Podcast 243 - What is the Context of Scouting?

What is the context of Scouting, and why does it matter?

The game of Scouting has it’s own set of rules, it’s own playing field, or context. I discuss a couple of common questions that are answered by understanding this context.

In addition we’ll discuss conflicts of interest for an Eagle board of review, whether one advancement requirement automatically means you’ve completed similar requirements, when offering advice is interfering with your leadership, patrol selection, and Scouts asking for boards of review.

Here’s the first chapter of the narrative I mentioned: A New Scoutmaster.

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Frank Maynard says

November 12, 2014 at 6:01 pm

I have comments on two of the e-mails that were answered in podcast 243.

The first e-mail asked whether there was a conflict of interest when an adult who helped on an Eagle candidate’s project also serves on his board of review.

Besides there being no prohibition or other language about members of an Eagle Scout board of review having worked on the candidate’s leadership service project, there is an added dimension for the board member in having done so.

Working alongside the Scout and observing his leadership in practice can give the board member an idea of how the Scout handled that leadership, particularly with respect to difficulties encountered as the project took place. Not only will there be a difference in perspective between young and older, but also from the viewpoint of leader versus the led. In a situation which reverses typical adult-youth roles, the board member can ask the Scout what he learned in overcoming those obstacles in a more meaningful way.

Having participated in a good many Eagle Scouts’ leadership service projects and having also later served on their boards of review, I have used this valuable insight in a way that strengthened both of our understandings of the process of developing leadership. We had some very enjoyable conversations besides.

The third e-mail asks whether fulfilling a merit badge requirement also counts as having met the same or a similar requirement for rank advancement. Clarke’s explanation was that while learning the skill may meet both requirements, it still has to be demonstrated to the satisfaction of both the merit badge counselor and the individual approving the rank requirement – ultimately, the Scoutmaster, but typically, another Scout.

Allowing, as in this example, the requirements for the First Aid merit badge to satisfy the rank requirements would deny the Scouts the experience of testing their peers on those requirements. Since teaching and testing on a skill requires a certain degree of mastery of that skill, an opportunity to reinforce those skills is taken away if the testing isn’t also done by the Scouts themselves.

Scout skills, especially life-saving ones like first aid, aren’t meant to be learned once, tested, and then forgotten. They are learned, practiced and used in the course of engaging in Scouting, and their testing for rank advancement is a checkpoint along the way, not the end of the road for learning a particular skill.

Comments

Frank Maynard says

November 12, 2014 at 6:01 pm

I have comments on two of the e-mails that were answered in podcast 243.

The first e-mail asked whether there was a conflict of interest when an adult who helped on an Eagle candidate’s project also serves on his board of review.

Besides there being no prohibition or other language about members of an Eagle Scout board of review having worked on the candidate’s leadership service project, there is an added dimension for the board member in having done so.

Working alongside the Scout and observing his leadership in practice can give the board member an idea of how the Scout handled that leadership, particularly with respect to difficulties encountered as the project took place. Not only will there be a difference in perspective between young and older, but also from the viewpoint of leader versus the led. In a situation which reverses typical adult-youth roles, the board member can ask the Scout what he learned in overcoming those obstacles in a more meaningful way.

Having participated in a good many Eagle Scouts’ leadership service projects and having also later served on their boards of review, I have used this valuable insight in a way that strengthened both of our understandings of the process of developing leadership. We had some very enjoyable conversations besides.

The third e-mail asks whether fulfilling a merit badge requirement also counts as having met the same or a similar requirement for rank advancement. Clarke’s explanation was that while learning the skill may meet both requirements, it still has to be demonstrated to the satisfaction of both the merit badge counselor and the individual approving the rank requirement – ultimately, the Scoutmaster, but typically, another Scout.

Allowing, as in this example, the requirements for the First Aid merit badge to satisfy the rank requirements would deny the Scouts the experience of testing their peers on those requirements. Since teaching and testing on a skill requires a certain degree of mastery of that skill, an opportunity to reinforce those skills is taken away if the testing isn’t also done by the Scouts themselves.

Scout skills, especially life-saving ones like first aid, aren’t meant to be learned once, tested, and then forgotten. They are learned, practiced and used in the course of engaging in Scouting, and their testing for rank advancement is a checkpoint along the way, not the end of the road for learning a particular skill.