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Thinking of Scouters as coaches …
… can help us understand our role in the game. These are just analogies – we aren’t actually coaches, and Scouting isn’t actually a game. Analogies are not exact copies, they only resemble what they represent. What a Scouter does may be similar to coaching, but Scouters hold an unique role in a young person’s life. We are part parent, part coach, part counsellor, part mentor, and part friend.
In this second installment of our fundamentals of Scouting series I’ll talk about our role, and the deceptively simple skills we need to master. I may be able to explain observation, dialogue, discovery, and responsive application in a few minutes, but they take a lifetime to master.
Scouters as coaches apply these skills to an endlessly recursive process to facilitate the game of Scouting. Our game is not competitive, our game does not end in a zero-sum win or loss. Our game helping individual human beings to shape and define their lives.
Scouting is fascinating, fun, and sometimes frustrating work; but it is well worth our time.
Listen to this week’s podcast
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Podcast Notes
Frank Maynard’s Blog Bobwhite Blather
Happy Wanderer Opening Music
Get my book The Scouting Journey
Get my book So Far So Good
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Your link connects me to podcast 361, not 362.
Thanks! Fixed.
Hello Clark!
Great podcast on scouting as a game. As a (retired) teacher of biological science to seventh graders, and now an assistant SM, I can attest to the ideas you promoted in this podcast. Thank you for your insights. Keep on scouting!
Podcast 362 put into words what I have tried to tell others about how a SM should behave. I thank you for giving is a bit more insight into this great full time volunteer job! It is all about lifting them up to soar not beating a concept into them-it is all about beingn abliving example of a servant leader.