The Parallel Education Model: A Help or A Hindrance?

One of the most interesting aspects of the Everdeen school, in my opinion, is its parallel education model. This education style consists of each sex being taught within separate buildings and classrooms, but those buildings and classrooms are all located on the same campus. It appears that the institution was aiming to create some type of middle ground between same-sex and co-ed schooling, something that combines both into one larger system. As someone who has always been educated in a co-ed environment, this was extremely intriguing to me. Before reading about first-hand experiences with this model, I was having a hard time understanding what it would be like to be in an environment like that, and how it could benefit but also harm one’s educational experience. 

While the interviewed student who was currently attending Everdeen did not have much to say regarding this model, the Everdeen Alumnim who had the chance to experience a co-ed environment while at university certainly did. This alone was interesting to me, seeing how the student who was currently being educated within the parallel education model did not seem to think it was notable enough to speak about when being asked questions specifically about his educational experiences at Everdeen. This could be due to the fact that he had yet to experience a co-ed environment at school and had nothing to compare it to, or maybe he just became so used to it that it doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to him anymore. The alumni, on the other hand, having been through a co-ed experience at university during the time of the interview, had a lot to reflect upon regarding her high school educational experiences within this model. 

The alumni immediately told the interviewer that she actually thoroughly enjoyed the parallel education model at Everdeen. She explained that the separation of boys and girls was much more prominent in her younger years at Everdeen, and as she grew older and the class sizes grew smaller, they began to become more mixed. She said that she enjoyed being separated during those younger years because they are typically an awkward time for students, and “all the boys are a bit yuck.” I could see how being separated during that time could be beneficial for increasing student comfort levels within the classroom, especially for girls. 

I remember middle school as a time when boys started to first announce their crushes quite proudly and would attempt to compliment and flirt with those lucky few. As a middle school girl, especially one with very little experience talking to boys, this can elicit some very awkward and uncomfortable feelings. Despite this, I think it is important for student socialization purposes that kids go through this and deal with those awkward and uncomfortable feelings head-on. It taught me, and I can assume many others, how to appropriately respond in these situations, how to react while keeping the feelings of others in mind, and how to continue coexisting after the fact. This alumnus was never able to have this learning experience, and that could have had an impact on her social development later on. However, at the time she was in middle school, I doubt that she was thinking about her social development so I can see how the separation seemed great at the time.  

Growing older and becoming more exposed to co-ed environments seemed to be something that the alumni, whose interview I read, also enjoyed. She discusses the fact that she had friends who only attended all-girls schools, and after talking to them she feels more grateful for her opportunity to partake in some co-ed schooling. This could be because the real social and professional world is fully mixed gender, so eventually having the opportunity to learn how to interact and behave within these environments was something very beneficial to her. The alumni likely realized that at some point she was going to “actually have to learn to work with boys” and be intermixed with people of different genders than her own, and the sooner she was the better. If she had not ever been given that opportunity, she would have likely had a much more difficult time socializing and integrating into her university and professional communities later in life. Everdeens’ strategy of structuring the parallel education model in a manner that begins more strictly and then loosens up as the students get older is definitely unique, but it is also definitely beneficial to the student’s ability to grow and become well-functioning members of society.