A better way…
Boys are struggling. Mental health, resilience and respect are dominating headlines and parents are left scratching their heads. Meanwhile schools are left carrying an increasing load of responsibility for boys worsening wellbeing and behaviour.
After tens of thousands of conversations with boys and young men, we have learnt that adults habitual responses of giving boys lectures, information and classroom worksheets often makes things worse, particularly for the boys who need the most support.
A different approach is required - an approach that focusses on building the capacity of parents and teachers to make conversations with boys easier, more engaging and more effective.
Teacher Professional Development
Better Conversations with Boys - A Program Design & Facilitation Skills Training
This professional development program gives educators a simple, clear framework for taking existing programs and daily interactions and transforming them into powerful moments for young men to learn how to take responsibility for themselves and each other.
‘Better Conversations with Boys’ outlines a highly engaging approach for moving lofty theoretical ideas of gratitude, mindfulness and resilience off the whiteboard and into honest conversations about boys real lived experiences of being empathetic, being respectful and being resilient.
The program consists of 8 discrete professional learning modules that can be delivered to your wellbeing and pastoral staff over a format that suits your timetable, covering the following and more:
Unpacking the ‘Man Box’ and harnessing boys desire for mateship to drive real honesty and supportive accountability;
Using the Good Blokes Co program map to turn great wellbeing programs into transformative social and emotional learning;
Facilitation Mindset. Shifting from instructing to facilitating to make meaningful reflection on lived experiences highly engaging for groups of boys;
The Facilitation Toolbox. Using fun, challenging, competitive and creative activities to get boys thinking differently about their behaviour and wellbeing;
Real Talk. Creating safety for honest group conversations about wellbeing, suppoort and accountability;
Using disengagement as an opportunity for building trust and strengthening culture;
Designing or re-invigorating programs that are relevant for your community, consistent with your school’s objectives and easy for your staff to facilitate.
Emotional Professionalism. An EQ toolbox for educators to care for their own wellbeing and to maximise their impact in working with young men.
When we give teachers a clear guide for making open and honest conversations safe and engaging, we take the pressure off teachers and simultaneously empower young men with social and emotional wellbeing toolkit they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
“This training was more valuable than all other professional learning I have done, combined!”
Collaborative Program Design
Whether you need support with overall program structure, scope and sequence or generating highly engaging activities and conversation prompts that spark meaningful conversations - we bring our wealth of experience in concert with your intimate knowledge of your school community to design impactful programs that students, staff and parents love.
We have helped schools to develop everything from short workshop series, to year-long wellbeing programs, rites of passage programs, school camps, wellbeing retreats, father & son events, short pastoral care sessions and student leadership programs.
Our team has extensive experience developing programs for high school and upper primary students of all genders as well as parents and teachers. We empower your team to transform simple programs (existing or new) into life-changing social and emotional learning experiences.
Keynote Presentations
Good Blokes Co founder, Mike Dyson delivers an inspiring 90 minute keynote presentation, ‘Growing Good Blokes’ that helps teachers and/or parents to understand how boys wellbeing, the quality of their relationships, and their behaviour towards others is intimately linked to our cultural expectations on boys and men.
The staff presentation gives educators practical tools that can be immediately put to use in getting boys enthusiastically engaged in honest explorations of resilience, empathy, respect and all topics relating to their social and emotional development.
The parent talk gives parents a simple framework for more meaningful conversations with their sons on all of those difficult subjects that arise throughout the teenage years.
“One of the best PDs I’ve ever done”
“Mike’s training and guidance has been invaluable in strengthening my team’s capacity to foster meaningful growth. His expertise has not only deepened our understanding of SEL, but has also equipped us with the practical skills and confidence to create impactful, student-centred experiences.”
“Brilliant! A great training opportunity to try and ‘get’ to these boys at risk and have better conversations with them.”
“This should be implemented in all schools. It was of huge benefit on so many levels.”
“One of the most outstanding presenters I’ve workshopped with. A massive collection of strategies and insights.”
“This training takes a complex issue and makes it feel possible, accessible, even easy!”
“Today was extremely informative & I got so much out of it in terms of ideas and strategies.”
“The practical components are immediately applicable.”
“All teachers should be made to do this training.”
“A terrific presentation last night. Meaningful, realistic, to the point, lots of practical, workable ideas to nurture positive relationships with our young men.”
