The practical application of recent research to improve outcomes for boys has been the focus of my work. Teachers/ administrators/ caregivers leave workshops with ideas that they can use immediately and processes that can be implemented over the longer term.
Techniques/ skills developed over more than twenty years of experience holding teaching and executive positions in both public and private education have been reinforced by study and research.
A considerable part of this teaching time was in behaviour disorder working with a referral rate of 9 boys to every girl. ‘Boys’ education’ has been a large part of my professional career.
Leaving teaching in 2002 for consultancy in this area, workshops and keynotes have been presented for school executive, teachers and parents across Australia and New Zealand to a variety of conferences, as well as longer term consultancy with individual schools.
In recent years there has been an increasing demand for parent and community workshops, which has been readily accepted as fundamental to raising healthy young men and significant to successful (school) educational process.
A master’s degree in education (University of Newcastle - thesis on the effect of grading/streaming on boys in the transition years) has been followed by Gurian Institute training at Uni. of Colorado and postgraduate study in emotional disturbance and behaviour disorder.
Hawker-Brownlow Education published “Managing boys’ behaviour in your classroom” in 2002. A second book, “The hidden curriculum: bullying in schools” was released in 2003.
Several journal articles regarding boys’ performance in Australian school education have been published noting difference in performance between sexes..
A third book “Engaging boys” was self published in 2011 in digital form.
After over 20 years of academic and educational research, policy change and political/ education rhetoric the position for boys in school education has deteriorated. Yet in recent years any previous focus has moved on to the now current issue - but the concern regarding school performance difference between boys and girls has not been resolved nor adequately addressed.
