I teach both boys and girls. There is a definite difference in the way they approach any task or problem: not necessarily better, just different.It's often a subtle difference. Sometimes not so subtle.
It can be tricky, in a classroom situation, to cope with the different needs of boys and girls, to allow them the freedom to express themselves and to explore their talents and interests. I am becoming more and more convinced that single-sex education is actually better: not necessarily single-sex schools, just the actual lessons.
We've had single-sex Confirmation classes for two years, last year by accident, this year by design (as last year was so successful.) I've also noticed that the boys are more keen to serve on the sanctuary when there aren't any girls in evidence. They also really don't like to dress in the same way as the girls if there is any hint of a choice...
So I was very interested to read the following quote on Fr. Ray's blog...
John, Cardinal Heenan apparently said this after attending the first demonstration of the Novus Ordo.
"At home it is not only women and children but also fathers of families and young men who come regularly to mass. If we were to offer them the kind of ceremony we saw yesterday in the Sistine Chapel we would soon be left with a congregation mostly of women and children."
How very prophetic.
Interesting, how on earth do you find the time and the catechists to do single sex Confirmation preparation?
ReplyDeleteTwo/three catechists and Fr. Tim for each class (some sessions are together, such as the introduction and the rehearsals) and a very short, intensive programme.
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Oh my giddy aunt! How awful! D'you mean you are actually in favour of preserving gender stereotypes? Is all the dedicated work of the politically correct in the past decades to come to naught? Never mind the children, think how much the self esteem of the sociologists, social workers, government advisers and marxist college lecturers will suffer when their carefully nurtured social engineering theories begin to crumble in the light of empirical evidence. Have some compassion.
ReplyDeleteLondiniensis, I have just come back after a few drinks at the parish club... for one horrible moment, I thought you'd gone all liberal on me...
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I am posting the full quote from Cardinal Heenan because the quote referred to has been taken out of context. A poster on Fr Ray's blog supplied this.
ReplyDeleteThe quote from Cardinal Heenan can be found in the book 'A Bitter Trial, Evelyn Waugh and John Cardinal Heenan on the liturgical changes, Edited by Scott M.P. Reid' on p.70.
The quote comes from Cardinal Heenan's intervention at the Synod of Bishop's, Rome, in October, 1967. Bugnini comments on Heenan's intervention can be found in his own book (pp. 348-350).
Cardinal Heenan's intervention includes these words: "At home it is not only women and children but also fathers of families and young men who come regularly to Mass. If we were to offer them the kind of ceremony we saw yesterday in the Sistine Chapel (a demonstration of the Normative Mass) we would soon be left with a congregation of mostly women and children. Our people love the Mass but it is Low Mass without psalm-singing and other musical embellishments to which they are chiefly attached."
A lady was telling me about how her two grandsons both stopped serving Mass at their parish church when the P.P introduced girl servers. Not rabid women haters - just a couple of teenage lads.
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