NI Boys’ Impact Hub
VISION
The NI Boys’ Impact Hub is a collective dedicated to fostering equitable outcomes for disadvantaged boys and young men by working systemically throughout Northern Ireland's educational ecosystem.
MISSION
To cultivate and support a dynamic educational ecosystem within Northern Ireland that actively addresses the unique challenges faced by disadvantaged boys and young men, enabling them to healthily engage and actively participate in a dynamic and changing world.
Taking Boys Seriously originated in 2006 as an action research project at Ulster University. Almost two decades later, having engaged with thousands of adolescent boys and educators across the UK, this longitudinal research offers a robust, evidence-rich framework for enabling boys and young men to flourish.
TBS Code
There is nothing inherently wrong with boys and young men; approaches in mainstream education culture need transformed.
The full engagement of boys and young men in their own education will positively transform their experience.
Education culture and systems that adapt to boys and young men allow them to flourish.
Affirmative language and approaches are persistently embedded to counter deficit narratives.
Whilst boys are a diverse group, gender has a defining influence on how they see and experience the world.
Educators with autonomy to exercise their judgement and creativity will work in the best interests of boys.
All stakeholders have a unique gift to offer, and collaborative action will multiply impact for boys and young men.
TBS PRINCIPLES
Relational Education Defined
Relational education emphasises the intentionality of educators and learners using knowledge as a catalyst for democratising education through conversation, reflective dialogue, growth, discovery and informed thinking and action.
Relational education challenges existing educational power-relationships including measurement processes that prioritise learner performance over a learner’s holistic social, emotional, cultural and developmental concerns and interests.
Relational education is particularly effective when embedded within partnerships established between schools, communities and youth support organisations operating within localised educational ecosystems.
Working with Masculinities
The 10 TBS principles of relational education are designed to support educators to respond effectively to boys and young men in ways that will enable them to thrive.
There is not just one way of being masculine but lots of different ways of expressing masculinity.
Often an “ideal” type comes to the fore, influenced by historical, social and cultural factors, against which boys and men measure themselves.
Boys and young men often report contradictory messages about being a man. For example, pressures to be:
powerful; strong; brave; intelligent; healthy; mature; in control.
However, feeling:
powerless; weak; fearful; not good enough; dismissed.
Working relationally with boys and young men fosters healthier expressions of masculinity, valuing dignity and fairness for all.
The TBS principles were developed and tested with hundreds of adolescent boys and their educators and are informed by many years of action research and practice with boys.
These features of learning relationships have been identified as critical in combatting barriers imposed by compounded educational disadvantage.
They are a launch pad for intentional practice.
Compounded Educational Disadvantage
TBS uses the term compounded educational disadvantage to refer to a combination of barriers that makes educational attainment and progression more difficult. While some boys and young men excel in the education system, the story is very different for many boys who face multiple disadvantages.
In Northern Ireland, the barriers that impact upon boys’ educational attainment include poverty, a selective education system, conflict legacies, inadequate support for special educational needs, and boys being strongly influenced by historical and culturally entrenched ideas and norms about what it means to be a man.
