Gender divided classrooms is a fast developing issue in this country. People are beginning to understand that boys and girls learn differently, and therefore think that they should be separated in their education. This may make sense if you just look at the learning differences, but what about all the other effects this would have on our society? Same sex classrooms would cause a huge gap in the student’s social skills, a more disruptive classroom environment, and possible questions of discrimination.
If boys and girls are separated in the classroom, they will miss out on important social skills. Girls would not know how to behave around boys, and boys would not know how to act around girls. In fact research shows that “the formative years of children are the best time to expose them to the company of the other gender, in order that they may learn each others’ behavior and be better prepared for adult life” (Jones). Therefore, if boys and girls are not placed together in their education, a social gap will form that will affect them for the rest of their lives.
Boys and girls are said to distract each other from education, especially in their adolescent years. This statement makes it seem like gender divided classrooms is the answer, but is the statement even true? I’m sure it is to an extent, but other sources say that boys and girls are actually a good influence on each other. In fact, since girls “usually exhibit greater responsibility than boys of the same age”, co-gender classrooms often have a more focused environment (Jones).
Gender divided classrooms also raise questions of discrimination. The American Civil Liberties Union argues that the practice of allowing single sex classrooms on a public school violates several state and federal laws, including Title IX and the equal Educational Opportunities Act. Also, if same sex classrooms were put into action, parents would most likely complain constantly that boys are getting a better education than girls or vice versa.
Overall, I do not think gender divided classrooms is a good idea. Not only because of the gap in social skills, disruptive classrooms, and questions of discrimination, but also because of the approach that would be taken in the gender specific classrooms. The main reason for the separation is that boys and girls learn differently, so when separated a teacher can focus directly on the needs of a gender. But what about students who learn like the opposite sex? With co-gender classrooms, this would not be an issue because the teacher would be teaching towards all the kids, but with same sex classrooms, where specific genders are being addressed, those student’s needs would not be met.
Good use of sources. You made several good points, some that I didn't even think of. I really like your point about if teachers in a gender-divided classroom direct their teaching style towards a certain gender, what would happen to the students who tended to learn like the opposite gender. Yes, research shows that generally boys tend to learn one way and girls another, but personally everyone learns in their own way. No two people are exactly alike. Really good post, you may want to add citations at the end though.
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