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Where Principles Come First
The Hyde School operates on the principle that if you teach students the merit of such values as
truth, courage, integrity, leadership, curiosity and concern, then academic achievement naturally
follows. Hyde School founder Joseph Gauld claims success with the program at the $18,000-a-year
high school in Bath, Maine, which has received considerable publicity for its work with troubled
youngsters.
"We don't see ourselves as a school for a type of kid," says Malcolm Gauld, Joseph's son, who
graduated from Hyde and is now headmaster. "We see ourselves as preparing kids for a way of life —
by cultivating a comprehensive set of principles that can affect all kids."
Now, Joe Gauld is trying to spread his controversial Character First idea to public, inner-city schools
willing to use the tax dollars spent on the traditional program for the new approach. The first Hyde
public school program opened in September 1992. Within months the program was suspended.
Teachers protested the program's demands and the strain associated with more intense work.
This fall, the Hyde Foundation is scheduled to begin a preliminary public school program in
Baltimore. Teachers will be trained to later work throughout the entire Baltimore system. Other US
school managers are eyeing the program, too. Last fall, the Hyde Foundation opened a magnet program
within a public high school in the suburbs of New Haven, Connecticut, over parents' protests. The
community feared the school would attract inner-city minority and troubled students.
As in Maine the quest for truth is also widespread at the school in Connecticut. In one English class,
the 11 students spend the last five minutes in an energetic exchange evaluating their class performance
for the day on a 1-10 scale.
"I get a 10."
"I challenge that. You didn't do either your grammar or your spelling homework."
"OK, a seven."
"You ought to get a six."
"Wait, I put my best effort forth here."
"Yeah, but you didn't ask questions today."
Explaining his approach to education, Joe Gauld says the conventional education system cannot be
reformed. He notes "no amount of change" with the horse and carriage "will produce an automobile".
The Hyde School assumes "every human being has a unique potential" that is based on character, not
intelligence or wealth. Conscience and hard work are valued. Success is measured by growth, not
academic achievement. Students are required to take responsibility for each other. To avoid the
controversy of other character programs used in US schools, Gauld says the concept of doing your best
has nothing to do with forcing the students to accept a particular set of morals or religious values.
The Hyde curriculum is similar to conventional schools that provide preparation for college, complete
with English, history, math and science. But all students are required to take performing arts and
sports, and provide a community service. For each course, students get a grade for academic
achievement and for "best effort". At Bath, 97% of the graduates attend four-year colleges.
Commitment among parents is a key ingredient in the Hyde mixture. For the student to gain
admission, parents also must agree to accept and demonstrate the school's philosophies and outlook.
The parents agree in writing to meet monthly in one of 20 regional groups, go to a yearly three-day
regional retreat, and spend at least three times a year in workshops, discussion groups and seminars at
Bath. Parents of Maine students have an attendance rate of 95% in the many sessions. Joe and Malcolm
Gauld both say children tend to do their utmost when they see their parents making similar efforts.
The biggest obstacle for many parents, they say, is to realize their own weaknesses.
The process for public school parents is still being worked out, with a lot more difficulty because it is
difficult to convince parents that it is worthwhile for them to participate. Of the 100 students enrolled
in New Haven, about 30% of the parents attend special meetings. The low attendance is in spite of
commitments they made at the outset of the program when Hyde officials interviewed 300 families.
Once the problems are worked out, Hyde should work well in public schools, says a teacher at Bath
who taught for 14 years in public schools. He is optimistic that once parents make a commitment to the
program, they will be daily role models for their children, unlike parents whose children are in boarding
schools.
One former inner-city high school teacher who now works in the New Haven program, says teachers
also benefit. "Here we really begin to focus on having a fruitful relationship with each student. Our focus
is really about teacher to student and then we together deal with the…academics. In the traditional
high school setting, it's teacher to the material and then to the student." The teacher-student
relationship is taken even further at Hyde. Faculty evaluations are conducted by the students.
Jimmy DiBattista, 19, is amazed he will graduate this May from the Bath campus and plans to attend
a university. Years ago, he had seen his future as "jail, not college".
DiBattista remembers his first days at Hyde.
"When I came here, I insulted and cursed everybody. Every other school was, 'Get out, we don't
want to deal with you. 'I came here and they said, 'We kind of like that spirit. We don't like it with the
negative attitudes. We want to turn that spirit positive.'" 品德至上/Where Principles Come First
海德中学的办学宗旨是：如果你向学生传授诸如诚实、勇敢、正直、领导能力、好奇心和关心他人等美德的话，学生的学习成绩自然就会提高。该校的创始人约瑟夫·高尔德声称学校的教学计划很成功。 海德中学坐落在缅因州巴思市，每年的学费高达1.8万美元，因其教导问题少年有方而遐迩闻名。
"我们并不把自己看作一所专为某一类孩子而开设的学校，"马尔科姆·高尔德说。他是约瑟夫的儿子，毕业于海德中学，现任海德中学校长。" 我们把帮助孩子培养一种生活方式看作自己的职责，办法是倡导一整套能影响所有孩子的价值观念。"
现在，乔·高尔德(约瑟夫·高尔德)正试图将他尚有争议的"品德第一"的理念向市中心贫民区的公立学校推广。这些学校愿将用于传统教学计划的税金用于实施这一新的教学方法。 第一个海德公立学校教学计划始于1992年9月。 但几个月后，该计划即告暂停。 教师们对教学计划的过高要求以及高强度工作所带来的压力表示抗议。
今年秋天，海德基金会计划在巴尔的摩启动公立学校预备教学计划。 教师要接受培训，以便今后能在整个巴尔的摩体系内胜任工作。 美国其他学校的领导们也在关注这个教学计划。 去年秋天，在家长的一片抗议声中，海德基金会在康涅狄格州纽黑文市郊区的一所中学内启动了一个引人注目的教学计划。 当地居民担心该校可能招进来市中心贫民区的少数民族学生和问题学生。
就像在缅因州那样，求真也在康涅狄格州的这所中学得到广泛推崇。 在一堂英语课上，11名学生用最后的五分钟展开激烈的讨论，依照1-10的评分标准相互评价他们当天的课堂表现。
"我得10分。"
"我有意见，你没做语法作业，也没有做拼写练习。"
"那好，就7分吧。"
"你只能得6分。"
"等等，我可是全力以赴的。"
"是的，可你今天没提问。"
在解释自己的教育方法时，乔·高尔德指出，传统的教育体制不能只是改革。 他说"无论怎样改革"，马和马车"都改革不出汽车" 。 海德中学认为"每一个人都有自己的独特潜能"，这种潜能的基础是品格而不是智力或财富。 良知和苦干受到推崇。 成功是由成长来衡量，而不是由学习成绩来评定。 学生必须相互负责。 为了避免美国中学使用的其他品格培养方案所引发的争议，高尔德解释说，"全力以赴"这一概念并不是要强迫学生接受某一套道德原则或宗教观念。
海德中学的课程与那些开设大学预科课程的常规学校相似，设置完整，包括英语、历史、数学和自然科学。 但所有的学生都必须修习表演艺术和体育，还要提供社区服务。 在每门课程中，学生都会得到一个综合了学习成绩和"努力程度"的分数。 在巴思市，97%的海德中学毕业生都升入了本科。
在海德中学的综合教育中，父母的参与是一个关键的组成部分。 为了使孩子被该校录取，家长也必须同意接受并实践学校的思想和观点。 家长签约同意每月出席一次区小组会议（共20个区小组），每年去区休养所三天，每年至少参加三次巴思市的研修班、讨论组和研讨会。 在很多活动中，缅因州学生家长的出席率高达95%。 乔和马尔科姆都说，当孩子们见到自己的父母都在全力以赴时，他们也会竭尽全力。 他们说，对许多家长而言，最困难的是让他们意识到自己的不足。
公立学校学生家长的活动计划仍在制定之中。这项工作的困难要大得多，因为很难使家长相信自身的参与很有价值。 在纽黑文市录取的100名学生中，有30%左右的家长出席了各类特别会议。 这一低出席率违背了他们在教学计划开始实施时所做的承诺，当时海德中学的官员曾走访了300个家庭。
巴思市一名在公立学校教书达14年之久的教师说，一旦问题得到解决，海德教学计划就会在公立学校中获得成功。 他很乐观地相信，一旦家长们投入到计划当中，他们就会成为孩子们日常行为的榜样，这一点与寄宿学校的学生家长完全不同。
一名曾任教于市中心贫民区学校的教师如今在实践纽黑文教学计划。他说，教师也能从中受益。" 在这里，我们真正开始集中精力与每一个学生建立卓有成效的关系。 我们的重点真的是先考虑师生关系，然后是师生共同研讨……学业。 而在传统的中学里，是先考虑教师和教材的关系，然后再考虑师生关系。" 师生关系在海德中学被进一步深化了。 对教职员工的评估也由学生来进行。
19岁的吉米·迪巴蒂斯塔今年5月将从巴思校区毕业，并准备升入大学。对此他感到惊奇。 几年前，他还觉得自己的前途"是在监狱，而不是在大学"。
迪巴蒂斯塔还记得他刚到海德中学时的情景。
"我来这儿时，见人就侮辱，就咒骂。 其他每所学校都会说：'滚出去！我们这儿不要你。'我来到这儿，他们却说： '我们有几分喜欢这种活力，但并不喜欢它消极的一面，而是要将它转化成积极的一面。'"
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