b.Counterpoint
In fact boys and girls are a good influence on each other, engendering good behaviour and maturity – particularly as teenage girls usually exhibit greater responsibility than boys of the same age. Academic competition between the sexes is a spur to better performance at school. Any negative effects of co-educational schools have been explained away by studies as the result of other factors, such as ‘classroom size, economic discrepancies and cultural differences’. Furthermore, the separation of boys and girls only serves to embrace sexual objectification, for they exist for each other only as dates rather than the classmates they would be in a co-educational environment. Allowing them into the same educational environment, in part to permit them to distract each other, is a welcome social development as well as a beneficial learning curve.
3. Teachers favour their own gender in co-educational schools
a. Point
Teachers frequently favour their own gender when teaching co-educational classes; for example, male teachers can undermine the progress and confidence of girl students by refusing to choose them to answer questions etc. A recent study by the American Association of University Women found that ‘gender bias is a major problem at all levels of schooling’, asserting ‘girls are plagued by sexual harassment and neglected by sexist teachers, who pay more attention to boys’. As a result, girls tend to fall behind their male counterparts.
b.Counterpoint
There is little evidence to support this claim. Valerie Lee, a professor at the University of Michigan, studied a sample of coeducational, all-boys and all-girls independent schools, finding that ‘the frequency of sexist incidents was similar in the three types of schools’. Wendy Kaimer argues that the restraints of femininity are actually ‘self-imposed’ at single-sex schools, ‘whether manifested in feminine décor or…pandering to women’s fear of masculinizing themselves’.
Baca konten-konten menarik Kompasiana langsung dari smartphone kamu. Follow channel WhatsApp Kompasiana sekarang di sini: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaYjYaL4Spk7WflFYJ2H