Is Teaching 'Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" the Way to Go?
12:55 PM Posted by Dr. Janet Rose
This article from CNNam Fix reports that proponents of same sex education believe that boys learn best with competition and movement and girls with low light and social groups. Hmmm...I find that a bit troubling.
No, wait, I find that very troubling! Maybe that is how we have been socialized? You know, girls are all about sugar and spice and everything nice. Seems to me that many girls enjoy competition and movement also and if they don't, maybe they should be encouraged to engage in some.
How can anyone generalize learning styles to a specific sex? I agree wholeheartedly with David Sadker. By separating the boys from the girls, we are only encouraging stereotyping.
Schools that are embarking on differentiated instructional techniques are learning quickly the value of addressing all learning styles and the positive influence of that environment on all.
I fear that the push to involve more girls in science and math fields will suffer if girls don't have the opportunity to develop self-efficacy in a well-rounded environment. They need to see that they are talented and can compete equally with boys. Separating them will give them confidence in an all-girl environment. Will they then feel confident entering into primarily male dominated fields. I think not?
Ugh! All this talk if giving me separation anxiety!
You can read this article and see a short video here. See what you think.
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/09/virginia-school-separates-students
-by-gender/
