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airehead
Oompa Loofah
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 Posted: 05/13/04 - 16:31 Post subject: A debate for today...
Or actually, we might all agree on this one. (What are the chances, eh?  )
Do you think single-gender schooling is better than co-ed schooling we currently use? (Elementary through High School)
I would be really interested in what the educators on the board think.
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Gogirlgo
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 16:37 Post subject:
I'm not an educator but I play one on TV, er, I work at an all-women's college. I think that until boys and girls and men and women are treated equally in the classroom there's a need for women's education. I also think there are probably good reasons to have all-male schools, like the distraction factor. I don't think that single-sex schools limit one's ability to deal well with the opposite sex outside of school. I don't think being in school together helps demystify the other sex.
I live in a city where there is a public school for girls and it's an attractive thought for our daughters but since it's become a third-rate school, it's really not an option.
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airehead
Oompa Loofah
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 16:40 Post subject:
| Gogirlgo wrote: | I'm not an educator but I play one on TV, er, I work at an all-women's college. I think that until boys and girls and men and women are treated equally in the classroom there's a need for women's education. I also think there are probably good reasons to have all-male schools, like the distraction factor. I don't think that single-sex schools limit one's ability to deal well with the opposite sex outside of school. I don't think being in school together helps demystify the other sex.
I live in a city where there is a public school for girls and it's an attractive thought for our daughters but since it's become a third-rate school, it's really not an option. |
I agree. The only time I think it would become a hindrance is at a military school. (again, I am talking about college now, not k-12) I think men and women should attend the same military school since it is essentially "job training". I think it is dangerous for these young men to train four years for a military position without ever having worked around/for women. Because that's what the real-world military holds.
k-12: single ed schooling has some benefits.
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Cappy
Excelent
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 16:49 Post subject:
Both of our kids go to co-ed Catholic schools. We will have the option to send them to co-ed or single-ed when they enter high school. Depending on where we live at that time we will make our decision. As my lovely bride is a graduate of one of the single ed's high schools Kim may end up their.
This day in age, I see no reason not to have co-ed schools. The real world is men and women so should the education process.
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coachmarkos
my boys could swim
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 16:54 Post subject:
as a K-12 educator...I would love having a single sex school.
It would cut down on soooo much BS. Even working at a catholic school where the kids wear uniforms....there is so much hormonal crap I can't believe it.
In grade school, not as big a deal. I'm telling you, those hormones do funny things to people.
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Maddies Wench
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 16:57 Post subject:
IMHO, single ed can work even better if there are uniforms as well. These are the two most intimidating factors in a girl's education I think. The boy-girl thing, and who's wearing what.
Remove those two distractions, and you can concentrate on the task at head.
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kattzoo
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 17:01 Post subject:
| coachmarkos wrote: | as a K-12 educator...I would love having a single sex school.
It would cut down on soooo much BS. Even working at a catholic school where the kids wear uniforms....there is so much hormonal crap I can't believe it.
In grade school, not as big a deal. I'm telling you, those hormones do funny things to people. |
AMEN! I am so glad I don't have teenage daughters, because I would kill them. What these kids wear to school today just amazes me. No wonder the boys are distracted, they have enough trouble concentrating without some 16 yr olds thong being revealed in the seat in front of them.
I'm all for single sex schools. I bet it would improve the concentration level and do away with all the silly stuff. Then colleges and employers could deal with it and my life would be good. 
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airehead
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 17:04 Post subject:
| kattzoo wrote: | | coachmarkos wrote: | as a K-12 educator...I would love having a single sex school.
It would cut down on soooo much BS. Even working at a catholic school where the kids wear uniforms....there is so much hormonal crap I can't believe it.
In grade school, not as big a deal. I'm telling you, those hormones do funny things to people. |
AMEN! I am so glad I don't have teenage daughters, because I would kill them. What these kids wear to school today just amazes me. No wonder the boys are distracted, they have enough trouble concentrating without some 16 yr olds thong being revealed in the seat in front of them.
I'm all for single sex schools. I bet it would improve the concentration level and do away with all the silly stuff. Then colleges and employers could deal with it and my life would be good. |
I've also noticed that these girls are far more developed at 13-14-15 than my generation was at 13-14-15.  Then, they wear clothes that make them look like extras from a porn flick.... I feel sorry for our teenage boys. (And for the good girls who refuse to dress like that.)
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Noley
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 17:35 Post subject:
I guess my question with this is...how would this benefit our children later on to function in the real world?
I understand the idea or concept of single sex schools and why it may be beneficial for kids. However, the real world doesn't function where men work in one place and women in the another. Wouldn't it be better to have our children all work together from the get go?
I see pros and cons to both sides of this issue.
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andydp
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 17:38 Post subject:
I actually went through four years of so called single sex education.
My first three years of HS were in CT, where the bishop had decided to stem rampart hormones by having a SEPARATE boys and girls HS. Well, until the Girls HS was built we had to share the boys' HS.
Well we had the usual uniforms and all the trappings of a Catholic school but all classes were single sex. BUT we rode to school together, had assemblies together, changed classes together. One year, they decided the class changes would be at different times; that lasted about a month until they figured out we were all watching each other during class changes.
Senior year was spent in Italy at at exclusively all male US High school.
I enjoyed the camaraderie. I liked the idea of not having to compete with other guys for a girl's attention. Fewer distractions of all kinds. I even had one "single sex" semester at college before they changed over to co ed.
Bottom line: they work. Now all we have to do is convince the government and certain liberal holdouts to let some test classes start.
BTW: Funny how this issue has come up one day short of the Brown vs Board of Ed anniversary.
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purple hayes
Frightened Inmate #2
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 19:06 Post subject:
| nolefan85 wrote: | | I guess my question with this is...how would this benefit our children later on to function in the real world? |
Because you'd be able to concentrate and get a better education. That would help LOTS in the real world.
| Quote: | | However, the real world doesn't function where men work in one place and women in the another. |
Do you think we'd all be blubbering idiots if we'd all gone to single-sex schools and then suddendly been introduced to a work place that was co-ed? Heck, none of my cow-orkers are attractive.  I've NEVER been that kind of distracted at work.
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spongebob
Former FFL Champion
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 19:22 Post subject:
| purple hayes wrote: |
Heck, none of my cow-orkers are attractive. I've NEVER been that kind of distracted at work. |
Well, for those of us that work at SwedishBikiniModels.com, it becomes an issue.
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jrjo
Gone Fishin
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 20:46 Post subject:
| nolefan85 wrote: | | I guess my question with this is...how would this benefit our children later on to function in the real world? |
I have a hard time with this approach.
...like anyone is surprised.
Is the purpose of schools to really "churn out workers"? Is it ever so important that an education makes someone capable of working in a cube and not being a social defunk as they interact with female Swedish employees?
I've come to a whole different conclusion as a homeschooler. I want to raise renaissance men. Aren't the most successful, interesting and amazing people you've met, the people that think outside the norms? The people that create and draw outside the lines?
It's the routine, cookie-cutter education that churns out worker bees that have made sure to go to prom, learn all the pop culture song lyrics and live for the next cell phone ring that scare me. Any kind of "alternative" school that goes up and beyond what is considered "normal school" has got to be better in my eyes. If it means a single-sex school, go for it. But getting kids to be "educated" about curriculum and not the 101 other things people consider essential to know about the "real world" is what I'd like to see be the priority of choosing a school for more parents.
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Noley
AZhat
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 21:07 Post subject:
| Quote: | | nolefan85 wrote: | | I guess my question with this is...how would this benefit our children later on to function in the real world? |
Because you'd be able to concentrate and get a better education. That would help LOTS in the real world. |
I understand this point you make. I know that many students do concentrate on the opposite sex in the classroom as they get older. I'm sure this is a great benefit of single sex schools. However, I'm sure there are cons with this...as there are cons in everything. Kids will find something to distract them (clothing, who's better at what sport, who's popular/who's not, etc.).
I feel that it's the teacher's responsibility to provide enriching lessons that stimulate all the students while in his/her classroom (this should be the case in any classroom). A good teacher will do that and the focus for the students will be on that lesson. This happens if there's a lot of student involvement and when the teacher actively monitors this. When I taught, I didn't have a lot of down time where the students sat and did nothing. I planned each lesson where they were engaged in what I was teaching, practicing the skills taught, asking questions and getting assistance. There wasn't a lot of time to "daydream". I always knew when students were engaged and when they were not. It was my job to get kids back on track when they were not and make sure they were learning.
Oh...and I was the best "note catcher" around (from those students who thought they could get away with passing love notes around the room).
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| Quote: | | Quote: | | However, the real world doesn't function where men work in one place and women in the another. |
Do you think we'd all be blubbering idiots if we'd all gone to single-sex schools and then suddendly been introduced to a work place that was co-ed? Heck, none of my cow-orkers are attractive. I've NEVER been that kind of distracted at work. |
All I was saying here is that in most cases...men and women work together in society. They are not going to be hired and placed in separate rooms according to their sex. I never implied here that people would be "blubbering idiots" if they went to same sex schools growing up. I'm not sure why you interpreted this that way.  I was just making the point that children of all sexes might as well start working together from the beginning...the way things happen in real life.
However, I know that there has been segregation of students in schools by sex for years. I know that it works and people learn a great deal. I don't see it being a problem at all. I also know that students are educated and do just fine when they are not segregated by sex as well. I was just making a case for that side of it. As I stated before, there are pros and cons for both types of schooling. Just as there are pros and cons to public schooling, private schooling, home schooling, etc.
Oh and...I totally sucked with UBB on this one! 
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Noley
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Posted: 05/13/04 - 21:19 Post subject:
| jrjo wrote: |
I've come to a whole different conclusion as a homeschooler. I want to raise renaissance men. Aren't the most successful, interesting and amazing people you've met, the people that think outside the norms? The people that create and draw outside the lines?
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I do believe that the most amazing people out there are people who think outside the norm, yes. I don't like seeing people cloned or exactly alike, no. However, these amazing people you and I like to admire come from all types of backgrounds. They have learned what they have in a variety of ways and not one specific way was the "best" approach. I even believe that some of it is a natural gift that they were given. I've seen some go through the public school system...others who went to private or boarding schools...others who were educated by their parents while traveling on a boat all over the world...I know one who dropped out of school altogether and created a million dollar business...
People do create and draw things outside the line. I think it happens in a variety of ways and I'm thankful that it does happen.
Edited to add: IMO the best teacher that any child has in life is their parents. A child is going learn more from his/her parent than anyone else. So, if you want to see great things come from your child...spend time with them, read to them, play with them, talk to them, listen to them... There are a lot of great parents here at this forum and I know that their children are going to be great at what they do. 
Last edited by Noley on 05/14/04 - 00:33; edited 1 time in total
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