Students stared at us, some whistled, others yelled, “Girl!” While we walked up the stairs to class, a boy asked, “What are you doing here?”
What we were doing there was a two-day student ex‑change between Rockhurst High School and STA. The Dart ventured to “Rock State” to determine how all-boys schools utilize a single-sex environment. Last Wednesday, STA seniors Celia O’Flaherty and Hannah Wolf dove into the sea of boys to observe how an all- male environment functions compared to the all-female one STA girls are used to.
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As one of Kansas City’s two all-girl Catholic high schools, STA often views Rockhurst as its “brother school.” Many STA students have brothers, boyfriends and best buddies that attend the Jesuit high school on State Line Road. Although both schools are both $9,000-plus per year, college preparatory, independently Catholic, single-sex high schools, we experience it all differently, especially when it comes to the single-sex part.
Principal of Rockhurst Greg Harkness addresses the idea of male and female students benefiting from a single gender education differently.
“It used to be said that single-gender education was more beneficial for young women,” Harkness said. “I wonder if the tide has turned now and that it may be more beneficial for young men.”
From spending a day at the Rock, it seems as if high school boys benefit from single-sex education in ways that STA girls wouldn’t anticipate. The boys seemed more apt to participate in non-traditional, less “macho” activities. Rockhurst students experience a different curriculum than us STA girls, one that is tailored specifically to how males learn. This single-sex environment also seems to foster more life-long friendships than would happen in a co-ed environment.
A Day in the Life
As first hour approached, 21 boys frantically studied for their upcoming anatomy test or tried to finish their pre-calc homework from the night before. The bell rang, the books went away and the announcements began. The classroom was silent while a monotone voice read off all the announcements for the day. The boys sat up straight and listened to the morning prayer. The class was attentive, with nearly nothing to distract them. The walls were bare, only a whiteboard and a cross hung on the wall.
Once announcements were over, the homeroom teacher began to hand out papers concerning Kairos and senior service projects to the students. The bell rang again at 8:10 a.m., signaling the start of Catholic faith and practice, a senior theology class at Rockhurst.
In comparison to the squirmy boys of grade school, the boys in the religion class seemed much more attentive in class without the distraction of girls. And although it seems that we females experience the same benefit, is it possible that males are more distracted by the opposite sex?
Rockhurst senior Henry Hilliard believes so.
“Guys probably benefit more because I feel like guys are more concerned with girls in the classroom than girls are,” Hilliard said. “The difference between an all-guys school and a co-ed school is way more different than between an all-girls school and a coed school.”
Masculine Mindset?
After first hour, Celia and I rode in the car with senior Matthew Gude to Ward Parkway Lanes for Lifetime Sports. I watched the boys quickly enter the bowling alley, grab their size 10-13 bowling shoes and 14-pound bowling balls and head to a lane. With 10 frames to bowl in one class period, there was no time to mess around. I didn’t hear anyone taunting another boy for his gutter ball or bragging about his three strikes.
Perhaps this atmosphere was created by the single-sex environment. According to a study by NASSPE, the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, boys may ditch their “macho” attitude when not around girls.
“In coed schools, boys tend to adopt a ‘masculine’ attitude because girls are there,” a NASSPE study said. “They feel they have to demonstrate their emerging masculinity by gross macho over-reaction. Boys in single sex schools become more sensitive men and they’re more polite.”
In addition, NASSPE says that boys are able to overcome this “masculine” mindset when it comes to atypical hobbies in an all-male environment as well.
“There is a subtle pressure toward gender stereotyping in mixed schools,” the NASSPE study said. “In boy’s schools, boys feel free to be themselves, to follow their interests and talents in what might be regarded as non-macho pursuits: music, arts, drama. We’ve heard from many young men who have shared how their interest in poetry or history, etc. only began after they enrolled in a single-sex school. In the single sex environment, they didn’t feel any embarrassment in showing an interest in those ‘non-macho’ activities.”
And in fact, it seems that men at Rockhurst utilize this benefit of single-sex education. Many boys participate in choir, ceramics or drawing at Rockhurst. Last week, Rockhurst put on their own musical “Godspell,” starring many of their own students, and several Rockhurst students will perform in the STA’s musical “Curtains” this week.
These Rockhurst boys even seem to be pursuing these artistic talents beyond high school. While we were there, the boys had to sign up for Career Day. There were three pieces of paper filled with students who wanted to attend the artist session.
Harkness also sees this benefit of an all-male environment.
“There’s something about allowing [men] to be who they are; it’s more effective academically,” Harkness said. “Boys are able to come into their own academically now. With all the pressures in adolescence, removing that type of tension from an academic environment is a good thing.”
Gender Specific Stratagies
Harkness also said that Rockhurst uses the all- male environment to tailor to the academic needs of men.
“[Single-sex education] allows you to have really gender-specific curriculum,” Harkness said. “If things work for young men, they won’t work for young women. I can use the same textbooks and teach the same grade level at STA, and the methods I would use would be completely different. I think it allows the whole focus of the place, from the curriculum to the people to the program, to better meet the students where they are.”
Rockhurst English teacher Chris Bosco keeps this idea in mind when teaching.
“You can tailor pedagogy, the way you teach, to the general skill set of men,” Bosco said. “That also means you can identify areas that need growth. I recognize that there are certain generalizations about the male learner, but I also realize what are their deficits.”
One thing Bosco tries to tailor to men is the set up of his classroom.
“I understand that space tends to be a bigger issue to males,” Bosco said. “Boys or young men more often than not feel confined by spaces and want to move around. If you know Henry Hilliard, you know he can’t stand still. He’s always moving around. I read that as he has a tremendous analytical capacity. So I might be aware that how the room is set up is very important.”
Bosco is also aware of the competitive spirit in the boys at Rockhurst, and tries to utilize that competition in the classroom.
“We’re competitive; we’re goal oriented,” Bosco said. “Which is what research says about men. We create an environment where students have to come forward. We sell it to the students as a personal pride thing.”
This personal pride became evident at Rockhurst, both in and out of the classroom. In AP literature, a discussion-based class, almost every boy in the classroom participated. I watched boys eagerly raise their hands, almost competing to speak next, anxiously awaiting their turn and showing slight disappointment when they weren’t called upon.
Social Success
Whether it was the numerous high fives exchanged in the hallway during passing period, a 5-foot-tall freshmen talking with a 6-foot-tall senior, or boys sitting next to people in class that they don’t hang out with on the weekends, deeper friendships seemed to be evident at Rockhurst than what I saw in my co-ed grade school.
Harkness believes that the boys at Rockhurst benefit socially from the all-male environment.
“I think in an all-male school, the boys are nicer to each other,” Harkness said. “There’s a willingness, and almost out of necessity, there’s friendships on a deeper level that wouldn’t happen if there’s girls around.
“I think that’s one of the most positive things about single sex education. It allows the students of the same gender to have deep and meaningful relationships. You just have a different way of relating to people. You tend to be more open and accepting.”
Hilliard also appreciates this level of openness that Rockhurst has created among its students.
“I feel like it gives guys more opportunities to do things they wouldn’t be able to do at a school with girls,” Hilliard said. “That level of openness wouldn’t happen if we were coed. That level of comfort wouldn’t be there.”
Story by Hannah Wolf
Photos by Celia O’Flaherty
