CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
FORWARD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 EDITORS’ NOTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 RESEARCH REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Character Greg Ryerson: Using Student Agency to Promote Efficacy in Self-evaluation . Patricia Alviano, Sandra Boyes and Trish Cislak: Adolescent Boys and Their Peer Relationships: Their Truth Be Told
Wellness Carolyn Smith-Green: Aligning Operations Teams to the Mission of the School
Pedagogies Merrick David: Encouraging Positive Faculty Support for Boys of Concern Ian Eatock: Global Collaboration of Students to Solve Social Justice Issues Richard Prosser & Alexandra Rodney: Using Design Thinking and Collaboration to Promote Leadership Skills
SHARING OUR EXPERTISE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2019-2020 Conference Presentations Podcasts, Publications and Courses
OUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ON THE HORIZON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Student Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC) CCBE Podcast Program Middle School Research Design Project NAIS Conference 2021 IBSC Action Research Program 2021-2022 IBSC Conference July 2021
OUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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FORWARD The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
The idea of a Crescent School research centre was seeded during our strategic planning sessions roughly five years ago. As we contemplated our future, we knew then that providing professional growth and learning opportunities for our faculty would ensure that we found, retained and developed the very best people to deliver our mission, Men of Character from Boys of Promise. What’s more, we wanted an opportunity to learn from one another on how best to educate our boys, and to share this expertise nationally and globally.
to join a global network of schools with research centres to guide their practice and professional learning communities. With over 100 years of excellence in teaching boys, we are eminently positioned to stand among them.
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education (CCBE) is the manifestation of our vision. It is a place where learning, inquiry, research, and professional development come together to support this goal. We are proud
I congratulate Dr. Sandra Boyes and Mrs. Trish Cislak on CCBE’s inaugural year, and look forward to the inspiring work emerging from the Centre.
The CCBE augments Crescent’s standing as a world leader in the theories and practices dedicated to discovering how boys learn best. It supports evidence-based research studies conducted by Crescent faculty and staff, and promotes this important work to a broader audience. Our staff have embraced this opportunity to learn and grow from their practice.
Michael Fellin P’24 Headmaster, Crescent School
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
EDITORS’ NOTE It is our pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural, year-end report for the Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education. As we conclude our first year of influence and impact on Crescent School, we are proud to realize that much has been accomplished despite the COVID19 pandemic. The CCBE was established on the premise that it would enrich our entire Crescent community and inform those dedicated to the education of boys beyond our walls. The global reach of our work resonates with our purpose now more than ever. Our curious and engaged teacher leaders are improving the teaching and learning experience for everyone in our community. By the same token, our boys are flexing their student agency by sharing insights into the research we are conducting and by adding their voices and perspectives to who we are as a School.
Dr. Sandra Boyes Executive Director of Professional Learning & Research, Head of Lower School
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Crescent School has a thriving research culture. Faculty members are incorporating and implementing data from their professional reading, action research projects and longitudinal research studies. Our dedicated Professional Learning Community Research committee meets regularly to support current work and prepare for what lies ahead. We are grateful to have a dedicated, collaborative, physical space for the CCBE; it provides inspiration for our community to embrace research ideals and connect with others. These intentional practices enhance our understanding of the skills, knowledge and character qualities that define our mission of Men of Character from Boys of Promise. Our global network with established and new partners will continue to strengthen. Crescent School will continue to be on the frontlines of excellence in boys’ education. We are excited for what our future holds.
Mrs. Trish Cislak Head of Libraries and Research
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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RESEARCH REPORTS The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CHARACTER How might Grade 7 boys have better success in skill development if they self-identify a need for personal growth?
Greg Ryerson
“Building awareness of self-efficacy has proven to be a positive influence in the lives of the Middle School boys”, says Middle School teacher Greg Ryerson. His year-long research challenged his students to explore the development of their 4C skills - communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Using surveys, reflection prompts from journal entries and interviews, he found that boys became more aware of their comfort zones and were able to leverage existing abilities through skill development. They better appreciated the power of collaboration and communication as they developed effective teamwork strategies; each boy was able to identify and contribute to solutions with his own strengths. One particular area that Mr. Ryerson found most intriguing was discovering
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that the boys want to develop new skills coming from a place of strength. This was contrary to his in-going assumption that the students would first identify areas of weakness and work to address those. His research indicated that we would be more successful by first identifying areas of strength and confidence, using those skills to “train up” any weaker areas. Mr. Ryerson is eager to explore this further and dig into how he can make a pedagogical shift to focus on this. He plans to delve further into his findings in the fall and is in a unique position to conduct a 2.0 version of his project with his mentor group next year. He will share his initial and subsequent learnings at the IBSC Conference in 2021. Link to Report (pending) Mr. Ryerson’s Action Research poster
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CHARACTER Adolescent Boys and their Peer Relationships: Their Truth Be Told How might boys be co-researchers in discovering the “boy code” and its impact on school culture? Patricia Alviano, Sandra Boyes & Trish Cislak
When working with boys to repair the gap between intention and impact, it is our experience that boys are unable to articulate why they make the choices they do. There is growing awareness of the unspoken boy code rules that govern them. How can we support our boys to make decisions that both honour their need to thrive in their peer group and still support the School’s need for a positive, safe and inclusive culture? The intention of this longitudinal research project is to use the voices of adolescent boys to create a boy code of relational gestures (strategies) designed to meet both of these needs. This research began in January of 2020 with focus groups of boys from Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9. The boys participated in a series of discussions and activities designed to tease out the different perspectives of boys at each age. Our project was designed to:
1. Discover the current reality of the “boy code” rules that govern their choices and their behaviour by creating a safe space to honour their voices. 2. Identify the dominant themes using individual, reflection assignments and data from focus group recordings and discussions. 3. Create a series of relational gestures recommendations based upon the findings to establish a boy code of relational gestures (strategies). 4. Inform school policymakers, teacher leaders, and mentors of the findings 5. Integrate the co-created relational gestures into the School’s conduct policies and mentor program instruction. Phase Two of this project will commence in the Fall of 2020.
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
WELLNESS How does Crescent’s Learn and Lead module impact the Operations Teams’ support of mission delivery?
Carolyn Smith-Green It was exciting to have Carolyn Smith-Green, Crescent’s Chief Finance and Administration Officer, use action research to investigate the impact of a team building program that was implemented for professional development. Over the past two years, an Operations Series has been conducted for Crescent’s Finance, Facilities, Innovation & Technology, Business Development, and Risk Management departments that make up the Operations Team. The Operations Series was developed to create a forum for team building and strengthen communication using the Portrait of the Graduation questions (Who am I? How do I lead? What is my legacy?) as the basis. The team has developed team norms and service delivery standards with the planned progression to develop learn and lead standards. There were four planned sessions which combined information sharing and workshops. During the first two sessions,
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team norms and service delivery standards were reviewed and ranked by importance by each team member. There was clear alignment across the teams showing the majority ranked communicating openly and proactively and showing empathy, compassion, and respect as the top team norms. A subsequent workshop on the topic of “servant leadership’’ was held to determine how this concept applies to the Operations Team at Crescent. This project will continue in 2020-2021 as it was halted due to COVID-19. The remaining sessions will focus on defining “change agents”, the development of the learn and lead standards for the team, and the link to the mission. Perhaps most significantly is how this reflective practice is being embraced by Ms. Smith-Green and the Operations staff. It is already reaping positive results as the Operations Team better understands their role in mission delivery at Crescent.
Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
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PEDAGOGIES How do protocols encourage intentional communication, hope, and solution-focused conversations regarding how we support our boys?
Merrick David As a Learning Support Specialist in Crescent’s Lower School, one of Merrick David’s key roles is supporting individualized learning plans for boys. This kind of differentiated instruction can create challenges for teachers who are supporting each individual learner. Adopting a solution-focused mindset and plan of action protocols can support our teachers. Protocols have the capacity to instill both intentional communication and a sense of hope; two very important things that need to exist when talking about our boys. Ms. David’s research focused on a more formalized protocol to support the development of intentional and solutionfocused communication among colleagues when discussing boys of concern. This was a small tweak to an already existing structure. Just before the March Break,
she assembled a voluntary team of teachers and staff to implement Solution Circles, a solution-focused protocol that leans on community capacity. Their role is to help teachers problem-solve and/or become unstuck when experiencing a new teaching challenge which may be impeding their ability to best support a student. At Crescent, we regularly communicate about our boys. Introducing Solution Circles is a more formalized way to navigate these conversations. The Solution Circle will be reintroduced to the Lower School faculty in the fall. This concept can thrive in both brick and mortar and virtual learning environments. Ms. David is hoping to capture data that will promote positive protocols as teachers work to create successful learning environments for all students.
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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PEDAGOGIES How might global collaboration and perspective support student engagement and finding solutions to local social justice projects?
Ian Eatock
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Upper School Modern Language teacher Ian Eatock’s class project in collaboration with Collegio Los Nogales, a K-12 independent School in Columbia and teacher Beatriz de Hiraldo, began in January 2020. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was able to continue through the year. His Grade 11 and 12 students drafted solutions for a social issue of their choosing by following a design thinking protocol. They defined a specific issue, created user profiles for individuals who were most closely affected by the issue, brainstormed solutions for and refined those issues. Finally, they created a path forward by putting that solution into a “SMART” (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) goal framework. They posted their progress online in short videos that were shared on a forum with the students from Colombia. They had opportunities to ask questions in Spanish and English, and give and receive feedback on their projects.
opportunity to connect with students studying similar issues in South America,” says Eatock. Student engagement was evident and the boys offered some perspectives for improvement, such as the need for more project structure in the future and that a change in technology might be necessary to simplify the exchange of ideas between schools. The boys would appreciate more grammar and vocabulary connections to the curriculum material during the project itself. Moving forward, he will build out more structured steps for the students to follow during their project.
This experience was a good first step in building a prototype for the project. “The students enjoyed the opportunity to work on something ‘real’ and appreciated the
Eatock will use this experience to launch Phase Two of his research in the Fall of 2020.
Eatock appreciates the opportunity to work with CAIS to develop innovative projects for schools. Says Eatock, “Our current circumstances highlight the need for compelling programming that leans into the use of digital technologies to connect young voices and bring the ‘geographically distant’ closer to home.”
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
PEDAGOGIES How might using a Design Thinking Approach build leadership competencies?
Rich Prosser & Alexandra Rodney
Following the second year of their twoyear GPP3O Leadership course, Assistant Head of Upper School Rich Prosser and educational consultant Alexandra Rodney found that students’ leadership competencies, particularly in the areas of interpersonal interaction and learning and reasoning increased. Students reported that experiential learning was key to their leadership development. They identified six strengths they developed while taking the leadership course: the ability to recognize community needs; identify strengths in self and others; recognize and overcome challenges; personally grow through challenges; take ownership of problems; and manage their time. “These findings provide support for leadership education,” says Prosser. “We will be thinking more about how that can be incorporated into the curriculum in a way
that doesn’t overburden students with busy schedules.” The research did uncover an area warranting further exploration. “We would like to understand more about whether intentional teaching of leadership competencies is necessary for youth to develop these competencies or whether these competencies naturally develop in youth over time,” says Rodney. Additional research would involve a larger-scale experiment that compares students in a leadership class with their peers who aren’t taking a leadership class (control group) to see whether there is a causal relationship between teaching and leadership competency development in youth. Prosser and Rodney will be analyzing their findings more deeply over the summer and sharing this work with the Crescent Community.
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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SHARING OUR EXPERTISE The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
2019-2020 CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS Patricia Alviano: CIS Wellness Conference December 2019 Candace Harrison and Samantha Pena: CIS Wellness Conference December 2019 ISOMA Conference January 2020 Sandy Boyes: IBSC Virtual Conference 2020 - Sexual Citizenship Discussion Panelist
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
PODCASTS, PUBLICATIONS AND COURSES Podcasts Trish Cislak has spent nine years with the IBSC Action Research Program as a research advisor. She and the team of research advisors shared insights on the impact of Action Research on teachers’ practices. Guiding teachers through the research process with an intentional focus on ‘boyology’ as they conduct their research allows powerful discoveries and can lead to changes to curriculum and pedagogy that better fit the needs of the boys we teach. Trish Cislak: Cutting-edge Research by Boys’ Educators for Boys’ Educators Headmaster Michael Fellin and Director of Professional Learning and Research and Head of Lower School Dr. Sandra Boyes shared their rationale for why now is the time for Crescent to establish itself as a leading member on the global stage in the education of boys. Mike Fellin and Sandy Boyes: Establishing Cultures of Research and Innovation in Boys’ Schools The 2018-2019 topic for the IBSC Action Research program was Storytelling. Teachers were able to bring aspects of storytelling into any realm within the curriculum and investigate its impact on the lives of boys. Patricia Alviano challenged her Grade 7 Mentor Group to find and embrace their own narrative as they navigate the challenging time of Middle School. Ms. Alviano discovered that when boys were provided a space to tell their personal stories, they were better able to draw connections between their lived experience and how they understand their “self”. Patricia Alviano: Harness the Power of Narrative to Teach Boys
Sean DeZilva’s work, influence and passion regarding Diversity and Inclusion is becoming well known throughout the IBSC Network. Mr. DeZilva is a co-chair, along with Social Worker, Shai Kohen, of Crescent’s Diversity Professional Learning Community and a Facilitator of the Black Student Association. He has championed the need for Crescent to take a hard look at our practices and our school culture as a whole and inspired Crescent boys to share their truths. Sean DeZilva Teaching and Reaching Boys of Colour In this special COVID-19 podcast, Deputy Headmaster and Head of Upper School Nick Kovacs shared the guiding principles of Crescent’s Virtual Learning Program (VLP). Continuity, flexibility and community allowed Crescent to find success as we worked together to navigate the challenges of remote emergency learning. Three phases of the VLP were implemented and this allowed Crescent to embrace the opportunities that the situation afforded. This framework allowed the boys to successfully complete their academic year. More importantly, this program allowed us to focus on the relationships we have with the boys. Nick Kovacs: Community in a Time of Distance
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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Publications Patricia Alviano The Power of Storytelling: How to Challenge Gen Zers to Explore Their Personal Identity Without Wi-Fi, National Association of Independent Schools, Fall 2019.
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Courses Trish Cislak - IBSC Online Reading Course
Trish Cislak was asked by the IBSC to research and report on the current status of boys as readers. This video outlines some of the challenges and strategies boys’ schools can use to enhance their reading culture. IBSC - Online Reading Course Research Interview
Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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OUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY The 2019-2020 school year saw the launch of a Research PLC. One opportunity had members write a brief reflection on a reading that changed their practice. This is one approach in a research culture that keeps us growing as learners.
Greg Ryerson reflects on Ambitious Science Teaching by Mark Windschitl, Jessica Thompson, and Melissa Braaten
This book was recommended during a webinar I attended on how to capture and visualize student thinking, particularly through the use and development of models. I then completed a National Geographic Education course on teaching global climate change, and 2 chapters from this book were included in the required readings. Embracing the Next Generation Science Standards and 21st Century learning skills, the book provides examples and strategies for how to incorporate these ideas into our classrooms. Teaching through the use of a model allows for students to demonstrate the growth of their understanding of a topic by
https://ambitiousscienceteaching.org/
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Discovering How Boys Learn Best
giving life to their initial ideas and then adjusting and developing those as they learn more. They are encouraged to explain their thinking, argue their ideas, and then recreate their model as their understanding grows. This process emulates the scientific method in the classroom. In my teaching I like to incorporate ideas that allow for design thinking and experiential learning, and that provide structure for my students to generate their own ideas. I am planning to incorporate the use of these modelling techniques into my future teaching in order to better help the boys demonstrate their scientific literacy and engage in the scientific method. By doing so I hope that they will gain a better understanding of that process and be better able to formulate their own robust and qualified ideas.
Natalie Vera reflects on Student Agency in the Classroom I joined Twitter in 2015. My intention was not to tweet but to use Twitter as my playground for educational resources. Don’t get me wrong, I will occasionally tweet all the great things that we do here at Crescent, but my main use for Twitter is professional development. Over the years, I have followed likeminded educators and educational technology companies. I have figured out the fine art of trolling Twitter for useful resources for me and to share with my colleagues. I came across an educator, Catlin Tucker, who shared many of my own values around education. I soon
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realized that she had an amazing blog where she posted thought-provoking articles. The article, “3 Ways to Build Student Agency into Your Lessons” helped me build a more engaging learning environment. She discusses the what, how and why of a lesson or project. Giving your student a voice and a choice allows for deeper learning and more engaged students. She speaks about teacher concern over losing control of their classroom when it comes to student agency. What I have found is the opposite. Students are more engaged, more reflective and open to feedback as they explore their learning. I have even found a shift from the boys asking
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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Discovering How Boys Learn Best
what their mark is to ask how they can improve their communication and make their thinking more visible. Reading and following Catlin’s blog and being on Twitter allows me to self reflect on my own teaching practices and gives me the opportunity to engage my students in a way that makes their thinking visible and more importantly gives them their own voice!
Patricia Alviano reflects on Demystifying Generation Z
support. This change has made a significant impact. The buy-in amongst students has increased, and their motivation to work alongside me in solving problems or overcoming obstacles has become a proactive approach to their learning. Inspired by Tim Elmore’s work, I look forward to receiving an email from his daily blog, Growing Leaders. His research continues to offer many practical strategies and tools for the critical need to equip our current generation of adolescent students with leadership skills, emotional intelligence and coping strategies in a unique way.
Tim Elmore’s Generation Z Unfiltered: Factng Nine Hidden Challenges of the Most Anxious Population encouraged me to think, reflect and imagine how to better support our current generation of adolescent students. In his book, Elmore clearly illustrates the differences between Generation Z and previous generations. Acknowledging the paradox as “Life for [Generation Z] is easier and quicker to navigate technically, but more difficult to navigate psychologically and emotionally” acted as a reminder of the importance in providing our students with coping skills necessary to help overcome stress and anxiety. I was able to connect my work as a Middle School Learning Support Specialist with each of the nine challenges presented in Elmore’s work. For example, the first paradox for Generation Z is listed as Empowerment without Wisdom. Elmore’s research notes, the best way to get buy-in from students is to invite them into the problem solving process. Motivated by this approach, I shifted my practice. Rather than creating a support model and introducing it to students using a prescriptive framework, I have adopted a descriptive framework, where students are empowered to create their own model for
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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ON THE HORIZON The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
School Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC) Crescent School is thrilled to announce that we are the first Canadian independent school to be a member of this collaborative. Beginning Fall 2020, Crescent and SPARC will bring research and student agency together with the intent on making a marked difference in the lives of the boys at Crescent. SPARC’s mission:
The Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives (CSBGL) partners with independent schools to support their educational missions. Based at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, our graduate students and faculty train teams of students and teachers from member schools in research methods, motivated by a belief in the power of evidence to improve school life. Over the course of a dozen years and more than 100 projects, the Center has helped schools to address a host of issues, from unconscious racism and gender inequality to enhancing leadership opportunities and curtailing bullying. In our youth participatory action research model (YPAR), the knowledge and experience of students guides rigorous inquiry into pressing school questions and helps to generate ideas for improvement. It is useful, however, to think of the Center as also having a broader mission that takes our work beyond the important role of training and education.
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On a fundamental level the Center is committed to the human development of the young people participating on our school teams. Questions like ‘What kind of lives can students imagine?’ and ‘What can students be and do?’ underlie our Center’s very existence and reflect a deeply felt commitment to the quality of young people’s lives. What is called the Human Development Approach recognizes that youth realize their potential in the context of opportunities and supports they find in their homes, communities and schools. The approach considers the conditions boys and girls find in these social contexts — both those that enable human flourishing and those that lead to what might be seen as “capability failures. ” Michael Reichert, Ph.D., Executive Director We are fortunate to be working with our Research Advisor, Joseph Nelson, a Senior Research Fellow with SPARC and Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, who will be guiding us through this profound process. Trish Cislak will serve as the Research Coordinator at Crescent the two adults will be the facilitators as the boys themselves will be leading the research in their own ways.
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE Podcast Program The Fall of 2020 will see the launch of the CCBE Podcast Program. It’s purpose will be to highlight influencers, researchers and teachers whose practices enhance all aspects of the lives of the boys we teach.
IBSC Action Research Program 2021-2022 Natalie Vera will be representing Crescent as she begins her research journey in March 2021 with a topic of Boys and Technology: New Learnings, New Challenges, New Horizons
Middle School Research and Design Project IBSC Conference Greg Ryerson has proposed a Middle School focused July 2021 research project based on research and design principles. It is a science/engineering project that will allow Middle School boys to participate in deeper learning with an active pedagogy. As well, Mr. Ryerson will be measuring the boys’ ability to identify and enhance their level of self-awareness as designers. • Middle School Research and Design Project Proposal - Greg Ryerson
NAIS Conference 2021
Greg Ryerson: 4C Action Plans: A pathway to selfefficacy in Grade 7 boys.
Trish Cislak: Libraries Connecting with School Communities to Ensure Life-Long Learning
Lara Koretsky: Creating a Professional Competency Model to Transform School Culture
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Research Report 2019-2020 crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
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OUR PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH NETWORK The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
International Boys’ National Association of Schools Coalition (IBSC) Independent Schools The IBSC has been the springboard for much of our (NAIS) work with the CCBE. Michael Fellin serves on the Board of Directors, Sandy Boyes is a member of the Research Committee and Trish Cislak has served as Team Advisor for nine years for the IBSC Action Research Program. Important and vital network opportunities have been created through our association with the IBSC and we are honoured to acknowledge schools with research centres who came before us and generously shared insights as we built our centre: Eton College, Windsor, United Kingdom, Scots College, Sydney, Australia and St. Christopher’s School, Richmond, Virginia.
Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) CAIS supports the development and promotion of independent schools in Canada. Trish Cislak sits on the Research Innovation Grant steering committee and advises schools as they conduct research that can benefit schools across Canada. Rich Prosser has completed a two-year research cycle and Ian Eatock will complete his second year in 2020-2021.
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NAIS supports independent schools in the US and abroad. This year, Patricia Aliviano was published in the Fall 2019 edition of Independent Teacher (link above). We will continue to connect with NAIS to share our expertise.
The Centre of Innovation, Research, Creativity and Leadership in Education (CIRCLE) Led by Dr. Philip Cummins and Brad Adams, CIRCLE has been a champion of the research that we are involved with at Crescent. Their consulting and guidance as we build the CCBE have been invaluable and we are looking forward to continued support and success with CIRCLE.
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