Character First: The Hyde School Way and Why It Works [Paperback]

Joseph Gauld (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 1995

Many values are sadly missing from today's schools. Joe Gauld knew this too well as a teacher, coach and administrator. He saw a system preoccupied with students' ability and academic achievement, and blind to their character. Gauld decided to do something about it and he started his own school. Character First isn't a book filled with detached educational theory. Instead, the author's recollections and the personal accounts of students, parents, and teachers clearly show what creates the Hyde School difference. These stories tell of struggles with drugs and alcohol, cheating, and peer pressure—and the role the Hyde School and Gauld himself have played in helping young people deal with and overcome their problems.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Louisa May Alcott would applaud the Hyde School experiment as outlined in this history by its founder and former headmaster. In Jo's Boys, a sequel to Little Women, Alcott sent Jo and her Professor Baer off to the woods to start a school for incorrigible boys. Gauld did much the same, turning a historic estate in remote Bath, Maine, into a private boarding school for boys and girls who struggle unsuccessfully with traditional academic programs. Like Alcott, Gauld emphasized character. Not all of his youngsters had behavior problems--some were simply unable to get into the college of their choice and looked to Hyde to maximize their SATs. But Gauld holds no brief for SAT scores and high grade-point averages: The goal at the Hyde School is to instill values and to cultivate each student's ``unique potential.'' Diplomas are awarded on the basis of maximum personal growth, and academics do not count (although Hyde will certify to admissions offices that students are academically prepared for college). Mottos (``Courage, Integrity, Concern, Curiosity, Leadership''); principles (``Humility, Conscience, Truth''); an honor code; and quotations from Kahlil Gibran help map the way for Hyde students. Most important is the involvement of the parents, who are required to attend retreats and workshops, and to participate in the school's Parent Learning Center programs, where they explore their own behavior, values, goals, and relationships. Although the Hyde program smacks of elitism--a foreword by Cher, whose son attended the school, strengthens that impression--Gauld's philosophy of education parallels that of inner-city school leader Madeline Cartwright (Lessons from a Visionary Principal, reviewed above). Hyde's program is worthy--but a plethora of patting-our-own- back anecdotes, as well as accolades from parents and former students, make this more testimonial than guidebook. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This revolutionary book on education is about doing it differently—about real community and civility in teaching; about teaching through relationships rather than rote, authenticity rather than rote, agonizing discernment rather than formula; and ultimately about essence rather than superficials."—M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (November 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761501606
• ISBN-13: 978-0761501602
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,988,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Current Student at Hyde, April 4, 2005

By 

Hyde Student (Hyde School) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Character First: The Hyde School Way and Why It Works (Paperback)

I am a current student at the Hyde School. I saw this book on amazon.com and immediately thought that I should post a comment on what I felt and truths behind the philosophy and how it is taught.

I recall hearing a statement that someone believes Hyde is viewed by many as something along the lines of a cult. It is true; many students have used that metaphor many times, including me. They believe that they are always right, and there is no way around it. Their philosophy is great; the views and things they try to teach the students are dead-on and I barely have any complaints about them. HOWEVER, they go about teaching them the wrong way. Example: There is a prinipal at Hyde that they call "Brother's Keeper," which is defined as holding eachother to their best. This idea is a great idea and should be practiced, however students should not be penalized and given severe consequences for such petty incidents such as being with someone who is wearing a hat inside a building. They go about dealing with students using profanity by making them do pushups rather than actually seeing the reason behind the profanity and seeing if there was, infact, true justification for it's use.

Example of a severe consequence? "2-4." I believe it stands for 24 hours in a day, in which a student is put on "2-4" for an indefinite period of time. While on "2-4," a student is not permitted to talk to anyone else in the school except for faculty, not allowed to eat hot food on the lunch line (bagels, salads, etc. are allowed), rake leaves/shovel snow/clean all the buildings (depending on the season), and must attend "5:30's" every day. What is a "5:30," you ask? It is when a student is required to be inside the gymnasium at 5:30 in the morning in order to conduct a workout. These include suicides (the type of running, not the taking of one's own life), laps, pushups, situps, wall-sits, and basically every form of physical work you can think of. I have been on "2-4" for weeks at a time because Hyde dean's THOUGHT that I had broken rules and still had them on my consciense, which I clearly did not. I am scared to use my real name on Amazon, my grade, what year I am in at Hyde, or even which campus I am at, because I would most likely be put on "2-4" for attitude and have to deal with multiple confrontations about something along the lines of a "rebel attitude."

I apologize because it seems that this is turning into a whole complaint and argument against Hyde, which is not my intention. This is not the place for that. However, I am just trying to portray some things regarding Hyde that you may not know of by just reading Joe Gauld's (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, as well as his son, Malcom Gauld) book. I have lived this book for long enough to know what I am talking about.

Basically, my advice is to not look at this review and say "Hyde must be full of bs" because Hyde is far from it. Their views are great and their philosophy is great, but the way they teach it to their students is way too off. I suggest reading this book if you have children and carefully looking at all of the ideas and philosophies in the book. However, I suggest NOT teaching your children those ideas in the ways that may be described in the text, but rather using your own ways and seeing what works on your child, because no technique will work for everyone. Hyde's techniques have worked on a select few individuals in my school (I'd say around 7 out of over 200), and I have seen more negative results than positive results.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Principles sound great, but Hyde is cult, October 21, 2006

By 

Bonnie Height "NEbooklover" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Character First: The Hyde School Way and Why It Works (Paperback)

While this book does provide sound principles for developing a youngster's character, in practice, the Hyde experience does not play out as described. The principles in the book when put into practice at the school create a punitive environment for not just the students but the parents. Never have I felt my privacy or that of my family so invaded. I pulled my child out of Hyde after only one semester, as the cult atmosphere and the requirement that everyone fall in line without question reminded me of a similar experience I had years back with the "Landmark Forum" or EST, where you are made to feel that everything you've done up until now is just plain wrong. My child did much better away from Hyde and has gone on to be a successful adult. When we withdrew, we were told our child could never come back to visit Hyde friends. The realities of Hyde School seriously undermine some of the good information in the book. Read the book if you must, but run from the school.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars One view of Hyde, March 31, 2005

By 

Frederic Reamer and Deborah Siegel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Character First: The Hyde School Way and Why It Works (Paperback)

We were introduced to this book last spring when our daughter was enrolled at the Hyde School (Woodstock campus). We do not question the author's sincerity or enthusiasm. In principle, many of the values and concepts broached in this book are laudable. However, the Hyde School that our family experienced and the one portrayed in this book are radically different. In our family's experience, much too often the school does not live up to the ideals of truth, honesty, integrity, courage, and accountability espoused by the author in this book. We witnessed many instances of what we consider to be egregious emotional abuse, manipulation, and mishandling of students' mental health issues -- practices that contradict the author's confident assertions about the Hyde model. As the renowned author, James Traub, says in his recent assessment of the Hyde model, "The school sometimes feels to the kids like prison on the honor code . . . . About 40 percent of each class drops out. One senior told me that she was one of 9 kids remaining from her freshman class of 25 or 30. . . . Hyde feels almost like a cult, or at least a caste." (James Traub, "The Moral Imperative," Education Next, 2005). Traub's insightful, astute observations seem much closer to the truth, as we know it, than Gauld's chracterization in this book.