Taking Boys Seriously: a participatory action research initiative demonstrating the transformative potential of relational education

This article advances a gender-conscious conception of relational education emanating from the Taking Boys Seriously longitudinal participatory action research initiative in Northern Ireland. The study is grounded in the voices and experiences of boys from disadvantaged communities who have been disengaged, disinterested, or excluded from school. Specifically, we examine data from 120 educators and 442 adolescent boys involved in trialling a set of relational education principles. The findings demonstrate a groundswell of support from formal and informal educators for the advancement of relational education as a whole system approach that leads to improved holistic outcomes particularly for boys experiencing compounded educational disadvantage. Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and symbolic power are utilised, framing relational education within the contested and politically infused space of education policy, pedagogy, and practice.