Segregated elementary classrooms in North America are resurfacing after becoming virtually non-existent after the 1950s. In 1972, after a law in the United States prohibited schools from discriminating academic programs from either sex, significant indicators of patterns of gender bias began to develop (Salomone, 2006, p. 781). Since then, social scientists have found that coeducation of both sexes in the same classroom is not a solution or remedy for deeply institutionalized preconceptions and attitudes and that gender inequalities are ingrained from elementary school through higher education (Salomone, 2006, p. 781). This paper will take a closer look at what researchers, educators, advocacy groups and students are discovering as this situation evolves. Examining the differences in how boys and girls learn, their experiences in single-sex classrooms and their social class may provide some insight to help us better understand the challenges experienced by many students.
Single-sex schools have a longer history than single-sex classrooms, therefore more recent research has been based on school settings rather than classrooms. Researchers seem divided on the issue on gender segregated classrooms within a larger coeducational facility. The majority of these studies suggest that grades improve when males and females are separated in learning environments. One study did not support these findings, but instead found that only the girls were able to improve their grades while boys were materially unaffected by the change in their learning environment (Chouinard, 2008, p. 131) Additionally, studies also reveal that low achieving students from antisocial subcultures, found predominantly in so-called ‘lower class’ socio-econom...
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...ht and further studies by social scientists.
Works Cited
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It is a common phenomenon in coed schools that when an instructor asks a girl to answer a question in a science or math class, some boys always interrupt and answer that question correctly. Many girls at that moment may feel embarrassed, frightened, and even want to be invisible. In many cases, instructors do not punish the boys for their rude behaviors. As The learning environment and teachers’ attitude make girls feel pressure and decrease their Learning enthusiasm. As a result, girls and boys receive a different education even though they have the same class. In the U.S., the discrepancy in academic performance persists across gender. In order to close the gap and provide an equitable and quality education
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.
Because young boys are more active they often are disciplined, while girls are often quieter and naturally become a teacher’s favorite. This causes problems because classrooms naturally become more attuned to a girl’s style of learning, leaving young boys behind in the classroom from an early age. “Boy Problems” by Ann Hulbert goes into detail over the increasing “gender educational disparity.” Hulbert gives the reader useful information about how and why men are falling behind and the increasing gender differences in education. When fixing a problem one must first realize the problem exists. Now that the problem has come to light, action must be
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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.
With regards to single-gender education, it was common in the United States prior to the 19th century (Bracey, 2007). The curriculum was formed by the community’s views of the necessary knowledge based on the gender of the student. Typically males were more educated than females to prepare them for college-level academics and work beyond the home. Girls were educated
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Summers, Christopher B. “Md. Should Support Single-Sex Schools.” Baltimore Sun. Mar. 2013: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. Jan. 2014.
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 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...
Leonard Sax notes an important distinction when describing quality schools. In an interview with Blah blah balh, he recites the positive effects of a single-sex school on the success of men and women. However, he admits the reality that various qualities of a school cannot determine the academic achievement of its students. As a simple example, he prefers sending a child to a good co-ed school than to a bad single-sex school. As his point demonstrates, and many other education reformers agree, modifying one aspect of a school will not yield results elsewhere. Consequently, there are solutions for any circumstances, but there is no single solution that ensures success.
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