Single-sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school in England: an evaluation based upon students' performance and classroom interactions

This digest found in

Gender

Authors

Younger, M. and Warrington, M., University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education

Publisher

British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 28, No.3, 2002, pp.353-373

Introduction

What are the benefits of single-sex teaching?

In recent years, anxiety about perceived 'underachievement' by boys has put the concept of segregation by sex back on the teaching agenda. But does it actually benefit the students? There are so few mixed schools providing single-sex groupings for lessons that there has been little evidence to support assertions made on either side of the debate.

In this longitudinal study, the authors examined the learning and achievements of students at a mixed comprehensive with an ethos of single-sex teaching that extends over the last 30 years. They plotted all students' GCSE results over the last 12 years and compared them with national trends over the same period. In addition, through a series of lesson observations, they examined the attitudes of single-sex groupings to the classroom and learning environment and how these differed in mixed sex groupings.

Although the gender gap remained, the GCSE results in this school suggest that both girls and boys achieved very much better than boys and girls did nationally. Indeed, the boys achieved proportionately better than the girls did compared with the national trends for achievements by gender. In the classroom the girls were found to be extremely dominant in mixed sex groupings, setting the pace, potentially at the expense of some boys' learning. The authors observe that the confidence displayed by the girls is a: strength of the strategy, rather than a weakness; the need to focus on girls' achievements and aspirations is as important as the need to find strategies to improve levels of boys' commitment and achievement.

The authors also warn the reader of the dangers of extrapolating too much from the evidence of one single aspect of one school and its teaching, and highlight the potential pitfalls of making single-sex groupings a knee-jerk reaction when addressing the issue of boys' potential underachievement.

Keywords:
United Kingdom; England; mixed sex; secondary schools; achievement; gender; single sex classes; sex differences; coeducation; pupils; Year 9; Year 10; GCSE; boys;

Your path: Home > Welcome to The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS) > Themes > Gender > Single-sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school in England: an evaluation based upon stMonNov41350102002
Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction Does it matter whether children are grouped by sex for schooling? The aims of the study The study design What did the GCSE performance profiles show? What did the observations of classroom interaction show? What did the attitude to single-sex teaching within the school show? Conclusions drawn from the research Implications Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Single-sex teaching in a co-educational comprehensive school in England: an evaluation based upon students' performance and classroom interactions This digest found in Gender Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors Younger, M. and Warrington, M., University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education Publisher British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 28, No.3, 2002, pp.353-373 Introduction What are the benefits of single-sex teaching? In recent years, anxiety about perceived 'underachievement' by boys has put the concept of segregation by sex back on the teaching agenda. But does it actually benefit the students? There are so few mixed schools providing single-sex groupings for lessons that there has been little evidence to support assertions made on either side of the debate. In this longitudinal study, the authors examined the learning and achievements of students at a mixed comprehensive with an ethos of single-sex teaching that extends over the last 30 years. They plotted all students' GCSE results over the last 12 years and compared them with national trends over the same period. In addition, through a series of lesson observations, they examined the attitudes of single-sex groupings to the classroom and learning environment and how these differed in mixed sex groupings. Although the gender gap remained, the GCSE results in this school suggest that both girls and boys achieved very much better than boys and girls did nationally. Indeed, the boys achieved proportionately better than the girls did compared with the national trends for achievements by gender. In the classroom the girls were found to be extremely dominant in mixed sex groupings, setting the pace, potentially at the expense of some boys' learning. The authors observe that the confidence displayed by the girls is a: strength of the strategy, rather than a weakness; the need to focus on girls' achievements and aspirations is as important as the need to find strategies to improve levels of boys' commitment and achievement. The authors also warn the reader of the dangers of extrapolating too much from the evidence of one single aspect of one school and its teaching, and highlight the potential pitfalls of making single-sex groupings a knee-jerk reaction when addressing the issue of boys' potential underachievement. Keywords: United Kingdom; England; mixed sex; secondary schools; achievement; gender; single sex classes; sex differences; coeducation; pupils; Year 9; Year 10; GCSE; boys;