Boys left behind by Toronto's public schools are about to feel a firm force pulling them forward: the strong hand of Chris Spence, the Toronto District School Board's new education director, who is calling for an all-male school and more "boy-friendly" classrooms to address male underachievement.
It's a bold step that's considered a first in the province. All-boys programs are typically found today in private schools and in the Catholic system, including Toronto's. A handful of public schools across Canada offer single-sex classes.
If adopted, however, Dr. Spence's Male Leadership Academy would be Toronto's only single-sex public elementary school.
Boys' disengagement at school not only leads to poor grades and unproductive lives, but also can lead to the kind of violence Toronto schools have struggled to control in recent years, Dr. Spence told reporters before presenting a sweeping vision document, his first since becoming director this year, to the board's planning and priorities committee last night.
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"The real objective is to cast a critical eye on how we reach and teach our boys," said Dr. Spence, whose 2008 book, The Joys of Teaching Boys, makes the case that boys learn differently from girls and have suffered under a "unisex model for child rearing and teaching."
In Toronto public schools last year, boys were 3.5 times more likely to be suspended. They underperform compared with girls regardless of age, socioeconomic class or ethnicity, and are more likely to need learning support programs.
Dr. Spence is a former football player who studied education and taught in Toronto and Hamilton.
He has long advocated for strong role models for boys, to offset what he calls a "fatherless world" for youngsters. A decade ago, he pioneered a mentoring program called Boys 2 Men, which remains popular among Toronto and Hamilton students.
His new vision calls for a significant extension beyond that, to include the boys-only academy that would open for kindergarten to Grade 3 students next September and add a grade with each successive year. It would operate as a "school of choice" for interested families.
Leonard Sax, a physician who founded the American National Association for Single-Sex Public Education, cited other examples of single-sex education in Canada - private schools, a Nova Scotia Catholic all-girls school run by the public system, and three Toronto Catholic all-boys high schools among them.
But Dr. Spence's all-boys public elementary would be one of a kind in Ontario, he believes. "Dr. Spence is making a move here," Dr. Sax said. "There are hundreds of public schools in Toronto. Why not have one boys school?"
The success of any school would depend on ensuring teachers are equipped to teach an all-boys class, and the curriculum is developed appropriately, Dr. Sax said.
Dr. Spence pledged to extend a sampling of a male-focused curriculum across all his schools. Within existing co-ed schools, he wants to set up "demonstration classrooms," some all-male and others using "boy-friendly" teaching techniques that recognize their different learning style.
He hopes the initiatives will also lure more male teachers to work in elementary schools, where they are underrepresented.
"Boys really thrive in environments that are hands-on; they thrive in environments in which there is structure, but also where they're empowered" to move about the classroom, he said.
Catering to the specific learning needs of boys need not take away from similar efforts to help girls, said Dr. Spence, a 47-year-old father of a boy and a girl who attend public elementary schools. "I think that if you embrace equity, then you understand that equity is equal access to the system, and that may require differentiated treatment," he said.
Dr. Sax nevertheless urged Toronto to also consider developing a program for girls. Board trustee Bruce Davis agreed, saying he fully supports the idea of creating single-sex schools for girls and boys. "Our style of teaching right now is very much about conforming, and sitting and listening, and not all boys learn that way. ... And you know what? With a laser-like focus, let's try it."
Trustees heard from Dr. Spence and received his vision document last night. His proposed changes would need to be approved by the board.
His document also calls for more parental engagement in education, "full-service schools" with facilities to support students' families, better digital technology in classrooms, green-energy initiatives and a renewed effort to stem losses of 4,000 students a year by hiring a marketing director.
Dr. Spence also wants to boost the ranks of international students, who pay to attend Toronto schools.
With a report from Sarah Boesveld in Toronto
SCHOOL BOARD / VISION OF HOPE
Dr. Spence's prescriptions
In his first 100 days as director of education at the Toronto District School Board, Chris Spence attended more than 200 meetings, including sessions with each of the board's 22 trustees and every senior staff member. Last night, he presented his "Vision of Hope" to the board's planning and priorities committee, much of it based on what he heard at those meetings.
In addition to bolstering support for boys, his goals include:
FOR STUDENTS
Supporting the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 elementary school model, to reduce the number of transitions for students
Reducing violent incidents and suspensions by 20 per cent
FOR PARENTS
Establishing a "Parent Academy" to boost engagement in their children's education
NEW TECHNOLOGY
By 2015, equipping every school with wireless technology, every teacher with a computer in the classroom, every student with an "electronic learning environment" and every parent with electronic access to teachers and school information
ENVIRONMENT
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in step with federal targets
Installing solar energy systems at up to 20 schools per year Anthony Reinhart
