The Resilient Boy

Skills for Success in School and Beyond

March 10 – 28, 2025

An IBSC Online Classonline class

 

Designed for educators in boys’ schools and facilitated by author Andrew Reiner, this class provides teachers and leaders with an understanding of the pressures and challenges faced by boys and uncovers the skills and knowledge to foster resilience in their students.

In this three-week class, engage with content that:

  • Provides insights into the pressures boys face and how to foster resilience to help them thrive in and out of school.
  • Establishes effective strategies that build resilience in boys and a school culture that values and promotes it.
  • Offers a proactive approach to improve boys’ academic performance, social-emotional skills, mental health, and overall well-being by addressing potential issues early on.
  • Contributes to a positive and inclusive school environment where all students—particularly boys—feel safe, valued, nurtured, and empowered to succeed.
  • Equips educators to better support the healthy development and resilience of boys.

Learning Objectives

By the conclusion of this course, you'll be equipped to:

  • Understand the social, emotional, and developmental challenges boys face in the modern world.
  • Identify and examine the diverse influences that contribute to decreased resilience in boys.
  • Formulate strategies to foster resilience in boys within their own educational contexts.

Who Should Attend?

Educators of boys committed to supporting their healthy development and resilience

Class Format

Classes run asynchronously, so there is no specific time each week when you must attend online. Plan to spend at least 3-5 hours each week the class is in session. Coursework and assignments for each unit open on Sundays, giving participants ample time to engage and submit weekly assignments. Grace periods are given, but interaction proves more effective when the entire class works on the same topic. Connect and collaborate with fellow boys’ school educators through a variety of interactive media, including short videos and discussion boards.

Registration

  • IBSC member rate: US $495
  • Nonmember rate: US $645
  • IBSC South Africa member rate: US $375

Please note: Watch for login information for your online class the Friday before it opens. If you registered for the class after the Friday before it beings, watch for login information within 24 hours.

Refund Policy
IBSC will refund 90% of registration fees if a written request is received two weeks prior to the class. No refunds will be made for cancellations received after this time. Schools seeking to register an alternate to replace a participant unable to attend should contact IBSC@theibsc.org.

Facilitator

Andrew ReinerAndrew Reiner

Writer and full-time lecturer Andrew Reiner teaches men’s studies, writing, and cultural studies at Towson University. He created two popular courses: The Changing Face of Masculinity and Leading Lives That Matter. The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NBC THINK have published his work.

Released in December 2020, his book Better Boys, Better Men provides a one-on-one conversation with the reader about the many ways the static, business-as-usual masculine identity we tolerate and encourage no longer serves boys and men—nor the rest of us—in a 21st century where boys need a toolkit that better reflects changing societal needs. After researching this topic exhaustively over four years to write the book, Reiner advances this conversation and adds greater, more honest complexity. It goes beyond merely torching masculinity without any constructive ideas about what needs to rise from the ashes.