Masters School in New York has taken an interesting approach to tackling the differing learning styles that boys and girls have during puberty. Whilst the school runs co-educational classes in the early and later years, for the ages 11 to 16 students are segregated into single sex classes.

Traditional feminist theory suggests that girls fare better in a single sex classroom environment and the corrollary is, in fact, also true, so do boys. A real problem for boys at this age is that firstly girls mature earlier and secondly they have superior interpersonal skills. This means that your average boy is behind the eight ball when it comes to humanities type subjects.

Removal of girls from the classroom situation grants boys the time and space to develop skills in the elucidation of ideas without being swamped by the girls. It also enables them to learn in an manner that suits boys, which is typically less structured and has a higher physical component.

Too long have we neglected the needs of boys in schools because their needs are not as organisationally convenient as those of girls. It is good to see at least some schools taking the initiative in addressing this problem.

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