Gendered Education: Where the Sterotyping Begins
Are single sex classrooms good for kid’s education? Is there a need for single sex classrooms in specific areas of education, i.e. science and/or math? Traditionally girls do well in reading, language arts, and social studies; some research has suggested that they lag behind in math and science because they learn differently, and are less likely to ask questions (or be called upon to answer them). By the same token, boys might be reluctant to participate in classes are stereotypically considered less masculine, i.e. poetry, etc. Would being segregated from the opposite sex remove that barrier?
There are probably more differences between individual students based on factors outside of biological sex. Should we segregate children based on cultural background because there's scientific proof that a child's culture affects their learning styles?
Where you do stand on this debate? Please explain why.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/why-are-there-still-so-few-women-in-science.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3MSJZu45iQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIAYE_VG11Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gperomezGz4
My questions-
I thought about this question a lot throughout the week. Not being a parent I've never had to consider this situation and all of its ramifications. To be honest, I think this is the first question throughout this class that I haven't had a strong pre-existing opinion on or formed a strong opinion about. I'm not even sure where I stand on it now after much research and consideration.
Things I don't know:
- They say test scores increase with same-sex classrooms. Should test scores be our goal in education?
- When students move on to upper education, as I assume would be the point of using academics to back up gender segregation, what happens to the children who go to mixed gendered colleges? Their practice in dealing with the so-called distractions of being around the opposite sex should have occurred in their formative years but same-sex classrooms took that away from them. Will their education then suffer?
- Success in education is dependent on small class sizes, adequate resources and a challenging curriculum. If same-sex classrooms can maintain this standard, why not?
- There are more similarities between boys and girls than there are differences. Should the differences override the similarities?
My general opinion, though surprisingly not very strong: Not every child should be in a single sex classroom, but every parent should have a choice not dependent on money.