How Outward Bound fosters grit and how you can apply their principles at home.
3 Pillars Parent Newsletter #25
By Catherine Lynch and Glenn Collins
Dear Parents,
A few weeks ago we did a deep dive into Angela Duckworth, the current leader in the field of grit research. This week we’ll examine the philosophy and practices of the Outward Bound Schools, which were created specifically to increase grit in young people. For 81 years Outward Bound has been at the forefront of the experiential education movement. A movement that stresses personal development by having students surmount difficult challenges in natural settings. This is something Catherine has personal experience with as she challenged herself and her students daily during her career at Outward Bound.
Before we get to that, however, here’s the background on how and why the Outward Bound Schools were created.
It was late in 1939 and Great Britain had declared war on Germany. The Battle of the Atlantic had begun and the German fleet was taking an increasing toll on allied merchant shipping. From September through December, more than 200 allied ships were sunk in the North Atlantic. Sir Lawrence Holt, a partner and the managing director of the Ocean Steam Ship Company, observed that it was the older seamen who were surviving after their ships were sunk, not the younger.
He came to believe that it was the younger seamen’s lack of grit compared to older seamen which was leading to their lower survival rates. In a conversation with Kurt Hahn, he stated “I would rather entrust the lowering of a life-boat in mid-Atlantic to a sail-trained octogenarian than to a young sea technician who is competently trained in the modern way but has never been sprayed by salt water.”
Hahn, a well known German educator who had been forced to leave Germany in 1933 for his anti-Nazi views, suggested they start a school specifically designed to develop “physical fitness, enterprise, tenacity, and compassion among British youth.” It would be a new type of school where the learning was “less training for the sea than through the sea.” Where the natural world would provide challenges the students must overcome.
Hahn believed that facing and overcoming these challenges would create the mental toughness and self-confidence necessary for young seamen to keep going even in the most trying of circumstances - such as on a torpedoed and sinking ship in the cold waters of the North Atlantic.
Kurt Hahn and Lawrence Holt opened the first Outward Bound School in Aberdovey, Wales in 1941. Since then, Outward Bound has opened schools all around the world. These schools carry on the mission of giving young people the experiences necessary to show them that they have it within themselves to do much more than they think they can. That they have grit.
Grit, a personal perspective:
As many of you know, I (Catherine) led wilderness expeditions for youth at Outward Bound for 7 years. I lived and breathed the development of grit in my students and in myself.
They could do more than they thought they could do. As an instructor, the greatest joy I knew was when I saw in my student’s eyes that They Got It. That they now had a visceral understanding that they were capable of far more than they knew. They had risen to the occasion, conquered their fears, and done the thing. Once they saw it, they couldn’t un-see it, and that knowing would serve them for the rest of their lives.
But how did they get it? What was the recipe? What did we actually do?
At Outward Bound, we put students in new, challenging situations. We give them the training and support they needed to push themselves out of their comfort zone and accomplish things they never dreamed possible. Think mountaineering, sailing, rock climbing, and white water rafting. It was powerful because it was new and difficult and sometimes scary. Because they had to work at it. Afterwards they could point to it and say, “I did that myself.”
The key components of the Outward Bound experience:
Challenge: There are a series of challenges to overcome. The challenges are outside the kids’ comfort zone - usually far outside.
Striving: The challenges are hard and require tenacity and effort to overcome. It generally means learning new skills or leveling up existing skills.There’s the possibility of failure.
Togetherness and we: The challenges are faced in a group setting. There was a sense of shared hardship and struggle. “We’re all in this together”
Accomplishment: At the end of the expedition, after overcoming obstacles and failures, the kids can look back on the experience and say, “That was hard, but I did it!”
Reflection: In a group setting at the end of the day or in solitude, kids have time to think and journal on their thoughts, feelings, struggles, and accomplishments.
Note: Outward Bound isn’t just for kids.
Adults of all ages enjoy Outward Bound expeditions all over the world in wilderness and urban settings. Here's a good site to start looking for a course for your family.
How to apply Outward Bound principles to your kid’s life without leaving the house
We can hear all the parents at home saying, “That’s all great, but how do I apply any of that to my kids here in regular life? I can’t take them on expeditions to the wilderness 24/7. There’s work, school, family, bills, etc…”
The good news is that you don’t have to go into the wilderness to get a lot of the same benefits. There are things you can do at home in your everyday life that can achieve the same end. They might not be as quick or dramatic as the changes that take place on a wilderness expedition, but on the other hand, you have a lot more time to implement them.
Remember when your kid first learned to walk, or ride a bike, or read? Remember how proud they were? How much of a sense of accomplishment they felt? How it boosted their self-confidence? All of those things might be easy for them now, but there are innumerable things your kids can’t do or can’t do very well. Cook a meal, make a knife, swim a lap, throw a clay pot, play a musical instrument, etc…. The list of things they can’t do is almost limitless.
Look for opportunities, big and small, for your kids to stretch themselves and do things they can’t do or can’t do well. Any time we have to learn and strive to do anything, we get a boost in self-confidence when we succeed. Lots of little boosts over the course of a childhood help in the development of an “I can do it” mindset. To paraphrase Maria Montessori: Never do for a child what they are capable of doing for themselves (with the caveat that sometimes you just need to get out the door and don’t have time to let them do it themselves at their pace!)
Note: The harder and more challenging the struggle to succeed, the bigger the boost in grit.
Bottom Line: The more things your kids can do for themselves, the more skills they have, the more hard and significant accomplishments they have, the more self-confidence and grit they’ll have. So constantly be on the lookout for opportunities for your kids to gain new skills or increase existing ones.
What if your kid doesn’t want to stretch themselves? Doesn’t want to go out of their comfort zone? Motivating our kids, especially to do things they might not want to do, is a huge topic that we’ll cover in future newsletters, but here’s a couple of techniques that work well:
Use togetherness and we. You and your kid do it. Or your kids do it together. Or the whole family does it together. Or they do it with peers.
Make it fun. Find a way to add some fun to the activity whatever it is. Music. Challenges. Competition.
Agency: Is there a way to give your kid choices?
Family Culture and Expectations. Use Angela Duckworth’s everyone in this family has to do a “Hard Thing” rule. Make sure you’re leading by example.
Anything your kid can’t do yet, or can’t do well, is an opportunity to stretch them out of their comfort zone. To get some grit. To build their self-confidence.
Action steps: Stretch your kid’s comfort zone
First, Think:
I am a leader in my family. If I want my kids to have lots of grit, I need to role model that. What am I currently doing that’s increasing my own grit?
Write:
How gritty am I, really, and what experiences in my life have grown my capacity for grit?
How gritty are my kids?
Act:
Talk to your spouse about grit. Are you both interested in working on it? In yourselves and in your kids?
If so, make a plan and take action!
Here are some challenges for the littles in your life:
Use google maps.
Cook their breakfast.
Identify plants and insects.
Practice using a knife safely.
Carry heavy things, like watermelon.
Note: Agency is your friend. This will be more fun for everyone involved if they have lots of choice.
For bigger kids, consider these bigger challenges:
Learn to parallel park.
Play a musical instrument.
Drive alone to a distant town.
Play a new sport for a season.
Plan a family vacation within a budget.
Plan and cook a gourmet meal for the family.
A warm August evening: