Enoch is an active 17-year-old Scout and blogger at Scouting Rediscovered I asked Enoch to write about his experiences with adult volunteers in Scouting: When I first joined my Troop, I really didn’t know what to expect; I was never a Cub or Webelos, and my family had not really been involved in Scouting. All I knew about Scouting came from one short camping trip with a family friend and Scouter who gave me a used Scout handbook....
“It’s a little hard to say exactly what I learned in Boy Scouts. Certainly, I learned camping skills that I have enjoyed using ever since: skills ranging from selecting a good campsite to making a fire, from tying knots and throwing lashings to basic first aid, from using a map and compass to finding north with just what nature provides in the moss, the stars, and the sun. I know I improved my skills as at reading aloud to a group, and in public speaking....
When I served as a camp director I got some complaints about our dining hall steward’s attitude towards Scouts setting or clearing the tables. Scouts rotate the responsibility of serving as a waiter at our camp. They go early to set the table, serve the food during the meal and clear up afterwords. At any given meal there are Scouts who are new to the experience and they make mistakes. My dining hall steward was growing increasingly frustrated with their inexperience and yelled at them making them even more jumpy....
In an earlier post, I reported on a poll and discussion of how the eight methods of Scouting are applied in our troop. We followed that up with a poll during the youth leadership training. It was great for discussion in that setting, and there were some interestingly different views on how our troop is doing in applying the methods of Scouting. I’ll use “+” and “-” for the strengths and weaknesses columns....
Here are three reasons Scouts don’t advance, and some simple ways to recognize and resolve them. REASON ONE They don’t want to “do requirements”. WHAT’S HAPPENING When Scouts don’t advance it may be we’re preoccupied with a list of stuff Scouts need to do (the requirements). If we have an active program of camping Scouts meet requirements as a result; not because they are ‘doing requirements’. Scouts don’t want to ‘do requirements’, they want to go camping....
The penny drops, the light comes on, eureka!, discovery, enlightenment, revelation. If we watch carefully Scout leaders sometimes get to witness a marvelous happening; when some part of the world opens up for one of our Scouts. Have you seen this happen? Sometimes it is the sudden realization that they can do something they didn’t think they could. Aha! I got it! Maybe it’s meeting a challenge that they were unsure about but conquered anyway....
In a partnership with Discovery Channel UK the Scouts association published this list of 14 things for young people to do before they are 14: 1. Navigate using a map 2. Climb a tree 3. Make and fly a kite 4. Cook a meal 5. Repair a bike 6. Camp outdoors with your friends 7. Build a den (survival hut?) 8. Put up a tent 9. Ride a sledge (sled)...
The only alternative to making mistakes is for someone to make all your decisions for you, in which case you will make their mistakes instead of your own. Obviously that’s not a life of integrity. -Grace Llewellyn, Educator Scouting offers an unusually good opportunity for boys to live their own lives independently to develop integrity. Scouts should be able to honestly say: ‘we did it ourselves’. We do not have greater intelligence than the young; we simply have more experience....
Anne-Marie Slaughter is the mother of two adolescent kids and a Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. She’s concerned that we may be killing the skills required for innovation by over-programming our children: … The jam packed, highly structured days of elite children are carefully calculated to create Ivy League-worthy resumes. They reinforce habits of discipline and conformity, programming remarkably well-rounded and often superb young people who can play near concert-quality violin, speak two languages, volunteer in their communities and get straight A’s....
“The Paper Chase” started as a novel, was made into a movie and, finally, a TV series in the 1970’s. The story follows a law student in his first year at Harvard. The student’s nemesis is the brilliant, dispassionate and relentlessness Professor Kingsfield. Kingsfield has an off-putting demeanor and, at first, appears to be indifferent to his students and their problems. What he knows, though, is that his relentless attitude actually serves the interests of his students....
Seth Godin is a muti-talented entrepreneur, thinker and author. Here’s my edit of his thoughts on three ways to help people (or Scouts) realize their potential: … People can be pushed, but the minute you stop, they stop. If the habit you’ve taught is to achieve in order to avoid getting chewed out, once the chewing out stops, so does the achievement. A second way to manage people is to create competition....
Earnest Thompson-Seton first published ‘The Birch Bark Roll’ in 1902. His work in establishing the pre-BSA organization, The Woodcraft Indians, was ultimately woven together with the ideas of Baden Powell and Daniel Carter Beard to form the program of the BSA. More than a century later Seton’s ideas remain relevant to our work as Scouters. Studying his foundational concepts help us maintain focus on heart of our work: Two other important ideas underlie the scheme....
Scoutmaster Podcast 13 Scouts make mistakes, and those mistakes can be valuable learning experiences. In This Podcast Scouts make mistakes [2:42] Hunter Stew [7:45] Eagle Scout Drama 2 [13:47] Tour guides or leaders? [17:49] Podcast Notes Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. has more than thirty years of teaching experience from the primary through the doctoral level. He has authored many books related to learning and human development. His writing on the natural genius of children is an excellent endorsement of Scouting; Essentially, the real meaning of genius is to “give birth to the joy” that is within each child. Every child is born with that capacity. Each child comes into life with wonder, curiosity, awe, spontaneity, vitality, flexibility, and many other characteristics of a joyous being… These youthful traits are highly valued from an evolutionary perspective: the more species evolve, the more they carry youthful traits into adulthood (a process called “neotony” or “holding youth”)....
Mistakes are always made. Although our aspirations and expectations are high we rarely bring a project to completion without a misstep or difficulty. With the responsibility for planning and presenting Scouting is in the hands of the youth leadership the way we react to mistakes is important. If, in the midst of a football game, the ball is fumbled everyone on the team tries to recover the ball. Nobody stands by and tries to find fault with the player who fumbled, or waits for him to pick the ball up – everybody jumps....
Here’s an exchange from Ask Andy about forms and Scouts. Hi Andy, I’m a relatively new Assistant Scoutmaster. I’ve been instructed that Scouts seeking ranks beyond First Class, in this troop, are required to complete a “Scoutmaster Conference Worksheet” before their actual conversation with the Scoutmaster, which they then submit for their board of review. (I’ve attached the worksheet for your reference—it was created by the previous Scoutmaster.) I’ve just read that pedantic, soul-sucking, cheerless form....
IT IS, IN FACT, NOTHING short of a miracle that the modern methods of education have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty....
Gather wood, prepare tinder, kindling and fuel. Strike a match (maybe two) and we make fire. Preparing, building, lighting and maintaining a fire involves interdependent skills, knowledge and actions that constitute a process. Comprehending and executing a process requires process intelligence. Process intelligence is a combination of experience, vision, persistence and inspiration; all fundamental leadership skills. Experience – Confidence when covering familiar ground or in inventing solutions when in unknown waters....
Patience and fortitude conquer all things. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Scouters must be patient. Scouting can be frustrating, even irritating, but an adult who shouts at Scouts portrays a weakness of character. Yelling is almost always an irrational, impulsive reaction. Verbal explosions are no less inappropriate than physical ones, and can do as much harm. Bringing a bad temper under control means recognizing what triggers a loss a temper and disarming them by something as simple as taking a few deep breaths or counting to ten....
From an emotion development article at Edutopia: Social and emotional learning can help students successfully resolve conflict, communicate clearly, solve problems, and much more. Whether it’s in the boardroom or the classroom, individuals need the skills to communicate, work in teams, and let go of the personal and family issues that get in the way of working and learning. Such skills add up to what is known as emotional intelligence, and they are even more important as educators realize that these skills are critical to academic achievement....