A historian of gender, his program of research is primarily focused on historical perspectives on Canadian men, boys, and masculinities. His work has looked at the production of ‘idealized of boyhood’ in postwar Ontario, 1945-1960, and has also considered topics such as the call for more male teachers as method to increase boys’ academic achievement in particular in literacy; the establishment of single sex-settings for males, and gender-based pedagogy. He has shown how these forms of gender-based reforms often emerge over time during moments of ‘gender trouble’.