In many sport associations, regardless of level, women and men rarely practice together. Previous studies indicate that work groups are generally more efficient when there is an even distribution between the sexes. Could that also be the case in sports? This study aims to investigate whether the sex composition of a training group affects the effort and performance of the participants. Eleven volunteers participated in the crossover study consisting of three different 150-meter sprint conditions; individually, single-sex group and mixed-sex group. Sprint times, heart rate and RPE were recorded during all three trials. The result of this study suggests that there might be practical benefits in regards to physical performance and effort to exercise in a training group consisting of both sexes instead of training only with the same-sex or individually. The understanding could be useful in areas such as; training optimisation for both athletes and in patient- and rehabilitation groups, increasing efficiency in work environments, in schools and sports clubs striving for both athletic success and gender equality.

To address potential selection and school quality effects in tests of the efficacy of single-sex schools, the achievement of girls attending a public single-sex magnet middle school (N = 122) was compared to that of two samples: (a) girls who applied to but were waitlisted at the single-sex school (N = 236) and (b) girls who applied to and attended a coeducational magnet school (N = 134). Once selection and school quality effects were taken into account, the students in the single-sex and coeducational schools performed equally well. Furthermore, results suggest that student achievement is more strongly influenced by the quality of the school than its gender composition. Implications for research and social policy are discussed. / text

There is widespread interest shown in the education of boys in school as evidenced in research, education initiatives and discussion in the general community. Research undertaken by Connell (1989, 1995, 1996, 2000), Laberge and Albert (1999), Mac an Ghaill (1994), Martino (1998), West (1999, 2002) and others suggests that there is a range of masculinities displayed by teenage boys. Some of the masculinities with which boys identify are in conflict with accepted ideas of educational achievement. This doctoral study investigates the contribution of teachers and school experiences to teenage boys’ understanding of masculinity. There are two components to the study. The first part is a systematic review of the literature to highlight findings about boys’ perceptions of relationships between masculinity and schooling. The second part is a qualitative empirical study of the views of a sample of Year 11 high school boys in two single sex Catholic schools. The interviews focus on their understandings of masculinity and their perceptions of influential aspects of school life. It includes an analysis of the boys' views of the impact of teachers, sport, discipline and classroom experiences. Participants in the study indicated that masculinity is changing and the community is requiring men to be more expressive of emotions. The majority of teenage boys interviewed stated that teachers and school experiences influenced their understanding of masculinity. Pupil - teacher relationships, conversations, exhortations and non-verbal communications are all perceived as means by which teachers influence students. Some teachers were regarded as good role models, making a positive contribution the boys’ masculinity. Interviewees reported that the schools promoted two masculinities, ‘sporting’ and ‘academic’. They spoke of contrasting interpretations of the appropriate expression of emotion. One finding of the study is that some of the teenage boys experienced a ‘spirituality of connected masculinity’ through singing, cheering and participation in school activities including sport, liturgies and retreats. Implications are drawn from the study and recommendations are made for improving the education of boys including how schools can encourage a diversity of ‘reflective’ masculinities rather than reinforcing ‘hegemonic’ understandings of masculinity.

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This ethno-historical undertaking captures the story of the implementation of one major US city's first and only single-sex public school and the consequent shaping of the school culture according to its unique context. A comprehensive literature review demonstrates race, socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, and other contextual factors are important considerations when probing educational access and achievement and the development of school cultures. Moreover, principals -- their individual attributes and the cultures they create -- are key to understanding and interrogating equitable practices in schools. Findings substantiate the complex interface between historical, political, and socio-cultural contexts, stakeholder decision making in the ethnographic present, and the enactment and negotiation school culture vis-à-vis the intersectionalities of student identities. Findings suggest the conditions that facilitated the high achievement of the students in this study might be transferred under the right conditions including: a balance of strong leadership and principal and teacher autonomy; the enduring belief that any student can and will learn; a rigorous, non-segregated, college prep program, and; an informal curriculum that prepares students for academic and professional cultures. Findings also bring to the fore important considerations that must be addressed by practitioners and policymakers alike; specifically, students' difficulties concerning the "burden of acting white" and the "burden of acting straight." Finally, findings from this study suggest single-sex public options can be done legitimately and effectively but additional safeguards must be implemented by the US Department of Education to ensure both male and female students' civil rights are protected. Additionally, while some magnet schools such as the one studied are local sites of resistance that play a liberatory role for those distinctively involved, one cannot surmise that such local efforts -- which may be viewed by some as a site of relative privilege -- can alone overcome the serious striations that exist in the greater society. / text

This study explores the ways in which grade 10 girls experience violence within a single-sex high school setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The focus of the study is on their accounts of witnessing violence amongst other girls in the school. The study shows that despite the view that single-sex schools are regarded as a safer option for many girls in South Africa, different forms of violence and aggression are reported by the girls in this study. Violence and aggression are not easily definable but the eye-witness accounts from the grade 10 girls in this study show how - in everyday relations - violence is gendered, raced and classed. Violence and aggression are also related to sexuality and the study shows how girls fight for boys. This study draws upon a qualitative methodological approach to identify the various forms of violence experienced within this setting. Through the process of analysing semi-structured interviews, this study has revealed that the single-sex environment for high school girls is a highly charged site of violence and aggression. Implications for understanding girls' violence, as well as recommendations to address such, conclude the study. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2003. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 258-284.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2008. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-52)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Educational Psychology and Educational Technology, 2008. / Dissertation committee: John P. Smith III, Angela Calabrese Barton, Kristen Renn, Julia Grant, and David Sadker--From acknowledgments. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-284). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Cedarville University, 2002. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 6, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-96).