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

In the following Wisdom Within post, Visiting TBI Scholar Dr. Ric Campbell explores how three Saint David's teachers engaged in research and evolved their teaching practice in order to build expert learners - those who are strategic, self-regulated, and reflective: It’s not what we learn but how we learn it that matters most. Most of us do not remember the majority of facts we learned during years of schooling; the knowledge we needed to pass exams or demonstrate our skills each year. This is not a flaw in the educational process; there’s too much to remember. What should stay with us are ways of thinking and feeling that put us on an upward path of continuous learning. If schooling has served us well, we have learned how to learn, how to be “expert learners,” who are “strategic, self-regulated, and reflective.”[1]  We certainly value what students remember from their engagement with the many subjects that constitute the comprehensive curriculum at Saint David’s, but we also know ...

Classrooms alive with teaching and learning grounded in evidence-backed strategies on how boys best learn and how best to teach them. Professional development workshops abuzz as fellow faculty collaborate with peers in reflective inquiry. Effective strategies implemented in classrooms with real-time benefits for our boys, who are more engaged, more tuned in, and more confident.  This is the Teaching Boys Initiative at Saint David’s School: a commitment to employing best practices in all-boys education as aligned with our school's mission and values.  This alignment has proven fruitful: in the five years since we've launched TBI, we have witnessed a significant increase in faculty participation in professional development: more than 75 percent of our faculty have volunteered for or participated in a TBI program. This past year alone, more than 87 faculty research grants were awarded. And, 40 teachers availed themselves of our summer programming last summer.  We've always h...