The Progressive Masculinity Program:
Staff Training

Key Questions:

• What are the prevalent views of masculinity amongst many of our young people? (based on our extensive experiences in this field)
• What socio-cultural factors and environmental factors are shaping these views?
• What evidence-based strategies can we employ to challenge regressive, dominance-based models of masculinity and promote a healthier, more aspirational understanding of what it can mean to ‘be a man’ in today’s world?

The Progressive Masculinity staff training is a very ‘hands on’ and practical session (not ‘death by powerpoint’) which presents years of research on the reasons behind many of the issues our boys and young men experience and how these manifest within a school environment. The second half of the training focuses on solutions to these issues and supports the school in developing its behaviour management strategies, schemes of learning and staff awareness to embed consistently positive messages on masculinity. By the end of training, staff will possess high impact ‘quick win’ strategies which could be implemented immediately with a minimum of effort and also some longer term strategies which can be developed for launch at a later date.

The outcome of the staff training will be the establishment of a school environment where masculinity is not intrinsically linked with aggression, dominance and low aspirations. Instead, pupils will gradually understand that empathy, cooperation, aspirational goals and a strong work ethic can be incorporated into our interpretation of masculinity.

Impact Data:

Measured four weeks leading up to the program (black) and four weeks following the program (blue).