Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Classroom revolution: separating the sexes |
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| Kashif |
| 09/26/00 at 04:45:52 |
| http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/stories/466.asp Classroom revolution: separating the sexes 24 August 2000 Reporter: Gary Adshead An experiment with single-sex classes at Western Australia's biggest public primary school has proved highly successful for students. For the second year running, Clarkson Primary School has segregated Year 6 boys and girls to help improve literacy and curb behavioural problems. The two groups still interact socially and the classes are brought together again for a couple of hours a week, but the majority of class work is conducted in a single-sex environment. The classroom experiment came after serious problems were identified at the school two years ago: 95 percent of all misbehaviour cases were attributed to boys and a high number of Year 6 students were in danger of falling behind. Teachers were also concerned about the resistance from boys to getting involved in class discussions. Clarkson principal Jim Watterston says they felt at this stage of their development it would be a good idea to separate the boys and see if they could talk about issues they're interested in, in a way they may not in a mixed class. Principal Watterston says the results speak for themselves. They have seen "literacy acquisition advance at a greater rate than it had been with many of the boys in the class". "We certainly saw enormous improvements in terms of behaviour referrals, down 60 percent from last year." Clarkson parents have also given the pilot project the thumbs up. They say their sons are happier to go to school and are enjoying learning about things they are interested in, such as bike maintenance and building models. Importantly, the students support the separate classes too. Michael says he doesn't miss having girls in class because "we can get on and do boy things and not have to worry about the girls complaining". And Ellen says "it's good because we get on with our work quicker and there's not as many distractions and you don't feel as embarrassed as you would if you were in a mixed class". |
| Re: Classroom revolution: separating the sexes |
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| kareema |
| 10/07/00 at 00:33:24 |
| My pe classes in middleschool and high school were separated for swimday and sometimes for other sports. This did help to get more girls swimming, but then it became clear that we would still be mixed for roll call and some girls seemed to stop swimming or came out late when the roll call was over. Sports, the girls did participate more, there weren't so many standing around. They came out of the shadows of the guys who tend to be agressive and hog the ball as much as possible. Not to mention the chance of a cheap feel being passed off as something else. I think its a no brainer that schools are best seperated. Even in college, my male professor talks of how some women tend not to participate when there are alpha males in the class who always try to get some words in. Some may say that those women should simply learn to shout down those guys, but I don't know if that strategy would succeed. |
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