March 31st, 2011
single-gendered education: a rant
I have approximately 239579437 things to update about/that I should write about, but instead you are about to get an UNEDUCATED, INFURIATED RANT (the best kind, right? JK). So. This morning while eating our oatmeal/on the way to work, we listened to Mid-Morning with Kerri Miller on MPR (= typical morning for our household). The topic? Single-gendered education. You can read and hear more here:
As I am wont to do, I was immediately infuriated by much of this. (Yes, I am one of those obnoxious people who gets riled up about radio shows.) Basically this guy’s idea is that girls and boys learn differently, not necessarily in a psychological/mental sense but in the sense that they change their behavior when in single-gender groups which makes their learning more effective etc etc etc. I don’t doubt that he has evidence supporting this and that is great. HOWEVER. I have many problems with this, which I shall list below (mostly to spare Jeff from having to listen to me rant on the way home tonight as well). WARNING LEXI RANTING ABOUT THINGS IN WHICH SHE IS NOT INFORMED/EDUCATED TO FOLLOW:
1. The idea of gender as a binary concept. I am intrigued that this is apparently so acceptable, especially by academic types. Gender seems to me to be nearly as binary as sexuality, which is to say not at all. Pretty sure it’s more of a gradient, and while most folks seem to favor one end of the gradient or the other, this doesn’t mean All Boys Are Alike or All Girls Are Alike. They are individuals and ideally should be taught as such, regardless. This means doing certain things for gals and certain things for boys, sure, but that depends on their OWN INDIVIDUALITY. Yo.
2. (This one bothers me the MOST.) There is absolutely an implicit message in single-gendered education that is pretty uncomfortable if you think about it for more than a few seconds (actually multiple implicit messages but let’s stick with one). The message is that boys and girls learn differently which leads to the idea that women and men can only succeed if in their own single-gendered setting. This is something that is likely to perpetuate throughout an individual’s life if he or she spends time in single-gendered education, I should think. Really you’re telling kids that in order to succeed they must find themselves in a particular setting, learning in a particular way, which shall not be present for their entire lives so…..WTF? Supposedly one learns throughout life, no?? Bringing me to…
3. Eventually we all have to work together, more or less, be it in the workplace, neighborhood/community, family, etc., whatever. So it’s completely unrealistic to expect that kind of symbiosis to develop naturally if you keep genders separate throughout early development. It just seems insane to me. And I can just see some girl working with a bunch of enginerds (someone like Jenny) feeling like she can’t learn as well as they can since she’s working in a 1:15 female:male ratio. I mean, really!
(NOTE I have NO IDEA what I’m talking about, this is just me ranting aimlessly! Obviously.)
I know no one reads this blog other than Michael J, Critie and Sven, but I had to get this out there, and Twitter is too short to do it justice (and I am trying to avoid debates like this on Facebook these days). So there you have it! Rant over! Please enjoy the rest of your day.