I think it's time for another mass blog post. These last two weeks of school are going to be very, very long...Nothing I can't pull through though. I did this last year when I was still working for the evil Empire (Wal-Mart) who could care less that you were in school.
Anyways, onto gender issues in education. What I will be specifically focusing on is the idea of single-sex classrooms.
Single-sex classrooms have in recent years experienced a surge of interest. According to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education
(NASSPE), single-sex classrooms can help break down gender stereotypes. For example, the NASSPE claims that girls in an all female school will be more likely to pursue computer sciences. I can attest that at my high school, in classes such as computer maintenance and robotics, there was a clear male majority...in fact, in my robotics class I took there were no females. I don't know why this was.
In addition, the website for the NASSPE, links to numerous resources that spurn evidence towards the benefits students get from engaging in single-sex education. In addition, these links explain the subtle differences in the way males and females learn.
I know from my experience during my service learning, the boys in my classroom appeared to connect with me more than the girls did. I remember one kid, before he even knew who I was, said to me "I think you're going to be my favorite." I'm curious to know if he would have said the same thing if I was female.
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This is an interesting post. I believe that single sex classrooms have many advantages: students tend to pay more attention in class, less stress about the opposite sex... But I do not feel that it should become a necessity, it should still remain a choice to go to an all boys or all girls school - because then will it create controversies.
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