25 of 33

Yes

Write now Article Tools

Academic performance is better whenever the environment is less distracting. Studies show better scores for girls, especially, when they are in single-sex classrooms, less distracted by worrying about appropriate gender performance (do boys like girls that are too smart? do boys like girls who outplay them at basketball?) or social display (if I run really hard, I'll sweat off my makeup, and if I frown in concentration, it doesn't look cute enough).

But social learning is best in environments that are nearer the rest of the world. We learn better how to live in a multicultural world when the school's population is racially mixed. We learn more about other people's economic realities when the upper-middle classes, working classes, and the poorer people are all represented (the rich will always isolate themselves). And we learn how to relate to the other gender (even gay kids do) when they are present.

Just as in every academic policy debate, we need to ask what the tradeoffs are. If we require school uniforms, we trade off self-expression and learning how to make appropriate choices for less drama and more clarity. If we divide kids by gender in school, we trade off the development of culturally-appropraite gendered behavior (which in some form will be demanded of the students outside of school) for academic performance. I'm willing to do that, but I think there's no point pretending it isn't an actual tradeoff, and it cannot be effecively done on a large scale without some conscious attention to socializing in a positive way. Kids, like adults, base too much of their behavior already not on the real people they interact with, but on their imagination about those people. Let's not increase that.

Learn more about this author, J. Alice Pedagon.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Do children learn better in single-sex schools??
We want to hear your view. Write now!