During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters.
Each Sunday I’ll publish a selection from his writings in the hope that you’ll draw inspiration and understanding from his timeless ideas.
ONE of the most important possibilities before us lies in the direction of Education. We have by other lines arrived at much the same conclusions as have the education authorities through their experiences.
This is briefly, that the secret of sound education is TO GET EACH PUPIL TO LEARN FOR HIMSELF, INSTEAD OF INSTRUCTING HIM BY DRIVING KNOWLEDGE INTO HIM ON A STEREOTYPED SYSTEM.
The method is to lead the boy on to tackle the OBJECTIVE of his training, and not to bore him with the preliminary steps at the outset. The education authorities have come to recognise us as would-be helpers in the same field, the aim of both of us being to produce healthy, prosperous citizenship. They take the intellectual development, we go rather more for the development of “character,” and that, after all, is the most important attribute for prevention of the social diseases of slackness and selfishness, and gives the best chance to a man of a successful career in any line of life.
We are endeavouring to help the education authorities in every way that we can. They are working entirely in accord with us in a number of important centres.
January, 1912.
From B.P.’s Outlook