Single-Sex Schooling
Aug. 10th, 2006 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackofallgeeks"If you don't understand gender differences, you end up furthering gender stereotypes."
This is an interesting article because of the gender-issues it touches on. Though I'll have to read further on to decide what I think about the school system in question (I have a rather low opinion of education -- not to be confused with learning -- in general), I've always believed there are intrinsic hard-wired differences between boys and girls, and in light of that this seems to be a reasonable move. At the same time, though, I think one of the deficiencies in the current school system is the stratification of grades; that is, 12-year olds only ever interact with other 12-year olds, etc. One of the most beneficial experiences I had in homeschooling, in my opinion, was the regular interaction with people much older and much younger than myself. I hate the word 'diversity' because it's become so loaded, but there's something to be said, I think, for exposure to other people who think and act in ways and for reasons that are different from your own. Put another way, it may be the case that single-sex classes work and are a great improvement for learning, but even at that boys and girls should have significant enough exposure to each other.
I'll read this later and think on it more.
This is an interesting article because of the gender-issues it touches on. Though I'll have to read further on to decide what I think about the school system in question (I have a rather low opinion of education -- not to be confused with learning -- in general), I've always believed there are intrinsic hard-wired differences between boys and girls, and in light of that this seems to be a reasonable move. At the same time, though, I think one of the deficiencies in the current school system is the stratification of grades; that is, 12-year olds only ever interact with other 12-year olds, etc. One of the most beneficial experiences I had in homeschooling, in my opinion, was the regular interaction with people much older and much younger than myself. I hate the word 'diversity' because it's become so loaded, but there's something to be said, I think, for exposure to other people who think and act in ways and for reasons that are different from your own. Put another way, it may be the case that single-sex classes work and are a great improvement for learning, but even at that boys and girls should have significant enough exposure to each other.
I'll read this later and think on it more.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-10 05:13 pm (UTC)I agree with your concerns -- I've had more than enough experience with girls who don't know how to react to boys. But I'm not so sure that single-sex classes, or even schools, necessisarily means that boys and girls never associate. My lovely cousin rachel, for example, went to a girls-only highschool and (minus a few wild ideas -- love you, Rachel), is one of the most well-adjusted and sensible people I know.
I'm also not sure how valid your complaint about the work-place is. I think teamwork is teamwork, and you either can or can't handle it. After all, part of teamwork is dealing with and managing people who irritate you, regardless of their gender. And that being the case, I don't think there's really much more to work-place interactions at all. Further, i would say that even highschool is (or ought to be) more geared toward teaching skills and knowledge rather than 'preparing' you for the work force. There's a large disconnect between Algebra and Earth Science and office work or data entry. -shrugs-