CCBE
Annual Report 2020-2021
crescentschool.org/ccbe @CSBoysResearch
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
ON THE HORIZON The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Be The One Training to Empower Positive Student Leadership
another teacher supervisor. “There is keen interest from our faculty to be accountability partners in this work to ensure the entire school benefits from increased intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community engagement.”
Be The One (BTO) empowers positive student leadership by teaching students to be aware, think empathetically and offer help. A new BTO toolkit, featuring visualization and listening exercises, a values exploration and a literature review, has been developed to train student leaders to provide this help. In July 2020, Patricia Alviano & David Finkelstein participated in the CAIS Strategic Change Accelerator. This program brought the implementation of BTO, a Grade 3-12 school program focused on the promotion of nurturing safe and inclusive school culture to new heights. Throughout the school year, a faculty team worked diligently to create a BTO Toolkit for empowering positive student leadership. The 2021-2022 Prefects will be the first to hone their skills using these tools. “Self-reflection and empathy are essential,” says David Finklestein, one of BTO’s teacher supervisors. “Our Prefects have good intentions, and this training will equip them with skills to excel in their goal.”
IBSC Action Research Fostering Boys’ Empathy and Global Citizenship Through Technology
BTO is a student-led initiative to cultivate a safe and inclusive school culture. The BTO student council, teacher supervisors and faculty groups have created a three-module training program that supports the relationship between emotional intelligence and positive peer interactions. This work is part of Crescent’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Winter/ Spring Action Plan. “The next phase of exploration will train each school division in the principles and practices of Be The One,” says Patricia Alviano,
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Lower School teacher Natalie Vera has been inspiring a love of learning through connection and technology at Crescent since 2005. So when the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC) named Boys and Technology as the 2021-2022 Action Research topic, Vera was immediately intrigued. “I chose Fostering Empathy and Global Citizenship Through Technology as the focus of my research because it feels particularly timely,” says Vera. “The need for our students to show empathy, reflect and understand the world outside of their bubble has never been more important.” Vera participated in a four-day virtual orientation and training program in late June with 30 other IBSC researchers worldwide. The fieldwork will take place in the fall, and she will present her findings at the 2022 IBSC Conference in Dallas next July. Trish Cislak, one of the research team advisors for the IBSC program is working alongside Natalie (although leading a different team of researchers) for this project. This is Trish’s ninth year as an IBSC action research advisor.
