Guiding PrinciplesHere are seven key principles selected by John Corlette, founder of Aigon College: Seven Principles for guiding educators 1. Education of the whole person – 2. Systems of reward 3. Instilling self discipline 4. Leadership 5. Responsibility and maturity 6. Healthy lifestyle 7. Religion Join the Facebook page "Seven Principles" (described by Will Sutherland) Here's how Aiglon College describes these principles:
From Aiglon.ch One way to learn more about Corlette's principles and his VISION is to study these websites Knol of John C. Corlette, created by an alumnus Wiki article about John C. Corlette Wiki article about Kurt Hahn (a mentor of J Corlette) Learn what motivated Corlette in July 1973 Some of his Meditations What did some of his students say they remember? Delayed gratification, a little hardship, soup lunch, whole wheat bread, blood oranges, planned deprivation, small towels (less laundry), cool showers, challenging corrosive cultural norms, at least two weekends a year in the mountains (preferably in the rain or with cold fingertips),sitting in silence after listening to an old person talk about something that is important to him, eating with people that I normally wouldn't choose to eat with, pretending to listen to an old guy trying to make small talk with teenagers. ...whatsoever things are Aiglon... Tough love. Rugby scrimmages designed to thicken our skins. The sharp and alarming report of Tony Hyde's voice that turned mischief into mush in a heartbeat. The look of astonishment with a soupc,on of encouragement when a physics concept wasn’t immediately grasped. The AIGLON ALUMNI NETWORK (unofficial) is growing. You can find more information at http://www.freeenglishlessons.com/and click on the RIGHT side on AIGLON ALUMNI NETWORK == to participate, send the address of your nearest pub or cafe to AiglonReunion@gmail.com or stevecongeralpina@gmail.com and I'll add your pub to the "Alumni Cafe" list... if a traveling alumnus is in your town, he can click on the link and find a pub where you two can meet for coffee and talk about the school and old times in each of your lives. The Network is promoted by John Vornle, who first had the idea more than 30 years ago. There are CATEGORY, ALPHABETICAL and GEOGRAPHICAL listings. ========= I remember meditation starting off. It always seemed like a good time to catch up on lost sleep... But even now I find I require half an hour of quiet time every morning to plan my day and get my brain organised. Coffee is also required at that time, but I do think that the basic principle is the same. The Aiglon web site states that: ...The intention [of Meditation] is to provoke students by creating an appropriate atmosphere and then using the talk to "drop a single idea into the silence" for students to reflect on. ... The Meditation period is certainly a core piece of the Aiglon experience. There is something fundamental about looking inside before proceeding outside. I was always enthralled by the "whirring" and "intensity" of some of the silences... I was always too busy to listen to the silence. Do you remember how long those silences were when you finally plucked up the courage to give your own meditation? I can't even remember what I said... Can you? =============== Tough love. Rugby scrimmages designed to thicken our skins. Brutal session of impromptu karate on the Alpina field which miraculously landed no one in the hospital to my memory. The sharp and alarming report of Tony Hyde's voice that turned mischief into mush in a heartbeat, and his look of astonishment when a physics concept wasn’t immediately grasped, yet always with a twinkle of amusement and discernible hope that we would prevail. -- Scott Swerdlin I heard that TODAY students routinely leave school and visit home during the term. Some students just travel around the country. I don’t recall that happening when I went to Aiglon in 1973-76. I recall that we were on expeditions or on the campus during the weekend, building relationships, working on clubs, enhancing the social life with our participation. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but the purpose of the school was to create “absences so the hearts can grow fonder” and that meant a bit of homesickness. If a student is not on campus, then the school community is poorer for the lack of that person. Just attending Sat. Night Dance was part of the culture-making. (FULL DISCLOSURE: the school was nice about letting my dad take me out of school for 14 days or so so I could attend a conference in Nairobi in 1974. What an opportunity to meet Maurice Strong and see the Environmental Programme get started. I missed mid-term exams, but the school made allowances -- I'm sure there are times and necessities that make it possible for students to get off campus, but they should be rare so as to build a campus "atmosphere" on the weekend). My daughter went to Sherborne Girls School in Dorset. The longest she ever had to stay at school was 3 weeks at the start of the Autumn term. Every other weekend the school was actually closed. She also had a mobile phone and called home most evenings. So homesickness was never a real issue like it was for us. Being able to educate the mind and the body at the same time. Allowing one to feel that anyone can be or become a leader. Making all the students feel equal regardless of who the parents where. -- Bahman Azarm 1. Wednesday night and being a gentleman to the ladies.... walking the invited student back to her dorm. 2. A sense of community on weekends (when we created activities like Saturday Night Dance) 3. Eating in dining rooms with staff members (I remember Mr. Hyde talking about grand issues during lunch). 1. The view. I still think it's the best view of the Alps anywhere! 2. The opportnities we had to learn things not of an academic nature (eg pottery, music, sewing.). 3.The education we got didn't suck either -- Fuffy King Structure of website for curriculum | Structure of website for curriculum Extracts from Corlette's Speech in July 1973 We would rather close the school than abandon our principles. We believe that the goal of education is, or should be, the development of the spiritual man, that is of that part of each one of us which, with development and training, is capable of a vision or direct apprehension of the purpose of life, of the true nature of ourselves, of the world in which we live and of such other worlds or states of being as may exist besid + + + + + + + So, if an educator is to have any success in the accomplishment of his mission, he must take into account not only the basic aim of the development of the spiritual man, but also the nature of man and the practical means whereby he may help him towards his goal. + + + + + + + Nothing, or very little, we do at Aiglon is haphazard, or done because other people do it or somebody has said it ought to be done that way. Everything we do has been carefully thought out with reference to our basic aim and developed from first principles, and whenever new problems or questions arise, we seek their solution within the same context. We ask ourselves, "Is the solution proposed consistent with our basic aim and principles?” + + + + + + + Another of our basic principles is that we believe that it is the business of those who direct the school, first to set the standards which they believe the students should be aiming at, and state them in no equivocal fashion, and secondly that they should provide a method of grading for each aspect which will enable the student to know what progress the school authorities think he is making. This grading should, if necessary and where possible, be accompanied by explanations which will help the student to understand his assessment and plan his future progress. + + + + + + + And so we have our different grading systems concerning the activities which are designed to help in the development of the four aspects of man's nature. First we set standards for the students to aim at, then by grading, we let them know how we think they are doing. The object of grading is not to stimulate Competition with others but to let the student know what progress he is making. Hence we have a grading system for studies, academic and artistic and practical, another for sports, games and the adventure training programs or expeditions, and a third for "the whole man." This last is of course the key one and combines all the others in its assessment. It charts the course of the development of the boy or girl as regards his character, sense of responsibility, maturity and general development in relation to the basic standards of conduct and morality which we lay down and which are derived, as far as we are able to understand them, from the teachings of Jesus Christ and other great teachers. This assessment has come to be known here as the Rank System, and is absolutely basic to the idea of education at Aiglon. The term is, I think, unfortunate and misleading, with its military overtones, and perhaps someone can think of a more felicitous way of describing it. It may be objected that an assessment of this kind must necessarily be subjective and therefore unfair. Of course it is subjective, but so are all our judgements, except possibly in the case of mathematics where it can be argued that two will make four regardless of what anybody thinks about it. + + + + + + + We get promoted in our business or occupation and our salary increased precisely as we are able to convince our superiors in the hierarchy of our merits with reference to their requirements. The exception to this is of course if we are members of a trade union, in which case, as things are today, our salaries are increased, not according to our merit, but according to the seriousness of the threats with which we are able to menace our employers. There have been attempts by students in some schools to follow this example by threatening the school authorities in various ways if they do not give them what they want. This could not happen at Aiglon for the very simple reason that we would rather close the school than abandon our principles. + + + + + + + Intimate contact with nature, too, is important, and a realisation of our living relationship with it. Hence our adventure training programme. + + + + + + + Absolutely essential too is a positive and loving relationship with all other people regardless of their origin, background or beliefs, and a positive and loving relationship with everything in the world and in the universe around us. + + + + + + + So, next time you think something we do is stupid and won't help you to pass your exams or get a better job, just stop and remember that the education which we offer, whilst it does this, is designed to go far beyond it, to develop the whole of you and not just a part, to help you to become truly and intensely alive, to help you to a knowledge of and understanding of that part of you which I call the spiritual part, by attention whose dictates you can attain to much more than success in examinations and a good job, that is to lasting happiness. |