“ The aim of education is to impel young people into value forming experiences.
”— Kurt Hahn, Founder
Delivering Life Experience for Over 60 Years.
Outward Bound was founded in 1941 in the tumultuous waters of the North Sea during World War II, to provide young sailors with the experiences and skills necessary to survive at sea. Named for the nautical term for a ship's departure from the certainties of the harbor, Outward Bound was a joint effort between British shipping magnate Sir Lawrence Holt and progressive German educator
Kurt Hahn. Hahn had developed his progressive ideas, first as founder of the Salem School in Germany, and later at Gordonstoun, a boarding school in Scotland, that soon became one of Britain's most distinguished and innovative schools. Hahn believed education must encompass both the intellect and character of a person. In creating the first Outward Bound School, he expanded the concept of experiential learning to include real and powerful experience to gain self-esteem, the discovery of innate abilities, and a sense of responsibility toward others. Outward has since become the premier adventure-based education program in the world.
History of Outward Bound in the United States
The history of Outward Bound in the United States began in the early 1950's when Josh Miner, an American who taught under Hahn at the Gordonstoun School in Scotland, was inspired by Hahn's philosophy and teaching model. Over the ensuing decade, and with the support of other inspired individuals, Miner founded the Outward Bound movement in the United States based upon the principles of hands-on learning through outdoor adventure by creating the a US-based Outward Bound School in 1961. Outward Bound gave rise to an entire outdoor education industry in the U.S. Today, with its nationwide system of wilderness courses, special programming for at-risk youth, professional and group programs, and community-centric programming such as Urban Centers and Expeditionary Learning schools, Outward Bound is dedicated to helping people learn through challenging experiences so that they can grow individually and in the process become more active in the communities where they live and work.
