I recently read a passage about Outward Bound -- two, actually -- while studying English, and I'd like to share it with everyone:
"Many people have heard of Outward Bound. Singaporeans will associate this with the school on Pulau Ubin. But how many know of its origin -- and perhaps the close links between the reasons it was set up in Wales during World War II and the reasons why it is still relevant to our own times, despite this apparently foreign foundation?
Outward Bound was an idea that arose in conversations between two inspirational men -- Kurt Hahn and Lawrence Holt. Hahn was a Jew brought up in Berlin who migrated to Britain after falling foul of the Nazis. He had already started two schools based on his belief that the good in everyone can be aroused and developed in the right environment and teaching. Lawrence Holt came from a shipping family. A former Lord Mayor of Liverpool, he was a wealthy man who used his money to further good causes.
It was Holt who brought the problem to Hahn. As someone intimately involved with the shipping world, he was conscious at the start of World War II that too many young sailors were losing their lives when their ships were attacked and torpedoed. He considered that the modern ships did not require the seamanship skills of the old sailing ships. Furthermore, younger sailors lacked the knowledge they needed to navigate lifeboats and life-rafts and lacked the will to survive extreme hardship. He realised that many were physically weak as a result of the poverty of the Great Depression of the 1930s. But he concluded that most simply lacked the toughness and resourcefulness of more experienced sailors.
When Holt asked what could be done about it, Hahn thought he had the answer. He brought to the conversation the educational ideas and experiences that inspired his schools. He believed that each child must be helped to achieve goals within his own abilities and that everyone could improve given the motivation, encouragement and opportunity. He put students on their honour, encouraging them to go by their own conscience instead of being overseen and controlled by teachers all the time. For instance, in athletics, boys were given a stopwatch and told to use it to help themselves improve. Hahn aimed to develop people through jumping, not make jumpers out of people.
Holt felt that Hahn's ideas would solve the problem he had noticed. Hahn had told him about a house he had seen in Wales that would make an excellent residential centre -- Bryneithin. Holt bought the house and so began the Aberdovey Sailing School -- just five weeks after the men decided to start it. Aberdovey Sailing School would later be renamed Outward Bound. Outward Bound is a term that has been used for centuries by seagoing men. They wen 'outward bound' from their safe harbour and later would return 'homeward bound'. The term describes well the notion of youngsters embarking in every way in adventure, in to largely uncharted waters, away from the comforts of home and familiar environment. Outward Bound is about venturing into the unknown and having to improvise.
Hahn and Holt both had experiences with short courses and this background led them to decide that 28 days was the shortest possible time needed to get the young men (as all sailor were in those days, of course) up to the standard required. It is amazing that so many of the features of that very first course remain the staple of Outward Bound courses to this day, although some of the specialised naval terminology has disappeared.
One of the main concerns of both Hahn and Holt was to increase the stamina of the seamen that were recruited to the first courses. To this end, they brought in an expert to teach the boys the athletic field disciplines, the jumps and the throwing events. They sent the recruits on long walks and climbs in the Welsh hills; by the end of the month, boys were able to complete 48 km hikes including two mountain peaks. They had the boys rowing and sailing boats. They imposed on this young adults rigid no-smoking and no-alcohol regime that became one of the famous features of Outward Bound in its early days. They instigated a rope obstacle course to build the muscles the young lads would need to help sail boats or get into lifeboats or rafts from the sea -- so began one of the 'musts' of OB courses world-wide. Another 'must' still is The Wall -- to show everyone the value of teamwork since no individual can get over the wall without help from others. (It also demands resourcefulness from the participants).
As Outward Bound began as a sea school, the conduct of the school was naval. There were daily inspection of quarters, marching in formation, flag-raising and morning prayers. Most of the terms used were naval and the boys had to call the officers 'sir' at all times. Hahn thought small group interaction important, so he divided the participants into groups of up to 12 boys -- this group was called a 'watch', a naval term. The watch remained together for the month course, during which they would develop a sense of comradeship. All boys on the watch experienced some leadership role.
A feature of Outward Bound from its inception was reaching out to the wider community. The boys on the course manned lifeboats and generally did rescue work in the community. They were even sent to work in a hospital for a day as Holt and Hahn felt that the young were sheltered from the sadness and horror of terminal illness, the bloody results of accidents and death; they wanted to develop in the boys a sense of compassion.
Another notion adopted from Hahn's earlier experience was that of badges as marks of achievement; Hahn felt that young people needed such recognition as part of the process of getting them to believe in themselves. The Outward Bound badge became highly coveted."
The above passage was taken from "Effective Guide to 'O' Level English", published and distributed by Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
ISBN 978-981-06-1199-6
ISBN-10 981-06-1199-4
Outward Bound was an idea that arose in conversations between two inspirational men -- Kurt Hahn and Lawrence Holt. Hahn was a Jew brought up in Berlin who migrated to Britain after falling foul of the Nazis. He had already started two schools based on his belief that the good in everyone can be aroused and developed in the right environment and teaching. Lawrence Holt came from a shipping family. A former Lord Mayor of Liverpool, he was a wealthy man who used his money to further good causes.
It was Holt who brought the problem to Hahn. As someone intimately involved with the shipping world, he was conscious at the start of World War II that too many young sailors were losing their lives when their ships were attacked and torpedoed. He considered that the modern ships did not require the seamanship skills of the old sailing ships. Furthermore, younger sailors lacked the knowledge they needed to navigate lifeboats and life-rafts and lacked the will to survive extreme hardship. He realised that many were physically weak as a result of the poverty of the Great Depression of the 1930s. But he concluded that most simply lacked the toughness and resourcefulness of more experienced sailors.
When Holt asked what could be done about it, Hahn thought he had the answer. He brought to the conversation the educational ideas and experiences that inspired his schools. He believed that each child must be helped to achieve goals within his own abilities and that everyone could improve given the motivation, encouragement and opportunity. He put students on their honour, encouraging them to go by their own conscience instead of being overseen and controlled by teachers all the time. For instance, in athletics, boys were given a stopwatch and told to use it to help themselves improve. Hahn aimed to develop people through jumping, not make jumpers out of people.
Holt felt that Hahn's ideas would solve the problem he had noticed. Hahn had told him about a house he had seen in Wales that would make an excellent residential centre -- Bryneithin. Holt bought the house and so began the Aberdovey Sailing School -- just five weeks after the men decided to start it. Aberdovey Sailing School would later be renamed Outward Bound. Outward Bound is a term that has been used for centuries by seagoing men. They wen 'outward bound' from their safe harbour and later would return 'homeward bound'. The term describes well the notion of youngsters embarking in every way in adventure, in to largely uncharted waters, away from the comforts of home and familiar environment. Outward Bound is about venturing into the unknown and having to improvise.
Hahn and Holt both had experiences with short courses and this background led them to decide that 28 days was the shortest possible time needed to get the young men (as all sailor were in those days, of course) up to the standard required. It is amazing that so many of the features of that very first course remain the staple of Outward Bound courses to this day, although some of the specialised naval terminology has disappeared.
One of the main concerns of both Hahn and Holt was to increase the stamina of the seamen that were recruited to the first courses. To this end, they brought in an expert to teach the boys the athletic field disciplines, the jumps and the throwing events. They sent the recruits on long walks and climbs in the Welsh hills; by the end of the month, boys were able to complete 48 km hikes including two mountain peaks. They had the boys rowing and sailing boats. They imposed on this young adults rigid no-smoking and no-alcohol regime that became one of the famous features of Outward Bound in its early days. They instigated a rope obstacle course to build the muscles the young lads would need to help sail boats or get into lifeboats or rafts from the sea -- so began one of the 'musts' of OB courses world-wide. Another 'must' still is The Wall -- to show everyone the value of teamwork since no individual can get over the wall without help from others. (It also demands resourcefulness from the participants).
As Outward Bound began as a sea school, the conduct of the school was naval. There were daily inspection of quarters, marching in formation, flag-raising and morning prayers. Most of the terms used were naval and the boys had to call the officers 'sir' at all times. Hahn thought small group interaction important, so he divided the participants into groups of up to 12 boys -- this group was called a 'watch', a naval term. The watch remained together for the month course, during which they would develop a sense of comradeship. All boys on the watch experienced some leadership role.
A feature of Outward Bound from its inception was reaching out to the wider community. The boys on the course manned lifeboats and generally did rescue work in the community. They were even sent to work in a hospital for a day as Holt and Hahn felt that the young were sheltered from the sadness and horror of terminal illness, the bloody results of accidents and death; they wanted to develop in the boys a sense of compassion.
Another notion adopted from Hahn's earlier experience was that of badges as marks of achievement; Hahn felt that young people needed such recognition as part of the process of getting them to believe in themselves. The Outward Bound badge became highly coveted."
The above passage was taken from "Effective Guide to 'O' Level English", published and distributed by Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd
ISBN 978-981-06-1199-6
ISBN-10 981-06-1199-4
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