All-boys schools: coed versus single-sex

Common arguments for single sex

Common arguments for coed

Pedagogical arguments

• School can better tailor lessons and curriculum to students.
• It’s hard to be all things to all people. Boys and girls learn differently and single-sex schools are able to accommodate these differences without compromise. Many of the supposed differences in ability between boys and girls result from subjects not being taught to their respective learning style. 
• In the areas boys and girls often do well in—whether it's in an intellectual, physical, or behavioural domain—they aren’t held back by the other gender. In areas they might struggle in, they aren’t overshadowed by the other gender or boxed into narrow gender stereotypes. 

• The differences between boys’ and girls’ learning styles are overstated.
• Research shows that for up to 80% of students—both boys and girls—their brains are similar enough that they respond to the same teaching style. 
• Academics are enriched when boys and girls are exposed to each other’s thinking and experiences in the classroom. 
• Having boys and girls in the classroom creates balance, which benefits both. Where boys excel, they raise the standard for girls, and vice versa. Diversity allows students to stretch and challenge each other. 

Developmental arguments

• Students are less fettered in developing their unique selves.
• In adolescence, kids can be more themselves without sexual competition. 
• Kids can try different things
  and explore unique interests and skills without the influence of social expectations stemming from gender roles. 
• Without the distraction of mating rituals, students tend to be more focused on academics and extracurriculars—areas that pay higher dividends later in life. Kids don’t have to put being cool before learning. 
• Cohorts tend to form more naturally without adolescent concerns about cliques and social status. The camaraderie that develops can be special. 
• Going to a single-sex school doesn’t preclude students from interacting with the opposite sex, whether through extracurriculars or outside of school. By the time kids go out into the world of relationships, they are strong and fully formed individuals. 

• Students have more opportunity to develop their social selves.
• As Aristotle said, humans are social animals. Today that means living in a coed world. Single-sex schools artificially shelter kids from this reality. 
• Students learn to be tolerant of people who are different than them and to treat each other with respect. Students are exposed to both male and female role models. 
• Especially in the older grades, many students prize their friendships with the other sex. This can take students out of their comfort zones and make them see the world differently. 
• School and work aside, coed schools offer students more chances to build comfort talking and interacting with the other sex.