"The question is: Where are single-sex schools in today’s society?"-- Maya Mastropasqua, 7th grade
Single-sex schooling may not be something we think about a lot, escpecially considering that the majority of schools nowadays are co-ed. But the still standing all boys or all girls schools still have an interesting perspective. One that has had to change and evolve over the years. The question is: Where are single-sex schools in today’s society?
The Guardian article, titled, “Co-ed versus single sex schools: “It’s about more than academic outcomes” cites Dr. John Vallce as suggesting that single-sex schooling isn’t really necessary anymore. He argued that students are given too much of a simplistic view of what it is to be a boy or a girl. “Single-sex schooling made more sense when girls were not expected to pursue careers,” he says.
On the other side of the argument, the article on Thought Co, “The Benefits of attending an all-girls school” advocates for all-girls schools saying, “When a school is limited to only educating girls, the pedagogy changes, and the science behind how a female brain works and how girls grow and mature all become part of the core educational paths set forth for students.”
Elizabeth Campbell, director of enrollment and marketing at Julia Morgan School For Girls (a middle school in Oakland, California), as well as one of the founding teachers is a believer of continuing single-sex education. “I think there is still a need for a space that is specifically for girls (and people who identify differently but are part of our community) to take risks, to try new things, to not fear failure but look at it as an opportunity to learn,” Campbell said. “And a lot of other soft skills, like advocating for themselves, asking questions in class or after class. I think we supply them with the location where they can do all that.”
Some have found that the social dynamic at all-girls schools can be more freeing. “Many girls cannot achieve their full potential in a coeducational school. With the impact of peer pressure and the perceived need to conform to popular opinion and thinking, including the desire to be accepted, can all impact girls,” writes Robert Kennedy, author of The Benefits of Attending a Girls’ School.
Ella Kligman, an 8th grader at Julia Morgan has noticed the upsides. “I think the learning environment is very different than at a co-ed school,” she said, “especially in math. I think math class at my old school, which was co-ed, was very male dominated and I feel like I get the support and the ability to share my ideas and my opinions.”
The way material is taught is also slightly different at Julia Morgan. “We’re based on the relational model,” says Campbell. The relational model is a more collaborative style of teaching where teachers at schools build a more personal connection with students, meeting them at where they are. She goes on to talk about what inspired the founders to create the school. In one of the books they had read a female physiologist who wrote about how girls want to talk things out more in general.
Jason Baeten, Head of School at Peninsula School For Boys has specific things he tries to do with boys education. “Part of having an all-boys school is showing them learning, working on their social emotional selves with adults,” he says. “Shows them that learning is important and talking is important.”
“I work at an all-boys school because I believe that one of my goals in life is to undermine misogyny and working with middle school boys to love themselves, love learning, love being their authentic selves, not subscribing to the toxic culture of American masculinity,” Baeten said, “That is my contribution to make the world more inclusive of all kinds of gender expression.”
Campbell works at an all-girls school to lift up other girls, “How I came out as an individual was definitely formed by my all-girls experience, where the girls were all leaders,” she said.
The Time article by Katie Reilly, “What Is the Role of an All-Boys School in 2019? How the Elite Institutions Are Trying to Adapt” talks about a recent survey by the International Boys Schools Coalition. “Boys’ school leaders think the most important challenge facing their schools today is, “healthy concepts of masculinity and relationships.” When asked about the challenges boys’ schools will face over the next five years, many of the respondents said “gender issues.”
Baeten combats that by openly talking about and addressing toxic masculinity, “It’s about modeling different ways of being a man,” he says. “It’s about bringing in current events that highlight the toxic culture of masculinity whether that’s watching a movie together and breaking it apart or looking at media and breaking that apart. It’s also identifying ways we are being misogynistic in our words, our actions.”
The Time article talked about the Haverford School outside Pennsylvania which has a system to help boys with vulnerability. “Now for an hour and a half every other week, about 50 boys gather to share pizza and their feelings. They dissect their emotions on topics ranging from sex and porn to their relationships with parents, girls and each other.”
“When it’s just all-boys they don’t feel like they need to put on postures to be cool, they can just be themselves,” said Baeten, who also works on vulnerability with his students. “And oftentimes when you're with all boys it’s a little easier to do that [talk about masculinity] than in a co-ed setting where they’re trying to put on those layers of masculinity to make themselves higher in the social hierarchy.”
However many all-boys schools still don’t teach about gender respectfully. “Critics say, advice for boys still leans toward treating women as objects in need of protection rather than equals deserving of respect,” Reilly said in The Time article.
Single-sex schools are also having to make up their mind on policies for gender queer students. The video “Single-Gender Schools in a Multi-Gender World: Lessons Learned from Research and Experience with Transgender Students at Girls’ Schools” analyzes the best decisions for schools.
The Guardian article, titled, “Co-ed versus single sex schools: “It’s about more than academic outcomes” cites Dr. John Vallce as suggesting that single-sex schooling isn’t really necessary anymore. He argued that students are given too much of a simplistic view of what it is to be a boy or a girl. “Single-sex schooling made more sense when girls were not expected to pursue careers,” he says.
On the other side of the argument, the article on Thought Co, “The Benefits of attending an all-girls school” advocates for all-girls schools saying, “When a school is limited to only educating girls, the pedagogy changes, and the science behind how a female brain works and how girls grow and mature all become part of the core educational paths set forth for students.”
Elizabeth Campbell, director of enrollment and marketing at Julia Morgan School For Girls (a middle school in Oakland, California), as well as one of the founding teachers is a believer of continuing single-sex education. “I think there is still a need for a space that is specifically for girls (and people who identify differently but are part of our community) to take risks, to try new things, to not fear failure but look at it as an opportunity to learn,” Campbell said. “And a lot of other soft skills, like advocating for themselves, asking questions in class or after class. I think we supply them with the location where they can do all that.”
Some have found that the social dynamic at all-girls schools can be more freeing. “Many girls cannot achieve their full potential in a coeducational school. With the impact of peer pressure and the perceived need to conform to popular opinion and thinking, including the desire to be accepted, can all impact girls,” writes Robert Kennedy, author of The Benefits of Attending a Girls’ School.
Ella Kligman, an 8th grader at Julia Morgan has noticed the upsides. “I think the learning environment is very different than at a co-ed school,” she said, “especially in math. I think math class at my old school, which was co-ed, was very male dominated and I feel like I get the support and the ability to share my ideas and my opinions.”
The way material is taught is also slightly different at Julia Morgan. “We’re based on the relational model,” says Campbell. The relational model is a more collaborative style of teaching where teachers at schools build a more personal connection with students, meeting them at where they are. She goes on to talk about what inspired the founders to create the school. In one of the books they had read a female physiologist who wrote about how girls want to talk things out more in general.
Jason Baeten, Head of School at Peninsula School For Boys has specific things he tries to do with boys education. “Part of having an all-boys school is showing them learning, working on their social emotional selves with adults,” he says. “Shows them that learning is important and talking is important.”
“I work at an all-boys school because I believe that one of my goals in life is to undermine misogyny and working with middle school boys to love themselves, love learning, love being their authentic selves, not subscribing to the toxic culture of American masculinity,” Baeten said, “That is my contribution to make the world more inclusive of all kinds of gender expression.”
Campbell works at an all-girls school to lift up other girls, “How I came out as an individual was definitely formed by my all-girls experience, where the girls were all leaders,” she said.
The Time article by Katie Reilly, “What Is the Role of an All-Boys School in 2019? How the Elite Institutions Are Trying to Adapt” talks about a recent survey by the International Boys Schools Coalition. “Boys’ school leaders think the most important challenge facing their schools today is, “healthy concepts of masculinity and relationships.” When asked about the challenges boys’ schools will face over the next five years, many of the respondents said “gender issues.”
Baeten combats that by openly talking about and addressing toxic masculinity, “It’s about modeling different ways of being a man,” he says. “It’s about bringing in current events that highlight the toxic culture of masculinity whether that’s watching a movie together and breaking it apart or looking at media and breaking that apart. It’s also identifying ways we are being misogynistic in our words, our actions.”
The Time article talked about the Haverford School outside Pennsylvania which has a system to help boys with vulnerability. “Now for an hour and a half every other week, about 50 boys gather to share pizza and their feelings. They dissect their emotions on topics ranging from sex and porn to their relationships with parents, girls and each other.”
“When it’s just all-boys they don’t feel like they need to put on postures to be cool, they can just be themselves,” said Baeten, who also works on vulnerability with his students. “And oftentimes when you're with all boys it’s a little easier to do that [talk about masculinity] than in a co-ed setting where they’re trying to put on those layers of masculinity to make themselves higher in the social hierarchy.”
However many all-boys schools still don’t teach about gender respectfully. “Critics say, advice for boys still leans toward treating women as objects in need of protection rather than equals deserving of respect,” Reilly said in The Time article.
Single-sex schools are also having to make up their mind on policies for gender queer students. The video “Single-Gender Schools in a Multi-Gender World: Lessons Learned from Research and Experience with Transgender Students at Girls’ Schools” analyzes the best decisions for schools.
“Doing nothing also leaves your faculty on the front lines with no training or guidance about how to respond to students who come to them as trusted adults, and with no parameters about how to incorporate this topic in their teaching and other work.”
Instead, they suggest setting strong policies for the well-being of students. “If a trans or gender-questioning student at a single-sex school doesn’t know where the school stands on this topic they’re likely to stay silent rather than reach out to adults or even to friends for help.” Not having support in identity, especially at such a developmental phase can be harmful. The video looks at data from the U.S Center for Disease Control that states that 50% of trans people have made at least one suicide attempt by the age of 20. The video advises choosing what’s right for the school individually, suggesting that “Schools should educate the community on gender diversity, assess how these new formulations will go with the school's mission and culture, and decide what practices or policies to put in place.”
“My school is very accepting of people being non-binary, and transgender,” Kligman says of Julia Morgan. “So I think there’s less focus on being a girl and femininity. As my school navigates through the times and people reevaluate what gender is, I guess that’s a change my school is going through, so there's less of a focus on femininity and what it means to be a girl.”
Julia Morgan has a current policy in place. In order to apply, you have to currently identify as female, but you will be supported through any gender exploration. At The Peninsula School for Boys, they don’t police gender. If a student is qualified for the program and feels it would be a good fit for them, they will be accepted.
“This year it has definitely become a lot easier to change your name and your pronouns through the school, and I think my school definitely does a good job of supporting people who are non-binary and trasngender and people who are experimenting with their gender,” Kligman said. “I think they’re continuing to grow and it’s a very interesting time to go to a single-sex school.”
Single-sex schools have definitely changed over the years. With new goals and new ways to work with students, single-sex schools are about making sure students know and understand how to thrive in today’s society.
Instead, they suggest setting strong policies for the well-being of students. “If a trans or gender-questioning student at a single-sex school doesn’t know where the school stands on this topic they’re likely to stay silent rather than reach out to adults or even to friends for help.” Not having support in identity, especially at such a developmental phase can be harmful. The video looks at data from the U.S Center for Disease Control that states that 50% of trans people have made at least one suicide attempt by the age of 20. The video advises choosing what’s right for the school individually, suggesting that “Schools should educate the community on gender diversity, assess how these new formulations will go with the school's mission and culture, and decide what practices or policies to put in place.”
“My school is very accepting of people being non-binary, and transgender,” Kligman says of Julia Morgan. “So I think there’s less focus on being a girl and femininity. As my school navigates through the times and people reevaluate what gender is, I guess that’s a change my school is going through, so there's less of a focus on femininity and what it means to be a girl.”
Julia Morgan has a current policy in place. In order to apply, you have to currently identify as female, but you will be supported through any gender exploration. At The Peninsula School for Boys, they don’t police gender. If a student is qualified for the program and feels it would be a good fit for them, they will be accepted.
“This year it has definitely become a lot easier to change your name and your pronouns through the school, and I think my school definitely does a good job of supporting people who are non-binary and trasngender and people who are experimenting with their gender,” Kligman said. “I think they’re continuing to grow and it’s a very interesting time to go to a single-sex school.”
Single-sex schools have definitely changed over the years. With new goals and new ways to work with students, single-sex schools are about making sure students know and understand how to thrive in today’s society.
