The scene is one thats played out in many primary schools across the country. Thomas is a bright boy but hes struggling to concentrate. Hes wriggling about in his chair, tapping the table and cant sit still for a moment.

His classmate, Jenny, is also having problems in the literacy lesson. Shes finding it hard to listen to the teacher because shes distracted by Thomas, so neither child is learning properly.

The solution? To separate boys and girls and educate them in single-sex classrooms, according to Dr Leonard Sax, a research psychologist and author of the new book Boys Adrift.

He believes that boys and girls brains are hardwired to learn in different ways, and that boys, in particular, benefit from being taught apart from the age of five.

His argument is a contentious one. For the past decade, theres been growing concern about boys who are routinely outperformed by girls at every level.

Experts believe a culture where its seen as cool to be non- academic and a feminised curriculum with an emphasis on coursework rather than sudden-death exams have fuelled the problem.

Dr Sax, who is founder of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education in the U.S., claims that boys are suffering a toxic mix of failing to be engaged by the curriculum, over-prescription of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs and a lack of suitable role models. They no longer experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat due to a lack of competitive sport in schools. And they often return home to play computer games that make them disconnected from the real world as they displace family activities such as having dinner together.

All these factors are leading to a growing epidemic of underachieving young men, who were switched off education at a young age.

Long after girls have gone to university, they are still at home, suffering from failure to launch into adult life. Dr Sax believes that boys are introduced to formal education too soon and many are unable to cope with requirements such as having to sit quietly for long periods.

In this country, five-year-olds are expected to do what you might have expected six and seven-year-olds to do 30 years ago, he says. But boys and girls brains develop along profoundly different timetables. It might be appropriate to ask five-year-old girls to sit still and be quiet in class, but for many five-year- old boys its not developmen-tally appropriate. The message they get at five is that doing well in school is something that girls do.

Young boys also become afraid of being seen as swots an attitude that can continue throughout their education. However, in single- sex classes boys are more likely to see getting good grades as cool.

Girls are also able to flourish, as they can pursue subjects such as maths and science which are traditionally seen as male subjects.

Experts in Britain are divided on the subject of single sex education. A recent four-year government funded study by academics at Cambridge University concluded that in some subjects, single-sex classes could overcome the laddishness that holds boys back.

But a study by Durham University and Queens University, Belfast, suggested that boys did better in mixed lessons because of the civilising effects of their female peers.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, has argued that scientific evidence is too weak to settle the age-old argument over single sex versus co-education.

He reviewed studies from Australia, North America, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK and claimed they show that gender is not important.

But Dr Sax claims that state primary and secondary schools in the UK should offer the choice of single-sex classes (more often found in the independent sector). (…)

Source: RedOrbit, TX
http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/1234855/are_boys_losing_out/