New schools and schools with a renewed sense of mission continue to emerge across the United States and beyond. Institutions dedicated to supporting this growth are keeping pace. As principals, boards, and social scientists have become increasingly aware of, however, a key element is missing from this movement: the presence of a proportionate number of male teachers and institutions focused on supporting their growth. Fifty percent of students are boys, but only twenty percent of teachers are men. Indeed, this low percentage is the latest data point of a downward trend that began some forty years ago—a downward trend that amounts to the loss of around 400,000 male teachers in America.
Over the last half decade, the Forum has sought to ameliorate this situation through conferences, online resources, and professional development services. We are now excited to announce a conference for teaching men which is the first of its kind. Combining elements of our previous bi-annual conferences, The Art of Teaching and The Teaching Vocation, this conference will bring together both men currently in education, as well as men considering the profession. As teaching is essentially personal and relational, there is no better form of professional development for a teaching man than an opportunity for personal growth in an environment of friendship with fellow men.
The name of the conference is Convivium, as the conference will involve both discussions about broader educational questions that impact the daily work of teachers, as well as a celebration of the great adventure that the teaching profession is. Convivium will offer men who share a common professional calling to share the joys and travails of that calling with each other and those interested in joining their ranks.
The theme of the inaugural Convivium is the theme of education writ large: to know and to love. “Man God made to serve Him wittily,” said Thomas More in Robert Bolt’s play, A Man for All Seasons. He made man, in other words, for knowledge and love, a knowledge and love that overflows into service and is perfected in contemplation. Both of these aims of education face considerable challenges today. How often do we outsource our intellect to machines? How does this artificial “intelligence” shape our understanding of human intelligence and our ability to exercise this power? And how often do we sway between seeing love as all feelings and little willing, or all willing and little feelings?
Lectures, conversations, and breakout sessions—led both by our faculty and fellow participants from other schools—will center on such questions. The dialogue will continue into meals, and the meals will be complemented by musical performances and excursions into our nation’s capital, as well as recreational activities on campus.
Join the conversation. Enjoy the camaraderie. Participate in the inaugural Convivium this November 13-15, 2025.
For more details visit the event page, where you can sign-up to the mailing list and stay up-to-date as we announce guest speakers, breakout proposal openings, hotel blocks, and more.