On October 30th, Charles Vogl, author of ‘The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging’, spoke at the Hun School to an audience of parents, heads of school, and faculty on the topic of belonging. Mr. Vogl stated that we are living in one of the loneliest times as humans, particularly among adolescents and young adults. He shared a ritual he started while a student at Yale that brought people together to get to know each other and build community as well as his work researching how ancient to modern cultures develop community. From that research, he wrote his book on belonging. Mr. Vogl led the audience through activities that built connections between strangers in the room and took the audience through the seven principles of belonging, which revolve around having: Boundary, Initiation, Ritual, Temple, Stories, Symbols, and Inner Ring.–
Mr. Vogl ended his talk with a call to action to each of us to do the work of building stronger connections in our families and communities and for schools to examine how they do and do not meet the seven principles. The Parent Association officers, faculty, and staff of Princeton Montessori School will work to do this examination and brainstorming in hopes we can take Mr. Vogl’s good message to heart and go even further in ensuring everyone who is a part of this community feels seen, heard, welcome, and nurtured by community.
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If you care to learn more, check out his book:
