People have spent many years advertising coeducation. Coeducation is said to be based on equality. The need to secure equality for women in industrial, professional and political activities has influenced the spread of coeducation. But is coeducation really better for girls and boys? The plain truth is that boys and girls learn in different ways. Science shows that a girl’s brain functions differently to a boy’s. One technique doesn’t work for everybody.
Many children and teenagers develop better in single-sex schools/ universities. The social tensions are gentler. Each sex can develop at his/her own speed. Gender stereotyping is almost never seen in single-sex schools/universities. The faculty at single-sex schools/universities understands how their students learn and adapts their methods to the students’ skills.
Boys in coeducational settings are less likely to take courses in Arts or advanced academic subjects. In a single-sex environment, boys easily participate in choirs and orchestras and learn Latin. A single sex school allows boys to explore Art, Drama and Music without fear of being a freak in front of his feminine peers. In this way sexual stereotypes fade into the background. I remember at school, some so-called popular boys were almost never interested in Art. Art which involved pencils and paints, they would try not to attend. And if they did, they would waste their time walking around teasing girls. This automatically distracted girls who didn’t want to seem very into Art. So their time was wasted. But given homework in the same subject, these same boys would hand in excellent pieces of work. Our teacher, Mrs. Lewis, was always amazed at their work and always said, “How come you boys don’t work like that in class?”
In a single-sex environment boys don’t see the need to impress girls and they can be themselves. This feeling of comfort can give into individuality. A boy develops his uniqueness and his individuality.
Boys tend to soften their competitive edge and become more cooperative in a single-sex education setting. They can just be ‘boys’ and not worry about what girls might think.
The same is seen in an all girls’ school. Many girls cannot achieve their full potential in a coeducational school/ university. Peer pressure, their desire to be accepted and their perceived need to conform to popular opinion and thinking, are some reasons that make many girls suppress their own personality and individuality in a coeducational academic setting. Mikyong Kim and Rodolfo Alvarez, researchers at the University of California, found that “in women’s colleges, women students not only experience fewer distractions, but they also gain the self-confidence necessary to further develop themselves.”
Girls drop their shyness and begin to take risks in a single-sex setting. They ignore gender stereotypes and develop their competitive side more fully. They embrace sports like field hockey and soccer. Girls relax enough to feel comfortable exploring non-traditional subjects such as mathematics, computers and technology, woodworking and so on. There are no boys to impress. They don’t have to worry about being called a ‘tomboy’. They can be any individual that they like, without fear of not being accepted by their peers.
Also skilled teachers who understand girls and the way they learn can cause girls to be interested in non-traditional subjects. They can encourage a young lady to dream outside of the box and want a career of industry as opposed to just being a teacher or a nurse.
Educating boys and girls in single-sex settings is not an assault on equal rights. It is an opportunity that enhances equality by allowing boys and girls to develop their own unique characters. Single-sex education has a way of encouraging children and young adults to be fearless, to be curious, to be enthusiastic. In short, to just be themselves.
