David O'Halloran, Headmaster - Saint David's School, New York City

The Teaching Boys Initiative (TBI) is a cornerstone of Saint David’s School’s strategic vision, aimed at developing a robust framework of evidence-based best practices in boys’ education. The initiative’s primary goal is to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, habits, and dispositions of reflective practitioners, enhancing their professional growth and the overall quality of teaching and learning for boys.  In TBI's new quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," our faculty share stories that inform, inspire, and encourage reflective practice using evidence-based approaches in teaching and learning for boys.  The following inaugural entry, "A Matter of Trust," was written by reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Tom Ryan, who has been inspiring generations of Saint David's boys for more than 53 years. A MATTER OF TRUST …but, I digress. I cannot possibly begin any writing piece, and/or class, without some digression that, as I have said to my s...

In spring of 2023, we partnered with Dr. Ric Campbell, founder and former Dean of the teacher-education program (Master of Arts) at Bard College, for our new Teacher Collaborative Research Program. A graduate of the Harvard University School of Education, Doctor of Education (Ed.D) program in Teaching and Learning, Ric brings a wealth of experience as a curriculum developer, classroom teacher, and instructional coach to our Teaching Boys Initiative.  Last year, Dr. Campbell, led a group of reflective practitioners, embarking on a Teaching Boys Curriculum project. The five areas that the teachers worked on throughout the year included The Self Directed Learner, The Confident Learner, The Effective Efficient Classroom, Learning as Play , and Students Learning From Students .  This year, Dr. Campbell continues his ongoing professional development work with our faculty, incorporating reflective practice into our mentoring program for teachers new to the school. The goal of Saint D...

More than a decade ago, as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, Saint David’s committed to supporting the building of schools in Ethiopian villages. On two separate occasions, we were invited to the country to open the two schools we are supporting —Al’asa (Muslim) and Kalina (Orthodox Christian), which are located outside of Mekelle in the northern province of Tigray. On both occasions—June of 2014 and February 2020—I was joined by student council presidents (who were then in high school) and their families, along with faculty members, to officiate at the schools' openings. I am excited to share progress from Save the Children on our work to restore the schools and the health posts damaged by the country's recent civil war.  Save the Children recently provided an update on all nine schools and activities in their Ethiopia schools program. There’s been good news for our schools, Al’asa and Kalina, in particular.  Highlights: Rapid progress has been made following the end...

  "The hive is like a body," the visiting beekeeper tells his rapt audience, holding up a honeycomb for all to see. "The queen is the heart." During sessions with our kindergartners and second graders, the beekeeper introduces the boys to the important roles that bees play as pollinators.  The boys are surprised to learn that a bee sting can have medicinal properties.  They then practice separating wax from the honey of the honeycomb, make candles with the beeswax, and taste the fresh honey. Meanwhile, seventh graders are at the East 90th Street Pier Oyster Restoration site. Monitoring oyster cages can be messy work. Mud, water, and wind converge as the boys move the cages, mount and measure the oysters, survey biodiversity, and test the East River water from which the oysters are drawn.  But the boys couldn't be more focused or engaged. They are at that exciting intersection of science learning, real life experience, and purpose. After working to restore endang...

There's a buzz in the classroom, a steady purr that revs every few minutes with excitement. "We're making a chair we can actually sit on; and they're going to build a vehicle!" one second grader jumps up to explain to a visitor.  He points to a group of three boys huddled together working furiously on the carpet at the front of the classroom. "And they're making a mansion." All out of recycled cardboard, fasteners, and tape. The boys are working through the engineering cycle to build their own large-scale cardboard projects, collaborating in teams to create a functional structure. Active learning, motor activity, making products, teamwork and competition, all of these elements, called transitive factors, are at play in this science unit. At Saint David's, through our Teaching Boys Initiative, faculty are partnering with our resident visiting scholar Dr. Michael Reichert, renowned researcher in boys' education. Dr. Reichert and his co-research...

Saint David's prioritizes faculty development through research-informed programming. Our teachers are supported to continually learn and grow in their professions, allowing us to stay abreast of and advance best practices in teaching and learning for boys. During the last school year, we awarded 53 research grants, and this summer alone 20 faculty members enrolled in one or more of our new professional development opportunities.  Below, from our current issue of Saint David's Magazine, Upper School Mathematics Teacher David Lane shares what he learned from his 2023 summer study grant about harnessing curiosity for learning as it emerges in the mathematics classroom.  If you add an infinite number of positive numbers together, will the sum always be infinitely large? Is the number 0.999… (repeating) less than 1? Can all numbers be organized from least to greatest? To the surprise, confusion, and fascination of many of my students, the answer to these three questions is no! I l...