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The Rite Journey is a program to allow Australian Year-9 male students age 14-15 years to share a year-long partnership with a teacher-guide as the boy explores what it means to become a respectful and responsible man. Given the current view that rites of passage need to be rediscovered for young people in Western culture, a feature of the program is specially created ceremonies held throughout the year. These celebration points follow the seven steps of a hero's journey. Curricular content is based on four topics: relationships with self, others, the divine and the world. This paper recounts the program's background and form and includes feedback of boys who have participated in the program.
Keywords: boys, adolescence, rites of passage, single-gender education
It seems that it is only the recent West that has deemed it unnecessary to 'initiate' young men. Otherwise, culture after culture felt that if the young man were not introduced to 'the mysteries', he would not know what to do with his pain and would almost always abuse his power. It looks like they were right (Rohr, 1998).
The Rite Journey is a year long school-based program that uses a variety of methodologies and ceremonies to help Australian Year-9 boys age 14-15 begin their journey into adulthood. It is currently being taught in a number of Australian schools including Lutheran Schools and Waldorf Schools. The program combines emotional and social education with practical activities that have students "doing" and "experiencing." "Rock and Water," drumming, physical education, juggling, adventure camps and a solo camping experience combined with meditation, experiencing silence, journal writing, mentoring and being mentored, sharing experiences and storytelling form a program in which students are challenged physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The journey framework of celebration and ceremony offers the important acknowledgement of the transition from boyhood to beginning adulthood.
In what follows we describe the genesis of The Rite Journey; the form of the program; how and why The Rite Journey works; what students and staff say about the program; and implementation of the program in schools.
The Genesis of The Rite Journey
As teachers, over many years we have been somewhat surprised by the young males who are placed in our care. A significant number of them...