Apart together: “girl talk” and “boy talk” classes at an urban middle school

Subgroups within a school can fracture or strengthen the larger community. In this article, participant observation of two classes offered in an urban middle school, "Girl Talk" and "Boy Talk, " reveal their fracturing and strengthening effects on community at the schooL The classes differed from each other in a number of ways, including organization, goals, sense of community, and actual or potential fracturing and strengthening effects. The reconfiguration of the classes after only 12 weeks suggests that the schoolfound itprudent to dilute their influence to a level that could more easily be tolerated, monitored, and controlled.