Gender Segregation
To segregate as stated by Dictionary.com: to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; isolate. From my understanding Gender Segregation is a social term used to described the separation of male and female in different public forms or in society. In Israel there are many form of gender segregation from women having to dress a certain way, to having to sit in the back of a bus. In the China Post there was an article stating that there have been many protests from young people in Israel to stop the religious ultra-Orthodox to stop their beliefs on gender segregation. The issue of gender segregation is not only an issue in foreign countries but as well in America. Some schools that have poor academic standing are using the method of gender segregated classrooms in order to help the students. They believe that by separating the girls from the boys will help the students to focus. For example in Greene Country, Georgia they are beginning to practice this method in primary and secondary schools. The advocators for the method believed that each sex learns better when they are separate and not distracted from the opposite sex. Gender segregation is the process of separating male and female from each other rather it is politically, or socially, education wise, etc.
I have heard those assertions that gender segregation in schools allows boys and girls to focus better, but I am still skeptical of single-sex schools. What are the social tradeoffs? That is to say, maybe a girl would have better focus in english class without boys in it, but then maybe that girl would suffer consequences later in life from not experiencing and growing up in a multi-sex environment. This might be a cool conversation to have in class.
ReplyDeleteI think that single-sex schools may or may not be beneficial depending on the person attending the school. I used to go to HB and I personally think that if anything, I focused less than when I attended my other schools. This lack of focus, I think, was a result of my constant unhappiness. I hated being at a single-sex school and so I would watch the clock until school was finally over. Single-sex schools might have an advantage if the students are happy being there but if they hate being segregated, then they might cut class completely and then the test scores would really drop.
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ReplyDeleteOne interesting consideration is what the purpose of gender segregation is in different contexts. In the two examples Chelsey gives, the reasons for segregation seem quite different.
ReplyDeleteI think that while gender segregation has a chance of being beneficial in the short term, in the long term it would seriously inhibit development. It might not even help students focus or do better in school. With regards to the segregation in Israel, it is for entirely different reasons, though I believe that at the origin it was intended to keep men and women form distracting each other.
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