Scoutmaster Podcast 146

And now it's the old Scoutmaster. We had a great backpacking trip this weekend with the troop- Great weather. We were up on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. We did our nine miles of that 2000 mile plus trail that stretches all the way from Maine to Georgia And in that stretch Pennsylvania has the dubious distinction of being the rockiest part of the Appalachian Trail And I think, after this weekend, also the one that probably people use more ibuprofen per mile. We had a great time anyway. Hey, this is podcast number 146..

Welcome back to the Scoutmaster podcast. This is Clarke Green. Let's take a look in the mailbag. Let's see who we've heard from here. Jason Reedy got in touch with us about podcast number 145, our last podcast. We had a Scoutmaster panel discussion about starting a new troop And Jason had this to say: what a great podcast. We just started our troop in September. It's been an interesting road so far. It's not easy at any stretch, but it's well worth it. No, the Norman Rockwell version does not exist. Those boys do not actually exist, but the real boys are much more fun And they are all incredible. We started with 10 and we are now up to 14 in just two months. I was lucky and got signed up for Wood Badge earlier this year and centered my ticket around creating a successful troop. That has been a great help. Good luck and be prepared for many lessons- Some to be taught and some to be learned Well. thank you for being in touch, Jason. I'm glad to hear that you're having a successful first few months with the troop. It's a challenge, isn't it, But that's why we're doing the work. We love a good challenge. I got this message too. He says: hi, Clark. I wanted to simply thank you for all that I've learned from your podcasts and the reaffirmations of previous experiences and lessons from my own travels as a Scout. Your podcast is a highlight of my travels. I primarily drive all day for my job and I truly look forward to them as they are released. I have encouraged other leaders in Cub Scouts as well as in Boy Scouts to listen for a better understanding of the meaning and purposes behind Scouting. I do not get a lot of time to sit at a computer and peruse the web, so I have just recently started to follow the blog by email. I see I've been missing another great resource and some of it may be better understood than just the podcast alone, At least judging from some of the looks I've received when I mentioned the podcast to other people. Yeah, there's this guy and he, like, has this thing and it's called a podcast and he talks about Scouts. Yeah, you can get a couple funny looks that way. Please keep up the excellent resource and the great community that you have. It's a guiding light to steer by, and, being one that prefers avoiding attention, I will simply say thank you from California. Well, thank you, California. I hope you're driving goes well and I'm so glad you're listening and you're finding things helpful. You know, if you go to scoutmastercgcom, you can subscribe to all the updates to the blog by email. You can do that and I'll repeat that towards the end of the podcast. Jeff is Scoutmaster of Troop 965 in Kuwait City, Kuwait, And he wrote in to say this: Clark, I'm perhaps your farthest regular podcast listener on the planet. Perhaps I think we'll give you that distinction, Jeff, until somebody tells me differently, As I'm a Scoutmaster in Kuwait with BSA Troop 965, I download your podcast and listen to them on my commute to work in Kuwait City. I started at the beginning and just finished with number 27,- your summer music special. What a kick. Wow, that's always back, but I'm glad you're listening, Jeff. My son and I are relatively new to scouting, as we joined less than two years ago, In January 2012,. I became a Scoutmaster because our troop couldn't recharge her without one. Since I could fog a mirror, I was unanimously elected by our small but dedicated troop committee. Since then, it's been a wild ride and a great learning experience. I had wanted to go to Wood badge last summer when we were back in the states, but family needs prevented me from doing so. I know that you would demur from me saying so, but your podcasts have been my substitute Wood badge. Don't worry, I still plan to go to Wood badge someday, maybe next summer, But until then, I'm learning a lot from you and the other experienced Scouters who comment on your site. Take care and keep up the great work. And that's Jeff in Kuwait City. Thank you, Jeff. Thanks for being in touch and thanks for listening over there in Kuwait. I'm happy you're finding these useful and you're enjoying the podcast. I have this audio addition to the mailbag. this week, Shane Stillwell was part of a Google Plus Hangout, which is a deal where you can get together with other people online and have a live discussion, And that was hosted by Arlen Ward on Google Plus a couple of weeks ago,

And we even made it the subject of a Scoutmaster panel discussion in the last podcast. But Shane shared a story on the Google Plus Hangout that I thought would interest you and I asked him if he would record it, and he did, And here it is. Hi, this is Shane Stillwell, Scoutmaster for Troop 168 in Cloquet, Minnesota. I have a small story to tell you. It began with our first camp out ever as a new troop. We started back in January of this year And in February we went on our first camp out in the snow And the Scouts decided that they wanted to have pancake. Saturday morning- And a new troop we have pretty limited on equipment And they didn't have a spatula to cook with or flip the pancakes. They started mixing the batter and, sure enough, they even put the pancake batter on the griddle and it dawned on them They had nothing to flip those pancakes with. So me being the the ultra prepared gear nut fanatic that I am, I of course had a flip out spatula back in my packet near my tent And I thought, well, it's time for Scoutmaster to save the day. So I meandered back to my tent, grabbed my spatula, put it in my pocket and made my way back to the cooking area. And when I got there, to my surprise, the boys had figured out how they were going to flip those pancakes. They took a pie tin, cut it up into about a maybe a quarter of a pie tin, folded around a few times and they made themselves a spatula, And that thing worked dandy. Now I didn't get a chance to save the day, which was a good thing. It just goes to show that had I stepped in and saved the day with my awesome spatula, the kids wouldn't have had the opportunity to innovate and use the resources that they have. It taught me a big lesson that day: that as a Scoutmaster, I need to sit back and do a little more watching and a lot less doing. Thanks for listening, Shane. thanks so much for taking the time to do that. I think that's a great story and a very practical example. It's amazing what boys can do once we kind of get out of the way and let them figure it out. So in this week's podcast we've got answers to some of your email questions, But before that, Scoutmastership, in seven minutes or less, we're going to start a series on the four steps to advancement, And I think that should fill the podcast nicely. So let's get started.

Scoutmastership in seven minutes or less.

Well, there are four steps to scout advancement And these are described in the Scoutmasters Handbook, And it's starting on page 124, if you want to check. And before we examine these four steps, which we're going to do in a series over the next several podcasts, it's important that we contextualize advancement within all the aims and methods of scouting. Let's go to the guide to advancement 2011 for a second, because there's a good statement there. It said: advancement is simply a means to an end, not an end in itself. It is one of several methods designed to help unit leadership carry out the aims and mission of the Boy Scouts of America. This is from Baden Powell's AIDS to Scoutmastership. And you know what, When you go back to the founder here, the guy who originated the idea, no one does a better job of describing the spirit of advancement in scouting than the man who developed it in the first place. He said this: the badges, or, you know, the awards that we give out are not intended to signify that a scout is master in the craft he has tested in. If once we make scouting into a formal scheme of serious instruction in efficiency, we miss the whole point and value of scout training. We want to get all of our boys along through cheery self-development from within, not through the imposition of formal instruction from without. The object of the badge system in scouting- now you know this was written back in the 1920s, so let's update the term badge system to advancement. The object of advancement in scouting is also to give the scoutmaster an instrument by which he can stimulate keenness on the part of every and any boy to take up hobbies that can be helpful in forming his character or developing his skill. It is for this reason the reason is: this is a tool that can be used by scoutmasters to stimulate interest and keenness on the part of every and any boy. That's the reason we have this system. So the reason that for that reason, the standard of proficiency or the standard of performance is purposefully left undefined. Our standard for advancement is not the attainment of a certain level of quality of knowledge or skill, but the amount of effort the boy has put into acquiring such knowledge or skill. If he is a trier, no matter how clumsy his examiner can accord him his badge, and this generally inspires the boy to go on and to try till he wins further badges and becomes even more capable. Some are inclined to insist that their scout should be first rate before they can get a badge. That is very right in theory. You do get a few boys pretty proficient in this way. But our object is to get all the boys interested At the same time. we do not recommend the other extreme, namely that of almost giving away the badges on very slight knowledge of the subjects. It is a matter where examiners should use their sense and discretion, keeping the main aim in view. We're going to mention that little sentence there many, many times in this series. Keeping the main aim in view. Our aim is to make boys into smiling, sensible, self-effacing, hardworking people instead of showy, self-indulgent people. Thus the success of the badge system depends very largely on the Scoutmaster himself and his individual handling of it. And once again that's Baden Powell in his book Aids to Scoutmastership. I was given that on a mimeograph sheet 25 or so years ago during Scoutmaster training, and there is nothing I have ever read or was taught that has had more effect on the way I approached scouting than the ideas on that one mimeograph sheet And those ideas were Baden Powell kind of laying out what he intended in instituting this advancement system. Now the things that Baden Powell had to say then are also echoed in the present edition of the Scoutmasters Handbook. And just to run that down, there's three or four things. A boy can work on the requirements at his own speed. Boys should not be pressured to advance or given deadlines, And even the decision to advance at all lies with each boy. Nothing inspires boys to advance more than a lively troop program. If we take care of the program and we make sure that it's lively and engaging, advancement is going to be the inevitable outcome. Baden Powell said something else that I think is important to help us contextualize advancement within all the aims and methods of scouting. He said this advancement is like a suntan, something you get naturally while you're having fun in the outdoors. So scout advancement is not a goal for us. really It's an indicator. Our aim is not that scouts attain a certain level of skill or expertise, just like Baden Powell said, but that they have fun in the outdoors doing the things that the scouts do. When that happens they gain skills and they have fun, And in the course of camping trips. scouts work with their hands and understand and adapt to their environment. They build fires and cook food and explore and talk and work together. They do all manner of things. they consider fun with very little prompting. Fun's important and fun is vital, but sometimes within the context of advancement, fun has a bad reputation. Fun is sometimes seen as a waste of time or a distraction from more serious work like quote-unquote, doing requirements, Lively, program scouts doing the thing that scouts do and having a lot of fun. they're going to advance. It's just a natural outcome. The last thing I'll say in contextualizing the whole idea of advancement is that it's important to understand advancement in scouting is a unique system of learning. It's not academic in its approach, It's not competitive, It's not an end in itself. And a key aspect of applying the program is understanding that we can't import the practices of the academic world into the scout world and just apply those to advancement. And we're going to expand on that as we talk about the four steps in advancement in scouting. Now, these four steps are: a scout learns, a scout is tested, a scout is reviewed and a scout is recognized. In future podcasts we're going to examine these four steps without trying to overcomplicate or confuse things. There are misconceptions that arise from time to time and become common practice that can derail scout advancement from the simple, direct and enjoyable work that it was intended to be. Next time we're going to talk about that first step in advancement: a scout learns

DRIVE.

E-mail- that is folks,

And here's an answer to one of your emails E-mail.

I receive this e-mail from somebody who asked me if I would withhold their name, name and location details. but this is a volunteer with a scout troop and he says we have a new scout who joined just a few weeks ago whose family is vegan and that means no animal product of any kind. The boy, who's never really cooked his own meals and his mother is slightly- is pretty concerned about how what he is going to eat. on campouts We have and will continue and accommodate diet restrictions like nut allergies and things like that. One other scout in our troop just chooses not to eat red meat and we've also had folks who require gluten-free. It may seem like an open-ended question. I don't really know where to draw the line, accommodating all these different dietary needs, but I've been listening to your podcast and blog for several months now. Your opinion perspective always seemed to give me an aha moment, so thanks for the time. Well, thank you for being in touch and I'm glad you're enjoying the podcast and the blog. The aha moment on this one is asking the patrol leader and the youth leadership how they plan on accommodating these dietary restrictions. That's where I would begin. If they don't really know what to do, at that point we can ask some more questions, see if they can get the idea They can talk to the scout and they can talk to the scout's parents and they can begin to craft a solution With a new scout. mom isn't really going to understand how things work, but she'll catch on as time goes by and you'll be helping her understand these things. Let the scouts sort this one out. They may have much better ideas than you or mom or even me. I have two scouts right now who are gluten-free and I have one scout who is Muslim and has some religious based dietary restrictions. Now thus far it's not really been a big deal for their patrols. I honestly don't know what they do. I think the whole patrol with the gluten-free boys goes gluten-free sometimes and sometimes they just get alternatives for that scout. but they all figure it out eventually. Now my gluten free scouts. their mom is constantly concerned about this and just about insisted that they bring their own food when they first joined the troop. but she got over it and she saw the patrol figured this out on their own. Now it goes without saying they don't do this perfectly and sometimes they need a little bit of assistance and some reminders. They can work it out. On our trips to Canada and Switzerland, the gluten-free scouts were still part of the meal plan and we just bought. alternatives were needed and things were fine. The other thing I can offer is that if people complain about making these kind of dietary accommodations, I would ask them if they'd complain if you made accommodations for a scout who, because of religious belief, had dietary restrictions, like our Muslim scout, or if they would complain because the scout was in a wheelchair or somehow differently abled and you had to make accommodations so that they could participate, and participate comfortably and be included in things. A vegan diet may not be a choice, but it's not the boys choice, it's his parents choice and he really can't do anything about that. so making these dietary accommodations- sometimes their health reasons, sometimes their choice reasons, sometimes their religious reasons. when we first had to do this years and years ago, when you know, we first were confronted with the allergies and everything like that, I thought it was kind of irritating. but when I put it in the hands of the youth leadership and I described what needed to happen, they seem to take it on in in stride and they have been able to work things out as time goes by, so that hopefully that supplies an aha moment for you. Glenn is in St Peter's, Missouri, with Troop 857 and he emailed this question in. he said you recently posted regarding advancement to first class and there was a post on the blog last week about advancement to first class in the first year- that first class emphasis. do you have advice or a good system for handbook sign-offs? we tend to get boys that after a few outings or more, shove a handbook in front of us and ask if they are ready for anything to be signed off. of course we turn it around and ask them to tell us what they've completed, but it usually takes some discussion and questioning to confirm which outings they attended and which requirements they satisfied. we've been working to get the senior patrol leader and patrol leaders more involved in signing off requirements for ranks up to first class. do you have any magical words of wisdom? well, Glenn, sometimes I have a ha moments and sometimes I have magical words of wisdom. so welcome to magical words of wisdom. so far as your question, Glenn, I gotta tell you there's really no system. there's no easy procedural fix. scouts are scouts of, boys, are boys and they're all over the map so far as this is concerned. some are of top on top of things and they, as you know, within minutes of completing a requirement they find somebody to sign it, and some just don't even think about it. the best thing I can tell you is to respond whenever they're ready. I used to kind of worry about this, but I learned I have very little to do with scouts advancing. it's their thing. they do it, however, and they do it however they please and they do it when they get around to it. our responsibility is really focused on creating opportunities, and that does include making opportunities for requirements to get signed off and letting them know. that that's, you know, something that could be done anytime. it's really not our responsibility to make them advance or otherwise, coerce them or require them to advance or to own advancement. it begins and ends with the individual scout. he owns his own advancement. he gets to do it at the pace that he wants to, and we can certainly encourage, but we don't want to do too much beyond that now. when we adopt this approach, scouts are going to understand sooner or later that it's all on them and then, if they really get themselves interested in advancing, they fly in ahead and we can't stop them. if we have some kind of set, program or schedule or something like that, they'll be waiting for us to make them do something and they'll wait every single time and we'll end up dragging them along. 98% of the requirements to first class can be signed off by patrol leaders and above. the way to make this happen is for adults just to stop doing it, except maybe an extraordinary circumstances where a patrol leader isn't available to sign off a requirement. and I really encourage you: if your youth leaders aren't signing off requirements, sit down with them, describe how it works and let them have a go. I think it's very important for them to be able to do that up to first class, and really the only qualification they need to be able to sign the requirement off is it be one that they have themselves completed. it works for us. we've got a troop of 3035 boys with regular rank advancement, regular merit badges coming in, and you know those two or three Eagles. every year that happened. so I really encourage you to take a look at that now. hopefully that will pass for magical words of wisdom. thank you so much for being touched, Glenn. I hope that helps. you can get in touch too. we'll answer your email questions right here on the podcast, as well as responding to them on the internet, and I'm going to tell you how to get in touch in just a moment.