OUTWARD BOUND LEARNING - A Note

OBL-HISTORY!OUTWARD BOUND LEARNING ,or OUTWARD BOUND TRAINING,whatever one chooses to call it by,the concept of Outward Bound Learning has been in existence in our history and mythology.

In simple terms it means taking the classroom outdoors,and education,learning being activity based and shared.

Lord Krishna was educated in Sandeepani.In the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the Pandavas and Kauravas were educated by their gurus in the wilderness on an experiential mode.this was in their ashrams.The Gurukula system of education was similar to today's,'Outward Bound Education',system.The pilgrimages that were and are undertaken to places like Sabarimala,Vaishno Devi, Badrinath, Kedarnath, can be looked at as,'Out Bound Experience'.

Groups travelled together,lived together,and ate together.Their experience of good times and bad times together led to better and increased levels of understanding of the self and others.It enhanced the ability to push oneself beyond perceived,or, known, unknown, boundaries of tolerance and patience to fellow human beings,heightens sensitivity and brings about harmony.

While we have been informally practicing Outward Bound Learning throughout ages in our country,we have not come across any document that articulates this aspect in the context of learning.

In 1930's, a German educational psychologist, Kurt Hahn was commissioned by a shipping company called Blue Line Shipping Company for a given task.

The objective was to study and create a module to help the merchant sailors learn how to survive when encountered by natural or man-made crisis,e.g.getting caught in between battleships,typhoons etc.

Kurt Hahn after studying the problem,formulated a training program that ran for a month.This training program was for the crew of Blue Line Shipping Company and was found to be successful in meeting the objective.

Kurt Hahn then termed this process,"Outward Bound".

This symbolized the fact that,the sailors lifted anchors {Weigh Anchor] from the safety of the harbour and sailed into uncharted territories of the high seas with renewed levels of confidence to handle situations.

In contemporary India, the progress of OBL has been slightly different.First a few well-equipped people took groups to the wilderness for adventure training which resulted in self-rejuvenation and some amount of self learning.

From here, it is today seen as Learning by Self,or,Rediscovering Oneself.This is all thanks to the numerous activities that have been formulated and synchronized with management lessons.

Sometimes it is that rarely found sense which is plain simple CommonSense.

Today we at People's Skills India Pvt.Ltd,uphold the fact that all and the best of Learning & Knowledge is most well imbibed by a person in,'OutBound Learning',or,OutBound Training Programmes'.

Our facilitators are well seasoned,experienced and passionate about their deliveries on the programmes.

This along with their qualifications only makes them and our organization to link up as the Excellent Partner for all your Outward Bound Learning/Training Programmes.

IT IS IN YOUR MOMENTS OF DECISION THAT YOUR DESTINY IS MADE - Anthony Robins.

With Best Wishes,
A.S.PRASAD.