Coeducational schools (or
schools that educate girls and boys in the same classrooms) have been around
for a long time and separating schooling by gender is now seen as a quite
outdated concept. However, boys’ schools and girls’ schools still exist, and the
debate around whether they are better or worse for children’s development still
wages on.
We’ve compiled a list of
benefits as to why coeducational institutions are best for kids, and why
gender-separation at school has little reward for pupils.
Giving All Children A Good Start
Finding the best school for
children is something that all parents take very seriously – if you live in
Australia, for instance, parents will search far and wide to find the best primary school in Perth to send their child
to school for the first time feeling happy and secure. The same goes for any
country; though some have higher rates of separated-gender schools than others.
Generally, in Australia, the
US and the UK, coeducational schools are the norm, and both girls and boys have
equal access to education. In some areas of the world, girls still find it hard
to get an education at all – lots of educational institutions don’t accept
girls to enroll. Separating schools can have a disadvantaging effect on girls’
education; which we should work to surpass in 2018.
Socialization
A child’s socialization
process is possibly the most important part of their overall development.
Children need to have contact with people of all genders, races and ages to
become well-rounded, learn how to interact with everyone and develop social
skills.
Prohibiting them from going
to school with the opposite gender impedes a child’s socialization. Girls don’t
learn how to play, share, and communicate with boys, and vice-versa. Even if
they have brothers or sisters, it’s very different to learning to interact with
an entirely new person not confined to the family unit.
Furthermore, separate
education enforces the belief that there are big differences between boys and
girls, and they fundamentally cannot work together or learn in the same way.
This of course is not the case. If girls and boys are to grow up believing they
are equal, they must be treated equally in all aspects of life.
Children Learn Better
Online testimonials from men
and women who grew up in separate schools show that they wish they had been
allowed to learn with the opposite gender, as it eases social awkwardness and
ensures they know how to communicate.
Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of
British school regulatory body Ofsted, said that mixed education is better for
both girls and boys. He noted that girls and boys are expected mix in the
workplace (and all other areas of life), so why should they not in school? He
previously acted as the head teacher of a mixed school and an all-boys’ school
and reported that he enjoyed the former much more.
New Ideas
Regardless of whether you’re
a boy or a girl, you will have different ideas, skills and knowledge than the
next person, and being able to share these things with others is one of the
best parts of school. Children learn so much from the different kinds of people
around them and removing an entire gender from this mix means that children
miss out a lot on learning from a large percentage of the population.
More Friends
Ultimately, the best benefit
of a coeducational school is that children will have more friends, not limited
to their own gender. Friendship isn’t confined to girls with girls or boys with
boys! In fact, it’s very important to personal development and relationships
down the line that girls and boys learn to treat each other as friends and with
respect.
This all starts in childhood
– and missing out on this opportunity makes developing these important skills
further down the line much harder. Kids learn at a much faster speed than
adults – let them learn all the life skills they can from the youngest age.
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