October 19 Post
Reading response questions 10/19
For Monday, start by watching the Hahn video interview and, optionally, The Crown season 2 episode 9, which focuses on Prince Phillip's time at Gordonstoun including some interactions with Hahn. It gives a pretty good portrayal of what the experience was probably like. (Prince Charles famously hated his experience there, which is why William and Harry broke with tradition and went to Eton.) The Crown episode is a fun way to get a sense of context, but it is not required.
Then respond to the following:
Please share your general reactions to Hahn. Identify quotes you are taken with from his readings, and briefly discuss what about them grabs your attention.
Nicholas Matteo Kendra
“The modern type is inferior in humanity…” to the true craftsman. In training for and through the sea, Hahn contrasts old world craftsmanship and skillfulness with the bumbling handiwork of those trained in modern methods.
Hahn comes off as prophetic but somewhat unhinged in the interview, lofty language, sunglasses. The 5 I’lls created by modern society are rooted in nostalgia for a glorified past that perhaps never existed. His words on the monarchy are at once egalitarian and monarchist esp hereditary virtues that made them king etc etc
Hahn, like the American factions composing Dewey’s context, saw education as a avenue for social change through youth indoctrination. Re: mission of salem P.190 stabler.
“Lay the foundation of class peace” - A window into Hahn’s politics
Is Hahn Gay? Prince Max, Neville Buttler “A confirmed batchelor” Stabler P210
Like Dewey, He seems to combine others' ideas in a new way.
Hahns sexual hangups are very protestant, Maybe rooted in closeted queerness
Stabler confirms my initial impression that Hahn is moralistic, rooted more in “his own nature than the nature of others”- Stabler p222 than empiricism
It is interesting to me how one's previous experience changes the way different people view the same imagery and read the same words. I have some knowledge of Hahn's medical condition, where he suffered through awful migraines and had to stay out of the sun to protect his skin so when I saw his sunglasses, I merely remembered the awful medical issues that he endured. The first book that I read - and one that brought such a different (and WELCOME) perspective on values was Roots - From Outward Bound to Expeditionary Learning. I see now that there are a few different authors however prior to looking at it tonight, I had thought it was 100% Hahn. Regardless, when I heard Kurt Hahn speak those words of enterprising curiosity, I was immediately taken back to this book and how deeply these ideals had touched me. Within the book, Kurt Hahn wrote of many of the tough happenings that occurred within the Crown episode - yet again, in a way that opened my eyes to the possibilities that youth will figure it out - when adults let them. In reflection, I think that reading this book over four years ago affected some of my viewpoints in the discussion around the "Free School" as it was written in such a beautiful way that it looked very romantic in my mind in comparison to what was shown in the Crown. But then I do believe it requires challenge and hardship to grow. Some people don't and I understand that. Watching the way that the Crown portrayed Gordonston - and my sad, shocked reactions to it - are similar to anecdotes I have heard from people who attended experiential education / therapeutic trainings as well as tales from students who have been sent to wilderness therapy. Again, I have an overly idealized portrayal of what these programs are like - and since I love going to a reflective, self-analytical place myself - I'm often surprised when I hear real-life negative experiences of these places. It's always a good reality check - as are seeing some of the perspectives of Matteo and Nick.
Also, you probably noticed that the readings are chronological and span decades. What themes do you notice that stay consistent over time, and what changes in his messages can you detect, if any?
Hahn harmonizes with dewey in that he views the distinction between school life and outside of school life as useless “It is in his free time that the boy gains the impulses which are the most decisive for the formation of his character,” Hahn 1928 p6
In Hahn 1928 he essentially argues for the privatization of the school system in the face of the impotence of the state to “train the will” of the youth and provide “Personalities” to fill positions of power in state and industry
By the time 1962 rolls around, Hahn is much less worshipful of the past and of the child, the two of which he often conflates. He describes his 3 camps, the trade union of the peace of mind preservers (very german, i suspect this would be one word in german), the pessimists and the third camp which he places himself in. In fact, later in this tract, Hahn quite self consciously reflects on his early tendency to place the desires of the child on a podium p.294
No cycling up hill!? Truly i must be a degenerate in every way.
Based on your impression so far, what seemed to be Hahn's philosophy and what was motivating it?
Hahn seems to valorize youth and blames society for corrupting young people as they age. He also seems to have a fetishistic preoccupation with work, vitality, virility, and order that (having lived in the country) I identify as almost uniquely German.
His perspective seems to be characterized by an anxiety over the deterioration of the individual by the emergence of new cultural and social features. The ills that plague humanity he attributes not to essential human characteristics, but to relatively recent declines driven by mores and artifices. At the same time he identifies And technology! Transportation, speciation, modernity, etc.
These are interesting perspectives. I believe the horror of the Nazi party and the way that Hahn's countrymen turned on each other contributed greatly to his beliefs about the "ills that plague humanity." It's also interesting to see Nick writing about Hahn's "obsession" with virility and youth. Since I know of his crippling medical condition and the pain and suffering this caused him, it makes me see Hahn's focus on youth and health in a new light. Hahn's philosophy, in my opinion, was that if we can really reinforce the importance of community - which was done by putting youth in real, potentially perilous situations such as maritime, then we can create a brotherhood who care for one another, have self-discipline, and use their ambitions to help society grow stronger - rather than go down the sick path of the Holocaust.
“He fights for a cause he can never question, and "a noble will breathes a wondrous Strength into a frail body." Let us render thanks for such wonders, but to bank on them is blasphemy.”- Hahn with the self own. The training holiday 1942 Hahn projects his own insecurities on to everything. He is constantly speaking in hyperbole
For Hahn, education (and more generally, personal development), is also animated by an anxiety over war. War seems to exist at the end of an instrumental chain for Hahn. Often, the merits of certain undertakings (e.g. lifesaving) are framed in relation to or measured against “martial disciplines.” The “anxiety” of these undertakings and others charge already demanding experiences with an exigence that Hahn seems to link to a more effective girding of the young person.
Please identify 1-2 agenda items for discussion in class.
Now I'm going to be hooked on the Crown!! I googled Prince Phillip while watching it and what a crazy story that I never knew. I can't imagine the hardship and it's honestly amazing to see that I have made it this far in life without ever knowing the story of the Royal Crown.
“The modern type is inferior in humanity…” to the true craftsman. In training for and through the sea, Hahn contrasts old world craftsmanship and skillfulness with the bumbling handiwork of those trained in modern methods. In other works, he characterizes the teen years as “loutish.” Throughout his work he seems very problem-focused and intent on addressing the debasement of young men through vigorous exercise and other “preventative cures.”
ReplyDeleteFor Hahn, education (and more generally, personal development), is also animated by an anxiety over war. War seems to exist at the end of an instrumental chain for Hahn. Often, the merits of certain undertakings (e.g. lifesaving) are framed in relation to or measured against “martial disciplines.” The “anxiety” of these undertakings and others charge already demanding experiences with an exigence that Hahn seems to link to a more effective girding of the young person. I find no exploration of thought more telling of his problem focused approach than his writing on the “moral equivalent of war.” Subject to contemporary discourse, no doubt Hahn would be labeled ableist and toxic for these (and perhaps other) philosophies. However, even in his day and in his context, I would have hoped that a thought-leader could imagine a world not at war. As a work group, we’ve theorized and joked about Hahn’s performative masculinity (lederhosen, edelweiss, strapping company, a nice cold shower). Is it possible that his psychology drives many of his ideas about the right treatment of youth? Having lived on the shores of Lake Konstanz I can imagine that coming of age there would draw ones mind to the mountains, a relatively short train ride away. Perhaps a feeling of missing out and a perception of an abiding lack within animates a kind of religious zeal in Hahn’s pedagogy.
What a roller-coaster ride it is this week to read your responses. The fascinating thing to me is how Hahn provides an ample resource for all these assessments and they all can be justified: from the enrapturement with his "seductive oratory" as one contemporary put it, to the sense that what is really needed is some psychoanalysis, to the curiosity about Hahn's essential "Germanness." What makes this all especially interesting to me is that these were all responses Hahn generated even in his own time, as Stabler alludes to. He certainly is a polarizing figure and I delight in seeing this has not changed.
ReplyDeleteKendra's point about Hahn being deeply influenced by wars is important to bear in mind. After all, he worked in German propaganda during WWI, exiled to England the year Hitler assumed the Chancellery (1933), moved Gordonstoun to Wales in response to WWII (its home in Moray is right next to an air force base), became involved in German reconstruction following the war, and then got involved in NATO at the start of the cold war, as he and Lawrence Darvall conceived of the Atlantic World Colleges. There is no question in my mind that geopolitical conflict is the backdrop for all of Hahn's initiatives; you can sense his urgency for these matters in everything he does and says. And at the end of the blog today, Nick suggests a religious zeal animating his activities too. This is all worth considering as we think of how Hahn was able to achieve what he did. What forces was he tapping into?