Single-sex education free essay sample

Single-sex education has been growing in popularity since 2002; (Novotney 2011) however, considering gender differences and the development for students, there is no space for single-sex education to continuously grow compared with coeducation; here are three main reasons in consideration of mode of teaching, psychology and physiology: Proponents of single-sex education make mode of teaching arguments, arguing for coeducation provide various curriculum that is not suitable for the other gender. They believe curriculum design should be set aiming at one gender in single-sex schools. According to single-sex. org, the single-sex education creates many unprecedented opportunities that do not exist in the coed classroom: teachers can employ one strategy in the all-girls or all-boys classroom, which do not work well in the coed classroom. (singlesexschool. org 2013) Robert Kennedy states the faculty at single sex schools understand how their students learn. (Kennedy 2013) They adapt their teaching styles to either gender’s specific needs. There are other advantages as well, for instance, a single sex school is homogeneous, so this can simplify planning events and activities as the school only have to consider boys or girls as the case may be. The problem comes straight after. Coeducation proponents firmly insist on that this one-gender-aimed thought is not fully convincing enough, and much evidence can be taken to prove it cannot hold water. First, the single-sex education supporters exaggerate the distinction between the two genders. The American Council on Education states that there is less academic disparity between male and female students overall, (Stanberry 2013) so there is no necessity to build single-sex schools at all. Second, there are not enough teachers receive training. Kristin Stanberry states the reality is that few educators are formally trained to use gender-specific teaching techniques. (Stanberry 2013) This situation suggests the one-gender-orientation strategy is impractical. The benefit for being taught in coeducation is that students can gradually form a set of balanced moral values, especially about love affairs. Guardian indicates that teachers and parents of co-ed students can fully take advantage of the presence of both boys and girls in the same class to explain the differences between male and female, and help them to understand the correct moral messages. (Guardian. org 2009) For example, information like premarital sex is morally unacceptable, and how it can be avoided. It is easier for students to see how these phenomena are close to them, regardless of their sex. What’s more, in this way students can hear what the opposite sex say, and acquire an understanding of different opinions. This difference inspires them to discuss more and think more deeply of these matters. Moreover, dating and marriage involve both sexes. Only the opposite sex in the discussion of these matters can it provide a more variable and more in-depth insight for students to think over. In the course of these discussions, students can gain a set of moral values that is both correct and acknowledged by themselves, and they will be willing to follow them. Single-sex education advocates a bunch of benefits for students in psychological aspects in different aspects. From heterosexual attraction and distraction, Seamus put forth his theory in his book The role of single-sex and coeducational instruction on boys attitudes and self-perceptions of competence in French language communicative activities, he represents people who state that girls or boys are easily a distraction to each other, and at the same time, students do not act more age-appropriate in coeducation school, especially boys, so single-sex education is their best choice. According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, boys do not need to show off their macho side to impress any girl ever since no girl existed in boy-exclusive classroom, and that does not indicate that the boys lack lessons in masculinity; (Morgan 2009) on the contrary, this experience is likely to aid them in understanding their masculinity, and there are a larger number of male models to come into effect in this process. From social activities and participating situation, Vaughn Thompson, who resigned from the Young Scholars Academy in the Bronx indicates that kids in single-sex schools are more likely to participate activities because they are surrounded by classmates who are their brothers or sisters. (Martin 2012) In this sense, these factors can let students have a comparatively free atmosphere and be themselves. From gender stereotypes, single-sex education supporters meditate to place their hope on eliminating gender stereotype. Robert Kennedy, former About. Com guide, states that the conventional thinking is coeducation can break down gender stereotypes, but that did not always happen. (Kennedy 2013) He states the proponents of single sex education argue that boys in coeducational system are less likely to take courses in the arts or advanced academic subjects, because they do not feel like being as a nerd. Similarly, girls avoid the sciences and technology subjects, because they do not want to appear to be tomboys; however, single-sex education eliminate this worry, for instance, greatschool. Org states girls do not have to under the pressure to compete with boys in male-dominated subjects such as math and science. (Stanberry 2013) Boys, on the other hand, can more easily pursue traditionally feminine interests such as music and poetry. These factors are blandished by single-sex education supporters to announce their triumph. Nevertheless, those psychology appearances simplify the problem, and it is shortsighted for they only care about students’ current psychological feelings, but ignore the consideration of short-term and long-term development and social human communication, especially in the aspect of opposite gender: As for short term, coeducation inspires students to have a healthier and comprehensive gender atmosphere. According to Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, it states that boys and girls all benefit much from coeducation. (blogger 2013) Students perform happier in coeducation schools, compared to single-sex schools. Recent research has found that classrooms with a more egalitarian social structure and more cross-gender friendships experience reduce levels of aggression and bullying, which is suitable for coeducation school. According to Mr. Squires, a freelance from eudblogs. org, indicates that boys and girls have different strengths and different interests in various subjects. (Squires 2012) If boys and girls are studying together, they will have the best opportunity to introduce their different experiences and views to each other, and eventually reach a win-win situation, for example, if a girl knows a lot about women rights and a boy knows many things about male sports, they can communicate with each other and learn from each other in a natural environment day by day. This Action helps both boys and girls to understand and enjoy each other’s interest, which is useful for them to understand the opposite feelings and thoughts, resulting in a considerate character. As for long term, it is a preparation for students’ future. Wong Wing Yin Jennifer states that coed schools provide the suitable environment for students to develop the interpersonal skills before they join in the labour force in future. (Jennifer 2010) People always say that school is a miniature of society, and there are males and females in society, which likes the situation in coed schools. Males and females are crucial members in every society. There is no way to avoid contact with the opposite gender, and it is essential for people to learn the proper way to interact with others so that people can develop healthy relationships with people around, and increase efficiency. A single-sex school cannot provide such environment for students to communicate to opposite gender. This may lead to the development of negative response to the approach of the opposite gender. For example, a boy who studies in a boys’ school may be too shy to communicate with a girl because he does not know how. He states it is the accumulated experience from interacting with the opposite gender and observing others interact with the opposite sex that enables people to adapt to and be able to communicate with others, whether male or female. This is a vital advantage of studying in a co-ed school. Except psychological aspects, there is another thing single-sex education supporters argue. In coeducation schools, boys do well in Math and Physics, while girls Arts and Literature. Single-sex education supporters believe that contributes to physiological factor, or more exactly, brains’ differences between two genders. The American Psychological Association states that according to a 2007 pediatric neuroimaging studies published on NeuroImage led by a team of neuroscientists from the National Institute of Mental Health, different brain regions develop in a different sequence in the brains of girls and boys. (Amercian Psychological Association 2011) Using 829 brain scans gathered over two years from 387 subjects from 3 to 27 years old, researchers found several remarkable differences. (Bandettini 2013) The occipital lobe shows rapid development in 6 to 10-year-old girls, while boys show the largest growth in this region after 14 years old. Another study published on Developmental Neuropsychology has shown disaccord in language processing between the sexes as well, concluding that the language areas of the brain in many 5-year-old boys look similar to that of many 3-year-old girls. (Glozman 2013) Amy Novotney, a researcher belonging to American Psychological Association, states single-sex education advocates use brain differences as evidence for the benefits of separating boys and girls in the classroom, holding the idea that there are distinct physiological and developmental differences between boys and girls, which leads the two genders to take various studying styles. (Novotney 2011) People employ the evidence related to brain differences to demonstrate that boys and girls do not synchronously develop, and thus coeducation is not suitable for this two genders together. Coeducation advocates strongly against the above theory, announcing although there are indeed many studies suggesting small physiological differences in male and female brains, there is a lack of specific evidence that how these differences matter to learning level and how close is this factor related to at the individual level, for example, according to Psychological Bulletin, a meta-analysis of 242 studies conducted between 1990 and 2007 examines gender differences in math performance, and it finds that girls perform as well in the subject as boys. This study, which is convincing for it includes so many test samples and covers such long time, indicates that brains’ differences cannot lead to apparent result differences in learning level. (OShea 2010) From the arguments above, people can clearly see the furious discussion between the two sides, and coeducation schools are better schools for three reasons. Coeducation schools win because it carefully considers many factors, including short-term and long-term benefits, students’ future development and among other things. All these factors can well help students to adapt to and cope with society’s demand, which beyond what single-sex can do.