Subtracting distraction from the equation
Proponents of single-sex schools say girls grow up more confident, boys become more nurturing, EGLE PROCUTA writes
By EGLE PROCUTA
Tuesday, October 18, 2005 Page P2

Perdita Rambihar was most impressed when her youngest daughter, a petite girl, choose to play soccer on a community team with teenaged boys who towered over her. "She wasn't intimated. She didn't back down," Ms. Rambihar recalls.
She has three girls. The high-achievers, now aged 24, 22 and 19, are all pursuing university degrees in scientific fields. They've been active in a wide variety of sports and have done volunteer work in the Third World.
Ms. Rambihar attributes their strong sense of self-confidence and leadership, in large part, to the fact that her daughters were educated at a girls' school -- Toronto's Havergal College. "I wanted a place where they could compete and participate in all activities -- sports, math, science -- without distraction or embarrassment."
A hundred years ago, when some of Canada's first private schools were founded, it was a given that boys and girls should be educated separately.
"That's just the way it was done. They just thought it best if boys and girls were kept apart and they didn't think beyond that," says Havergal principal Susan Ditchburn as she traces the school's roots. "It was started in 1894, ironically, by a group of men."
Since then, the thinking about single-sex education has evolved greatly, with a growing body of empirical and anecdotal evidence showing that many girls and boys thrive, albeit for different reasons, in these settings.
In a co-ed classroom, "girls' voices tend to be silenced," Ms. Ditchburn says, citing research about the significant dip in confidence that girls experience between the ages of 12 and 14. "This dip is much reduced in a single-sex setting."
Part of the reason is that these schools use teaching methods specifically geared to girls. Work is based on co-operative learning in groups, rather than the traditional notions of competitiveness -- one individual pitted against the next. In math classes at Havergal, the girls keep journals in which they write narratives about how they found solutions to the problems.
"This helps clarify their thinking," Ms. Ditchburn says. "Those who have gone through an all-girls system notice that in university they have much more confidence than other women."
Nevertheless, she admits, there are a few girls who leave Havergal every year because they miss the interaction with boys.
The advantages of all-girls education is quite a talking point these days. A lot of research is being done on the topic. And, earlier this fall, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton joined forces to appear together in newspaper ads supporting women's colleges in the United States.
Proponents of all-boys schools tend to focus more on emotional benefits rather than specialized teaching styles.
"At an all-boys school, they are allowed to make huge blunders," says Geoff Roberts, headmaster of Crescent School in Toronto.
The boys themselves run all of the extra-curricular activities, including ones that in co-ed schools would be out of their domain. When organizing a dance, for instance, the boys are in charge of everything: food, decoration, invitations. At assemblies, there's no pressure to be cool at all costs, so the boys are freed up to experiment creatively with musical and theatrical endeavours.
"The embarrassment level is not nearly as high," Mr. Roberts says. "At a co-ed school, the last thing you want to do is to look like a buffoon in front of the girl you like. That stops boys from taking risks. At an all-boys school, the social stigma is greatly lessened."
The result, he has found, is a heightened level of emotional awareness, something which is often lagging in co-ed schools, where a common complaint is about how teenage boys mature so much more slowly than girls.
At Crescent School, for instance, 16- and 17-year-olds are proud of their responsibilities to help out with boys in the lower grades.
"There's an enormous amount of leadership," Mr. Roberts says. "They are able to show their caring [for younger children] in a safe environment. And what they're doing is learning how to be good fathers."
But when some parents think of all-boys and all-girls schools, they worry about stigmatizing their children by not providing as much opportunity as possible to socialize and be comfortable with the opposite sex.
"That's a red herring," Mr. Roberts insists. Classes only account for eight hours of a day and there are plenty of socialization opportunities outside school.
In Toronto, there's a coalition of single-sex schools whose mandate is to provide shared activities, whether it be dances or student-leadership councils.
"You can't change the reality of raging hormones," Mr. Roberts says. "But you can filter out the social noise and the peer pressure that often interferes with boys becoming introspective and respectful men."
Ms. Ditchburn agrees: "There are already so many distractions in puberty and adolescence, and schools [such as Havergal] provide a little bit of a haven from that."
To hear these two educators speak so passionately and convincingly about their respective school environments, it's a wonder that more parents aren't abandoning the co-ed tradition.
But the fact of the matter is that most schools nowadays are co-ed and have their fair share of backers.
"It completes the educational experience," says Andrea Pennells, headmistress of Brentwood College School in Mill Bays, B.C. "Boys and girls think differently and they learn from one another in academics, arts, sports, and so on."
At Rosseau Lake College in the heart of the Ontario wilderness, strong emphasis is placed on outdoor education. It might seem a setting that would appeal more to boys, but headmaster Joe Seagram says that almost 45 per cent of the student body is made up of girls now.
"Spending time outdoors is not gender specific," he insists. "Outdoors everyone is equal, you need everybody's strength."
The one thing that these educators will agree on is that picking the right private school -- whether it's co-ed or single-sex -- is all about finding the right fit for your child.
For parents weighing their options, Mr. Roberts offers this advice: "Don't have any presumptions. It is important to walk the halls, to see what the students look like and sound like. A school will be good for an individual depending on that individual."