The problem of gender education

Lyceum Student Scientific Society

English Language Section

The Yin and Yang of learning: Is it easy for boys and girls to study together?

Soyonova Sonya

Form 5B

 Municipal Educational Establishment

“Lyceum №6 named after I.Z. Shuklin”

                                                                                 Guided by:

                                                                                        Filichkina  E.A.

Gorno-Altaysk

2017

The contents

1. Introduction                                                                                    3
2. The main part                                                                                  4
3. Conclusion                                                                                      6
4. Literature                                                                                         7
5. Supplement

Introduction

W. Shakespeare once said:

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women are merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts….

  They are so different-boys and girls. They play different games; they have different interests and needs. They have different opinions about learning, peers, grown-ups, friendship, and the best of all feelings- love. They are different in everything as two polar worlds. But… in our school they sit at one and the same desk, solve the same  problems, sing the same songs, and sometimes, even dress in the same way. Don’t you think that if they are so different they should study in a different way and in different classes?

The main goal of our research work was to reveal the attitude to gender education. To reach the goal we were:

• to study what gender education is;
• to study what gender education in different countries is like;
• to study psychological characteristics of boys and girls;
• to study the advantages and disadvantages of gender education;
• to interview the 7th form students and their parents.

          This theme is actual nowadays because parents and teachers are worried about pupils low progress at school. It is believed that pupils of al abilities are more likely to succeed if they attend single- gender classes.

           Such methods of researching as literature analysis, comparison, opinion poll, analysis of data were used.

Single - gender education

 The idea of single- gender education is not a new one. When we think of schools for boys or for girls Smolny Institute for noble young ladies, cadets classes for boys and public or grammar schools in the United Kingdom first come to our mind. But the number of such schools in Great Britain has fallen from 2500 to just 400. However, in the USA the number of public schools offering single- gender classrooms rose from 11 in 2005 to 540 in 2009. In the Middle East in most places it is obligatory for schools to be the single-gender schools. In the United Arab Emirates private schools are mostly co-educational, while public schools are segregated.

    There are such schools in Russia too and the debates about pros and cons of such education are still in process.

     Girls are characterized to be more collaborative in the classroom; boy are said to be more competitive. Does this mean schools should offer single-gender schooling? What are the advantages of single-gender education? Is it better than co-education?

       In fact, boys` schools and girls` schools have many advantages to consider. Firstly, boys and girls learn in different ways, a girl`s brain is different from boy`s brain. Secondly, boys soften their competitiveness and become more collaborative. They can just be boys and not worry about what the girls think.

        Girls drop their shyness and begin to take risks. They become more competitive. They also take up such sports as hockey or soccer. Girls quickly feel comfortable learning non-traditional subjects like Maths, computer and technology, wood-working and others. Boys participate in choirs and orchestras, get interested in poetry.

    Moreover, children will break out their typical roles and behaviour. Single-gender education is a good way for children to be fearless, curious, enthusiastic- in short to just be themselves. It is just a ticket for many children.

     On the other hand, in a mixed class boys and girls have more possibilities to communicate with each other, they to respect and make friends with each other. Consequently, they get interested in each other and first love comes. Girls are usually cleverer and, as a result, can help boys in their study.

      However, the majority of Russians do not like the idea of single-gender education. Only 9% of them believe that single-gender education is much better than co-education. 76% think it is better for boys and girls to study together. And 15% of our citizens do not have any opinion.

     Certainly, it was quite interesting for me what my peers think. So, I interviewed a number of students if they are for or against single-gender education. As you can see, the majority of them (93%) are against such type of learning and only 7% are for.

Conclusion

 In conclusion I’d like to say, whatever the arguments are, personally I think it is better to study together. How can we do without boys? It is so boring!

Literature list

1. boys-and-girls.fo.ru
2. childparenting.about.com›od…what…single…education…
3. educationworld.com›a_curr/curr215.shtm
4. en.wikipedia.org›wiki/Boys_and_Girls
5. en.wikipedia.org›wiki/Single-sex_education
6. lastfm.ru›group/boys and girls…together

Supplement