The Breakwell Institute

The purpose of the institute is to generate and apply knowledge and experience around releasing the potential of youth and families to tend to spiritual, material, and social progress in the Netherlands.  To develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable youth and families to develop their own selves and contribute to spiritual and material progress.

Our Framework

Two fundamental convictions underpin the work of the Institute: that humanity is one and that everyone has been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.  These convictions have far reaching implications for all work carried out by the Institute. They require the Institute to have unity both as a goal and as a mode of operating. They imply the need to regard all people of all backgrounds as having a shared stake and role in the progress of humanity, and they leave no space for viewing society in terms of ‘us and them’. From this perspective social progress cannot be the sole preserve of select individuals, or an activity carried out by one group for another, but rather development and social betterment are collective endeavors.  True progress demands the participation of all.

Therefore, the Breakwell Institute regards all those connected to the endeavors of the institute as collaborators in a shared process of learning. This involves not only viewing those around the institute as collaborators but reflecting this perspective in the methods and functioning of the institute. Adopting a process of consultation, action, and reflection as the primary mode of operation allows insights to emerge through the meaningful collaboration of all.  Further, these convictions imply that the insights emerging from the endeavors of the institute belong to society as a whole.  Knowledge and insights gained are therefore shared with humility and generosity with other institutions, agencies, and groups.  

The institute dedicates its efforts to addressing questions around the education of young people out of the firm conviction that they constitute a reservoir of potential and capacity that education alone can unlock.   The institute is committed to educational endeavors which seek to develop the capacity of young people to develop and channel their skills and talents towards the betterment of all.   Central to this is the adoption of the institute of educational approaches that foster a spirit of selfless service and avoid a bolstering of the ego. It is in the arena of selfless service that we believe both personal development and social progress can be advanced.

Operating within this conceptual framework, the institute sets out to learn in action alongside other like-minded organisations, and to contribute to the generation of knowledge and experience around the education of young people in the Netherlands.