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See also:CODY, See also: But the term " Co-education " is sometimes used in a wider sense, in See also:order to include cases in which boys and girls, or young men and young See also:women of university See also:age, are admitted to membership of the same school or See also:college but receive instruction wholly or in See also:part in See also:separate classes and in different subjects. Other variable factors in co-educational systems are the extent to which men and women are mixed on the teaching See also:staff, and the freedom of intercourse permitted between pupils of the two sexes in class, in See also:games and in other activities of school See also:life. In another See also:form of combined education (preferred by See also:Comte, Systeme de politique See also:positive, iv. 266), pupils of the two sexes are taught successively by the same teacher. By the See also:English See also:Board of Education, a distinction is See also:drawn between mixed See also:schools and dual schools. " Mixed schools " are those in which, for most subjects of the curriculum, boys and girls are taught together by the same teachers: in " dual schools " there are separate boys' and girls' departments under a single See also:principal, but with separate entrances, classrooms and playgrounds for the two sexes. See also:History.—Co-education in See also:early times was occasional and sporadic. For example, women were admitted by See also:Plato to the inner circle of the See also:Academy on terms of equality with men. The educational endowments of Teos provided that the professors of literature should See also:teach both boys and girls. It is uncertain whether the See also:Roman schools in classical times were attended by both sexes. A tombstone found at See also:Capua represents a school-See also:master with a boy on one See also:side and a girl on the other. Probablyco-education was practised in country districts for economical reasons; and also in the See also:home schools organized by wealthier families (See also:Wilkins, Roman Education, pp. 42-43). At See also: In 1602 the See also:council of See also:Ayr, Scotland, ordained that the girls who were learning to read and write at the See also:Grammar School should be sent to the master of the See also:Song School, " because it is not seemly that sic lasses should be among the lads " (See also: His view was that all educational institutions should, as far as possible, be modelled upon the See also:analogy of the See also:family and of the home. At Stanz (1798-1799) he educated together in one See also:household boys and girls ranging in age from five to fifteen. At See also:Burgdorf (1799-1804) his See also:work was in part co-educational. At Yverdun (1804-1825) Pestalozzi established a school for girls close to his school for boys. The girls received instruction from some of the masters of the boys' school, and girls and boys met at evening See also:worship, in See also:short excursions and at other times. In England, the Society of See also:Friends have been the pioneers of co-education in boarding schools, both for younger children and for pupils up to fifteen or sixteen years of age. The practice of the society, though not exclusively co-educational, has See also:long been favourable to co-education, either in its See also:complete or restricted form, as being more in See also:harmony with. the conditions of family life. Ackworth school was established by the See also:London Yearly See also:Meeting in 1779 for the education of boys and girls; but the school has never been fully co-educational, the boys and girls being taught separately except in a few classes. At Sidcot school, which was founded in 18o8 by the Associated Quarterly Meetings in the west of England for the education of children of Friends, boys and girls are taught together, except in certain handicraft subjects. Several other co-educational schools were founded by the Society of Friends during the first See also:half of the 19th See also:century. Since that See also:time the See also:movement towards co-education in secondary schools and universities has steadily gained strength in England. It has been furthered by the See also:diffusion of Pestalozzian ideas and also by the See also:influence of American example. In England, private schools have made some of the most valuable co-educational experiments. A private boarding and See also:day secondary school on co-educational lines was instituted by Mr W. A. See also:Case in See also:Hampstead in 1865. A co-educational boarding-school was founded in 1869 by See also:Miss Lushington at See also:Kingsley near See also:Alton, Hants. In 1893 Mr W. H. See also:Herford began the Ladybarn school for boys and girls at Withington in the suburbs of See also:Manchester. The passing of the Welsh Intermediate Education See also:Act 1888 led to the See also:establishment of a considerable number of new mixed or dual secondary day-schools in See also:Wales. Many English teachers gained experience in these schools and subsequently influenced English education. The work and writings of Mr J. H. Badley at Bedales, See also:Petersfield, a co-educational boarding-school of the first grade, gave greatly increased See also:weight to the principle of co-education. Important additions have also been made to the fund of co-educational experience by the See also: See also:Thornton, Schools Public and Private in the See also:North of Europe, 1907, p. 97). In Holland, there is now a See also:good See also:deal of co-education in lower secondary schools of the modern type. For example, at See also:Utrecht, the state higher burgher school provides the same course of instruction, except in gymnastics, for boys and girls. At Almelod, the municipal higher burgher school, though co-educational, differentiates the classes in several subjects. In See also:Belgium, See also:France, See also:Germany and See also:Austria, co-education, though frequent in elementary schools, is regarded as undesirable in secondary; but the movement in its favour in many parts of Germany seems to be gathering strength. All over Europe the Roman See also:Catholic populations prefer the older ideal of separate schools for boys and girls. Co-education in colleges and universities, which began at See also:Oberlin. See also:Ohio, in 1853, was adopted almost without exception by the state universities throughout the west of America from 1862 onwards. Since that time the idea has spread rapidly throughout Europe, and the presence of women students atuniversities originally confined to men is one of the most striking educational facts of the age. Co-education in the United See also:Kingdom, (a) England and Wales.—The Board of Education does not possess any See also:summary showing the number of pupils in mixed public elementary schools or in mixed departments of such schools. In 1901, out of 31,502 departments of public elementary schools in England and Wales, nearly half (15,504) were mixed departments, in which boys and girls were educated together. But as the departments were of unequal See also:size, it must not be inferred from this that half the children in public elementary schools in that See also:year (5,883,762) were receiving co-education. Of the See also:total number of departments in public elementary schools in England and Wales, the percentage of mixed schools See also:fell from 51.6 in 1881 to 49.4 in 1891 and 49.2 in 1901. But these percentages must not be taken to prove an See also:absolute decline in the number of children in mixed departments. In England, out of 492 public secondary schools which were recognized by the Board of Education for the See also:receipt of See also:government grant for the school year ending See also:July 31, 1905, and which contained 85,358 pupils, io8 schools, with 21,720 pupils, were mixed; and 20 schools, with 898o pupils, were dual schools. Thus, of the total number of pupils in the secondary schools referred to above, a little over 25 % were in mixed schools, and about 1o% were in dual schools. It is not safe to assume, however, that all the mixed schools were completely co-educational in their work, or that the dual schools were not co-educational in respect of certain subjects or parts of the course. It should also be remembered that, besides the secondary schools recognized by the Board of Education for the receipt of government grant, there is a considerable number of great endowed secondary boarding-schools (" public schools " in the English use of that expression) which are for boys only. There are also at least 5000 private secondary schools, of which, in 1897 (since when no comprehensive statistical inquiry has been made), 970, with 26,027 pupils, were mixed schools. But the great See also:majority of the children in these mixed schools were under twelve years of age. The number of boys and girls over twelve years of age, in the mixed private secondary schools which were included in the 1897 return, was only 5488. In Wales, for the school year ending July 31, 1905, out of 84 state-aided public secondary schools, 11 were mixed and 44 were dual schools. The number of scholars in the Welsh schools referred to above was 9340. Of these, 1457, or 15%, were in mixed schools, and 5085, or 54%, were in dual schools. The managers of dual schools in Wales have the See also:power to arrange that boys and girls shall be taught together in any or all the classes; and, as a See also:matter of fact, nearly all the dual schools are worked as mixed schools, though they appear in these figures under dual.
(b) Scotland.—In the public elementary schools, including the higher grade schools of Scotland, co-education is the almost universal See also:rule. The exceptions, which for the most part are Roman Catholic or Episcopal See also: (c) See also:Ireland.—In Ireland, the percentage of pupils on the rolls of mixed national schools (i.e. schools attended by boys and girls), to the total number of pupils on the rolls of all national schools, has slowly increased. In 188o the percentage was 57'5; in 1898, 59'4; in 1905, 60.9. The Commissioners of Intermediate Education in Ireland had on their See also:list in 1906, 38 secondary schools which were classified by them as mixed schools. These schools were attended by 64o boys and 413 girls between 13 and 19 years of age. The commissioners do not know to what extent the boys and girls in these schools received instruction in the same classes. As, however, the schools are small, they believe that in the great majority of cases the boys and girls were taught together. In one large school not classified as mixed, the boys (117) and girls (6o) were taught in the same classes. Universities and University Colleges in the United Kingdom.—Women are admitted as members of the universities of London, See also:Durham, Manchester, See also:Liverpool, See also:Birmingham, See also:Leeds, See also:Sheffield, Wales, See also:Edinburgh, See also:Aberdeen, St See also:Andrews, See also:Glasgow, See also:Dublin and the Royal University of Ireland. At See also:Oxford and See also:Cambridge women are not admitted as members of the university, but by See also:courtesy enjoy entrance to practically all university lectures and See also:examinations. The social life of the men and women students is more separate in the old than in the new universities. In no grade of education in the United Kingdom has the principle of co-education made more rapid advance than in the universities. The university education of women began in London (See also:Queen's College 1848, See also:Bedford College 1849, both being preceded by classes in earlier years). The University of London in 1878 decided to accept from the See also:crown a supplemental See also:charter making every degree, See also:honour and See also:prize awarded by the university accessible to students of both sexes on perfectly equal terms. By charter in 188o, the See also:Victoria University (now broken up into the universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds) received power to grant degrees to women as well as to men. The charter of the university of Wales (1893) provides that " Women shall be eligible equally with men for admittance to any degree which our university is authorized to confer; every See also:office created in the university, and the membership of every authority constituted by the charter shall be open to women equally with men." In 1889 the Universities (Scotland) Act empowered the commissioners to make ordinances, enabling each university to admit women in See also:graduation in one or more faculties and to provide for their instruction. At all the university colleges in the United Kingdom women are educated as well as men. United States.—Co-education is a characteristic feature of the educational system of the different states of the American See also:Union. Of elementary school pupils at least g6 %, and of secondary school pupils 95%, are in mixed schools. In 1903, out of a total enrolment of 15,990,803 pupils in public elementary and secondary schools and training colleges, 15,387,734 were in schools attended by pupils of both sexes. Out of 550,600 pupils on the rolls of public secondary schools (high schools) in 1902, 523,300 were in co-educational schools. The same was true of 43% of the pupils (numbering over 1oo,000) in private secondary schools. In colleges and universities 62 % of all undergraduates were in co-educational institutions, to which See also:category See also:thirty-four American universities belong (U.S. See also:Commissioner of Education, See also:Report for 1903, p. 2454). In America See also:opinion is thus pre-dominantly in favour of co-education, but there is a current of adverse See also:criticism, especially among some who have had experience of school conditions in large cities. See also:General See also:Review of the Question.—In schools for infants and younger children co-education is approved by all authorities. It is increasingly favoured on educational grounds in smaller schools for children up to 12 or 13 years of age or thereabouts. But where elementary schools have to be large, separate departments for boys and girls are generally preferable, though mixed schools are often established for reasons of economy. At the other end of the educational scale, viz. in the universities, the co-education of men and women in the same institution is fast becoming the rule. This is due partly to the prohibitive cost of duplicating teaching staff, laboratories, See also:libraries and other equipment, partly to the See also:desire of women to qualify themselvesfor professional life by passing through the same courses of training as are prescribed for men. The degree, however, to which social intercourse is carried on between men and women students differs widely in the different co-educational universities. There are occasional signs, e.g. at See also:Chicago, of a reaction against the fullest form of See also:academic co-education. And it is probable that the universities will provide, among many courses common to men and women, some (like See also:engineering) suitable for men only, and others (like advanced instruction in home-See also:science, or certain courses of professional preparation for teachers of young children) which will rarely be attended by any but women. Common use of the same university institutions is compatible with much differentiation in courses of study and with separately organized forms of collegiate life. It is with regard to the part of education which lies between the elementary schools and the universities that the sharpest See also:division of opinion upon the principle of co-education now exists. In Europe, with the exception of Scandinavia, those who See also:advocate co-education of the sexes in secondary schools up to 18 or. 19 years of age are at See also:present in a distinct minority, even as regards day schools, and still more when they propose to apply the same principle to boarding schools. But the application of the co-educational principle to all schools alike is favoured by an apparently increasing number of men and women. This movement in opinion is connected with the increase in the number of girls desiring See also:access to secondary schools, a demand which can most easily and economically be met by granting to girls access to some of the existing schools for boys. The co-educational movement is also connected with a strong view of See also:sex equality. It is furthered by the rapidly increasing number of women teachers who are available for higher educational work. Mixed secondary schools with mixed staffs are spreading for reasons of economy in smaller towns and rural districts. In large towns separate schools are usually recommended in preference, but much depends upon the social tradition of the neighbourhood. Those who advocate co-education for boys and girls in secondary schools urge it mainly on the ground of its naturalness and closer conformity to the conditions of healthy, unselfconscious home life. They believe it to be a protective against uncleanness of talk and school immorality. They point to its convenience and economy. They welcome co-education as likely to bring with it a healthy radicalism in regard to the older tradition of studies in boys' secondary schools. They approve it as leading to mixed staffs of men and women teachers, and as the most effectual way of putting girls in a position of reasonable equality with boys in respect of intellectual and civic opportunity. On the other hand, those who oppose co-education in secondary schools See also:rest their case upon the danger of the intellectual or See also:physical overstrain of girls during See also:adolescence; and upon the unequal See also:rate of development of boys and girls during the secondary school See also:period, the girls being more forward than the boys at first, but as a rule less able to work as hard at a somewhat later See also:stage. The critics further complain that co-education is generally so organized that the girls' course of study is more or less assimilated to that of the boys, with the result that it cannot have the See also:artistic and domestic See also:character which is suitable for the majority of girls. Complaint is ajso made that the See also:head of a co-educational school for pupils over the age of to is usually a See also:man, though the See also:health and character of girls need the care and See also:control of a woman vested with complete authority and responsibility. While demurring to the view that co-education of the sexes would be a moral See also:panacea, the critics of the system admit that the presence of the girls would exert a refining influence, but they believe that on the whole the boys are likely to gain less from co-education than the girls are likely to lose by it. In all these matters carefully recorded observation and experiment are needed, and it may well be found that co-education is best for some boys and for some girls, though not for all. Temperaments and dispositions differ. Some boys seem by nature more fitted for the See also:kind of training generally given to girls; some girls are by nature fitted for the kind of training generally given to boys. The sex division does not mark off temperaments "into two sharply contrasted See also:groups. The introduction of girls into boys' secondary schools may remove or mitigate coarse traditions of speech and conduct where such persist. But it would be unfortunate if stiff and pedantic traditions of secondary education were now fixed upon girls instead of being reconsidered and modified in the interests of boys also. In any case, if co-education in secondary schools is to yield the benefits which some anticipate from it, great vigilance, careful selection of pupils and very liberal staffing will be necessary. Without these securities the results of co-education in secondary schools might be disappointing, disquieting or even disastrous. Co-education: a See also:series of Essays (London, 1903), edited by Alice See also:Woods, is in favour of co-education, nine See also:practical workers recording their experience; this is one of the best books on the subject. J. H. Badley's Co-education after Fifteen: its Value and Difficulties. See also:Child Life (London, See also:January, 1906), is candid, judicious and practical. M. E. See also:Sadler in Reports on Secondary Education in See also:Hampshire, See also:Derby-shire and See also:Essex (1904, 1905 and 1906 respectively) gives details of the curriculum of many co-educational secondary schools. In the U.S. Commissioner of Education Report for 1903, vol. i. pp. 1047-1078, See also:Anna Tolman See also: G. See also:Stanley See also: 140 if., " Co-education in der hoheren Schulen." (M. E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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