Hello and Welcome to The Boys' Issue of our Cosmos Connects Newsletter!

Hello and Welcome to The Boys’ Issue of our Cosmos Connects Newsletter!

Daniel Todd 16 Oct 2024

Welcome to October’s newsletter – The Boys Issue. With Halloween and half term around the corner I can almost smell the pumpkin spiced latte 🎃

This is a special edition for us, sparked by our attendance at the Boys’ Impact Conference last month. You can watch my vlog here .

The conference reminded us that working with disaffected young men was the very foundation of Cosmos – a mission still at our core. We care deeply about the paths of disadvantaged young men, as we were once those young men ourselves. You can read more about Sean’s story, one of our Co-Founders, here.

This newsletter is filled with reflections on the challenges facing young men, the meaning of masculinity in 2024, tips from our three decades of experience, and a new educational package we’ve developed specifically for them.

Unseen, Unheard: The Hidden Crisis Facing Disadvantaged Boys

My new blog post looks at the challenges faced by young, working-class boys and how educators can address them.

Gendered stereotypes of ‘manhood’ are, regrettably, still all too real – and they’re doing immense harm to disadvantaged boys, compounding the inequalities of class and ethnicity they also face.

Ultimately, we must ask ourselves: are we truly listening to the needs of our boys? But empowering them needn’t come at the expense of girls – rather, it’s about creating a supportive climate where all can flourish.

READ THE BLOG

The Engage Purpose Package

We’re also proud to launch our new educational package designed to improve motivation and engagement in hard-to-reach young men.

The Engage Purpose Package is packed with methods and carefully crafted content tailored and proven to engage young men, empowering them to take control of their own educational journey and personal development.

It enables educators to deliver a sustained learning programme to young men, that builds essential life skills and confidence in their ability to achieve success.

LEARN MORE

Lightning Skills Series

In our latest Lightning Skills Series video, our Co-Founder and Managing Director Sean Dirrane shares his Top Tips for Engaging Young Men.

This 15-minute video is full of practical tips, drawing on Sean’s many years of professional and lived experience, on how to educators can keep hard-to-reach young men involved and engaged, helping them to stay focused and empower them to work towards their goals in life.

Specifically, Sean focuses on five key themes: preparation, introduction, explanation, activity and engagement.

Don’t miss this insightful video. Click below to watch it in full.

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Dr Alex Blower, whose work focuses on addressing the challenges faced by working-class young men, for the new episode of my Student Outcomes podcast.

Alex discusses the Boys’ Impact Movement (which he founded), public perceptions of masculinity, the need to create a supportive educational environment recognising the unique strengths of young men – and much more.

This insightful discussion is one you won’t want to miss, and it’s coming very soon – so stay tuned for further updates!

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