In this lesson we had to view all of the required material about single sex classrooms. We had to give our opinion on whether we would like to have been in a single sex classroom or not, if we would want our children in a single sex classroom or not, and whether we think single sex classrooms is a form of discrimination.
EDUC 2110 – Lesson 8 – Current Fundamental Issues – Same Sex Classrooms
Evaluation
List and describe 2-3 possible advantages of single sex classrooms.
There are multiple advantages when it comes to having single sex classrooms. One thing I thought of was how students would be less distracted from their surrounding peers. For example, girls try to impress boys, or boys try to impress girls, in their classroom by dressing nice or being a totally different person around them because they think it’s cute. With single sex classrooms, students can be less distracted by the opposite sex and can focus more on their learning than the people they are surrounded by. Another thing with single sex classrooms, those students can have one hundred percent of the teacher’s attention. Usually in coed classrooms, the teacher always focuses more on one gender type than they do the other whether they realize it or not. In single sex classrooms, everyone will get the teachers attention. Because of less distractions and one hundred percent of the teacher’s attention, students’ grades will improve, calling for more student success.
List and describe 2-3 potential disadvantages of single sex classrooms.
However, advantages also come with disadvantages such as how single sex classrooms can become cliquish, especially girls. This isn’t anything new. Girls are and have always been really picky when choosing friends and who can be a part of their group or not. Boys, on the other hand, can also be cliquish but not quite as much. Also having single sex classrooms, it limits the students’ opportunity to work cooperatively and comfortably around/with the opposite sex. Not to mention, some parents/students/administrators think having single sex classrooms is discrimination.
After watching the videos and reading the articles, describe your stance on the single sex classroom issue. Provide some reasons why you agree or disagree with the concept.
I can see why some people would disagree or agree with the single sex classroom issue. After watching the videos I could see how single sex classrooms were a good thing, but also could see why it couldn’t necessarily be according to some parents, students, or administrators from other schools.
Would you want to be educated in single sex classrooms? Why or why not?
In high school, no, I would not have liked to be educated in a single sex classroom. I didn’t have many girl friends when I was in high school, most of the people I talked to were mainly guys, and I think I would have been lost without them. Now in college, I wouldn’t mind being in a single sex classroom. Girls in college are less vicious than they were in high school and I get along with them more. I think being in a single sex classroom would call for less distractions also.
Would you want your children educated in single sex classrooms? Why or why not?
In the future when I have children, I’m not really sure if I would want my children to be educated in single sex classrooms or not. I would be totally open to the idea and letting them try it for a year to see if grades really improve, but if not, I see no point in sticking children in a classroom full of the same sex if it’s not improving anything. In the videos, it seems that same sex classrooms really do improve students’ academics, so yes, I would be open to the idea of trying.
Are single sex classrooms a form of discrimination? Explain.
Personally, I don’t think it’s a form of discrimination. You’re a girl or you’re a boy. People compare sex against race when the two are nothing alike. For example, bathrooms. There is a boy bathroom and a girl bathroom. Is that discrimination just because you don’t want to go into a girl bathroom if you’re a boy or because you don’t want to go into a boy bathroom if you’re a girl? No. We don’t have Hispanic bathrooms, African American bathrooms, Caucasian bathrooms, etc. do we? No, because that would be discrimination. So no, I don’t think it’s a form of discrimination.
Summary
This lesson was rather interesting. I enjoyed watching and reading what people thought about single sex classrooms. I don’t necessarily LOVE the idea of having single sex classrooms in public schools, but it doesn’t hurt to try something new in a school if you haven’t done it before. If it could possibly help with academic scores, I say try it.
Research Question
How do students benefit from being in a single sex classroom?
Reference: http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol5/512-newvoices.aspx
Research Analysis
We all know that boys and girls are different. They think different, they develop at different rates than one another, and this isn’t the only reason why educators thought they should give single-gender classes a try. If teachers would learn how boys and girls differ in the classroom, by the way they learn and act, then it could help them tremendously in becoming the effective teacher that they need/want to be.
In the year 2009-10, statistics show that students’ engagement in the classroom has increased by being in a single-gender classroom. In mathematics, 14 schools showed higher achievement for girls in the single-gender classrooms than girls who are in coed classrooms, where they only had 3. For boys, 13 schools showed higher achievement in the single-gender classrooms than boys in the coed classroom, where there was only 5. In English and language arts, for girls in single-gender classrooms, there were 13 schools that showed higher achievement, and 11 schools with the boys. In the discipline area, 7 out of 10 schools showed that discipline decreased when having students in single-gender classrooms.
Research Summary
I’d have to agree with my first paragraph in my research analysis. Boys and girls do learn differently and their brains develop at different rates than the other, and sometimes I do think that single sex classrooms should be more of a thing than coed classrooms, just to see if academic grades would increase. According to all of the websites that I have visited that were related to this lesson, single sex classrooms made students less distracted, their grades increased, and less discipline problems. I’d have to say that there should be more single-sex classrooms. I’m not saying ALL classrooms should be single sex, but some.