Research
Saints Research
St. Christopher's teachers are lifelong learners.
To date, over 30% of our faculty have conducted research to better understand what works in reaching and teaching boys.
The mission of The Center for the Study of Boys is to promote best practices in engaging and teaching boys through research, professional development, and programming. Since 2005, St. Christopher’s teachers have participated in the International Boys’ Schools Coalition Action Research program. In 2015, the Center for the Study of Boys launched the Saints Action Research Program. The Saints Action Research Program is an intensive one-year professional development experience in which a cohort of teachers is guided through the process of systematic inquiry in an area of practice about which they would like to learn more. Each researcher develops his or her own research question, researches the topic, gathers and analyzes data, evaluates and reflects on the findings, and shares the journey through a presentation and a research brief.
As our research program has grown and evolved, faculty members now have multiple pathways to engage in research; however, action research continues to be a popular methodology. Each year we are proud to support teachers as they investigate topics that are relevant to their classroom practice and the development of our boys.
Alumni of the Saints Research
The process is amazing! Reflecting on what we do every day and more importantly WHY we do what we do helps us to formulate experiences and activities that are engaging and effective for our boys.”
“I enjoyed researching a topic that was relatively new to me, challenging myself as an educator by trying something completely different in my classroom, and interacting with other teachers on campus that I might not have otherwise had much opportunity to know. Mostly, I loved seeing the satisfaction on my students' faces when they rose to the challenge and were proud of their accomplishments!”
“...in our practice, we need intentional seasons of time where we step back and consider what we're doing, how we're doing it, and why. We need to open up our practice to others not just anecdotally but with rigorous scrutiny of research in that specific field.
“I enjoyed researching a topic that was relatively new to me, challenging myself as an educator by trying something completely different in my classroom, and interacting with other teachers on campus that I might not have otherwise had much opportunity to know. Mostly, I loved seeing the satisfaction on my students' faces when they rose to the challenge and were proud of their accomplishments!”
“...in our practice, we need intentional seasons of time where we step back and consider what we're doing, how we're doing it, and why. We need to open up our practice to others not just anecdotally but with rigorous scrutiny of research in that specific field.
Past Saints Research
- Acquiring a World Language through Storytelling: The Effects of Gestures and Pictures
- Baby Jesus and ESPN – A new take on the birth story of Jesus
- Boys and Online Learning
- Building Community: Fostering Friendships with Art Groups
- Collaboration and Conflict Management
- Collaboration, Choice, and a Love of Reading
- Creating a Mindfulness Proposal
- Harnessing the Power of Struggle and Mistakes to Write a Story of Success
- Oral Storytelling has a Positive Impact on First Grade Boys' Writing
- Orchestrating Interest in Mundane Tasks
- Sharing Stories of Struggle: Promoting Academic Resilience in a Chemistry Classroom
- Using Familiar Folktales and Fairytales to Enhance the Process of Language Acquisition
- Working in Collaborative Groups and Sharing Personal Stories Impacts Relations in 4th Grade Boys
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