I went to an all girls school, an all girls college and now find I am doing a library program in an all girls school !
Every where I look .. girls.
The atmosphere and energy of an ‘all’ girls school IS different. Sheena has been confronting me with what seems like stereotypes, but in some way I cannot disprove these interpretations. Neither can she !
The girls are able to contain an energy in the classroom to create the almost perfect listening audience. There is no twitching, falling off the seats, pushing, pulling, rolling on the floor , crawling ‘neath the desks that we experience in all boys classrooms! And we do!
Recently I was greeted with a “teacher you look so pretty today !” affirmation. All untrue, I was in the classroom with dark circles under my eyes that slipped down to my chin due to sagging skin. My hair is the proverbial hornet’s nest, my clothes are old and won but comfortable. I have a cold and blocked sinus.. yes, you do get the picture. But the girls, ” they intuitively know that a woman might like to be spoken to about looks” so they played this card. Unconsciously !
The girls produce neat paper pencil work. So neat that too much time is spent drawing lines and margins, arranging the page and the stationary that our bell rings and we have incomplete work every class. I need to hustle them. The boys on the other hand, represent almost immediately. Issues like spelling deter them but not ideas and they rarely worry about what you might think. You want my thoughts – here they go ! boom – done! The girls, raise their hands ( i know!) and want to show you how they framed the title of arranged a curl on someone’s head, just so or used a pretty shade of mauve. I am serious, they do and while it seems I am disloyal to my gender I want to reflect on what makes girls so.
How much of all this is the socialisation process itself? Except for the security and an administrative assistant, the staff of the school , the management are all girls. How many years of socialisation has accumulated into forms and norms in which girls should behave and it is proper to be thus.
As our program grows in this school, I want to observe and step back now and then and understand this better. Until then, Fridays in the all girls school is a welcome break. The classes are easy, the girls are receptive and books are being read.
