Linda Purrington <lpurring@earthlink.net>
____________________________________________________
Roger Crabtree wrote:
>
> I teach middle-school physical education to classes made up of males and
> females. As we prepare to schedule students for next year's classes, I
> am again struggling with the gender make-up of my classes. It is very
> difficult to allow for equal success and participation when a class is
> overwhelmingly made up of stong-willed and strong bodied males. An
> earlier comment, "to call in the National Guard" if necessary to make
> educational gender equity work made me smile as it is near the truth.
> I am in the trenches here and requesting back-up...please suggest
> books, summer conferences, inspiring kicks in the pants, or any other
> ammo. Please spare me long philosophical or legal debates - give me the
> short and dirty version of gender equity in PE as that is all I have
> time to digest.
> "Roger Crabtree" <crabtree@barrow.com>
> _________________________________________________
>
> Tim Flinders wrote:
> >
> > Linda: I think the single sex academy experiment should be allowed
to
> > continue without court challenges so that we can study them and find out
> > just what effect they do have. If they turn out to benefit both genders,
> > than I think the single-sex option should be allowed within the public
> > school setting in ways that do not violate Title IX.
> >
> > I am not so sure that I share the AAUW's concerns (and I am an AAUW
> > member) that single sex education would result in the disproportionate
> > allocation of resources towards the all-male schools that was true in the
> > pre-Title IX era. These schools would be under a level scrutiny (from both
> > the public and the state) that simply didn't exist in those days.
> >
> > I'd also like the debate on single-gender schools to shift from the
> > all-or-nothing concerns that characterize the current discussion, to
> > looking at ways within our current mixed-gender system for creating
> > opportunities (daily, weekly, occaisionally at least) when boys and girls
> > can be in single-sex settings. Having taught gifted elementary students for
> > twenty years, and once or twice (by serendipity) under single gender
> > circumstances, I believe strongly that there are defininte advantages for
> > both boys and girls to be with their own gender, at least part of the time.
> > I wish there were easier ways to accomodate this, short of total
> > educational reform.
> >
> > As an educator, I continue to work within the traditional
educational
> > setting for equity reforms. But were I the parent of a daughter, and had
> > the wherewithal, I'm not sure I'd send her to a public mixed gender school.
> > For whatever reasons (I haven't looked carefully yet at the recent AAUW
> > report), women from all-girls schools achieve higher and find their way
> > more readily into positions of influence and authority, than their
> > mixed-gender counterparts. Were I a parent of a daughter, at this point in
> > time anyway, I'd be looking (regrettably) for a good all-girls school.
> >
> > Tim Flinders <flinders@wco.com>