CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best Discovering How Boys Learn Best
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023 crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
FOREWORD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 EDITORS’ NOTE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 AREAS of FOCUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Character Steve Verzyden - Social Emotional Lives of Boys
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging SPARC - The Crescent Brotherhood
Relational Learning SPARC - The Student/Teacher Relationship
Wellbeing SPARC - The Impact of Cell Phones SPARC - The Academic Timetable
PARENT EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Dr. Alex Russell
SHARING OUR EXPERTISE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Conference Presentations Publications
BUILDING OUR EXPERTISE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Crescent Considers
ON THE HORIZON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023
crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
FOREWORD The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
The 2022-2023 school year was a thankful return to post-pandemic normalcy for both Crescent School and the Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education (CCBE). Under the direction of Dr. Sandra Boyes and Mrs. Trish Cislak, the CCBE continued its mandate to champion how boys learn best through professional learning, research programs, and parent education. Mr. Steve Verzyden completed an action research study titled Moral Misalignment— Who I Want to Be Isn’t Who I Am and shared his findings at a powerful workshop at the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC) conference in Aukland, NZ, in June. A record number of students conducted research through the School Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC). Their research topics spanned student-teacher relationships, brotherhood, cell phone usage, and the school’s academic timetable; their goal — to improve our school culture, policy, and practice. The CCBE sponsored a parent education event featuring Dr. Alex Russell, clinical psychologist and author of Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the
Age of Entitlement. During his compelling talk, Dr. Russell introduced concepts such as adaptive anxiety, the minding moment, noncatastrophic, painful failure, and flow state, and how these can factor into raising welladjusted, balanced children. The CCBE’s growing authority on boys’ education worldwide is evident. Crescent was well-represented at the June IBSC conference, with faculty and staff members running workshops, leading special interest groups, and acting as advisors on the Action Research Leadership Team. Crescent continues to partner and share knowledge with boys’ schools across North America. Our distinction as the only Canadian school participating in SPARC is further evidence of our growing reach and influence. While we have accomplished much over the past four years, we are setting CCBE’s sights higher. To achieve our vision, we announced that Dr. Sandra Boyes will assume the role of Executive Director of the CCBE fulltime, effective July 1, 2023. I have complete confidence that Dr. Boyes can propel CCBE’s mission even further, given her singleminded focus. We eagerly anticipate the CCBE’s impact on Crescent School and boys’ education globally.
Michael Fellin P’24 Headmaster
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023 crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
EDITORS’ NOTE We are pleased to share our fourth Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education (CCBE) Annual Report. This past year, we took a deep dive into our purpose. We observed our practices with an eye to upgrading and expanding our impact at Crescent and with colleagues from across the globe. We discovered how important our collective and sustained commitment to building a research culture is personally, professionally, and most importantly, for the boys we teach. We prioritized student research and the sense of empowerment that comes with these experiences. We also welcomed Patricia Alviano to our team. Ms. Alviano, Crescent’s former Assistant Head of the Middle School and recently appointed Head of Lower School, will support faculty connections to the CCBE. She brings a wealth of relevant experience to this role, including IBSC Action Researcher, published author, a contributor to CCBE’s intensive investigation into the “Boy Code” in Grades 6, 8 and 10, and chaperone to the Student Participatory Action Research Coalition (SPARC) research team—alongside Trish Cislak and Steve Verzyden—to the University of Pennsylvania as the boys presented this year’s research findings.
Dr. Sandra Boyes Executive Director of Professional Learning & Research, Head of Lower School
CCBE
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Steve Verzyden held two roles this year on the CCBE team. The first was conducting his IBSC action research project, which he shared in a powerful workshop in Auckland in July. Steve is also a student research advisor for the SPARC team, who were investigating the academic timetable and its impact on student achievement and overall wellness. His parallel experience was a powerful role model for the boys he worked with throughout the year. We continue to promote and support important connections to further our contributions to the world of boys’ education. Dr. Boyes successfully led the IBSC Special Interest Group on relational teaching, and Mrs. Cislak continued as an IBSC Action Research advisor, as well as starting another IBSC Special Interest Group on reading cultures in boys’ schools. Our year concluded with the exciting announcement that Dr. Sandra Boyes was assuming the role of Executive Director of the CCBE full-time, effective July 1. Dr. Boyes is leading new research about the teaching and learning of boys through global collaboratives and local initiatives. She oversees all faculty professional learning activities at Crescent, supporting teachers’ onboarding, mentoring, coaching, and development. Finally, she is designing and implementing missionaligned parent education for those inside and outside the school community. Under Dr. Boyes’ tutelage, the future of the CCBE is very bright. Finally, we continue to be grateful for the insights and guidance from our Advisory Panel, whose commitment to our success and sustainability is appreciated.
Mrs. Trish Cislak Head of Libraries and Research
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CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Annual Report 2022-2023
crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
AREAS OF FOCUS The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CHARACTER
Moral Misalignment—Who I Want to Be Isn’t Who I Am: Using a Values Proposition and Reflective Practices to Empower Authentic Expression. An Action Research Project by Steve Verzydan Watch the video
Moral Misalignment explored using a values proposition and reflective practice to help guide decisionmaking and build confident emotional expression in Grade 11 boys. Based on the works of Brackett, Reichert, and Reiner, improving social-emotional competencies in adolescent males has become a global concern when addressing mental health. This project aimed to anchor the boys in their decision-making using their “Best Self”—an archetype constructed from character qualities they felt were most important to them. This awareness would, in turn, guide them through challenging moments in their day-to-day lives as they would later reflect upon whether or not their actions aligned with their values. This accountability was essential as it highlighted the misalignment and provided an opportunity to recentre themselves moving forward. The reflections provided by the boys at the end of the project stressed the importance of leaning on their character qualities when their decision-making challenged their values. It also provided a platform for communicating their needs to be their most authentic selves. Steve led a workshop on his action research findings at the June 2023 IBSC conference in Aukland, New Zealand.
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023 crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
The CCBE played an advisory role in the creation of Crescent’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Action Plan for 2023–2024. This plan highlights the steps taken to ensure that everyone in our school community feels valued and has a sense of belonging. Feelings of belonging positively impact students’ academic and social-emotional well-being and foster a culture of mutual respect and understanding. Through the generous support of the Erdman Family Foundation, Crescent nominated two faculty members to take Dr. Irshad Manji’s “Moral Courage Mentor” training for educational leaders. In this intensive, five-month course, Amy Joliat and Griffin Bush worked with Dr. Manji and her team to become certified Moral Courage mentors and have begun leading Crescent-based workshops on the leadership skills required to achieve diversity without division by practicing the Moral Courage Method of communicating across divides.
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023
crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
RELATIONAL LEARNING IBSC Relational Teaching Special Interest Group (SIG) with Dr. Peter Coutis, Scotch College, Australia Dr. Sandra Boyes Now in its third year, Dr. Boyes and Dr. Coutis continue to lead the IBSC SIG on Relational Learning with educators from all over the world. Last year’s focus was on sharing best practices for embedding relational learning into faculty cultures. Many of the participants had the opportunity to connect at the June 2023 Annual Conference in Auckland, NZ . The professional collaborative nature of this group continues to be relevant with several new members wanting to join for the 2023-24 academic year. We are pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Rob Loe (Scots College, AU) to this group. Dr. Loe’s research on relational learning will be a valuable asset to the conversations ahead.
RELATIONAL LEARNING AND WELL-BEING Student Participatory Action Research Collaborative (SPARC) Twenty-two Grade 10 students answered the call to investigate four issues central to their core experiences at school. SPARC empowers students to flex their leadership, collaboration and communication skills while honing their research strategies. In the process, they strive to make positive changes to school culture by revealing the ‘hidden curriculum’ at schools; namely, the student perspective. Four research teams explored areas of study relating to relationships and well-being. They
travelled to the University of Philadelphia in April 2023 to present their findings at the SPARC roundtable along with 80+ colleagues from nine other independent schools. This cohort of boys will have the opportunity to submit their research or reflections on the research process to be published in the newly formed SPARC Research Journal in the coming months. This is the third year we have participated in SPARC and Crescent is the only Canadian school in the consortium.
The Student-Teacher Relationship Research Brief
The Impact of Cell Phones Research Brief
The Crescent Brotherhood Research Brief
The Academic Timetable Research Brief
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023 crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
SHARING OUR EXPERTISE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Dr. Sandra Boyes - IBSC Research Committee Presentation, Auckland, NZ Research in Boys’ Schools: Current Trends, Needs, and Opportunities Research plays an increasingly important role in boys’ education. Dr. Boyes is part of a panel that explores growing a research culture. With Crescent School as an integral part of the IBSC Board Research Committee, this presentation in Auckland saw Crescent School sharing its wisdom on building a culture of research by students to increase positive school culture.
Michael Fellin - IBSC Workshop Presentation, Auckland, NZ New Crossroads: A Praxis Approach to Educating Boys Despite much global attention, the education of boys remains a concern. While the emphasis of this concern varies, perspectives generally fall into two categories: practical and theoretical. Drawing on the work of Jacques Maritain and leading school practices, Mr. Fellin examined a distinctive praxis framework for boys’ education to support self-reflection and school action.
Trish Cislak - IBSC Action Research Workshop Presentation, Auckland, NZ Since 2005, the IBSC Action Research Program has impacted the work of more than 475 educators in member schools around the globe. Trish Cislak, a member of the leadership team, shared insights and perspectives about action research and the IBSC Action Research Program structure. Her presentation focussed on the impact of teachers’ practice to enhance boys’ learning experiences as well as the global networking advantage of this program.
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CCBE
Annual Report 2022-2023
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Trish Cislak, Hong Duc Cheng, Jeremy You - Challenge Success Spring Conference In collaboration with Jon Kleiman and Sarah Miles from Challenge Success, Trish Cislak and Grade 11 students Hong Duc Cheng and Jeremy You presented how Crescent students ‘tracked the impact’ of their recommendations from their SPARC experiences the year before. The sense of accomplishment and agency felt by the students was communicated through a 20-minute virtual presentation.
Dr. Sandra Boyes - Elementary Boys’ School Consultant at the Presbyterian Day School, Memphis, TN In October 2022, Dr. Boyes travelled to the Presbyterian Day School in Memphis to visit with school leaders and present to the faculty and staff on “Being a Research-Informed School”. PDS is one of Crescent’s close partner schools and this relationship is especially valuable as primary and elementary schools are seeking relevant research in boys’ education for these formative years. This collaborative opportunity resulted in PDS’s plans to send a team of educators to Toronto in September 2023 to observe Crescent School’s approach to boy-centric teaching strategies and approaches for younger students.
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Annual Report 2022-2023 crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Trish Cislak - IBSC Special Interest Group Reading Culture in Boys’ Schools In early 2023, an IBSC Special Interest Group was created to examine reading culture in boys’ schools. Trish Cislak is now leading a team of 30+ educators interested in identifying research realms that support increasing pleasure reading habits in boys, primarily in Grades 7-10. This work will encompass a two-year journey with an anticipated workshop presentation at the 2024 IBSC International Conference in Harrow, UK.
PARENT EDUCATION Dr. Alex Russell, Keeping Them Safe While Helping Them Grow On November 29, 2022, the CCBE in partnership with the Crescent Parent Association presented a parent education event featuring Dr. Alex Russell, clinical psychologist and author of Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in an Age of Entitlement. Dr. Russell spoke about ways parents can keep their children safe while supporting their emotional growth. Over the course of the evening, he introduced concepts such as adaptive anxiety, the minding moment, non-catastrophic, painful failure, and flow state, and how these factor into raising well-adjusted, balanced children. Click here for a summary of Dr. Russell’s presentation.
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CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Annual Report 2022-2023
crescentschool.org/ccbe linkedin.com
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
BUILDING OUR KNOWLEDGE The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
Crescent Considers 2022-2023 Crescent Considers is a series of faculty blogs presented by the Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education.
Building Relationships through the Use of Technology: IBSC Global Action Research Project In February 2022, IBSC joined with the Relationships Foundation’s key researchers James Griffin and John Ashcroft to carry out the most comprehensive review of technological mediation of learning relationships to date. Crescent School was a participating school in this project. As reported on the IBSC website, “the data collected give a good indication of the types of technology schools use, along with their perceived risks and benefits. The project revealed that schools implement technology further into teaching and learning to improve communication, support collaboration, improve access to learning tasks, better track pupil progress, and support pupil agency in learning.”
ON THE HORIZON 2023-2024
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Fraser Bertram - IBSC Action Researcher
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In-House AR program
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October 2023 - Sandy Boyes and Trish Cislak present at the IBSC Regional Conference “Building Blocks of Boyhood” Presbyterian Day School, Memphis
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November 2023 - Men of Character Speakers Series featuring Dr. Lisa Damour, who will speak to Crescent teachers and parents about her latest book, New York Times Best Seller “Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable and Compassionate Adolescents”
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February 2024 - Men of Character Speakers Series featuring Richard Reeves, Michael Reichert and Tom Batty
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April 2024 - IBSC Regional Conference hosted at Crescent, Learning to be Well: Creating Healthy Schools for Boys
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best
CCBE
CCBE
The Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education
Discovering How Boys Learn Best