The UK’s first one-stop-shop practical resource for parents and teachers working with male students, has been launched by the Men and Boys Coalition.
Published online and available for free, the Boys’ and Young Men’s Education Toolkit includes downloadable teaching resources for both academic and PSHE lessons; a directory of practitioners, speakers and consultants; and a bibliography of key literature on how to boost male students’ motivation, engagement and performance.
Resources cover everything from academic advice on improving boys’ literacy and classroom engagement; to PSHE lesson plans on dealing with body image anxiety and online support for young gay men in exploring issues around their sexuality.
The contents of the Boys’ and Young Men’s Education Toolkit are drawn from recommendations by the UK’s leading practitioners, authors and advocates who focus on boys’ and young men’s education in the broadest sense — academic, personal and emotional.
The Men and Boys Coalition is the UK’s umbrella charity for more than 80 charities, academics, journalists and campaigners who are dedicated to addressing issues that disproportionately affect you if you are male.
Dan Bell, Chief Executive of the Men and Boys Coalition, said: “Over the past thirty years, there has been a persistent and growing attainment gap between boys and girls in the UK. Yet, there has been little or no political focus on the causes of the gap, or the measures and policies that could be put in place to address it.
“Through our conversations with educators, it has become clear that this lack of policy focus is mirrored by a severe dearth of practical resources for teachers who are concerned about the under-performance of boys. What is out there, is scattered and inconsistent.
“We decided that it would at least be useful to create a single place with a range of options for educators to explore and draw upon.
“This Boys’ and Young Men’s Education toolkit is by no means exhaustive and represents a range of views and approaches to addressing the ‘boy problem’ in schools — some practitioners recommend distinctive teaching strategies for boys, while others simply advocate for children to be able to be the best version of themselves, with no restrictions imposed by teachers’ or parents’ perceptions and expectations.
“We hope the toolkit offers a range of approaches that may be useful in a variety of educational contexts. It is only a start and over the coming years, more tips and tools will be added.”
ENDS
For further information please contact Dan Bell, CEO, Men and Boys Coalition
Email: info@menandboyscoalition
Phone: 07747 463 255
For editors
The Boys’ and Young Men’s Education Toolkit live at the link below:
https://www.menandboyscoalition.org.uk/boys-and-young-mens-education-toolkit/
The Men and Boys Coalition is the UK’s umbrella charity for more than 80 charities, academics, journalists and campaigners who are dedicated to addressing issues that disproportionately affect you if you are male.
In addition to boys’ academic under-performance, these include the high rate of male suicide, male-specifc cancers, the lack of provision for male survivors of domestic and sexual violence and the challenges faced by fathers.
Key statistics
62,000 fewer boys/men go to university every year than girls/women
By the age of 16, girls are over 20% more likely to achieve five GCSEs including English and Maths at Grade C or better
In 2015, in England 52.5% of boys achieved 5 A*- C GCSEs including English and Maths in comparison to 61.8% of girls
In England 26.2% of teachers are male, 15.2% of primary school teachers are male as are 37.6% of secondary school teachers.
8.5% of teaching assistants and 18% of support staff are male. Overall, 19.9% of all school staff are male
Boys are around three times more likely to receive a permanent or fixed period exclusion than girls
Further information and data on the range of issues affecting men and boys is available on the Coalition statistics page