Patrol Method

Email questions! I’ll answer email questions concerning patrols and planning in this week’s podcast. I think what most of us want is patrols with long storied histories, stable membership, and high functioning Scouts. It’s my suspicion these kinds of patrols only exist in the pages of handbook. I had a dog eared copy the 1940’s era Patrol Leader’s Handbook as a kid. It’s illustrated with line drawings and cartoons of a bunch of cheery fellows doing great things in an orderly fashion....

A virtual question and answer session with Green Bar Bill about the patrol method from the December 1943 Edition of Scouting magazine. If you aren’t familiar with Bill “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt check out these articles to learn more. Download this article as a PDF document below. The Boys Ask Green Bar Bill About the Patrol Method GENTLEMEN, we’ve been pushed entirely out of the picture this month. We invited a bunch of Patrol Leaders to this Round Table, because we wanted to find out what questions boys ask about the Patrol....

Personal schedules are just one of the things that affect a Scout patrol … … and we can’t do things as if it were 10 years ago, much less 100. One of our challenges as Scouters (and human beings) is adapting to change while maintaining our goals and principles. It’s not impossible, but it can be hard work. In this podcast I’ll discuss transition and change in a few different contexts focused on maintaining Scout patrols, the patrol system, and youth leadership....

What Did John Thurman say to Patrol leaders? Richard Francis “John” Thurman (4 April 1911 – April 1985) became the third Camp Chief at Gilwell Park in 1943 and ably developed Gilwell Park and leader training for 26 years. Author of 15 books on Scouting He made a considerable impact on World Scouting and his influence will live on through his books and through the leaders he trained. We can learn a lot listening in as he addresses patrol leaders in his introduction to his 1950 Patrol Leader’s Handbook....

What do you know about Scouting’s founder? February 22nd is founder’s day, the birthday of Scouting’s founder, born in 1857, 159 years ago, in Paddington, London, England World Thinking Day is celebrated annually on 22 February by all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world. It is a day when they think about their fellow Scouts in all the countries of the world. Listen to a narrative about a visit to the National scouting museum from Craig Dickson, Scoutmaster of troop 682 in Poway CA....

How do you decide who ends up in what patrol? Patrols are not about managing Scouts, they are not an artificial construct. If you look at patrols from the perspective of your Scouts there’s the only thing that’s actually important – and that’s what we’ll talk about on this podcast. The real secret is that you don’t have to make patrols, because Scouts do that themselves whether we like it or not....

Many Scouters claim; “We have a youth-led Troop,” but what does that really mean? Official literature mentions this sort of thing often, but how is do we really define “youth-led”? We’d like to think what the Scouts do and how they do it defines “youth-led”, but it doesn’t. Young people lead themselves all the time, it comes quite naturally to them. What adults do is just as important to a youth-led troop as what adults don’t do....

Anyone who takes on a position of responsibility as a leader will feel pretty self-important at first. After all, you have been chosen, or you stepped in when no one else did. It’s a big ego boost to have a title, to have people follow your directions. That’s a pretty heady feeling isn’t it… all that power? Power scratches an itch, and some leaders never quite lose their addiction to power....

When is a group of Scouts a Troop, and when are they a patrol? We begin answering that question by forgetting everything we think we know and building a logical approach, by serving the interests of the individual Scout rather than the interest of an organizational chart. Small troops are going to function a little differently than larger ones, but both serve to achieve the same aim. What questions do you ask during a Webelos visit to a troop?...

We prepare our Scouts, but how about their parents? How can we help parents make it though the first week of summer camp? Entrusting the full-time care of your child to someone for such a long time, for the first time, can be challenging for parents. In this podcast I offer some ideas you can share with parents tp make their child’s stay at summer camp easier on the folks at home....

Vilhelm Hans Bjerregaard Jensen was a Danish Scout who became a Scoutmaster during the early years of the Scouting Movement. He decided to see something of Scouting around the world, worked his way through Europe and England, arrived in the United States in February 1926 and took a job with the national headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America. James West (the BSA’s first National Executive) solicited Vilhelm’s thoughts on Scouting....

What’s the difference between a patrol and a herd? In this week’s podcast we’ll look at what the founder had to say about the scale of Scouting and I’ll answer email questions about patrols choices and presenting badges. LINKS The Big Three Resources every Scouter should read MusicA Boy Scout in Switzerland Sponsored By ScoutmasterCG.com Backers Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS Get The SCOUTMASTERCG APP Podcast Archive

*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. FROM different sources I have had interesting reports of very satisfactory results of developing the Patrol system. The sum of the whole thing amounts to this — every individual in the Patrol is made responsible, both in den and in camp, for his definite share in the successful working of the whole....

Scouts Canada has created a clear, uncluttered, engaging process in the “Plan-Do-Review” component of the Canadian Path. Scouting is made up of intuitive principles that are intended to be taken at face value. Simplicity can be elusive; we tend to prefer complications. At first blush there’s nothing groundbreaking or new about this approach. It’s so intuitive and simple I think most of us would pass it over with a “sure, I get that” and start looking for a ‘Plan-Do-Review” training syllabus or PowerPoint presentation, but you won’t find one – it’s just that simple!...

Is it the Council President, commissioner, or Scoutmaster? Nope, listen to find out which volunteers Scouting can’t do without, and to answers to email questions about a new Scoutmaster, Scouts who won’t lead, and new Scout patrols. LINKS Bedwetting and Scouts Kandersteg 2016 MUSIC in this podcast By a Campfire on the Trail Sponsored By ScoutmasterCG.com Backers Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS Get The SCOUTMASTERCG APP Podcast Archive

… if we have youth leading Scouts who do we lead? Find out who the Scoutmaster leads and directs in this podcast as well as answers to questions about merit badges, Webelos wearing sashes, and adult supervision of patrol meetings or activities. Links in this podcast Blue Card InfographicThe Big Three Resources every Scouter should readGuide to Awards and Insignia Guide to Advancement 2013 Guide to Safe Scouting Music in this Podcast...

So Far, So Good! Lot’s of catching up to do! It’s nice to be back after a two week hiatus! In this podcast I’ll tell you about my new book, So Far, So Good! and answer email questions about how to keep a vision for all age divisions of Scouting, the program changes coming this year, sorting out how to bring older Scouts and younger Scouts together, and how to keep up with an ambitious senior patrol leader, and a great way for setting up patrols....

*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. As nearly every man will now have political voting power, one of the aims of education should be to prepare the young citizen for his responsibilities in this line. This is a matter, however, that cannot be taught by class instruction in “civics....

I received this email from a new Scoutmaster a day or two ago: I was presented with the opportunity to take over as our new Scoutmaster some months ago and asked your advice. I had some concerns about the level of adult involvement in what should be a boy-led troop. In your response you suggested I define my vision of the patrol method clearly, present that vision and (if the other adults involved didn’t agree with that vision) be prepared to walk away....

The Patrol System was published by the General Council Boy Scouts of Canada in 1960 and is available in PDF format here (do make sure to check out The Dump). The principles of the Patrol System were first introduced by the Founder, Baden-Powell, when he was with the British Army in India. The system he devised enabled soldiers to operate in small groups and use their own initiative within the overall plan of campaign … the Patrol System became one of the basic elements of Scouting....