Separation of Classes on Gender Basis - Research Paper Example

? Separation es on Gender Basis The system of coed schools has been present for a long time now.But in the recent years there has been constant pressure from different quarters of society for separating the classrooms on the basis of gender. Single-sex classrooms are not just an ideology but have already made their way into the education system. The pressure is now rising to implement single-sex classrooms citing the reason that both boys and girls have different ability of understanding. It makes much sense to have single-sex classrooms, when the complete potential of the individual is to be realized. There is a growing trend among the parents and also the pupil for single sex education in the developed countries and also in the fast developing countries like India and China. According to a report in 2006, across the country 223 public schools already have single-sex classrooms (MSNBC, 2006). The number is expected to drastically increase in the coming years. This paper argues for the separation of class-rooms based on gender. From past one decade America has witnessed a steep rise in the number of single sex schools. A 17 year-old student raised a civil rights complaint with the United States Department of Education for discrimination against males. His case failed to provoke the court but it really did provoke the academicians, press and the legislature. In the same year a federal law, “No Child Left Behind” was passed. Which came into effect in 2006, the Department of Education passed new regulations paving way for districts to easily create single sex classrooms and schools (Glasser, 2008). Supporters of the movement argue that the learning ability of boys and girls are different. The recent research has clearly indicated natural differences in how male and female understand and learn their lessons at class and society at large. It is very necessary to impart education to the pupil based on the gender, as their understanding ability differs with respect to their sex. When the necessity of single sex education is debated it includes the issues of socio-economic, political, civil rights and legal concerns which are very important in terms of practical perspective. Leonardo Sax (2005) states in his book that the behavior of girls and boys when they are together reflects the larger society to which they belong. His opinions that the girls are most expressive in a single sex school than in a co-ed school. Because of less or no pressure they tend to react instantly and actively in a single sex school. In a coed school the boys came forward with an attitude to put up and spoke on any given topic with ease, while the girls were forced to talk a very few words. He even noticed a considerable change in the courage of the single sex school and co-ed students. The teacher enthusiastically praised, corrected, helped, and criticized the boldly spoken boys who could speak voraciously on any topic given and with the girls who were soft spoken with less courage he nodded his head and would hardly help them overcome their mistakes. But the girls in the single sex school could easily dare to speak on any given topic without pressure, where the teacher could correct the students and also inculcate new teaching techniques based on the gender for better understanding. This in turn would help the students to enhance their learning capabilities. The doctrine of Single Sex Public Education (SSPE) is a good example of the above. SSPE informs teachers in male classrooms to move constantly in the classroom with a pitch of loud voice, even to the point of shouting. But the teachers in the female classes are asked to be still and use a soothing tone to talk to the pupil. This was introduced as the young males thrive on competition and confrontation, while the young females expect care and co-operation in a learning environment. This was the ideology of SSPE (Datnow and Lea, 2002). Few researches have pointed that the single sex schools can foster each gender to excel in the fields of their interest. For example a field of feminine touch will obstruct a male student in excelling and the same vice-versa. They can be on par in being expressive with their fellow friends without the fear of loud noise of boys or feeling ashamed when a girl looks at them. They can air their feelings by making any kind of fun they intend to, which they cannot do in the presence of opposite sex. Friends of the same sex can help each other very well for which they don’t have to overcome a social barrier. They can guide, correct, critic as well share a whole lot of personal and social experience amongst themselves. This will in turn boost their will power, confidence and instill the necessary courage which one cannot get in a co-ed school of education. A classroom is a place where we find the amalgamation of various cultures globally and also of different technological forces. Pupils are from various socio-economic backgrounds, in this scenario, a co-ed would add up another unwanted pressure regarding social barriers related to opposite sex. This makes the student concentrate on unnecessary issues which distracts him/her from the main goal, studies. The cultural background for the students varies from region to the issue of religion. In this case the classroom should be designed in such a manner that the individuality of the students region and religion should be respected and well treated. The trained observers visited 100 schools across America for a period of three years and concluded, “for” single sex schools “against” co-ed schools. The teacher appreciated the student who would float away discipline of the class and shout the answer; ignoring the “raise your hand” rule. On the other hand girls were reminded to raise their hands for every question asked. Boys were encouraged to solve their problem on their own which make them self-reliable in the future, while the girls were helped by the teachers to solve the problems which make them lethargic towards problem solving techniques in the absence of a teacher. This impractical approach will slowly erode the self reliable skills and the necessary will power and confidence in girls. It kills the very meaning of imparting education. Girls are very slow learners in subjects like science and math. While the boys need a very good attention in subjects like poetry, dance, music and fine arts which the girls can easily excel. Teaching in this peculiar situation cannot be justified by opting a co-ed school. The co-ed schools curb the interests (in the subject) in both the sexes. This can be easily overcome by the single sex school where the new teaching techniques can be introduced in the classroom to learn science or math effectively and which can be retrieved in the exam hall with ease. The above can also be done with the teaching aspects for the boys as their problem should be to overcome with gradual practice, which leads to perfection. The researchers at Cambridge University report that the single sex classroom greatly improves the learning abilities of a foreign language in boys and also of math and science in girls. Many prolific writers have also raised their voice in favor of the single sex school which separates boys from girls as they have different social experiences and social needs. Male students perform better when they are talked in a masculine tone which is quite authoritative and loud. They don’t expect someone to talk to them in a feeble tone with some impressive garnishing words. For example, “Mr. John, give up the answer”. But in case of females they perform better when they are talked to in a feeble tone with some impressive words and sentences. For example, “Excuse me. Can you please give me the answer?” There is also scientific data that highlights the difference between boys and girls. The data from the pediatric neuro-imaging study from the age 3 to 27 by the researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health after detail analysis reveals that it is at 10.5 years for the girls that the total cerebral volume peaks. But it is not the same for boys. For boys it peaks at around 14.5 years (Lenroot et al., 2007). Also, for girls the peak of cortical and sub-cortical gray-matter happens at least 2 years prior to boys. This change is notable for the people who speak for the single sex schools. Florida comprehensive assessment test (FCAT) was conducted as a research project by Stetson University in Florida, which was intended to compare single sex and co-ed classrooms. The number of students, the curriculum and the demographics were all same. 37% and 59% of boys and girls in co-ed classes scored proficient respectively. The results of single sex classes were unbelievable, 75% and 86% of girls and boys in single sex classes scored proficient respectively. This proves beyond doubt the success of single sex schools in educating the child individually on gender basis. As humans age, both the gender tend to undergo a notable physical change. Opposite sex attract each other when the child attains puberty, which leads to sexual maturity and psychological changes. This stage is referred as the period of “storm and stress” by psychologist Stanley Hall. Socialization in this stage is at the peak and with the end of childhood period the child enters an adolescent stage, with the sudden hormonal changes the interest in the opposite sex increases significantly. Sexual problems are sure to arise at this stage and one cannot deny it. The “identity crisis” at this age leads to sexual wrongdoings which will become material and socio related problems in the future when he/she reaches the adulthood (Pathan, 2011). Teenage pregnancies and abortions are some of the mentionable problems of this stage. This problem can be overcome by imparting necessary sex education to the students at the given point of time in an impressive and understandable manner. The emotional need of a girl is very different from that of a boy. The boys collect adventures stories while the girls select pretty stories, the boys select guns, swords as toys while the girls opt for teddy bear and Barbie toys, the boys play games which demands strength and stamina like football and ruby while the girls select games which doesn’t demand physical stamina. This concludes us that the emotional companion of a male entity is of heroic and adventurous qualities while that of a female entity is of jingle bells and la-la-la birthday party cakes. Therefore, to feed the emotional needs of both the sex we should posses a different setup which can nourish the essential emotional requirements of the pupil at the tender age. It helps in having emotional stress free life in the future. This is another reason that can strongly advocate for the single sex school compared to a co-ed school. The National Association for Single Sex Public Education (NASSPE) says, more opportunities are created by the single sex classrooms than the co-ed classrooms. The learning patterns of Boys and girls differ. This can be easily addressed in a single sex class. The boys and girls learn according to their potentials, especially in an underperforming school (Edison et al., 1982). The teachers can easily make them understand the concept with one unique method to the particular gender. In a single sex school girls can take over the role of leader and display her leadership qualities in sports, debate, cultural programs and so on, which she cannot do in a co-ed school where the male domination would eclipse her leadership skills. It helps in nurturing essential life skills such as self confidence, will power, respecting peers and courage. This kind of environ will surely influence the girls to achieve something bigger than what they can. The goal of education is accomplished not by the grades or scores in a given test, but in the success of, how a person can live up to the society at large? And how will he/she be molding himself with the society in which he/she lives? It is really a challenging task to assess the goal accomplished, but the federal law, “No Child Left Behind” passed by the legislature in 2006 is the testimony to prove that the separation of classes based on gender is a very good development in educating the students than the traditional co-ed teaching schools (Glasser, 2008). It is clear from the above that single-sex schools are more advantageous and create better opportunities. Also the potential of each individual is extracted to the fullest in a single-sex school than in a coed school. Hence, it is highly recommended that single-sex schools be implemented throughout the country. Works Cited Datnow, Amanda, and Lea Hubbard. Gender in Policy and Practice: Perspectives on Single-sex and Coeducational Schooling. NY: Routledge, 2002. Print. Edison Trickett, Penelope Trickett, et al. The independent school experience: aspects of the normative environment of single-sex and coed secondary schools, Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(3):374-381, 1982. Glasser, Howard M. Single-sex Middle School Science Classrooms: Separate and Equal? MI: ProQuest, 2008. Print. Lenroot, Rhoshel K., Nitin Gogtay, Deanna K. Greenstein, Elizabeth Molloy Wells, Gregory L. Wallace, Liv S. Clasen, Jonathan D. Blumenthal, Jason Lerch, Alex P. Zijdenbos, Alan C. Evans, Paul M. Thompson, and Jay N. Giedd. "Sexual Dimorphism of Brain Developmental Trajectories during Childhood and Adolescence." Neuroimage 36.4 (2007): 1065-073. Web. MSNBC. "Grade Schools Test Single-sex Classrooms - US News - Education - Msnbc.com." Msnbc.com - Breaking News, Science and Tech News, World News, US News, Local News- Msnbc.com. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. . Pathan, Swaleha S. "Adolescent’s Attitude Towards The Opposite- Sex." International Refereed Research Journal 02.4 (2011): 192-99. Researchersworld.com. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. . Sax, Leonard. Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences. NY: Doubleday, 2005. Print. Sharpe, Wesley. "Education World: Single-Gender Classes: Are They Better?" Education World: The Educator's Best Friend. 2000. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. . Read More