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The Education of Girls in the United States and France - Coggle Diagram
The Education of Girls in the United States and France
Debates
France
United Sates
coeducational
Non-coeducational
media
trends (clothing, appearance, games,...)
Is coeducation necessarily progress?
United States
to apply "innovative assistance programs" to improve student performane
creation of single-sex school
Debats
such as Hillary Clinton’s support in 2002 for the Young Women’s Leadership School
Whereas single-sex education was prohibited in publicly funded schools before 2006
Today the number of single-sex schools and classes has skyrocketed
2006 "Single-Sex Regulation"
but remaining faithful to the 1972 Law on Gender Equality in Education
arguments to defend "coeducation"
:check: prepare for real life
:check: it motivates girl to learn better
:check: it "civilizes" boys
:red_cross: against coeducation
A uniquely American feature. = biological explanations
Leonard Sax : founder of the National Association for single-sex public education defends this argument : "the differences between male and femle brains"
:red_cross: conservatives and religious authorities
denounced the risks to create by this "promoscuity" between the sexes and the confusion it might cause in terms of men's and woman's sociale roles
However, most arguments are based on reserach demonstrating the educational benefits of single-se schooling
better classroom atmostphere
decreased presence of gendre sterotypes
fewer "distractions"
For girls, the research results are even clearer and defenders of single-sex schooling rely on them widely
better performance in subjects usually considered masculine
more self-confidence
less submission to gender sterotypes
less conformist attitudes
More importantly, separating the genders in this way reinforces the notion that fundamental differences between boys and girls do exist
Feminists
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Opposed to single-sex schooling
Fear
: organisation of separate classes for boys and girls will be based on strereotypes about their respective abilities and interest
"Gender box"
It also contests the notion that separating the sexes creates a more secure and comfortable environment for girls
other feminists (Salomone 2004) believe, on the contrary, that the best way to shape adults capable of standing up to such harassment is to place them in environments that are more “supportive” for girls. Some also argue that girls benefit from learning in a less sexualized environment, as they are then less obsessed with their appearance and less subject to eating disorders in particular.
France
French discussions are far less lively, for various reasons
first, because we have almost no real data to draw on concerning the impact of coeducation or single-sex schooling on students, as there are very few single-sex settings in France and research on these issues originates primarily in English-speaking countries, which makes it easier to refute.
Second, because we view coeducation as a question of principle. In France, schools are expected to adhere to the principle of republican equality with, until recently, a vision of equality that prohibited taking into account differences between students, whether they were differences of social origin or of gender.
law of May 27, 2008
which provides for the possibility of organizing academic programs “by grouping students according to gender”
the aim was to make it impossible to contest any existing cases of single-sex schooling, the reactions to the law were very strong and to some degree sparked France’s first explicit debate about coeducation.
“learn to live together,”
in France the issue of coeducation is most often handled without paying any real attention to the actual impact coeducation has on students
In France, teachers promote co-education. In physical education, for example, they state that it would be just as bad to limit girls to dancing as to exclude boys. This is why unisex programmes should be made unisex.
It would be paradoxical to place students in a situation that frees them from gender stereotypes when achieving this requires separating them according to their apparent gender.
Perhaps it would be useful to focus more strongly on the fact that stereotypes are just as damaging to boys as to girls
Pierrette Bouchard and Jean-Claude Saint Amand (1999) have demonstrated that the students who perform better in school are boys who are not too “masculine” and girls who are not too “feminine.”
Young Girls Who are More Seductive, More “Sexualized,” More “Liberated?”