What is Round Square?
Round Square is a world-wide association of schools on five continents sharing unique and ambitious goals. Students attending Round Square schools make a strong commitment, beyond academic excellence, to personal development and responsibility. This is achieved by participating in community service, work projects, exchange programmes and adventuring, which can, and often does, take students half way around the world.
Round Square is based on the theories of experiential educational philosopher Kurt Hahn. Dr. Hahn, one of the twentieth century’s foremost revolutionaries in education, believed that schools should have a greater purpose beyond preparing students for college and university. He believed that it was crucial for young people to prepare for life by having them face it directly and experience it in ways that would demand courage, generosity, imagination, principle and resolution. Round Square is an organization embodying this educational revolution.
The number of Round Square schools continues to grow and the co-operation among these organizations increases, Hahn’s philosophy is making a solid and creative impact on the lives of thousands of students.
All member schools share a strong underlying belief: ‘learning by doing’ . It is an ongoing process of self-confrontation and formation, involving a fundamental objective of the full and individual development of every student into a whole person…academically, physically, culturally and spiritually, within the supportive environment of a school community.
Embodying the growing spirit of globalisation and responsibility, Round Square schools work by providing students of the member schools a common platform to express their opinions, through words and actions alike, in fruitful activities like work projects, community service and exchange programmes all over the globe. All these are essential in preparing young people to meet the challenges of the future with confidence and compassion.
Ideals of Round Square:
Round Square schools are founded on a philosophy which embraces a series of six pillars or precepts which can be summed up in the word IDEALS. They are:
- Internationalism
- Democracy
- Environment
- Adventure
- Leadership
- Service
Students at Round Square schools make a commitment to addressing each of these pillars through exchanges, work projects, community service, and adventure.
The overriding goal is to ensure the full and individual development of every student as a whole person through the simultaneous realization of academic, physical, cultural and spiritual aspirations.
