Teaching situations vary around the world. Some classes seem easier to teach and more receptive than others. Could the balance of the sexes of students in the class be something to do with this? In most cases teachers do not have any control over this make-up of students in the class, but we'd like to find out whether you think there is a difference.
For this vote we're particularly interested in your experience of teaching English at secondary level (12 - 17 year old pupils).
This topic is now closed, thank you for all your contributions.
Single sex classes seem to learn better
35% (65 votes)
Mixed sex classes seem to learn better
39% (74 votes)
There's no/not much difference
17% (32 votes)
Don't know / not sure
9% (17 votes)
Total votes: 188
Comments
admin
Girls are more motivated to learn than boys. Girls work at home more than boys. I prefer separated sex classes.
Isabel Lopes, Portugal
Should we also divide the world according to sex? Aren't there enough stupid divisions already?
Raquel, Spain
I myself was in a mixed sex class, of course it was a long time ago and we were about four girls and twenty boys. It was the most awful experience I have ever had. They made us feel inferior and silly. Fortunately the situation has changed and girls now deal better with boys in the classroom. I prefer separated sex classes.
John, Brazil
I like mixed groups. Here in Brazil I find the mixed groups are alot more fun and I get a lot of good feedback from both sexes.
Teresa Muñoz, Chile
I think that children should be in separated sex classes but when teenagers they should be in mixed-sex class.
Carlos Portanda, Bolivia
Why do we have to teach specific groups? Teaching both is the best, because everyone will know what he or she thinks about any subject.
Soetaerts M.-Th, Belgium
Girls are very often more motivated to study. Besides they work more at home and they are easier to reason with. Of course the social background influences how they respond to education in general. Twelve and thirteen years old girls are definitely more mature than the boys the same age. As all teachers know the attitude of parents is extremely important concerning all school activities.
Giusy, Italy
I prefer mixed gender classes because there is more varied contribution and different points os view; anyway what I think to be important is the sorts of students we have in front of us, their motivation towards what we are proposing to them and the ability on the part of the teacher to elicit questions, commments... from everybody, above all the shyest ones, pointing out that teachers try to correct the language, not the ideas.
Leslie Short, Thailand
I have found that most of my students in Int School consist of female and a few males (who do not want to learn) but the females make good and steady progress. The males try to make clever remarks and spend all their time trying to impress the females, quite funny at times. But rather boring most of the time. I try to continue with the lesson without making any comment and that gets their backs up.
George Steed, Poland
Behavior problems in mixed gender classes arise from simple sociological reasons. Males try to upstage the instructor (if male) to impress the females. Young males show off to impress the females. Male behavior is often an attempt to establish an identity. Female students often try to get by with ultra pleasant behavior. I prefer a single sex class make-up!