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I advocate using guided discovery (asking questions) to help youth leadership find their way.
Often my questions are rhetorical, in other words I do not expect that the person I am questioning has an answer. This can be a very blunt instrument, and sometimes a bit aggressive, so I do have to measure the way that the question is posed.
‘What are your plans for this meeting?’
‘We’re going to work on requirements.’
‘What, specifically will you be working on?’
Long slience.
‘I don’t know.’
That’s a good answer. My questions have achieved their aim – they have brought this youth leader to the edge of his knowledge and preparations. He does not know what happens next. This is a great opportunity.
‘What do your Scouts need to work on?’
Medium silence
‘I’m not sure.’ (another form of ‘I don’t know’)
‘How can you find out?’
‘I could ask them?’
‘What will you ask them?’
‘What they need to work on.’
‘And what will you do next?’
‘Plan things that they need to work on.’
The questions may go on from there. The aim being to help this youth leader internalize the thought process required to go from good intentions to effective plans.
This is an exercise, like push-ups or running laps. It is meant to hone the skills of thinking and planning, not to have the Scout looking like a fool. Enough repetitions of the exercise and they will begin building some mental muscle.
‘I don’t know’ is a very valuable, perfectly legitimate answer, it’s an answer I go looking for because when I find it I have found the edge of this youth leader’s development and I can help him find the next step.
I too was reminded about the Paper Chase article and after reading it I had come up with a re-write that I use during leader ship training with my Scouts…
The study of leadership is something new and unfamiliar to most of you; unlike anything you have ever experienced before.
We used the Patrol method here; you will plan, I will ask questions and it will cause you to think.
Why don’t I just make the plans for the troop myself? Are you not up to the challenge and will be happy with whatever I pick?
Through this method of planning, questioning, answering, refining of plans and evaluation we seek to develop in you the ability to determine the needs of the troop, analyze how you will attain these needs and overcome the hurdles preventing the troop from having fun.
Question and answering.
At times you may feel that you have found the correct answer. I assure you that plans will go amiss; you will never find the correct absolute and final answer. But Scouts in your charge will remember how the troop overcame the problems as an “adventure”.
In the PLC there is always another question; another question that follows your answer. You are in the spotlight; my little questions are formed to help you. Your goal is to run the troop and to have you asking the question yourselves before I can ask.
You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a Leader.
Clark Kingsfield would be proud.
Allan, that is great! Tiny steps are good. Modelling is also good, but only for a short while. You’ve quickly put them in charge and that’s great. This young man is learning a lot of extremely useful stuff that will contribute to his success in the future.
Ever since I read your article on the “Paper Chase” I have been talking to my young single Patrol Leader this way. I stood up with him in meetings and was the presenter for the first two months, telling him to watch what I did. Now I have stepped to the back of the room and watched. The first week he was totally unprepared. I did not step in. It was OK. We will talk during the week, where I ask him what he has planned for a game, for patrol business (we are a single patrol troop), and a scouting skill to teach or review. Sometimes I catch him unprepared, in which case he scrambles to get a plan together before the troop meeting. My questions are: “what skill are you looking at for this week?”, “Who will teach it?” (he has to call one of the adults and set up the teaching.) “what materials will you need?”, “who needs this skill for a requirement?”
This past week I found a new set of questions to ask. “What game are you planning?” “what equipment will you need?” “where are you going to find this equipment?” “Does one of the scouts have it?” What can you do without this equipment?:”
The EDGE method stuff comes in handy here. I have explained the planning, and demonstrated the planning. Now we are doing the guiding and enabling. Right now my patrol leader is doing meetings planning only for the next one. A goal of mine for the next month is to have him plan 3 meetings ahead, then four after that. I find that I must be prepared to take tiny steps through the process. I can see why some adults would get frustrated and just do it themselves. But I am determined to not have a Webelos 3 den. With any luck, this scout will be able to help training his successors.