Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or journey wilderness-based experiences in which students participate in a variety of adventurous challenges and out ...

organizations that was founded in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

by Lawrence Holt and

Kurt Hahn Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn (5 June 1886, Berlin – 14 December 1974, Hermannsberg) was a German educator. He was decisive in founding, among other organizations and initiatives, Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonsto ...

in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are attended by more than 150,000 people each year. Outward Bound International is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

membership and licensing organisation for the international network of Outward Bound schools. The Outward Bound Trust is an educational

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

established in 1946 to operate the schools in the United Kingdom. Separate organizations operate the schools in each of the other countries in which Outward Bound operates. Outward Bound helped to shape the U.S.

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

and numerous other outdoor adventure programs. Its aim is to foster the

personal growth Personal development or self improvement consists of activities that develop a person's capabilities and potential, build human capital, facilitate employability, and enhance quality of life and the realization of dreams and aspirations. Person ...

and

social skills A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called soci ...

of participants by using challenging expeditions in the outdoors.

History

The first Outward Bound school was opened in

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larg ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in 1941 by Lawrence Holt and

with financial support from the

Blue Funnel Line Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...

shipping company.Outward Bound International (2004).
Birth of Outward Bound
''. Retrieved 9 December 2007. The name Outward Bound was derived from the nautical term for a ship leaving safe harbour for the open sea. Outward Bound grew out of Hahn's work in the development of the

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is locate ...

school and what is now known as the

Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

. Outward Bound's founding mission was to improve the survival chances of young seamen after their ships were torpedoed in the mid-Atlantic. James Martin Hogan served as warden for the first year of the school.
Outward Bound Wales, Aberdyfi
'. Retrieved 29 August 2008. This mission was established and then expanded by Capt. J. F. "Freddy" Fuller who took over the leadership of the Aberdyfi school in 1942 and served the Outward Bound movement as senior warden until 1971. Fuller had been seconded from the Blue Funnel Line following wartime experience during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

of surviving two successive torpedo attacks and commanding an open lifeboat in the Atlantic Ocean for thirty-five days without losing a single member of the crew. An educational

, named The Outward Bound Trust, was established in 1946 to operate the school. A second school followed in England at Eskdale Green in 1950. The first Outward Bound program for women was held in 1951. During the next decade, several other schools opened around the United Kingdom. A school in

Lumut, Malaysia Lumut is a coastal town (population 31,880) and mukim in Manjung District, Perak, Malaysia, situated about from Ipoh, from the town of Sitiawan and it is the main gateway to Pangkor Island before established Marina Island Pangkor as second ...

opened in 1954, the first outside the United Kingdom. Outward Bound Australia was founded in 1956. The first Outward Bound USA course was run in 1961 for the

, which it helped to shape. Outward Bound New Zealand was founded in 1962, Outward Bound Singapore established in 1967 and Outward Bound Hong Kong in 1970. From the inception of Outward Bound, community service was an integral part of the program, especially in the areas of sea and mountain rescues and this remains an important part of the training for both staff and students. During the period 1941 to 1965 in the United Kingdom, the philosophy of the schools evolved from "character‐training" to "personal growth" and "self‐discovery". Aberdyfi remains the organisation's "nerve-centre" in the United Kingdom. Over the course of a summer in 2010, 7000 to 8,000 students attended courses at the Aberdyfi centre and more than a million young people have attended Outward Bound courses in the UK since 1941.

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

served as the

Patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the Outward Bound Trust for several years before handing over to his son Prince Andrew, who resigned in November 2019. Outward Bound International was founded as a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

in 2004 to license the use of the brand name "Outward Bound" and to provide support for the international network of schools. Today there are organizations, called schools, in more than 35 countries with 250 wilderness and urban locations around the world which are attended by more than 250,000 people each year. Separate organizations operate the schools in each of the other countries in which Outward Bound operates.

Blue Peter nautical flag

The name Outward Bound derives from a nautical expression that refers to the moment a

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

leaves the harbour. This is signified by Outward Bound's use of the nautical flag, the

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

(a white square inside a blue square). JF Fuller adapted the Outward Bound motto, "To Serve, To Strive and not To Yield," from the poem " Ulysses" by

Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

: ... Come, my friends. Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are -- One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Current

Since its founding in the middle of the last century, Outward Bound has encouraged individuals to test their physical and emotional limits in challenging outdoor adventure programs. The experiences are a means of building inner strength and a heightened awareness of human interdependence.Outward Bound USA: Crew not Passengers, Josh Miner and Joe Boldt (Seattle: The Mountaineer Books, 2002) Outward Bound operates more than 35 schools in various countries and reports serving over 250,000 students each year. Outward Bound's

compass rose A compass rose, sometimes called a wind rose, rose of the winds or compass star, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and thei ...

emblem serves as the logo for almost all the schools around the world.

Course specifics

Outward Bound courses follow a kind of recipe or formula, termed the ''Outward Bound Process Model'' which is well described by Walsh and Golins (1976) as:Walsh, V., & Golins, G. L. (1976).
The exploration of the Outward Bound process
'. Denver, CO: Colorado Outward Bound School. # Taking a ready, motivated learner # into a prescribed, unfamiliar physical environment, # along with a small group of people # who are faced with a series of incremental, inter-related problem-solving tasks # which creates in the individual a state of dissonance requiring adaptive coping and # leads to a sense of mastery or competence when equilibrium is managed. # The cumulative effect of these experiences leads to a reorganisation of the self-conceptions and information the learner holds about him/herself. # The learner will then continue to be positively oriented to further learning and development experiences (transfer). In a typical class, participants are divided into small patrols (or groups) under the guidance of one or more instructors. The first few days, often at a base camp, are spent training for the

activities that the course will contain and in the philosophy of Outward Bound. After initial confidence-building challenges, the group heads off on an expedition. As the group develops the capacity to do so, the instructors ask the group to make its own decisions.

References

External links