Aodhán Ó Ríordáin wants to ban single sex schools

No, I just don't really see any advantages but please feel free to share and I'll see if I agree

Id suggest laying off the passive aggressive judgement though

I'd prefer to see a return of Technical schools. Too many boys and girls with no interest in mainstream education are being shoved down the 'must go to college route'. There is a great need to give our youth more options imo.

Hopefully he will be banned after the next election along with the rest of the Labour Party.

essentially we’re lifting a ban by advocating for mixed schools

What is the story with reluctance to change in this country. Its 2022, not 1922. If education was invented tomorrow there is not a chance that schools would be segregated by gender, nor would religion be involved.

This country can be quite confusing at times. Vote liberally in huge numbers to repeal the 8th and welcome same sex marriage, then encourage discrimination (Catholic church involvement at school) and segregation (same gender schools) at the same time.

We do a bit though with the volumes of communions and confirmations that still take place despite the number of catholic marriages declining every year. The numbers don't make any sense, and that's due to parents rowing in with the schools instead of challenging them.

I did, it was meant as a play on the thread title but don't get me wrong I'd be delighted if there was a way to ban labour, the Soc Dems and the Greens but unfortunately the only way to get rid of them is vote them out.

I suppose O'Riordain would consider himself a Liberal. But like a lot of Irish Liberals, he is fond of banning things he does not approve of. Is there any evidence that single-sex schools produce worse educational outcomes? I don't have the source but I think that some studies have shown that girls do better in single-sex schools. If there is no evidence that they do any harm and that parents went them then banning them is plain wrong.

And watch out for another absurd culture war: should we ban the term "single-sex" and refer to "single-gender" schools instead?

The parents generally don't give a rats-ar$e about communion. But they care deeply about the party, and the dosh that their kid will collect.

I'm well aware that same-aged young people are educated together. That's why girls, sorry young-PWW, generally do better in schools with other similar people. Trying to match people with different maturity levels in the same classroom is a crock.

does that weirdo think this is the main concern of 99.9% of the population?

the founding fathers of the labour movement would turn in their graves

I could give you a load of reasons, but really it came down to having been educated in an all-boys environment myself, and I did well for myself out of it, I wanted the same for my son.

There weren’t any concerns about him mixing with girls or any of that nonsense, he’s loads of friends who are girls, as I did in my time in school too with plenty of extracurricular activities and clubs like Foróige, Comhaltas, sports like rugby and hurling, and the Presentation girls used to show up to support the team.

There’s a different culture in single-sex schools than there is in mixed-sex schools. It’s far more competitive for one thing, and the students often motivate, support and drive each other, whether it’s academic or sporting achievements.

To anyone suggesting that single-sex schools don’t prepare children for post-school life, or that single-sex schools impede children’s social development, they’re talking utter rubbish. There’s no consensus on these issues because proponents of either single-sex or mixed-sex schools are measuring different issues in different ways, according to their own standards of what they imagine is most beneficial for the kind of society that they envision.

In any case, Aodhán is talking out his arse again. There just isn’t a hope of what he’s talking about ever becoming a reality, never mind in the next 10 to 15 years 🙄

From decades of experience in education at primary, secondary and third level, social work, community work and working in the private sector, from talking to people and interviewing people for employment and knowing their educational background. That’s how I come to the conclusion that there’s a different culture in single-sex schools than there is in mixed-sex schools, where in single-sex schools are more competitive, and mixed-sex schools are more cooperative.

I don’t think students supporting, motivating and driving each other in terms of academic or sporting achievements only happens in single-sex schools, I know it happens in mixed-sex schools too, but the approach and application in single-sex schools is from a more competitive perspective, whereas in mixed-sex schools the focus is more on cooperation.

I was educated around girls? Did you not read the part of my post where I referred to having had many friends who were girls when I was in school? I certainly don’t feel I missed out on anything if that’s what you mean? There’s no question I’d have had a completely different life had I been educated in a mixed-sex school, but whether I’d have done better or worse for myself though is something nobody can know with any certainty as every individual is different.

I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge that some children don’t thrive in single-sex schools, and some children don’t thrive in mixed-sex schools. When it came to my own child’s education though, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree - turns out it doesn’t, but that seems like a rather obvious point to make. I expect it would be understandable that I would prioritise my own child’s education over the education of children who aren’t mine. It’s up to those children’s parents how they choose to educate their own children.

The only thing I do know with any degree of certainty is that most parents or guardians will do their best within their means for their own children’s education, regardless of the outcomes of national and international surveys and studies and all the rest of it, so this idea -

Honestly, in the future we'll all look back on this and segregating children based on gender to educate them differently will be viewed just as absurdly as all the other absurd reasons that were once used to keep different children apart.

People have been saying the same thing for generations across different societies and cultures, and people have been arguing the opposite for just as many generations. I don’t particularly view either the choice of education in single-sex or mixed-sex schools as absurd or anything else, it’s simply a question of parents making choices for the education of their own children and really not giving a fiddlers for what Aodhán has to say on the matter.

You initially asked what I thought was a reasonable question and I answered it in good faith. You clearly aren’t satisfied with my answer and all I can say to that is tough titty. I answered your question fairly the first time.

It’s obvious from the context in which I said it, what I meant in saying that single-sex schools have a culture which is more competitive in terms of academic and sporting achievements. It was in contrast to mixed-sex schools which have a culture more focused on cooperation - they’re different philosophies and approaches to education.

Of course you can tell me what you consider relevant or irrelevant, it doesn’t change what I consider relevant or irrelevant. That much should definitely be obvious, as obvious as the fact that just because I was educated in an all-boys school doesn’t imply I was cloistered away in a monastery - I mentioned a number of extracurricular activities and sports where the girls from the Presentation would come to support the teams at sporting events, and of course there was Foróige and Comhaltas. You’re welcome to consider them irrelevant, but I consider them an important aspect of a young person’s personal and social development which is part of their education (as opposed to the idea that the only way children receive an education is in a school setting).

Your last paragraph I totally agree with. It’s why I led my answer to the question with the following -

I could give you a load of reasons, but really it came down to having been educated in an all-boys environment myself, and I did well for myself out of it, I wanted the same for my son.

It’s absolutely confirmation bias, and when he’s doing well as he is, I have no reason to question whether he could or should be doing better, I’m satisfied that he is thriving already. I’m not particularly keen to use my own child as anyone else’s social experiment. I’m sure you can understand that much, whatever else you deem relevant or irrelevant by your own standards.