Posted by Single sex and co-education have long been the topic of debate and there are certainly merits for each. As private schooling comes with a huge investment, parents want a learning environment for their children that aids their development in all shapes and forms. To help you make the right decision, we have teamed up with a private girls school in Hertfordshire to explore the benefits of single sex and co-educational schools.
Freedom of Identity
In the studies that examined the effects of the two, it was found that girls were more likely to express their interest in STEM (traditionally male dominated subjects) when there weren’t any present. In the co-educational schools, however, girls felt more pressured to take up traditionally female subjects like Social Studies and English. The same results were presented for boys that felt as if they had the freedom to express their true ambitions without the presence of girls.
Social Skills
Co-educational schools in contrast teach children how to interact and work with the opposite gender which is an important social skill for life and the workplace. To provide the best of both worlds, single-sex schools make use of collaborative opportunities with other single sex schools to give boys the opportunity to work with girls and vice versa.
Healthy Competition
Evidence also suggests that boys work better in the presence of girls as they are motivated to work harder which creates healthy competition between the sexes. There is also a lot that they can learn from girls as they are more emotionally expressive.
Both Learn Differently
Boys and girls also have differences in their learning styles as girls are more collaborative and enjoy working with others. This means that in single sex schools teachers can better accommodate to their students learning styles, allowing them to get more out of their lessons.