Merchiston Castle School Single-Sex Education – An Evening Seminar by Dr Leonard Sax

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Dr Leonard Sax is a highly acclaimed American psychologist, family doctor and writer. He is an impressive speaker Merchiston Castleand passionately believes that boys and girls should be taught separately at school.

The best-selling author of Why Gender Matters, Boys Adrift and Girls on the Edge will be paying a return visit to Merchiston Castle School on Thursday 9 May.

Dr Sax first visited Merchiston in 2008 and has spoken widely at schools and universities in North America and on other continents, and is much in demand.

A leading expert on the role that gender plays in child development and education, his work with parents focuses on how best to navigate the unique and ever-changing challenges faced by today’s children.

Dr Sax will include the following topics during the session:
• Managing Stress: how do boys and girls handle stress and anxiety? the gender difference
• Building Resilience: strategies and coping mechanisims
• Learning humility without being humiliated

Headmaster, Andrew Hunter, is delighted that Dr Sax is returning to Merchiston, “Everybody at Merchiston commented favourably on Dr Sax’s last visit. He is impressive and knowledgeable across so many fields; every assertion is backed up with evidence. We are looking forward to his visit on Thursday and are sure that the entire School community will benefit greatly from hearing what he has to say about teaching and nurturing boys.”

There is no charge for the event but please reserve your place by calling External Relations, 0131 312 2236, or emailing externalrelations@merchiston.co.uk. The seminar will be followed by refreshments in the Old Library. Dr Sax will spend time meeting Merchiston pupils, staff and parents during his visit this week and we expect this evening seminar to be very popular.

Why Gender Matters: “…is a lucid guide to male and female brain differences.” New York Times
Boys Adrift: “A must-read for any parent of boys. This is real science, and Dr Sax thoroughly uncovers the important health issues that parents of boys need to be tuned into.” Dr Mehmet Oz, host of The Dr Oz Show

Further Information on Single-Sex Education:

In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of school boards abandoned single-sex education for economic reasons. Baby boomers flooded the school system and new schools needed to be built. For many, it did not make strategic sense to support multiple single-sex schools.

At the same time, a shift in family dynamics and the drive for gender equality seemed to suggest that coeducation would provide a fairer system for everyone and that single-sex education had served to perpetuate stereotypes.

If we look to the twenty-first century, there is renewed interest in single-sex education. This time, the swing of the pendulum is driven by brain research including the work of Dr Leonard Sax, who was recently profiled on the front of TIME magazine. His book, Why Gender Matters succinctly summarizes the key arguments in favour of single-sex schools.

Sax contends that the brain develops differently in girls and boys. In girls, language areas of the brain evolve before areas used for spatial relations and geometry. The opposite is true for boys. Generalizations about boys being better at Mathematics and girls being better at languages are common but here we see them grounded in scientific fact.

Sax further argues that brains in boys and girls are wired differently. In girls, expressions of emotion are processed in the same area of the brain processing language. Girls are therefore able to express emotions more readily. In boys, emotion is processed in a separate area of the brain, making it more difficult for them to express how they feel.

Sax believes that schools able to focus or specialize on a specific gender and recognize its unique developmental issues can be more effective at achieving success. Girls typically do better at Mathematics and Science in an all-girls’ environment and, correspondingly, boys do better in languages and the arts in an all-boys’ school.

In an all-boys’ environment, boys appear more team-oriented and less preoccupied with competing for the attention of the opposite sex. Instead they strive for excellence in whatever they choose to do and that effort should be celebrated and congratulated by all.

The single-sex debate will continue but those who witness the effect of single-sex education on boys on a daily basis can attest to its positive influence. Merchiston boys are equally comfortable on the rugby pitch as they are on the stage or when taking part in a debate.

Please visit the School’s website here for further information about how Merchiston nurtures boys and young men or visit Leonard Sax’s personal website here.
 

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