Ideas from Boys' Educators

Check out the articles below for ideas — from boys' educators for boys' educators — on best practices to equip boys with the tools they need to lead fulfilling lives. We hope you'll share your experience with our global community. Please send your ideas to janicki@theibsc.org. Thank you.

Letter to the Editor of The West Australian 
Read the letter to the editor that IBSC Executive Director Tom Batty sent to The West Australian in March 2024. It is awaiting publication.

Letter to the Editor of The Weekend Australian 
Read the letter to the editor that IBSC Executive Director Tom Batty sent to The Weekend Australian in response to and support of the article Boys Still Falling Through the Cracks by Education Editor Natasha Bita published November 25, 2023.

Patterns and Developments in Single-Sex Schools 
Catholic Schools New South Wales posted this discussion paper from the Kathleen Burrow Research Institute in September 2023. The paper provides a new analysis of enrollment trends and academic outcomes in single-sex schools in Australia.

Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post 
Read the letter to the editor that IBSC Executive Director Tom Batty sent to The Washington Post in response to the article Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness by columnist Christine Emba published July 10, 2023. 

Letter to the Editor of The Spectator
Read the letter to the editor that IBSC Executive Director Tom Batty sent to The Spectator in response to the article Why Boys Fall Behind, written by Richard V. Reeves and published online October 15, 2022.

Letter to the Editor of The Atlantic Regarding Redshirting Boys
Read the letter to the editor that IBSC Executive Director Tom Batty sent to The Atlantic in response to the article Redshirt the Boys: Why Boys Should Start School a Year Later Than Girls, written by Richard V. Reeves and published online and in the October 2022 print edition of the magazine.

Turning Boys of All Ages into Lifelong Readers 
Margaret Merga draws on recent research to explain how we can best encourage boys of all ages to become lifelong readers. Her article appears in the Education Hub of New Zealand.

Sexual Consent Resources 
Author Tim Hawkes, former headmaster of The King's School (Australia), shares resources on the vital topic of sexual consent.

Through the Pandemic and Beyond: What Will Sustain Independent Schools? 
Webinar Recording from February 9, 2021
What practices and trends will sustain schools through the rest of this pandemic and help them emerge with a healthy velocity? Watch a panel of education innovators discuss the issues, lessons, and strategies that will carry us through the pandemic and beyond.

Special COVID-19 Webinar Recording
More than 30 education associations in North America joined forces to host a webinar attended by over 2,000 people to help schools struggling to survive the current crisis. Now the recording and slides are available to help those who missed the live session.

Boys' Schools: Beginning a New Conversation
In his address at the annual St. Albans School (United States) Parent Dinner, Headmaster Jason Robinson called for a new conversation about the promise and potential of boys schools in today’s world.

The Power of Relational Engagement to Transform Elementary School Boys
In this article Richard Hawley and Linda Rohler share the importance of relational teaching in the younger years. Students’ willingness to engage in and master school challenges reflects the depth of their teachers’ commitment to the twin crafts of classroom management and instruction. Boys are most inclined to relate to teachers whose care for them is inseparable from their commitment to their work. Personal warmth is essential, but it is not enough.

Achievement in New Zealand Boys' Schools 2010–12
The New Zealand Council for Education Research conducted this report at the request of the Association of Boys’ Schools New Zealand (ABSNZ). The data show a trend nationwide for boys who are in boys’ schools achieving better academic results than those in coeducational schools across the whole of New Zealand, in all deciles and in all ethnicities, including NZ European, Asian, Maori, and Pasifika. Watch for an update to the research coming soon in 2018.

Boys Will Be the Boys We Raise
There’s poetry written in the heart of a boy. Sometimes with enough coaxing and patience, it bubbles up reluctantly in halting lines and clipped stanzas; sometimes it springs forth in sudden floods of joy or sorrow. More often, the words huddle deep amid the testosterone-fueled confusion of adolescence, yearning to be heard, yet suppressed in stoic silence. In solitude. The hearts of many men are not so different. Perhaps we — educators and parents of boys — can do better at interpreting the verses and building the rhymes. Read more.

The Boys Could Be All Right: Rethinking the Corrective to Violent Behavior
In this compelling article, Richard Hawley demonstrates that the better boy is not only possible — he is out there. Earlier or later in his life, someone came to know and care for him. There could be more of him. He could be normative. Founding President of International Boys’ Schools Coalition, Hawley is also Headmaster Emeritus, University School (United States).

Leading and Learning with Boys Today
Kerry Brennan, The Roxbury Latin School (United States); Bradford Gioia, Montgomery Bell Academy (United States); Byron Hulsey, Woodberry Forest School (United States); and IBSC Executive Director David Armstrong gave this presentation on March 8, in Atlanta at the 2018 NAIS Annual Conference. In it they focused on the best ways to lead, engage, and support boys in today’s society. They invited attendees to engage in the conversation to encourage boys’ growth as citizens and individuals so they are virtuous, kind, and exceptional leaders.