Single-sex schooling in Trinidad and Tobago: a holistic exploration

Abstract

Single-sex schooling has been proposed as a way of addressing the disengagement of boys; the disproportion of gender in certain subjects; stereotyped gender images, and the labelling of some subjects as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. However, there exists no clear research evidence to support such claims. Despite the lack of empirical data, there is still a call in some quarters for more single-sex schooling. This paper looks at single-sex schooling in Trinidad and Tobago where one-quarter of secondary state schools are single sex. The experiences of children in these single-sex schools are explored—not through narrowly defined descriptors of academic success but through a holistic consideration of children’s learning experiences within such an environment. This exploration finds that it is naïve to segregate children based on their sex and recommends that, in their efforts to improve schooling for all, policy-makers undertake a more thorough examination of the curriculum in relation to the complex needs of all the individuals who make up that society.