Should Boys and Girls be in segregated PE classes?

Photo taken by Judy Baxter.  Some rights reserved.

On the first day of our EPE 310 (university phys ed curriculum course for K-5 teachers) we all spent a minute talking about who we are and our experience with phys ed in elementary and high school.  Many of the stories from the girls in the class talked about the over competitive nature of phys ed classes and the focus on team sports where there is a clear winner and a clear loser.  Many of the boys seemed to like that format and were successful in their phys ed classes.  This is a very small sample size, but it does lead to the question, should we segregate boys and girls into different phys ed classes that can focus on their interests?


The government of Alberta has an article on their healthy living site that explores the differences in activity preferences between girls and boys in physical education classes.  Although this article is clear to say that not every boy will like competitive team sports, and not every girl will like dancing there is a gender divide in preferred activities.  If this is the case, should we try to work within the interests of our students in the activities we use to meet the curriculum goals?

Photo by Lower Columbia College. Some rights reserved.

In high school there seems to be a movement towards this segregation.  Most of the people in our EPE class talked about having phys ed classes separated by gender in at least grade 9 and 10 (the years it is required in the curriculum). It is easier to do in high school because there is enough variance in classes being taken, and space availability for concurrent phys ed classes.

Is it practical, feasible, or even desirable at an elementary level to have separate boys and girls classes?

As our Saskatchewan society continues to evolve and change with the increase in the Aboriginal population and an increase in immigration there is the potential for cultural traditions to also influence how we teach phys ed.  In Manitoba some recent immigrants have requested exemptions for their children to not participate in physical education classes that are of mixed gender.  However, a local (Winnipeg) Muslim leader says that there is no reason for the separation between genders before the students reach puberty.  The question then becomes how do we fulfill the provincial curriculum objectives while still being respectful of the traditions and beliefs of students and families in the community?

Some studies have been done, and journal articles written on the the benefits (or detriments) to both single gender and co-ed classes.  This summary on the University of Michigan site tells us that single sex female classes allowed the girls to perfect skills more effectively, it actually reduced their overall exercise.  There were no noticeable differences in either skill or exercise level for boys who were in segregated or co-ed classes.  These studies were done on high school students and not elementary students so the results might not translate directly.  Many studies have also found that the most importnat factor in physical activity is having a friend to exercise with.  Regardless of gender it is important that all students have someone in the class that they feel comfortable with and they want to participate with.

The one area within the Saskatchewan curriculum that I think might be missing if we create segregated phys ed classrooms is Relationships.  Students would be able to develop good working relationships with others in the class, but it is not realistic to think that in their everyday lives they would only have interactions with others of the same gender.  These students will, in most cases, still be taking other classes in a co-ed setting, so perhaps they will gain relationship understanding in those classes which will be sufficient. However, they are not really fulfilling all of the curriculum goals of phys ed.  We then have to ask do the benefits (if there are any) outweigh the harms (if there are any).  The opinions on this topic are diverse and the studies inconclusive, especially at the elementary level.

This issue does, however, provide something to consider as we plan the physical education component of our future classrooms.