ELOB's ten principles are the foundation of teaching in and out of the classroom. The principles are based on the works of Kurt Hahn, the founder of the Outward Bound program. Below is a link to the ten principles:
http://www.elschools.org/aboutus/principles.html
Here I will list what I love about each ELOB principle and my personal take on them...
1. The Primacy of Self Discovery
Learning is not about memorizing and stating facts. It is not alone about knowledge and presentation of knowledge. The most powerful kind of learning is that which evokes self discovery. That which promotes emergence of ideas. Emergence of ideas is what leads to self discovery. Imagination is required! Oh, imagination! Another powerful tool for the emergence of ideas which leads to further curiosity and learning. Teachers help students overcome their fears. With every report card I received as a child, the teachers always stated, "Chelsea is a pleasure to have in class, very smart, so much to offer! She needs to speak up more!" How wonderful it would have been if one of those teachers had realized my difficulty and fear of speaking up in class and helped me!
2. The Having of Wonderful Ideas
Wonderful ideas cannot come about during one lesson. Often a person needs more time to consider a topic and to let their wonderful ideas emerge. This principle states that "learning situations should provide something to think about." This philosophy understands the importance of thinking and the time it might take for ideas to emerge. With ELOB students are given learning expeditions that last twelve weeks. A classroom will look in depth about a particular subject for this entire time! They can take this one topic and it can cover language arts, math, science, social studies, art, and technology requirements. And it gives students a chance to focus on one topic and to unfold their ideas.
3. The Responsiblility for Learning
What I like about this principle is that it presents the notion that learning is a very personal thing. All students learn in a different way and to recognize and strengthen your particular style of learning can be a wonderful tool.
4. Empathy and Caring
"Teachers and students ideas are respected." As a child you need to know that your ideas, however silly they may seem, are respected. Your teacher is always learning just as you are. There are no wrong answers. A "wrong" answer leads to curiosity and the emergence of ideas.
5. Success and Failure
This principle states that students will "learn to persevere when things are hard." It is very important to teach children that challenges are positive tools for learning. When you make a mistake you will probably learn something you wouldn't have otherwise.
6. Collaboration and Competition
Another principle that promotes the emergence of ideas! Students are not competing, but working together. This allows for children to share ideas and to rely on not only themselves, but each other to solve problems.
7. Diversity and Inclusion
"Diversity increases the richness of ideas." Teaching children about diversity is very powerful. Teaching them about the diversity of their own neighborhood and school and the one down the road and on the other side of the world helps them to realize how emergence is happening in different ways all around them.
8. The Natural World
It seems that ELOB's focus on the natural world is not alone science and fact based. They teach children the importance of a connection to the environment and their surroundings. This philosophy is able to take the classroom outside and relate not only science, but language arts, math, social studies, and art to the natural world.
9. Solitude and Reflection
"Students and teachers need time alone to explore thoughts and reflections." This has a nice balance to principle #6 about collaboration and competition. Here students are taught the importance of allowing themselves time to think through their own ideas. Ideas emergence and present themselves in a group and can be expanded upon when you have time to think to yourself. They are able to learn the power of their own curiosity, imagination, and creativity.
10. Service and Compassion
Teaching children about the importance of helping others is huge. In these schools there are often service learning type of projects where students of all ages go out into the community and help others. Having compassion for others in the community allows children to see the importance of every individual person. They can reflect on their service in the community and become aware of their personal strengths.
