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Impact of Single-Sex Classes on Students' Perceptions of English

This study explores the impact of a unique intervention - dividing year 11 classes into single-sex groups - on students' perceptions of English as a subject. The study investigates the benefits and disadvantages of single-sex classrooms and whether male and female students should be taught differently. Questionnaires and interviews were conducted with teachers and students to gather data.

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Impact of Single-Sex Classes on Students' Perceptions of English

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  1. How do Teachers and Students View the Impact ofSingle-Sex Classes in English?Sarah Marcus

  2. Rationale • Unique intervention put in place in November for two top-set year 11 classes. • ‘Generally speaking there was a very quiet group of girls and a loud group of boys’ • Great improvements made in their grades since the intervention happened.

  3. Literature Review: • How do male and female students view English? • What are the benefits and disadvantages of single sex classrooms in a mixed school? • Should male and female students be taught differently?

  4. Literature Review: • How do male and female students view English? • Historical ‘gendered subjects’. • Male students more influenced by cultural pressures at A-Level. • More female students choosing English at A-Level.

  5. Literature Review: 2. What are the benefits and disadvantages of single sex classrooms in a mixed school? • Frequently used to try and ensure equality. • Focus shifted from involving female students in ‘male’ subjects to raising male attainment. • Challenging to measure attainment benefits as most research uses qualitative data. • Female students can suffer in a higher male student environment. • Apparent less anxiety in a single-sex classroom. • Address or enforce stereotypes. • Absence of female students could affect progress. • Behaviour issues. • Positive feedback could be due to the novelty.

  6. Literature Review: 3. Should male and female students be taught differently? • Biological differences. • Potentially different learning styles. • Unconscious or conscious teaching styles. • Adjusting the topic. • Social influences rather than biological ones. • Dominance in the classroom.

  7. Methodology: Research Questions: 1. How has the intervention impacted the classroom environments? 2. How has this intervention impacted the way that both genders perceive English as a subject? 3. How has this intervention impacted the way that the students are taught? • Questionnaires and interviews. • Class teachers, head(s) of department and students.

  8. 1) Why do you think the department made the decision to divide the classes into boys and girls? 2) Do you think it has been effective for everyone? 3) Do you notice a difference in how you are taught compared to a mixed class? 4) Do you notice a difference in how the classroom environment feels? 5) Has it changed the way you view English as a subject? 6) Do you have any other comments regarding the intervention? • Girls…speak out less…boys are more boisterous...[male students] all have the same interests (A) • Girls don’t…answer questions if there are boys in the room…they feel pressure and will get judged…boys there is more competition. (B) • Girls have more confidence in a group. The boys are really loud. (C) • Confidence issues…I think [female students] felt reluctant to say anything…afraid of judgement. With the boys…there is a brute mentality. (D) • Confidence boost – I think the boys in our year are over-confident…they’re around people that are similar to them. (E) • The girls feel quite anxious to say something around the boys…they wouldn’t want us to treat them like we treat each other. (F) • Grades have gone up a lot and that might be a cause of it. (A) • I think it has been effective…there has been a lot of improvement across the year group…[it is] effective having the opposite sex teacher…with the boys you get an aggressive view…with a female view we get a more relaxed view. (B) • I guess. It doesn’t affect me personally. (C) • Personally for me it has…I feel more competitive…I know the people in my class are smart. (D) • I don’t think for everyone…the shy boys in our year…the majority are over-confident and the small majority…don’t like to speak out. They feel excluded rather than included. (E) • Yeah…in our class they feel more relaxed…more comfortable expressing their opinions…we can be quite competitive with each other. (F) • The teacher is more relatable…[mixed class teachers] are appealing to all the needs and interests. (A) • Teachers think there will be a lot more behaviour issues…means the class is quiet (B). • It’s more focused on what the boys need….[girls] learn differently…boys need to be more creative and girls need to be more literature-focused (C). • I’m formally spoken to…in mixed classes…the teacher has to cater for everyone…[in single-sex classes] the teacher can focus on the thing that the gender stereotypically likes (D). • Authoritative probably because of the behaviour (E). • I would say there is kind of…particularly with the female teachers…they can talk about sensitive topics…all boys classes can talk about these more easily. (F) • There is a lot less talk…no one seems to be embarrassed….there is more maturity in the class…people show off a lot less. (A) • There is a lot more competition because it is just a single sex. (B) • Most of the boys are a bit more quiet…they don’t have anyone to annoy in here. They all know each other’s tricks. (C) • I feel more comfortable…because I’m quite close with everyone. I feel I can say my ideas without any judgement. (D) • Over-confident boys are always judgemental over the less confident…you’re thinking ‘if it’s wrong I’ll get mocked’. (E) • The class before was predominantly boys…more of a slight difference…more people contribute and there is more discussion. (F). • Definitely…you don’t really view it as feminine…there is no embarrassment, it’s a lot more enjoyable. (A) • Yeah…[in mixed-sex classes] there is more of an effort to try and please both genders…in a single-sex there are more examples based on their gender…it’s not just women who are dominant. (B) • Not really. Liked it at the start, still like it now. (C) • Yes actually it has, I…used to dislike English…but the competitive atmosphere made me engage. (D) • No not really…I’ve always been not as confident in English because of the content. (E) • Yeah…it used to feel like the girls were better at it so I used to think it was a feminine subject…I thought people would judge you for wanting to like it but now it’s all boys it’s fine to enjoy it. (F) • It’s just better. (A) • I think…it should be mixed…allow different ideas from the opposite sex…boys will find the motif of fire and girls will find love. (E) • I prefer it a lot more. (F)

  9. Other wider findings: • Female students – more free to share their ideas. • Male students – better behaviour and mixed feelings about the competitive atmosphere. • No great adaptation made by the teachers involved. Students disagreed. • No real change to subject choice at A-Level.

  10. Conclusions: • Individual class dynamics. • No assumptions. • Awareness of staff as well as students.

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