Single-sex teaching

Single-sex classes are to be encouraged in mixed schools to prevent boys and girls distracting each other.

Boys and girls both benefit from being taught separately in subjects such as languages and maths, said David Miliband, the school standards minister.

 

Government Response: Department for Education and Skills

David Miliband, schools standards minister, said: "I believe there is a bright future for our single-sex schools, but I also believe that the debate about whether single-sex or co-education is better is ultimately sterile."

Party Response: Conservative

Tim Collins, shadow education secretary, said: "Yet another plank in Labour's 'one size fits all' approach to education appears to have broken away.

"A Conservative government would leave it to the good sense of head teachers and their professional colleagues to determine whether boys and girls should be taught in single-sex or mixed classes for all or some subjects in their curriculum."

Stakeholder Response: Secondary Heads Association

Dr John Dunford, SHA general secretary, said: "An increasing number of mixed schools teach some subjects and some age groups in single sex classes.

"SHA welcomes the opportunity to work with the government in surveying practice of single sex teaching in mixed secondary schools, as well as considering wider issues of the different learning needs of boys and girls.

"The issue of mixed versus single sex teaching is less often debated than it used to be. What is important is that practice should be based on evidence and the SHA survey will help to bring this out into the open."

Stakeholder Response: Institute of Education

Jon Pickering, lecturer in school effectiveness and school improvement at the Institute of Education, said: "If the sole object of single-sex classes is to improve examination performance, then schools (and society at large) must ask themselves if the trade-off is worth it – namely delaying the experience of young people dealing with mixed-gender working and learning experiences.

"The analogy of secondary age boys as 'performing peacocks' is flawed for two reasons.

"First, it assumes that males only strut like peacocks between the ages of 11 and 16, a view that would be challenged by a visit to most entertainment venues frequented by adult men and women.

"Second, and more importantly, in the school context, it assumes that boys and men have to go through a 'peacock performing stage' as an inevitable state of affairs and therefore it’s best to separate them from girls.

"Surely schools should be engaging with all pupils from an early age on matters of personal development and gender identity as well as striving for better test results. Or are we happy to settle for better performing peacocks?"