Mr James McIntosh, Director Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award (The Award) which serves to promote the development of youth. Since 1956, The Award has developed and grown internationally and now operates in 144 countries, with over eight million participants having completed The Award (Hirt, 2015). Complimentary to its primary focus on youth, The Award also encourages adults to engage with the young people in their communities. Over 170 000 volunteers are actively contributing to this important mentoring and community-building enterprise! Brisbane Girls Grammar School became an Award Operator during the mid-1970s and has continued to provide this avenue for students to develop their personal abilities and character.
While The Award is well recognised, in part, for its association with HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, the origin and formation of this important youth programme is less understood. Given it remains as relevant and engaging today (Clarke MacMahon & O’Reilly, 2015; Hanford, 2015; Hirt, 2015) as when it was conceived in post-World War II Europe, probing its origins and remarkable ability to accommodate the diverse needs of youth will undoubtedly yield some useful insights. What are the foundations of its success? How does the programme contribute to the education of the young women in our care?
The Award had its origin in the deep thinking of Kurt Hahn whose political experiences, coupled with life circumstance and passion for education, had many enduring outcomes. ‘I regard it as the foremost task of education to ensure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self-denial, and above all, compassion’ (Hahn, n.d.).
Hahn’s legacy continues today in numerous organisations and networks which bear his passion and commitment including schools Salem and Gordonstoun, Outward Bound International (1941), Atlantic College (1962) and the United World Colleges (1966), the International Round Square Schools (1967) and the International Baccalaureate (1968). These organisations share the common thread of convincing participating adolescents that ‘they are needed’ and second, that they ‘are able to achieve more than others think’ and that they themselves believe (Knoll, 2001). It was Hahn’s ability to synthesise the ideas of other educators into a coherent concept which is perhaps his greatest accomplishment.
It was at Gordonstoun in Morayshire where Hahn, as founding Headmaster in 1934, first met a young Prince Philip who attended the newly opened boarding school in the Scottish highlands. Gordonstoun charted Hahn’s evolving educational philosophy which was first introduced at his German boarding school Schule Schloss Salem. He was a great believer in non-competitive physical recreation where young people were ‘invited to improve their own standards’. Hahn introduced the ‘County Badge Scheme’ which required students to achieve particular standards in one jumping, one throwing and one running event of their choice. As students progressed in their development they were presented with awards at one of three levels. This award structure parallels the Bronze, Silver and Gold levels later adopted by the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
Through Hahn’s persuasive approach the award was extended to all schools within Morayshire and became known as the ‘Moray Badge’. As a result of World War I, his ambition to see the award scheme adopted more broadly, including other countries, would lie idle for over a decade.
Hahn’s commitment and ability to garner influence through the compelling power of his personality meant that when he later approached HRH Prince Philip about an award programme in the early 1950s, the conversation resumed and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was realised.
I was very interested in the idea, because I had become involved with several youth organisations, and I could see that some such ‘achievement-based’ programme, without requiring membership, might be a valuable tool for all organisations involved in the development of young people including schools.
I told Hahn that, while I agreed with his general idea, there was no way I could get it started on my own. Instead, I offered to chair a committee, provided he could find the members. He achieved this, and it was this ‘originating committee’ which decided that the programme should adopt the principle of no competition and no membership requirements, and to respond to Hahn’s four major concerns about the development of young people. He was concerned about the decline of compassion, the decline of skills, the decline of physical fitness and the decline of initiative (HRH Prince Philip as cited in Taylor, 2011).
Hahn had identified six factors which he believed were causing societal decline and deterioration. They became known as the Six Declines of Modern Youth and were the decline of: fitness and physical health, initiative and the spirit of adventure, imagination and recollection, carefulness and thoroughness, self-discipline and renunciation, compassion and mercy.
The relevance of Hahn’s Six Declines are not lost within present-day society and many would suggest that today’s fast-paced technological world has added another layer of complexity to the landscape which adolescents are traversing (Beames & Brown, 2016; Hanford, 2015; Wattchow et al., 2014). Fortunately, Hahn remained optimistic and in response to the noticeable declines, he developed experiential education programmes within his schools and later his youth development programmes around four enduring elements:
Fitness (Physical) — to compete with one’s self in physical fitness; in so doing, train the discipline and determination of the mind through the body;
Expedition (Affective) — to engage in long, challenging endurance tasks;
Projects (Cognitive) — involving creativity and manual skills, honing a specialist skill, planning and executing an enterprise;
Service (Social) — commitment to others and wider society.
These four elements were central to Hahn’s educational philosophy and featured as pillars within the schools he founded and the innovative organisations he both created and shaped.
The same programme fundamentals of Service, Skill, Physical Recreation, and Adventurous Journeys have remained the operative sections of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award over the past 60 years. As education systems across the globe continue to grapple with reform, we can celebrate the enduring simplicity which the Duke’s Award advocates. Through an unwavering focus on the needs of youth and connection to the real world, The Award continues to achieve positive outcomes. In a recent study conducted by Gaisce – The President’s Award (Ireland), 83 per cent of respondents reported significantly enhanced mental health and well-being from involvement in the award programme (Clarke MacMahon & O’Reilly, 2015).
In Australia the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is available to youth aged from 13 years and nine months to 25 years. The Award is entirely voluntary and empowers participants to take ownership of their programme through devising a plan which meets their learning and development aspirations. Allowing students this flexibility and responsibility is the keystone of The Award’s enduring success. In the words of Kurt Hahn, the ultimate goal of The Award is for participants to realise ‘there is more in you than you think’.
References
Beames, S. & Brown, M. (2016). Adventurous learning: A pedagogy for a changing world. New York, NY: Routledge.
Clarke MacMahon, N. & O’Reilly, G. (2015). ‘It made you feel you had self-worth’. Does Gaisce – The President’s Award act as a catalyst in the enhancement of the psychological attributes of: hope, self-efficacy, self-esteem, happiness, and psychological well-being in its participants? [Report]. Retrieved from: http://gaisce.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Gaisce_Research_Synopsis.pdf
Hanford, E. (2015, September). Beyond the blackboard: Building character in public schools [Documentary]. American RadioWorks. Retrieved from: http://www.americanradioworks.org/documentries/beyond-the-blackboard/
Hirt, B. (2015). The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation. London, UK: Award House.
Taylor, L. (2011). The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award: 55 years of achievement. London, UK: Award House.
Wattchow, B., Jeanes, R., Alfrey, L., Brown, T., Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & O’Connor, J. (Eds) (2014). The socioecological educator: A 21st century renewal of physical, health, environment and outdoor education. London: Springer.