Korean Job Discussion Forums

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

What do you think of inclusion in classrooms? There are two major ways it's going now.

1) People are starting to think all girls and boys classes might be better, and are trying them out back home. I am talking about classes, not boys and girls schools.

2) Differently abled (current PC word, last I checked anyway) people being put into all the same classes.

My opinions...

1) Doesn't hurt to try, and I think it might work. But this goes against all the West's ideologies, so would be a hard sell. You would also have to make sure that there weren't too many "I want a girl class" teachers. Not many people would want the boys class. Some would, but not many. Have to change teacher education somewhat.

2) I don't agree with this (and my foster sister is mentally challenged). It is almost always no good for either the class (they tend to grow to hate them, remember, they are just kids) and the one kid can't get the kind of teaching they really need. They usually have a helper, but I still think they are special and need a special, more focused way of learning (not in a class of 30 people all quite higher). And each kid should ALWAYS be done on a case by case basis, because this opinion of mine is very general, and some can (not easily) function normally in a "normal" class.
Now, for classes like gym or art, I see no problem (with a helper, and again dealing on a case by case basis).

Actually, I guess I keep saying case by case basis, I just think there are some children (my foster sister being able to attend almost all classes, though some frustrated her, and not the good kind of learning frustration, but the bad kind).

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

It`s said that girls do better in girls only classes and boys do better in mixed classes. The girls seem to calm the guys down and balance out the testosterone influence. When it`s all boys it`s just testosterone to the nth power, and gets more out of hand.

But overall I favour mixed classes, and it`s good to mix up the different learning approaches and personal expression styles of males and females. And for the sexes to learn to adress each other respectfully in an academic setting.

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Maybe "respectfully" is the wrong word. One of the most important uses of school is teaching socialisation to students. If they can't mix, they'll miss out on a lot.

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

ChopChaeJoe · Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Location: Seoul

For a short while, I had a class of all boys. It wasn't designed to be, it's just worked itself to that point. The thing with boys is that you can be a bit tougher, you can get mean if the situation calls for it.

I'm not talking about hitting any kids, but you can definitely raise your voice and use other methods of verbal intimidation to control the boys. Girls might get really scared or cry.

Then again, girls do have a moderating influence on the class, so you rarely have cause to use such methods with girls in the class.