The question of single-sex schooling is one of the most controversial issues in the theory and practice of education because there are two different visions of the problem and its solution. Doctors, psychologists, and educators are inclined to support the separate school for boys and girls when sociologists accentuate the disadvantages of the single-sex education with references to the questions of gender stereotypes and equality as well as specifics of interactions between genders.
However, it is necessary to pay attention to the advantages of single-sex schooling rather than to the possible disadvantages. Boys and girls are different, and the principle of equality in education depends not on rejecting these differences, but on the possibilities to develop children’s personalities with the help of separate education.
Thus, the separate education creates the necessary conditions for using the individual approach to students regarding their psychophysical and personal features, differences in intellectual and emotional reactions, peculiarities of the boys and girls’ physical development, different interests and values.
The psychophysical characteristics and features of boys and girls are considerably different, and the concentration on these differences allows speaking about the necessity of the separate education for boys and girls to contribute to their psychophysical and personal development.
The psychophysical peculiarities of the children’s development according to their sex make them react to the same intellectual tasks and life situations differently. The fact can be explained with references to the boys and girls’ differences in the mind’s processes.
It is impossible to speak about the inequality of boys and girls according to the psychophysical peculiarities, but it is necessary to focus on the differences to promote the children’s effective academic performance and personal development (Salomone 40). That is why the methods to provide the information and material are different in single-sex classes to respond to the children’s specifics in development and contribute to their academic success.
Moreover, educators should pay attention to the fact boys and girls are inclined to use not only different approaches to completing the academic tasks, but they also have different emotional reactions to the situation of the educational assessment. Girls can listen attentively to the tutors’ recommendations when boys do not like criticism in any form.
Furthermore, the situation of coeducation provides children with additional stresses when they have to be assessed by the representatives of the opposite sex (Salomone 6`6-68). From this point, the atmosphere in the single-sex classes is more appropriate for orienting students to studying and achieving the high results without references to the emotional and intellectual competition between girls and boys.
The idea of the single-sex classes for boys and girls can be discussed as good because educators are provided with the possibilities to respond to the differences in rates of the boys and girls’ physical development. Thus, boys develop slower than girls, and this fact influences the range of their interests and inclinations to particular activities (Paton).
To draw the boys’ attention to the explicit material, it is necessary to use the other methods in comparison with those used for teaching girls of the same age category (Salomone 86-87). The necessity to pay attention to these differences is also significant for developing out-of-class activities for girls and boys of the same age.
Finally, it is essential to note that boys and girls have significantly different interests and the hierarchy of moral values to follow. The opportunities to study in the single-sex classes are suitable for children to develop in the positive and supporting atmosphere where the norms and behaviors of the group members do not differ much from the individual’s expectations.
Thus, girls more communicative, and they are oriented to social activities when boys are inclined to choose physical activities (Weil). Working in the single-sex classes, educators receive the opportunity to focus on the boys and girls’ interests which are typical for their gender. This process can be advantageous for increasing the students’ results in the activities which are close to them.
Although many people concentrate on the fact that the separate education can influence the children’s social interactions negatively and contribute to developing gender stereotypes, these points can be effectively avoided with references to organizing breaks and educational events for boys and girls to stimulate their communication (Salomone; Weil).
To conclude, separate education is suitable for students because they receive the opportunity to study according to their psychophysical peculiarities and to regard the rates of physical and psychological development. Furthermore, the activities and atmosphere in the single-sex classes are related to the gender specifics without accentuating gender stereotypes.
Children have the chance to develop their masculine and feminine qualities without the influence of the other gender in situations which can be stressful for boys and girls studying in the same classes. Coeducation can prevent students from orienting to the development of their specific personal qualities, and the individual approach to students is realized in the single-sex classes more effectively.
Works Cited
Paton, Graeme. Boys and Girls Need Separate Classes. 2007. Web.
Salomone, Rosemary. Same, Different, Equal: Rethinking Single-Sex Schooling. USA: Yale University Press, 2005. Print.
Weil, Elizabeth. Teaching Boys and Girls Separately. 2008. Web.