guruilla » Sun Nov 08, 2015 5:18 pm wrote:Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn CBE[1] (5 June 1886, Berlin – 14 December 1974, Hermannsberg) was a German educator whose philosophies are considered internationally influential. He founded Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and the United World Colleges.
Early life[edit]
Born in Berlin to Jewish parents, Hahn attended school in Berlin, then universities at Oxford, Heidelberg, Freiburg and Göttingen.[2] During World War I, Hahn worked in the German Department for Foreign Affairs, analyzing English newspapers and advising the Foreign Office. He had been private secretary to Prince Max von Baden, the last Imperial Chancellor of Germany. From 1920 to 1933 Hahn was the first headmaster of Schule Schloss Salem, a private boarding school in Germany, founded by Hahn in cooperation with Prince Max. Hahn was raised as a Jew and served as the Salem School's headmaster during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. Hahn began his fierce criticism of the Nazi regime after a young communist was killed in the presence of his mother by Hitler's storm troopers. When he spoke out against the storm troopers, who had received no punishment, Hahn spoke against Hitler publicly. He asked the students, faculty, and alumni of the Salem school to choose between Salem and Hitler. As a result, he was imprisoned for five days (from 11 to 16 March 1933). After an appeal by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, Hahn was released and in July 1933 he was forced to leave Germany and moved to Britain.
United Kingdom[edit]
Hahn settled in Scotland, where he founded Gordonstoun on similar principles to the school in Salem. Later, Hahn converted to Christianity and became a communicant member of the Church of England in 1945 and preached in the Church of Scotland. He also started an international organisation of schools, now called Round Square. Hahn was also involved in the foundation of the Outward Bound Organisation, Atlantic College in Wales and the wider United World College movement, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
Return to Germany[edit]
Hahn divided his time between Britain and Germany after the war. He founded several new boarding schools based on the principles of Salem and Gordonstoun: Anavryta, Greece (1949); Louisenlund, Germany (1949); Battisborough, England (1955); Rannoch School, Scotland (1959); Box Hill, England (1959); International School Ibadan, Nigeria (1963); The Athenian School, USA (1965). He resigned from the headship of Gordonstoun on health grounds and returned to Hermannsberg near Salem in 1953. He died there on 14 December 1974 and was buried in Salem.
Philosophy[edit]
Hahn's educational philosophy was based on respect for adolescents, whom he believed to possess an innate decency and moral sense, but who were, he believed, corrupted by society as they aged. He believed that education could prevent this corruption, if students were given opportunities for personal leadership and to see the results of their own actions. This is one reason for the focus on outdoor adventure in his philosophy. Hahn relied here on Dr. Bernhard Zimmermann, the former Director of the Göttingen University Physical Education Department, who had had to leave Germany in 1938 as he did not want to divorce his Jewish wife. Hahn's educational thinking was crystallized by World War I, which he viewed as proof of the corruption of society and a promise of later doom if people, Europeans particularly, could not be taught differently. At the Schule Schloss Salem, in addition to acting as headmaster, he taught history, politics, ancient Greek, Shakespeare and Schiller. He was deeply influenced by Plato's thought. Gordonstoun is based less on Eton than on Salem. Hahn's prefects are called Colour Bearers, and traditionally they are promoted according to Hahn's values: concern and compassion for others, the willingness to accept responsibility, and concern and tenacity in pursuit of the truth. Punishment of any kind is viewed as a last resort.
Maybe.... Quite a few "tells".
I attended a founding member of the Round Square schools (bolded and underlined above, for reasons evident below I do not want this to be particularly searchable) in its 2nd to 4th years of active existence (1968-1970) but had never heard of Round Square until I found this link and perused the current web site of the school. The mention of Hahn and Outward Bound were very strong "tells". I knew that the school was very different for its time and that the founder, Dyke Brown, came from the Ford Foundation. At the time the school was only grades 9-12 and all boarding students. By policy 25% of the students were scholarship, some minority students right out of urban ghettos, and all were smart and some from very wealthy, famous, and politically connected families. About 30% of the kids were Jewish. I am not Jewish but had a Jewish maternal grandfather (this I learned from genealogy after the death of my parents and grandparents, nobody had ever met anyone from his family which is an early New York Dutch and Illuminati bloodline), had mostly Jewish girlfriends in high school and college, and was married to a Jewish woman. Now the school is expensive, 6-12 grades, mostly a day school, and is much larger. When I attended there were about 125 students. I maintained no connection to the school except I was contacted about attending the 50th anniversary (didn't) and since have been talking via internet and phone with several old friends.
I considered writing about this experience in the "Gifted" thread. I was one of the scholarship students (actually 1/2 scholarship). I grew up in a remote area within a National Forest in what is described by some as "Indian Country" and the nearest high school then and now is about an hour drive on an Indian Reservation adjacent to the National Forest. My parents had sent me to a boarding school in the San Francisco area in 8th grade (66-67) and I found this school on my own and was accepted and offered the scholarship pending my parent's approval. My Dad went as far in school as 8th grade and did not leave his home except to serve several years in England, France, and Germany during WWII. BTW I am not American Indian. I ended up my senior year (70-71) at the Reservation School as the period 66-70 in the San Francisco area were heady times and my Dad was disconcerted in that I had become a politically active ant-war liberal, decided that I did not like guns or hunting, did not hide that I used marijuana and LSD (but did not drink alcohol nor use tobacco which was expected by parents), and liked rock and roll, Berkeley, and the Haight-Ashbury.
I went on the first Wilderness Experience the late summer between my sophomore and junior year and the school contracted with Outward Bound so I was an Outward Bound graduate (more like an initiate). Now their Wilderness Experience is a stand-alone program. Besides classes, there was a broad array of other opportunities. Outward Bound was not optional but most of the extracurricular events were optional. Folks from Esalen conducted two 48 hour Encounter Groups (two sisters' parents were staff at Esalen). We had "Project Week" where I built Heathkit receiver and amplifier one year and with another student researched and wrote a guide to small commercial art galleries in San Francisco. I saw Jimi Hendrix in Berkeley and went to Fillmore West and other rock and classical venues on field trips. Attended anti-Vietnam War rallies in San Francisco and Berkeley on field trips. Attended cultural events like Hair, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Easy Rider, and the grand opening of the movie 2001 on field trips. An example of a cultural day was the San Francisco North Beach trip where we went to City Lights Bookstore (our tour guide was Lawrence Ferlinghetti), Café Trieste (for coffee and opera), Condor Club (tour guide Carol Doda), Finocchio's (female impersonators), Satan Shop (tour guide Anton Lavey), etc. I had the opportunity to see much of the best the SF Bay Area had to offer through the school or on my own investigations. I was introduced to
Philip K
Dick, Aleister Crowley, Carlos Castenada, the lyrics of Leonard Cohen, Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac, William Blake, Ezra Pound, Joseph Campbell, Michael McClure (live in class), Diane di Prima (live in class) etc. as well as the more traditional minds of scholarship. The literature, philosophy, and English seminars were superior to those later at Cal (UC Berkeley) and I tested out of the calculus requirement for my program at Cal because I had already taken two years of calculus in high school. Six of us in what would have been the 29 students in my graduating class (had I not ended high school on the Reservation School) had National Merit Awards. I was one of the six. My chemistry teacher was the wife of John Nuckolls, then Director of Lawrence Livermore Labs. Went to Eugene McCarthy, Humphrey, and George Wallace Presidential rallies in 1968 and actually stayed in the Clift hotel and ate some meals with McCarthy family as my roommate's mother was big in Democratic politics (later lost Democratic primary in Nevada to Harry Reid when Rid first went to Senate) and his sister was McCarthy's daughter's roommate at Putney School. We kids went to see Creedence Clearwater at Fillmore West.
There was a dark side to the experience. Some students had sexual relations with faculty (my physics teacher lost his job and marriage but that was because it was so blatant and the parents of the girl famous and wealthy). Faculty used drugs with students and some students used drugs at school events. The first time I got drunk was at a private party at a faculty house on campus where I smoked pot with a very famous man who was on the school's Board of Directors and had two children who attended (my progression of altered consciousness went lsd age 13, pot, and then alcohol; I drank to blackout at that party for the only time in my life).
The boarding school I had attended prior to the Round Square school was a military academy in San Rafael owned by the Episcopal Church that no longer exists but had over a 100 year history. My maternal grand parents had a hunting and fishing lodge for 35 years and the adjacent property was owned and used as a summer seminary by the Episcopals so, as it had already been determined I was an odd kid, it was off at age 13 to their boarding school. There was more overt sickness there than the Round Square school such as homosexual gang rape of a 12 year old, attempted suicides, bullying by upper classmen, and group punishment that was essentially torture; stuff the school did not publicize and one could not easily discuss with parents. My first year I won the Cum Laude Honor Medal for highest grade point average and Cadet of the Year for the Lower Academy (7-8 grades). My Dad immediately thought I was West Point material. lololol Fortunately nothing very bad happened to me largely because I was so intimidated and blown away at first that my parents had sent me to such a horrid place and quickly made some key friends in students and faculty. The first weekend (early Fall 1966) we could take leave, I went with a kid from the Philippines to Haight-Ashbury where we were unknowingly dosed with lsd. The dorm masters were Episcopal seminarians and were anti-war liberals and this was also the time of the controversy over Bishop James Pike (
PKD had yet to cross my field of vision) who was a hero to the young seminarians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_PikeJames Pike was an inspiration for the character of Timothy Archer in
Philip K.
Dick's book, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer. They were friends, and Pike officiated at
Dick's wedding to Nancy Hackett, step-daughter of Maren Hackett (1966).[7]
http://www.athenian.org/page/About-Us/T ... ay#historyA Round Square School
As a founding member of Round Square, an international network of more than 100 schools on six continents, Athenian embraces the philosophy that binds the schools. This philosophy is rooted in six main values: international understanding, democracy, environmental stewardship, adventure, leadership, and service. These values are embedded in everything we do at Athenian; as an Athenian student, you will have countless opportunities to experience and explore these themes. Through our membership, Upper and Middle School students have unmatched opportunities to go on exchange, service trips, and international conferences through sister Round Square schools.
History
The Athenian School was founded in 1965 by Dyke Brown, a graduate of Yale Law School, who was then Vice President of the Ford Foundation. Dyke envisioned a school with the goal of Periclean Athens – the full development of each citizen. Intellectual growth, fitness of body and character, commitment to humane values, aesthetic sensitivity, and readiness for adult citizenship and leadership are Athenian’s objectives for each student.
The Athenian School was built on what was then known as the Blackhawk Ranch, at the foot of Mt. Diablo. It was originally a boarding school, grades nine through twelve, creating a 24/7 community of learners in a rural setting. In 1979, the Middle School was added, accepting day students in grades six through eight. The demand for an Athenian education from the local community prompted the School to begin admitting more day students in the 1970s. Today, along with many new facilities and a larger number of day students, Athenian remains a close-knit family of those actively engaged in a thriving learning community.
Far ahead of his time, Dyke realized the importance of service, international understanding, diversity and adventure as integral parts of a strong academic curriculum. Nearly fifty years later, Athenian's ideals have become a model for education in the 21st century.
http://www.athenian.org/page/Upper-Scho ... henian#awe"AWE cemented the notion that one must try something before deciding one can't. I never would have done anything like that had I not been at Athenian. This is a fundamental part of how I live now." -Sarah Raymond '91
The Ultimate Adventure
At The Athenian School, we are committed to developing resilience and empathy in our students. These attitudes and skills are critical for their success in life. One of the opportunities you will have as an Athenian to develop these attributes is on the Athenian Wilderness Experience (AWE). You and a small group of your classmates will explore the beauty and enchantment of either the High Sierra mountains or the Death Valley desert during your junior year. Learning how to collaborate, problem-solve, empathize, and believe in yourself and others, you will work together to navigate off-trail terrain, cook group meals, rock climb, and set up camp, we hope you will come to appreciate the freedom from technology, routine, homework, and other responsibilities afforded by this experience.
http://50th.athenian.org/Page/History/Digital-TimelineHistory (and Dyke Brown's Mandala)
Step into Athenian's past with this interactive timeline. We have attempted to include many major milestones through the years. We know we probably missed a few, so please share your memories with us! If you submit photos or if we can verify it, then we'll add it to the timeline. Thanks for your help and enjoy.
A Timeline of Athenian History: 1965-Today