enough to deliver on mission. Further investing in teachers, their professional growth and development, and their leadership, especially as it pertains to best practices in teaching and learning for boys, however, would be a path toward attracting and retaining exceptional talent— critical to mission and to Saint David’ s future and continuing success, and something that was becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.
Most professions invest deeply in ongoing research and development in an effort to attract, retain, and continually improve,
“ Saint David’ s is on the move; her best days lie ahead.” best talent. Education, however, rarely provides teachers with the time, resources, or structures needed to engage meaningfully with research and professional growth and development once formal training ends. As a result, teaching often relies more on the art and craft of teaching and intuition, than on evidence-informed practice. To meet the evolving demands of education— particularly the education of boys— schools like Saint David’ s must intentionally make room for research to inform pedagogy to ensure they are and remain at the leading edge of best practices in teaching and learning for boys.
Guided by its mission to educate boys to fulfill their potential and aspire to be good men, the school recognized that exceptional outcomes for boys required sustained investment in teachers. TBI is a comprehensive, research-driven professional development program designed to embed inquiry, reflection, and evidencebased practice into the fabric of faculty life from their earliest days( onboarding) throughout the middle of their careers, and in their master years.
TBI aims to unify professional development under three interdependent and equally important pillars: mentoring and research grants, supervision and evaluation, and engagement with research. Central to this work is the Framework for Best Practices in Teaching and Learning for Boys, published in 2022, which articulates three interconnected domains— professional, relational, and instructional— all critical to success in educating boys. Together, these domains define what it means to teach boys well at Saint David’ s, grounding practice in scholarship, strong teacher – student relationships, and intentional instructional design.
By leveraging the school’ s deep internal expertise-bottling the wisdom of our master teachers, creating teacher-researchers, intentionally mentoring, reflecting and informing pedagogy with evidence, and pairing it with partnerships with visiting scholars( experts in their fields), leading educational researchers and innovators-TBI strengthens Saint David’ s ability to fulfill its mission while remaining competitive in a quickly evolving educational landscape. Its mission-aligned framework prepares, supports, and sustains excellent teaching. In doing so, it preserves and perpetuates the core identity of Saint David’ s while positioning