, businesswomen, etc. They feel the same-sex classrooms helped them to keep their focus on being the best they could be.
Personally, my inclination is to send my kids to mixed-sex classes because that is more reflective of the real world in which they will ultimately transact. I am also concerned about the possibility that the teachers may bring their old-fashioned stereotypes into the classrooms and, for example, expect less of girls in science class, and less of boys in English class. However, overall, I don't think the issue is clear-cut.
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4-06-2007 @ 4:48PM
christa said...I work at a Jesuit High School in the girls division I tell you it is amazing the diffrence..... none of the girls "play dumb" cause they don't want to look smarter then the boy they like and when we do have a boy enter our side of the school you can feel a change in the air and the girls start to primp and preen.... Also there is a real feeling of sisterhood I see the students really support each other
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4-08-2007 @ 4:08PM
Zac said...i think they should keep boys and girls in the same classroom because later on in life boys and girls will have to be together at their work places etc..
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4-17-2007 @ 2:04PM
Merideth said...Same sex classrooms are a great idea. In moderation. It is obvious that boys and girls still need time to interact with each other. But test scores also show that each gender tends to have its own strengths a weaknesses. I know that you can't stereotype each gender completely but separating the students won't hurt anyone in their studies. Both boys and girls will still have equal rights and opportunities. Each teacher would be able to tailor the curriculum to the classroom.
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