I was asked to participate in a plenary session at an upcoming Women’s Studies Conference entitled “Girls’ Culture and Girls’ Studies: Surviving, Reviving Celebrating Girlhood.” Interestingly, the notion of girls’ studies is “in vogue.” The conference includes such broad topics as empowerment, girls’ rights, girls’ play, leadershp, media, sexuality,girls of color, global perspectives, and popular culture. While it is hard to imagine how we will address all these topics in a mere two days, it is far more fascinating to contemplate why there is such interest in girls’ studies at this moment in time.
For my session, I will be partnered with a colleague who is the principal of the Brighter Choice Charter School for Girls in Albany. Her world is not my world to be certain. Still, as we prepared for our session, I marveled that we shared essentially the same message: girls’ education is the story of girls in relationship. The third member of the panel is a co-head of a new girls school in Toronto, one that promotes feminist thinking. She brings an international perspective to the question we were asked to discuss: How is educating girls in the 21st century different?
I gathered some Emma faculty on campus last week to collect some perspectives, but would welcome any and all insights from those who stumble across this blog before October 18th. Is educating girls the same everywhere? How can we make single sex education relevant? What does it mean to educate girls in a global age? Big questions to be sure, but made more interesting when others weigh in. So please do.
Just a few thoughts as we’ve had two daughters at Emma and have seen the power of a girls’ education:
In an adolescent’s world, social and peer pressure present daunting obstacles to girls feeling comfortable, never mind encouraged, to speak their minds and be “smart.” An all-girls environment can not only remove the “stigma” of being a bright, assertive woman but it can also give girls a safe and supportive world in which to fearlessly explore their potential. Risk-taking by girls in a coed environment is something undertaken only by the bravest of the brave. In an all-girls school, it can be something that is encouraged and rewarded because relationships there among the students AND faculty are built on mutual respect and shared experiences, not on who’s dating whom or who’s wearing what. — John Wilpers, Parent of Abigail (‘05) and Melissa (‘10)
It truly is a small world! I happen to be on the Board of the Brighter Choice School for Girls and a parent of an Emma freshman. While my initial association with Brighter Choice was as an investment banker helping it issue tax-exempt bonds, I was extraordinarily impressed with the School (the first all girls public elementary charter school in the nation), its mission, its academic performance – and of course, its single gender focus. Indeed, my association with Brighter Choice erased any reservations I had regarding Emma and an all girls education as a first choice for my daughter.
As a result of my work with the bond financing, I was asked to join the Board as its Treasurer and continue to be impressed with Melissa Cedano, its principal, and the School’s accomplishments. Yes, Emma and Brighter Choice have very different student populations, yet the core philosophies are very similar. Given the success of the Brighter Choice School for Girls (and its affiliated yet separate Brighter Choice School for Boys), I expect that we will be seeing more publically financed single gender schools in New York State and around the country.
Wendy Berry, Parent of Sarah (‘12)