Boarding Schools for Girls

All-boys' schools do not foster an overly masculine environment. Instead, boys in single-sex schools are freer to express their emotions and engage in subjects such as art dance and music, according to new research presented at the International Boys' Schools Coalition in London.

• Abigail Adams of the University of Virginia found that boys often lose confidence in their academic abilities after competing with girls in the early grades.
  
• Girls that age have an advantage in verbal skills and reading ability.
  
• Boys can often benefit from "boy friendly" ways of teaching.
  
• For example, since boys have better spatial skills, better vision, and are usually more impulsive and physically active, they may benefit from hands-on lessons, where they are allowed to move around.

"In the present sexualized atmosphere prevalent in mixed schools, boys feel coerced into acting like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means," according to the report.

Tony Little, headmaster of Eton School, said that teachers do not always recognize that boys can be more emotional than girls.

Labels: single-sex education, boys

Posted By: Aspen/CRC