Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Cannot Cooperate Aisha is known as a responsible and smart student. I have known her for the last two years, but this year is the first time she is taking one of my classes. She is in my 10th grade US History class. Recently, I started using small group projects in my class. I simply want my students to learn to cooperate, exchange ideas, and produce the project together. Although Aisha is willing to take part in these small group projects, she does not want to be in groups with male students because of her religious beliefs. When she told me about this, I told her that she was in the United States and that she had to work with whoever she is in a group with. In the first group project, Aisha was in a group with three males and one female students. She simply did not participate in any of the group activities. I wonder if should reconsider my original position on this issue and accommodate Aisha by having her work only with girls. Would I be doing her a disservice? What should I do? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I think that respecting her religious beliefs is very important here; it's what our country is founded on and should be made a priority. However, there is no way to avoid interacting with males in a co-ed school setting, so it's something that she'll need to becoming accustomed to as a high school student. I don't think it's necessarily doing her a disservice not placing her in groups with males because she will be forced to have other interactions with them on a daily classroom by just being present in a co-ed classroom. The best possible solution that respects her as a cultural being is to allow her to be in a group with only females. As a teacher you are not necessarily responsible for making sure she exposes herself to American culture, you can only do your best at teaching your content area and helping her be successful in the subject area.