On September 18, I attended the Virginia Blueprint: Strategies for Boys and Men Conference at the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond. The gathering brought together policymakers, researchers, educators, community leaders and practitioners to discuss the challenges facing boys and men—and, more importantly, what we can do about them.

The “what we can do” is the subject of this article.

Six to Seven Hours That Matter: The Classroom’s Place in the Conversation About Boys and Men,

By Diane Roberts, Gurian Institute Consulting Director and Master Trainer

We heard from leaders including Richard Reeves of the American Institute for Boys and Men, Virginia Speaker of the House Don Scott, Delegate Josh Thomas and keynote speaker King Randall of The X for Boys.

The conversations covered education, mental health, fatherhood, workforce development, career readiness and belonging.  I left encouraged by the attention being given to boys and men. But as an educator, I also left thinking about something I believe must be part of this conversation:

What happens during the six to seven hours a day boys spend in classrooms?

The Classroom Cannot Be Left Out

That question of hours and days is one that the Gurian Institute (GI) has been successfully helping schools and communities to answer for three decades. All the way back to the 2 year Pilots in 6 school districts in Missouri in the late 1990s, GI has answered the question with a focus on data, teacher effectiveness, and positives outcomes in test scores, grades, discipline referrals, and student’s social emotional well being.

Teachers know pedagogy. They understand curriculum, instruction, assessment and classroom management. They work hard, care deeply about students and are asked to accomplish more every year.

But pedagogy becomes even more powerful when educators understand the learner sitting in front of them.

Have we adequately prepared teachers to understand how boys and girls differ in aspects of brain development, learning, communication, movement, attention and responses to their environment?

This isn’t about putting every boy or girl into a box. There is tremendous variation within both groups. It is about giving teachers additional knowledge and strategies for reaching individual learners.

A teacher can be highly skilled and deeply committed to students yet never have received meaningful professional development around these differences.

And those six to seven hours matter. They can build confidence, curiosity and belonging. Or they can become hours in which a child repeatedly hears:

Sit down. Stop moving. Pay attention. Be quiet. Why aren’t you completing your work?

If we are serious about improving outcomes for boys, we cannot focus only on what happens after they struggle. We also have to examine the environments they experience before they struggle.

From Data to Proof of Practice

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the Rapid-Fire Proof of Practice session. Five practitioners were given a few minutes to show us what they are actually doing in the field.

I loved that approach.

Don’t just show us the gap. Show us what we can do about it.

Deborah Higdon shared the impact of intentional father engagement and what she calls the “Dad Difference.” Her presentation made me imagine the power of a Black boy walking into a classroom and seeing a Black father reading. What does that communicate? Men read. Men belong in schools. Your education matters.

Dara Griffin challenged us to think differently about father engagement: Are we truly inviting fathers? Are we listening to them? Are fathers helping design our programs, or are we simply designing programs for them?

Paul Taylor of the League of Safer Streets introduced a phrase I won’t soon forget: “No workshop. No jump shot.” Basketball becomes the connector, but youth development is the purpose.

Xavier Beale shared how Newport News Shipbuilding and The Apprentice School expose young people to careers and apprenticeship opportunities. It reinforced something I strongly believe: young people cannot pursue careers they have never had an opportunity to see.

And Chris Beach’s New Dad 101 raised an equally important issue: Where do men learn how to become fathers? His work provides practical preparation and support for new dads.

The message I took from all five presentations was clear:

Environment matters. Exposure matters. Relationships matter. And the adults surrounding boys matter.

But Monday Morning Still Comes

This is where the conference came together for me. We can strengthen fatherhood. We can provide mentors. We can expand mental-health resources. We can introduce boys to careers and apprenticeships. We can create community programs that give boys purpose and belonging. We should do all of those things. But Monday morning still comes. That boy walks back into a classroom where he may spend six or seven hours.

What kind of environment is waiting for him?

Does he experience belonging?

Does his teacher understand how he learns?

Are appropriate movement and hands-on learning viewed as instructional tools rather than automatically as problems?

Does he see positive male role models?

Are we recognizing his strengths—or primarily correcting his weaknesses?

And does he believe the adults in that building see possibility in him?

This Is Where the Gurian Institute Conversation Matters

This is why the conference connected so strongly for me to my work as a Master Trainer and Consulting Director with the Gurian Institute.

Understanding the developing brain gives educators another lens through which to understand students. Recognizing sex-related developmental patterns does not mean assuming every boy learns one way and every girl another.

It means expanding the educator’s toolbox.

Understanding the brain doesn’t replace good pedagogy. It strengthens it.

Data can show us where disparities exist.

Policy can create conditions for change.

Programs can provide opportunities.

Fathers and mentors can strengthen identity, connection and purpose.

But teachers are with our children for six to seven hours a day.

They have to be part of this conversation.

The Question I Would Leave With You

If you are a superintendent, principal, teacher, counselor, policymaker, parent or community leader, I would challenge you to ask one question:

Are we asking boys to adapt to environments that are not designed with an understanding of how they may learn and develop—or are we also willing to examine the environment?

That examination and transformation does not mean lowering expectations. Quite the opposite. It means giving educators more tools so we can raise expectations while increasing our ability to help students reach them.

Look at your classrooms.

Look at your discipline data.

Look at who is disengaging.

Look at who is being referred.

Look at who is thriving—and who isn’t.

Then go one step further than the data.

Ask why.

And as you do, ask teachers: Has your district and administration given you the training and tools you need to understand and effectively teach the boys sitting in your classroom?

If the answer is no—or even I’m not sure—that gives us somewhere to begin. Because improving outcomes for boys will require fathers, families, mentors, mental-health professionals, employers, community organizations and policymakers, but it must also include the adults who spend six or seven hours with them every school day–every teacher, coach, staff member in the school.

Six to seven hours. Five days a week. Approximately 180 days a year. That’s too much time—and too much opportunity—to leave out of the conversation.

Teach the brain.
Reach the student.
Change the trajectory.

Those six to seven hours matter.

Contact us at info@gurianinstitute.com to bring our work to your school and community. Please visit www.gurianinstitute.com to see how our work has helped schools and communities to deal with issues facing boys and girls for thirty years.