FORWARD

The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best

CCBE CCBE The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education Discovering How Boys Learn Best FORWARD

Congratulations to the CCBE for another successful year furthering its standing as a leader in educational research aimed at deepening and enriching boys’ education. I am particularly thankful to Dr. Sandra Boyes and Mrs. Trish Cislak, whose commitment to Crescent’s research culture did not falter despite the challenges and limitations posed by the pandemic. In this Annual Report, examples abound of Crescent serving as a local and global resource for those interested in understanding and working effectively with boys. I am particularly proud of the work shared at the June 2022 International Boys’ School Coalition (IBSC) conference in Dallas, TX. Crescent’s expertise was on full display, as evidenced by Dr. Boyes’ dual roles on the Relational Teaching Special Interest Group and as part of the IBSC Board Research Committee and Ms. Cislak’s presentation on using young adult literature to inform a boy’s path to manhood. I was honoured to accompany 15 Grade 10 Crescent students to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in April. This delegation was part of the Student Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC), a research consortium that mobilizes student insights and voices to improve school culture, policy, and practice. The boys had two focus areas for their research: belonging and loneliness and harnessing the power of student-teacher relationships to achieve academic success. Their findings and tangible recommendations will help shape our school policies and fuel future exploration in these essential areas. The work with SPARC is a perfect example of how Crescent engages our students in the school reform process, which was the subject of a workshop led by Deputy Headmaster Nick Kovacs at the NAIS annual conference in March. Using a Crescent School case study, Mr. Kovacs demonstrated how a student-centred approach helps to identify potential reform efforts better and increases student agency and buy-in. There is much to look forward to as pandemic restrictions ease and teaching and learning return to a normalcy that we have not experienced in over two years. It is an exciting time for the CCBE and the teaching and learning possibilities in service to our boys.

Michael Fellin P’24 Headmaster