AUB’s first in-person teachers and advisors conference since pre-pandemic, Creative Futures 2022 explored innovative methods to engage young people with the creative arts and ways in which this can be turned into successful, sustainable careers in the creative industries.

We were joined by guest speakers from Creative UK, Arts Emergency, Dorset’s Cultural Hub and design agency Bond & Coyne, as well as AUB academic tutors and outreach staff. The programme was full of lively conversations and interactive sessions designed to excite and empower educators working with young people and share knowledge to support the development of creative pathways.

AUB hosted the first in the series on 9 February 2022 16.00 - 17.00 with Mark Roberts, author of Boys Don't Try?: Rethinking Masculinity in School, a leading expert in issues relating to boys and educational success. Mark provided invaluable insights into what it’s like to be a boy in contemporary classrooms and what steps we can take as educators to support them.

Mark Roberts, “To tackle gender attainment gaps, it's going to take a collective effort. Teachers, academics, parents and, of course, boys themselves will need to strive to overcome the key barriers to academic success. I'm delighted that AUB have facilitated this session for teachers and advisors and I'm looking forward to sharing some of my solutions to 'The Boy Question'.”

Lucy Hensher, Teacher, Thomas Hardye School – “ Some of the strategies suggested in the Being a Boy training I found I could certainly implement into my teaching such as positive reinforcement to ensure conflict is deescalated quickly and learning can begin. This might ensure more boys staying in lessons, having more positive interactions with teachers, and therefore rewriting some of those labels that are all too often given to them from a very early age.”

The University of Portsmouth hosted the second event on 24 March 2022 16.00 - 17.00 with Heidi and James from Ripples Wellbeing, who shared their own stories of turning negative experiences to positive ones. As well as providing advice and tools that can be utilised in your own role to support the mental wellbeing of young people.

The University of Winchester hosted the final event in the series for this academic year on 15 June 2022 16.00 – 17.30. That explored the implications of socioeconomic inequality on the chances of boys’ educational ‘success’. The session examined the complex intersections of masculinity, inequality and educational expectations which influence boys’ engagement in formal educational spaces.

The panel discussion was hosted by Dr Alex Blower, Access and Participation Manager at AUB, with expert guest panellists:

• Professor Nicola Ingram, Director of Manchester Metropolitan University’s Education and Social Research Institute and author of the book Working Class Boys and Educational Success.
• Dr Craig Johnston, Senior Lecturer at the University of Winchester and author of Where are all the men'?: Working-class males and care-based degrees.
• Dr Andrew Hamilton, Research Associate at Ulster University. Andrew's work includes ‘Taking Boys’ Seriously’, a longitudinal piece of research which began as a funded project by the Northern Irish Government in 2012.