Here's a more interesting question than whether a one-time junior psychophysicist can produce better theories of child development than full-time senior developmental psychologists (or whether she can just make more money at it than they do).
Greene Country, Georgia is about to separate boys from girls in all of its schools, primary and secondary. They apparently have a terrible track record with their education system. The promoters say there is evidence that each sex learns better when not distracted by the other (funny, that was the justification for keeping girls out of college in the 19th century). The detractors call it a reintroduction of segregation (presumably the most inflammatory term they could come up with on short notice). My questions are: (1) Do you think it will "work" (improve students' grades)? (2) Are there important reasons to object to it even if it does "work" (in this narrowly defined way)? For my own part, I expect that it will "work," at least in the short run, but more due to the Hawthorne effect than anything pedagogically substantive. Essentially, however, it is a "stunt" that serves as cover for the more significant problems/ The only way to improve education systems in the long run is to provide better schools, teachers and resources, which cost more money than most US states are willing to pay, and then wait a generation or two for the adult society surrounding the school system (which was itself educated in the "bad" system) to begin to learn to value real education (rather than just the emission of graduation certificates). Unfortunately, politicians must budget things according to the election cycle, and no one is going to be able to wait a generation while taking fire from the people who are the products of the system one is trying to replace. Regards, Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ "Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his or her views." - Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton ================================= --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
