Examining Developmental Aspects of All Girl Schooling Jennifer Morand EDST 2002

1. Examining Developmental Aspects of All Girl Schooling Jennifer Morand EDST 2002 morandjc@mail.uc.edu Question: What’s the developmental implications of attending an all girl high school? • Physical Effects: • Appearance/Body Image • Cliques and crowds (friendship groups) are important sources that influence body image concerns for adolescent girls (Carey) • Observations: • All Girl: While observing at the all girl school I noticed one true thing: NONE of the girls cared about their physical, outside appearance of themselves. They are all girls so they have no one to impress, i.e. the boys. I observed that very little of them brushed their hair that morning and most of the girls hair was thrown up in a pony tail. I noticed very few girls wearing any make up and with having the all school uniform, everyone was just wearing the school skirt and a school sweatshirt or school polo. With having no one to impress everyone pretty much looked the same and so I felt there was no criticism. When I attended this all girl high school, there was really only criticism if you actually did try to look nice because everyone thought it was pointless to look good. • Co-Ed: While at the co-ed school, the first thing I noticed was the outfits of the girls. Everyone was wearing something completely different. Some of the girls were wearing just sweatpants and a tee shirt, others jeans and a nice shirt, some who went full out in the “I need to look hot” look, and others wore nice cute outfits. I have to admit, it was cool to be able to see the girls express themselves in what they wear, but when they wear things that are disrespectful towards their body, that is when I am glad I never went to a co-ed high school and proud of the uniform I wore when I went to an all girl high school. Also, whether the girl was dressed nice or in sweats, they were ALL wearing makeup. I went with my cousin to this school and her and her group of friends would sometimes go to the bathroom just to redo their makeup. This really bugged me because I don’t see how or why they can care so much about their looks at school. • Cognitive Effects: • Academic performance • Stronger academic orientations and higher levels of confidence in their math and computer abilities than their coed peers (Sawyers) • Assess their abilities, engagement, and ambition as either above average or in the top 10 percent (Sawyers) • Interact more with their teachers, study longer hours and the mean SAT composite scores (verbal plus math) are 43 points higher for female single-sex graduates in the independent school sector than their co-ed counterparts (Sawyers) • Attending a single sex school is more beneficial for females than for males; gain more leadership skills, perform better academically, especially English , History, Music and Science (Gibb) • “The female advantage in educational achievement was apparent in the mean grades. Females had higher mean grades than males in 12 of the 14 subjects” (Gibb) • Accounting, art, economics, English, foreign language, geography, graphic design, history, home economics, math, music, science, typing, workshop technology; with Math and economics being dominate by males • Observations: • All Girl: Observing in 3 different classrooms with three different teachers, I noticed a variety of different girls raising their hands to answer questions. It never seemed to be the same handful of girls who raised their hands. Seeing this, it brought me to conclude that the teachers incorporate every student and make them learn the material and even want to know how to do the material. But yes there were some girls who never did raise their hand to participate but that didn’t stop the teacher from trying to get them involved or randomly call on them to try and answer a question. At the all-girl school, they have different leveled classes: level 3, College Prep (level 4), Honors (level 5), and AP classes. Of the classes I observed in, I observed in upper classes like the honors classes. When I went into the classrooms, there were a lot of girls in the room. Going into the classroom I really didn’t expect to see that many girls in the honors classes. It was good to be proven wrong though! When it comes to technology and learning for the all girl school, they used laptops which are very strict. They had every “fun” website blocked including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. The laptops were strictly for taking notes and for learning. • Co-ed: When I observed at the co-ed school I went to classes with my cousin who goes there. One of the huge things I observed in class were phones. Everyone was allowed to have their phone out because the school using learning techniques and has apps for phones to help the students learn. That is super cool that the school is trying to use technology, but why use phone technology? I saw everyone texting at some point in the class. The levels for the co-ed school were the same as the all girl school; level 3, 4, 5, and AP. When I went to classes I noticed it was a lot harder for the students, especially the girls, to raise their hands and start class discussion and participation. I feel like it took that one person to start and then others followed behind. Once the discussion was started, it was mostly the same group of girls that kept raising their hands. The teachers did though try to get the others to participate. • Emotional + Social Effects: • Self-esteem • Rises for most young people (Berk, 2010, p. 315) • Girls from single-sex schools report feeling more frequently overwhelmed with responsibilities and have lower emotional health (42.8%) compared to 38% of peers from co-ed schools (Sawyers) • Cliques and Crowds • Observations: • All Girl: While observing in the cafeteria, you could definitely tell there was a bunch of cliques. The school even noticed and they put in long tables to prevent the separation of cliques to make the girls all sit at one table. This idea didn’t really work however, the students just left a few seats in between each clique. With the girls being in uniforms you could not really tell what their label was for their clique but when I got up close to their table to try and listen to their conversation you could tell by just what they were talking about. • Co-ed: While observing in the cafeteria for the co-ed school, the room was so crowded and filled with students. Males and females were all sitting together eating lunch and talking. I did not notice a table with just females or just males. And with everyone dressed in their own clothing you could tell the different cliques of what their labels were but the surprising thing was that one clique was sitting with a few different other cliques. My Story: Why did I choose this topic? I went to a co-ed grade school and I was always so super quiet and shy. I was always afraid to come out of my shell because I was afraid of being different or being made fun of. The boys were so harsh in grade school and all the popular girls would go along with whatever the boys said. So it was very difficult for me to grow in grade school. Once I went to high school though, all of that changed. Having gone to an all girl private Catholic high school for 4 years really impacted my life. It helped build friendships that will last a lifetime, confidence in my school work and my participation in class, confidence in who I am, and it helped me become the fabulous woman I am today. Being surrounded by just girls who are going through the same thing as you was incredible and helped me flourish and grow. Right away I stepped out of my shell in high school and now that I am in college I am still participating in class, getting great grades, being outgoing, and most importantly not caring what others think of me. Going to an al girl high school really proved to me that it was the best decision for me and helped me be the best person I can be. Challenges: Having gone to an all girl Catholic High School for four years, I feel going into this project and choosing this question I was very bias. I absolutely loved going to an all girl school for high school and I was brought up and raised very Catholic. So whenever I went to the public co-ed high schools around my area, I just did not feel safe, and I just did not like the atmosphere. I always had that stereotype of what a co-ed school was: dressing inappropriately and disrespectfully, bullying and other things that are stereotypical. I also felt, at first, while researching I was being very bias and only looking for the information I wanted to look for. I wasn’t looking at the whole picture, just the things I wanted to hear and read about. Once I realized how bias I was being, I did look into other references. By looking into other references without bias, I found the things I needed to find, not just the things I wanted to find. Sources: Carey, R. N. (2013-09). Peer Culture and Body Image Concern Among Australian Adolescent Girls: A Hierarchical Linear Modelling Analysis. Sex roles, 69(5-6), 250-263.doi:10.1007/s11199-013-0305-0 Gender and relationships: A developmental account. Maccoby, Eleanor E. American Psychologist, Vol 45(4), Apr. Gibb, Sheree J., (2008-11-01). Effects of single-sex and coeducational schooling on the gender gap in educational achievement.. The Australian journal of education, 52(3), 301-317 Patterson, M., & Pahlke, E. (2011). Student Characteristics Associated with Girls' Success in a Single-sex School. Sex Roles, 65(9/10), 737-750. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9904-1 Sawyers, Susan. Are Single Sex Schools Good for Girls?. Huffpost Healthy Living.