Understanding Advancement

How does Scout advancement achieve the main aim of Scouting? Todays talk about advancement continues our foundations series. I’ve written extensively in detail about many aspects of Scout advancement, but this is different. In this podcast I ask how Scout advancement fits into the overall game of Scouting. You’ll hear me read from Baden-Powell’s Aids to Scoutmastership – If once we make Scouting into a formal scheme of serious instruction in efficiency, we miss the whole point and value of Scout training, and we trench on the work of the schools without the trained experts for carrying it out....

Scout advancement is not adults judging Scouts… … it’s Scouts meeting requirements with the support of adult volunteers – in Scout advancement we are all on the same side. We did not write the requirements. We don’t personally embroider patches to present to them. It’s tiresome and self-defeating to devise our own hoops for Scouts to jump through or impose our judgement on Scouts. Most advancement requirements are defined metrics, a few are judgement calls....

Scout advancement questions are often easy to answer … … if you simply take things at face value. It’s actually all pretty easy to understand. Problems arise when Scouters don’t challenge their own assumptions after they have read the requirements or directions and policies in the Guide to Advancement. This week I’ll answer three Scout advancement questions you’ve emailed me. As always, I’ll encourage everyone to get a copy of the Guide to Advancement, read it and work to understand what it has to say....

Service Rank Requirements are one thing… .. but helping other people at all times is a key concept we hope to build into our Scouts lives. To make that happen we have to look beyond the requirements. Scouts discovering what service means, and the service they perform, are both vitally important building blocks in the Scouting journey. We ought to have perennial unit service opportunities on the calendar but can we go too far?...

Are Scoutmaster’s Conferences a retest? Can assistant Scoutmasters do them? This week we’ll catch up on listener email by answering these questions and more. When it comes to Scoutmaster conferences they are explained unambiguously in teh Guide to Advancement, so none of this is a matter of opinion or a difference in style, it is very clearly delineated policy that instructs us on conducting the program. I’ll also give my best answer to helping a listener solve this problem – We have a large troop so our Scoutmaster is having difficulty getting through a large number of conferences and signing merit badge cards....

What has a Mesoamerican Step Pyramid got to do with this? Today I want to talk about leadership, but I want to see if I can get you to come along with me and really examine what this means in Scouting. Leadership in Scouting is based on discovery. I have (what I hope is a great) analogy to share with you, and this one is a whopper! It’s a really complicated analogy, you may have to go back and listen to it again....

What constitutes a night of Scout camping? You’ll find the qualifier “under the auspices of Scouting” or something similar in advancement requirements that describe nights of camping. What, exactly, does this mean? I’ll give you my best answer to this and other email questions that we’ll discuss in this podcast. You don’t want to miss Scoutmaster Kevin Rhodes’ story of how his youth leadership solved a problem when he gave them some room to figure things out for themselves....

What’s your vision for Scouting? Have you ever taken the time to really examine your Scouting vision, how you picture where you are headed as a Scouter? When I first became a Scoutmaster my vision was defined by what I knew at the time. The pictures in my head were so powerful, it sounds silly now, but they were so powerful I was trying to recreate them without understanding them....

Now the new year has come Scouts registered after January 1, 2016 must use the new rank requirements. What about Scouts registered before December 31, 2015? The answer is a little complicated, but not too hard to understand; Here’s the logic chart as a PDF file, and the BSA document I used to make it. Here’s the BSA’s PDF list of the new requirements to print out and add to your handbook....

A lot of our Scouts are subject to many demands on their time… .. and some are under extreme pressure from their parents. What if one of our Scouts wants to quit because they say they have no time for Scouts? Scouting ought to be challenging, but not impossible, nor should it become something stressful – Scouting is about adventure, fun and spending time with your friends! In this podcast I’ll talk about how we can help Scouts manage their commitments and figure out how to continue to have the adventure and fun Scouting offers....

Can a Scout fulfill more than one requirement with a single activity? The answer is always clear after a careful reading of the Scout requirements and the directions in the Guide to Advancement 2015 – 4.2.3.6 Fulfilling More Than One Requirement With a Single Activity From time to time it may be appropriate for a Scout to apply what was done to meet one requirement toward the completion of another. In deciding whether to allow this, unit leaders or merit badge counselors should consider the following....

How do we decide if a Scout is an active Scout? There are very clear directions about how to determine if a Scout is an active Scout in the Guide to Advancement. Why, then, does this cause so many problems? Put on your choir robe and I’ll do a little preaching! Section 4.2.3.1 Active Participation in the Guide to Advancement The Big Three Resources every Scouter should readScout-o-Rama Scout Parents...

Podcast Episode (00:22:51): Listen on Apple Podcasts Is Scouting a system of measurement? Scouting is more, much, much, more, than a system of measurement, yet it has lots of “yardsticks”. Baden-Powell wrote “Scouting is a game. But sometimes I wonder whether, with all our pamphlets, rules, conferences, and training classes we may not appear to be making of it too serious a game. ” How way we use the yardsticks of the Scouting program is all important to reaching our aims, but measurements and metrics are not our focus....

Are you motivated and inspired by the Scout requirements? What about your Scouts? Are your fellow Scouters inspired to administer them by adopting an encouraging, inspiring tone themselves? Can you smell the wood smoke and feel the warming glow of a campfire against the cold sting of a winter campout when you read them? Ask your Scouts to sit down and read a couple of rank or merit badge requirements and ask them what they mean....

“Camp is… the real school of the out-of-doors, where all the best in the future man’s character can be brought out and developed” B-P This week’s podcast departs from our usual format (it’s a long holiday weekend!) to explore an idea that could revolutionize the way you approach your work as a Scouter. Dr. Sugutra Mitra is an educational researcher whose TED talk about his “hole in the wall” experiments launched a revolutionary educational idea that has many parallels to the foundations of Scouting....

This is fifth in a series of posts about the new rank requirements that take effect on January 1, 2016. Scout | Tenderfoot | Second Class | First Class | Star | Life | Eagle Exactly how the new requirements are phased in is explained in this PDF document – Notes on Transitioning to the New Requirements. I found the new requirements in this PDF – 2016 Boy Scout requirements—parallel comparison....

There’s always plenty to talk about when it comes to the Eagle Scout! In this week’s podcast I’ll opine (and preach a little) about our Eagle Scout attitudes and answer email questions about troop meeting chaos and an advancement mistake. The important thing to realize is that once a Scout earns Eagle Rank he begins the lifelong process of becoming an Eagle Scout. Not one of the 2.7 million or so boys who have earned the rank were an ideal, fully formed, “EAGLE SCOUT” when someone handed them the badge; they have a lifetime of opportunities ahead of them....

What do the resources say? Who signs rank requirements? It’s up to the unit leader to select and train those who approve advancement, that’s the short answer! Listen for the longer answer and answers to email questions about troop meetings, terms for positions of responsibility, alcohol stoves, and backpack weight. Links in this podcast Going Camping Go Light! (more Horace Kephardt quotes) Guide to Advancement 2015 4.2.1.2[Scoutmaster Handbook on signing requirements](....

It’s catch-up time! In this week’s podcast I’ll catch up on email questions concerning approving requirements, relationships between Cub Packs and Troops, moving to a new Troop, unit policy manuals, how Scouts address Scouters, and determining what activities best achieve the aims of Scouting. Links in this podcastThe Big Three Resources every Scouter should read Music Chirstine Lavin – Camping Sponsored By ScoutmasterCG.com Backers Podcast: Play in new window | Download...

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