There is an emphasis on self-led and kinaesthetic learning because the initial idea for the BIY Project came out of curiosity around three observations which seemed to be commonly made about men:

- Talking about ‘masculine strength’ often excludes real core strengths like integrity, humility and honesty.

- The term ‘male communication’ is routinely treated as a joke – but when men become isolated/detached they are ‘vulnerable in their vices’.

- A discussion about fatherhood often becomes a discussion about absentee fathers and ‘closed’ male communication - not about positive role models.

However to talk just in gender terms is a challenge because to label people as anything but individuals easily leads to 'two-dimensional' stereotyping, whether real or perceived. Our ideas do not ignore gender but instead focus on Learning Styles.

We all learn differently in a unique mixture of auditory (learning by listening), visual (learning by looking) and kinaesthetic (learning by touching and making) learning, alongside other styles - e.g reflective learning which recognises people need varying amounts of time to let things 'sink in' before we can question and double check and move onto the next bit of information.

So when was the last time you learned something new? Something which really shifted your perception.

Was it a bit 'lumpy', was there a ‘Duh - now I get it!' moment, when suddenly it became clear, was there some resistance before you 'got it'?

We understand learning something new involves moving past the bit where you 'know stuff' to where you 'don’t know stuff' – and that might also be on the edge of where you feel comfortable. And because its new, it might challenge what you have thought before, we understand that – but that’s where your answers lie, that’s where the gold is - and we take you there safely, at your pace and the varying paces within any group.

And of the lessons which stay in your mind was there an emotional aspect? Is there a feeling which goes with it?

And was it reinforced by touching or even smelling or tasting as well as hearing and seeing? 

The challenge is that most teaching/instruction, both in school and beyond, is auditory/visual yet most males lean towards kinaesthetic learning as there favoured style, as do some females, and we all do to one degree or other.

At The BIY Project we focus on 'learning by doing', or Kinaesthetic, because it has equal value yet is 'undervalued'. It also has the means to connect in a stronger way with the world around.

Too often training and communication is just ‘chalk and talk’ or ‘death by PowerPoint’. Too often people are ‘done to’ and ‘talked at’ rather than the energy and ideas being drawn from within the group. That after all is the powerful bit, which is where the grounded, understood and owned ideas really come from.

And while 'PowerPoint' is easy to deliver and convenient in most settings, its effectives as a teaching tool has been challenged - e.g the work of Edward Tuft.

And if you substitute 'communication styles' for 'learning styles' the same principles apply, and maybe gives an indication why in some environments 'men' are deemed difficult communicators.