Single‐sex classes in co‐educational schools

This research investigated social and academic outcomes from single‐sex classrooms in a Tasmanian coeducational government primary school. Interviews, observations and surveys formed the basis of the evidence. Teachers, parents and children reported positive benefits from the class organisation, but these differed according to gender. Staff identified increased confidence and higher self‐esteem among girls, whereas boys developed increased motivation and more commitment to schoolwork. Teachers and parents noted that boys’ accountability and self‐discipline improved. Teachers adopted different strategies from those used with mixed‐gender classes and gained higher levels of satisfaction from teaching, attributable to increased children’s time ‘on task’. Paradoxically, standardised school testing indicated no increase in academic achievements. However, there may be an extended lag between establishing changed social relationships and measurable academic outcomes, suggesting that if the new class structure is to achieve its full potential, it should be established early in primary school and continue to adolescence.     

PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH CHILDREN WITH EBD

For the purposes of this paper, I am defining children with EBD as those who, for reasons of emotional disturbance, cannot make use of their educational opportunities and are difficult to manage. Children with EBD usually have parallel difficulties within their families and communities and much of what I want to say here is based on the experience of working with children and young people who are at the end of the line in more than one area of their lives. Prior to training as a Child Psychotherapist, I worked as a teacher in a variety of mainstream schools and special education settings. The points I want to make and the issues I want to raise, arise out of that experience and have a bearing on the way I now think about working psychotherapeutically with this same client group.