Over 7 weeks or so I will post an exploration of each of Kurt Hahn’s “Seven Laws of Salem”. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, or Part 5.
Kurt Hahn was an educator and vocal anti-Nazi in the early days of their rise to power. The principals he called “The Seven Laws of Salem” (the basis for the school he founded in Salem, Germany between the world wars) became the founding principals of the Outward Bound programs now offered at independent schools around the world.
Hahn was focused on developing social change through education of the younger generation. He placed the natural world, our earth, in a position of great importance to the heath and development of a human being at a time when industrialization and modernism was beginning to over take more traditional life styles.
The Seven Laws of Salem
1. Give the children opportunities for self-discovery.
2. Make the children meet with triumph and defeat.
3. Give the children the opportunity of self-effacement in the common cause.
4. Provide periods of silence.
5. Train the imagination.
6. Make games important but not predominant.
7. Free the sons of the wealthy and powerful from the enervating sense of privilege.
"Give the children the opportunity of self-effacement in the common cause."
There are so many ways to take this one. I'll admit, my first reaction to reading this, as an American raised on idealizing the type of rugged individualism that easily fantasizes and often chooses trying to solve any problem in some kind of isolation, was slightly stomach turning. These are the hero's we are given, that we grow up with, and how we are taught culturally that strength means.
I'm going to break this apart a bit & I want to start with "the common cause." Most of us are too well acquainted with our own causes - our individual goals, dreams, and work. Maybe we see our community as a way to support us in achieving that - our friends and families, our employer, our religious, intellectual or spiritual community. There is something special about being the "best", the most recognized, the highest paid. It is a reward in itself. And it is useful for our own sense of motivation and useful too for the advancement of new ideas.
When I reflect on this "law", what I really see is a way to be in community. How we relate and interact with those around us, recognizing that though my personal goals are important (certainly to me), the others around me have individual goals as well. Together, quite often, we have communal goals.
Look through the self-help/personal or professional development materials you have come across. There are plenty of materials online about how to set and make commitments to your personal goals.
Try this. Get 3 sheets of paper. Write down your personal goals on one. On the next write down the goals of the 3 people closest to you. If you don't know what they are, maybe ask them. On the final sheet of paper list the goals of 3 of the communities you interact with - these could be your family's shared goals, your town's, your employer's. Maybe you are a member of a social or political organization, a church or spiritual community. Gyms and yoga studios have memberships. The list goes on.
On some level we are always participating in the shared goals of others. Whether communal, personal or professional. How aware are you of what these are for others? For your community? For your employer? For your 3 most important relationships? If you have even the slightest expectation that these others will support you, what are you doing to support them? To support your community?
As Hahn states in the description of the "law";
"You want a crew, not passengers..."
We all would love a crew helping us achieve our aims. Other people are necessary and a valuable part of life for most of us. Our communities are the water we swim in. Hahn here, as I read him, is suggesting developmentally it is important to recognize that there is a "common cause." Whether we agree with the direction it is taking may be a different story, but recognizing it and acknowledging it is there, and that it impacts our lives, is invaluable to our development.
The second piece of this for me is "self-effacement". The OED defines it as "The keeping of oneself out of sight or in the background." Other "online" sources add the word "humility" to the general sentiment. When we as a culture so often highlight, even celebrate, the importance of personal achievement above all else how does this work?
Again, I'm not saying we need to become a culture of anonymous drones. We are looking at these "laws" as developmental tools - as a way to improve our lives and relationships.
I believe some of this is about recognition that we are in community. One form of community is a team. Sure, there are often stand out players, but they couldn't take the field alone, they couldn't win championships without the others around them. Most executives I have met would be lost without a staff behind them.
Acknowledging this, that we are in it together and could not succeed without each other, can be tough for an ego to take, whether it is in relationship, as employer, a teammate, a citizen.
The other aspect of this I believe many of us learn and struggle with as we come into adulthood, is that we may not be the star player. The team, the community, the goals of the relationship, may not be about us all the time. Does that mean we take our ball and go home? Fight, force, pressure, manipulate until everything is our way? Or can we take a lesser role in supporting something larger than our own interests? Maybe not even be recognized for it?
In thinking about the pervious 2 "laws" it occurs to me this could go the other way quite often too. We may not want recognition, even for what we excel at. Hiding behind others out of fear or comfort.
I understand this "law" as a "right sizing." Knowing, in each community, what I can contribute and learning what I may need to set aside to be part of the achievement of something bigger than my own ambitions.
Another way of looking at this is knowing your limits, having an honest assessment your gifts, and using them to the best of your abilities.
As Hahn says:
"Let the responsible boys and girls shoulder responsibilities big enough, when negligently performed, would wreck a state."
In other words, know what you can handle and know the impact to others if you take on more than you really can.
