Growing Together or Learning Apart?

With responses ranging from "Segregation is unnatural and abnormal!” (Mr Tony Conabere, Principal, The Knox School) in the coed corner to "It is the quality of the school and its individual culture that are the critical factors!“ (Ms Rosa Storelli, Principal, Methodist Ladies' College) on the single sex side, the answer is a resounding YES. A "no comment" on the issue from the Department of Education further reinforces this fact.

In today's society where political correctness and the quest for equality are social requirements, one would expect to see what some regard as old fashioned views, including the notion that girls perform better in a single sex environment, declining to a great extent.

However, of the top performing schools in Victoria (as determined by data collected by the Department of Employment, Education and Training), 11 were girls only schools, five were boys only schools and four were coeducational schools. This suggests that single sex schools are still in great demand and continue to attract a large percentage of students who are high achievers.

With the growing consensus that as we live in a coeducational world where men and women live, work and relate to one another on a regular basis we should be educating our children in a similar coeducational environment, why therefore are single sex schools still held in such high esteem?

The fact that single sex schools account for 16 of the 20 top performing schools in Victoria may be attributed to evidence that single sex schools are more likely to be selective state or independent schools whose students are generally brighter and usually come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds than students from coeducational schools. Some would argue, however, that it is the merit of offering a single sex environment in itself that is the key factor.

So what are the advantages of a single sex environment for your child?

Many of Melbourne's single sex schools are steeped in tradition and commenced operation during a period when it was considered that adolescent males needed the firm discipline and strong academic environment that boys' schools provided whereas girls needed to be saved from moral corruption. (Reverend John Barlow, as an example, expressed this view in a letter to the Victorian Board of Education in the 1860s: "I find that parents have a strong objection to their daughters being taught in class with boys. I consider it to be injurious to both the manners and morals of the girls.")

Today however, the emphasis is more on catering for the differences in cognitive, physical and emotional development which exist between the two genders than on offering a highly academic education for one gender and a 'convent' like haven for the other.

Mr John Finn, Head of Tiverton (Years 4 - 10) at De La Salle College comments: "Single sex schools are able to focus on the specific needs of the gender. For example, dietary and body needs may be a specific topic for girls of Years 8 and 9 and self esteem and bullying may be a specific topic for boys of Years 7 and 8. The discussion points for our Peer Support Program can be directly geared towards young male adolescents. We are able to devote specific programs to mentoring between our younger and older students. An all male environment also allows us to live out our founders' philosophy of being brothers to one another".

Mr Rick Tudor, Headmaster of Trinity Grammar School, adds: "Significant differences can be identified in the learning styles of girls and boys at different stages of their development. As a boys' school, the aims and programs must be responsive to the particular needs of boys in education including the need for boys to acquire new skills such as specialised literacy, communication skills, cooperative learning and worship abilities, and to provide for boys a balanced view of masculinity, one which will equip boys with the interpersonal skills essential for success in new gender contexts".

With reports indicating that girls are scoring an average 4% higher marks than boys in the VCE, the specialised programs and gender oriented syllabus offered at single sex boys' schools may be highly beneficial for many male students.

While the single sex environment of boys' schools offers students a chance to grow and learn in a secure environment where perhaps several generations have learnt before them, a widely accepted view in the community is that a single sex educational environment offers far greater benefits for girls.

Dale Spender, a prominent Australian writer, researcher, editor, broadcaster and teacher, found that girls, especially in the junior secondary years, are reluctant to express their views in front of boys and that boys typically attract more of the teacher's attention than girls in a coeducational classroom.

In fact, recent studies conducted by the National Coalition of Girls' Schools in the USA, indicate that the ratio of teacher communication with boys to girls in the coeducational classroom is 2:1. This has the effect of strengthening boys' sense of importance and willingness to put forward opinions, while girls learn to be quiet and passive.

Research suggests that girls prefer a collaborative rather than competitive learning style and they are more likely to succeed in an educational environment where relationships of respect rather than power and authority prevail.

A perception also exists that girls may not have access to such a wide variety of specialised subjects in a coeducational school with some suggestion that girls are less likely to choose maths and science subjects in a coeducational setting for fear of not performing as well as the boys in these areas.

At a single sex girls' school, students can choose from a wide variety of subjects without prejudices existing about apparent gender biased subjects. Ms Noelene Horton, Principal of Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School remarks: "Lowther Hall is a girls' school. Thus girls come first. Girls are the leaders, they have full access to all subjects offered and they participate in all the sports, performing arts, debating, outdoor education and other activities which form the whole program. Teachers, male and female, are role models to the students but the girls benefit from seeing the largely female management of the school".

Perhaps the greatest advantage of the single sex environment for girls is in relation to their self esteem and confidence. In an all female environment, girls can come to terms with their physical, emotional and intellectual development without many of the stereotypes often imposed by their male peers.

Anita Taylor, a former student who experienced both single sex (Prep to Year 10) and coeducational environments (Year 11 and 12) comments: "At a coed school, you often felt you had to work harder than the boys to earn their respect. Although I enjoyed my time in the coed situation, there was pressure to compete, particularly on the sporting field as well as in the classroom. Many of my peers definitely felt more comfortable in the single sex environment".

Girls, and boys, find it easier to learn and concentrate on their studies when they are in an environment in which they feel comfortable and happy about being themselves. For some, this may be achieved more effectively in a single sex rather than coeducational setting.

However, the view that girls need to be sheltered by learning in a single sex environment and will not perform as well in a coeducational setting is now seen by many as outdated and has recently been questioned by results of a ten year study by Ian Smith, associate professor at Sydney University, into the impact of coeducation at two Sydney high schools. The results indicated that there are definite social advantages, and no academic disadvantages, for boys and girls in attending coeducational schools.

In another survey of over 500 first year Australian university students (Harris 1986), it was found that most students, particularly those who had attended coeducational schools, believed that coeducational schools are preferable and lead to a more natural attitude towards the opposite sex.

Although acknowledging that choosing an appropriate school depends on the child, Mr Stephen Newton, Principal of Caulfield Grammar School remarks: "If the school chosen is a coeducational school, it provides the added bonus of assisting in a child's preparation for membership of a coeducational world, where men and women share in responsibilities together and where what matters is the development of a respect of opinion, a willingness to work and to cooperate together and an appreciation of what each individual brings to a particular circumstance and situation".

Single sex schools are seen by many as not only imposing of an unnatural environment on impressionable students but also as antiquated and no longer necessary in today's society in which the battle for equality rages on.

Mr Tony Conabere, Principal of The Knox School comments: "Single sex schools are relics of our history. The nineteenth century differentiated specific roles for men and women. The male was the provider, the woman the homemaker. So, the educational needs of each gender were quite separate. Boys were educated for the professions, the army and the trades. Girls were sent to 'finishing school' or trained as domestics. Our century has relegated such gender stereotyping to history's refuse bin. The education system that perpetuated the stereotyping should also be similarly treated."

And perhaps to a certain extent it is. A number of single sex schools which have closed the door on the opposite sex for over a hundred years are now beginning to turn the key with schools such as Haileybury College and Toorak College now offering coeducation for specific year levels. Yarra Valley Anglican School offered coeducation at Years 11 and 12 for some years and is now fully coeducational and other long standing single sex establishments including Kingswood College, Carey Baptist Grammar and Wesley College are now coeducational at all year levels.

Yet even though the trend appears to be towards coeducation, single sex girls' and boys' schools continue to account for the majority of the top schools in Victoria.

While the debate over single sex versus coeducation will no doubt continue to rage as we enter the next millennium, perhaps we need to reconsider whether gender is the critical issue here. Is it not more so the quality of the school, as Ms Rosa Storelli, Principal of Methodist Ladies' College, suggests, that is the critical factor in a student's success? And are there not roles in our society for girls' schools, boys' schools and coeducational schools? While studies continue to be conducted in an endeavour to answer these questions, perhaps it is the parents who should be the people to decide what is right for their children as individuals!