Scoutmaster Podcast 5

Now, for you, Scoutmasters.

Hey, this is Clarke Green. Welcome to the Scoutmasters podcast. So, I made an interesting historical discovery I wanted to share with you. Plato. Plato, the Greek philosopher from, you know, what, 400 BC. Plato apparently was a Scoutmaster. Yep. I read this quote. He said, of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.

What do you think? I think he probably was in scouting, don't you? Hey, this is podcast number five.

We've got a pretty full slate for podcast number five. We're going to start with Scoutmastership in seven minutes, talking about transitioning Weebelo's den leaders into a Scout troop. That can be a bit of a trick. It was for me.

Then we're going to, I've got a little story about a young Scoutmaster's first hike with his troop. And that will be followed by our fifth installment of instructional methods for Scouts.

And a Scoutmasters minute about Founders Day. If you don't know about Founders Day, listen to the Scoutmasters minute. It'll be worth your time. I want to tell you about Ask Andy. If you haven't already discovered it, Ask Andy is read probably by thousands of scouters every single time he posts a new column. He's at the U.S. Scouting Service Project, and I'll have a link to Ask Andy on the blog. Andy is a commissioner of some years and experience who has been a Scout and an Eagle Scout and really has a good handle on Scouting and is well worth reading.

He's very plain spoken. He doesn't waste your time. And he fields questions from all over 50 states and 300 and some councils and puts very good answers in his column. So do go check it out.

Hey, let's get ourselves started.

Scoutmastership in seven minutes or less.

So I was Webelos Den Leader for 18 Webelos. Yeah, 18. Eight-teen. Count them, 18. I mean, we had a sideshow going. You know, a whip and a chair and a sidearm.

That's what you needed to run that den every once in a while. They were great guys. Great guys. So we transitioned into the Scout Troop, and they needed a new Scoutmaster. So I went from being a Webelos Den Leader to being a Scoutmaster. And that is quite a transition.

Working with Webelos is really, it's fundamentally different than working with Scouts. As a Webelos Den Leader, I mean, you're required to do most of the planning and the leading that are going to be the responsibility of youth leadership in a Scout Troop. But it's a pretty intense job being a Webelos Den Leader in comparison to being a Scoutmaster or Assistant Scoutmaster.

Making the shift from Den Leader to Assistant Scoutmaster or Scoutmaster in a Scout Troop is pretty important stuff. And it's not easy. It's not easy. Because I don't care how smart you are or how much training you get. You have been conditioned to think one way about the boys that were in your den. And it's not going to be easy to change that.

Den leaders are stepping into a totally new role. And they need some transition help. Now, normally, you know, absolutely they need to take advantage of whatever training is offered, whatever training courses are going to be offered, you know, Scoutmaster fundamentals and all of that.

But beyond that, they're going to need to have a little sit down with the Scoutmaster and some of the other adult leaders in the troop so that you can discuss some of the things that you know are going to happen and what their appropriate reactions are going to be. So, you know, one of the things that is absolutely going to happen is the Scouts that were in the den are going to come and ask their den leader, their former den leader, questions about what's happening next and how do I do this and when are we going to go here and what do I need to do? Well, what has to happen then is that former den leader, new Assistant Scoutmaster, needs to know that he sends any question where?

That's right, that's right, to the boy's patrol leader. Whether he knows, whether the former den leader knows the answer or not, he needs to not answer questions for his boys. That's hard. That's really hard. And it's hard to see why sometimes, but you have to cement the idea that that patrol leader is the guy who is responsible now for knowing stuff and for that patrol functioning. And it's not the den leader's responsibility anymore. There are going to be concerns. The den leader's going to watch his former Webelos in that new patrol, and they're going to flounder a little bit, and the patrol leader is not going to be as savvy as he was as a leader probably, and he's going to have some concerns. He's going to feel uncomfortable.

He's going to feel a little antsy about it. But we know that, right? So we tell him. We tell him that. We say, hey, you know, you're going to feel antsy and uncomfortable. It's not easy to watch, but you're not going to have a whole lot of confidence in some of these youth leaders every once in a while, and we just want to let you know that that is basically the way we feel, too.

They're developing leaders. They're not going to be as sharp as you were. They're not sharp as we are, but they get to do the same thing that we got to do, and that is develop without a whole lot of interference and without a whole lot of second guessing.

So if you have a big concern about, or a small concern, about the way things are being done and what youth leaders are doing, don't go to them. Don't go to them. Come to either the Scoutmaster or one of your fellow assistants and, you know, kind of vent, and we'll try and help you shoulder the burden.

Because, you know, we all do it, too. So it can be a very trying time. The other thing to understand is that if you, as a Scout leader, go to the Senior Patrol leader or patrol leader or any one of the youth leaders in the troop, and you start expressing concerns, they're going to take it as direction. They're very polite young men, and they're very sensitive to taking direction and being loyal and obedient and respectful of adults. So you have to be very cautious with the way that you approach them and what you say and how you express your concerns.

You're going to learn how to do that. You're going to learn when to do that. And we're going to teach you. So if you have concerns about the way things are going or you have a question about the way things are going, probably the best thing to do is to turn to one of your fellow adult leaders and ask them and kind of leave the boys out of it for now until you kind of get the hang of things.

So let's say we're in the middle of a troop meeting or camp out and you see something that is an immediate danger to safety or propriety. You can stop it. You can step in as an adult and make it stop. And that's fine, you know, because we do have to occasionally do that. It's not once a week.

It's not once a month. It's not once every six months that we have to step in and put the brakes on the program that the scouts are running. It's pretty rare. So don't be looking for that opportunity. But understand if something is going bad, yeah, you have the authority and the responsibility to stop, to make it stop. So that's just, you know, I'm just trying to paint an idea of the way this discussion would go for a new assistant scoutmaster or scoutmaster and just some of the key points that they need to know.

And I think it takes somewhere between four and six months before they get anywhere near comfortable with the way things are going on. And I have tried both ways of just kind of throwing them in the deep end and seeing how they react and doing a little bit of orientation.

And I think a little bit of orientation is real important. So that's just a few thoughts on how to handle the transition of a Webelos den leader becoming a Boy Scout leader in a Boy Scout troop.

This has to be the truth, folks, because there is no way. Anyone could make this up. I'd like to introduce you to Rice Cochran. Rice E. Cochran, an author who wrote a book called Be Prepared in 1952.

The Life and Illusions of a Scoutmaster is subtitled. And his book went on to be the basis for the movie Mr. Scoutmaster, if you've ever heard of that. But, you know, it's a Hollywood look at scouting. But the book is, I think, a lot funnier and a lot more interesting.

Here's a description as a young scoutmaster of one of the first hikes he took his scout troop on. They've been hiking around for a while, and he says this, At last, a keen-eyed lookout shouted, Water!

Drinking water ahead! Now that we had all been snatched from the jaws of death, the troop felt rejuvenated as well as redeemed, and evidently forgave me.

By elaborate non-surprise when the water faucet was found, I contrived to give the impression that I had known about it all along, and perhaps even arranged for it in my own inscrutable fashion. And I was like, oh, my God! There seemed to be a tacit assumption that I was more or less vindicated.

That forgiveness gradually became evident in an odd manner. I realized during the subsequent hour that I was truly slowing down. My feet seemed heavier, and so did my knapsack.

The uphill stretches felt steeper than they looked, and for a while, I ascribed this to the onset of middle age, but finally I began to be somewhat alarmed.

I had never before gotten tired so quickly, except in high-altitude mountain hiking with a full overnight pack on my back. My pack. Suddenly, I knew what was wrong.

The troop exploded with long-suppressed laughter as I took off the knapsack, opened it, and dug down until I verified my suspicion. There were rocks in it, evidently placed there during our stop at the water faucet.

I grinned as bravely through the tempest of mirth as I could and lightened my pack. I sensed the rocks were the troop's way of showing me that I was back in good standing.

Oh, rocks in the backpack. Yes, a classic.

There's a quartermaster everybody knows. There's a song about him, this is how it goes. Just a little ditty doesn't mean a thing. But when the boys are marching, how they love to sing. There were mice, mice, eating up the rice in the stores, in the stores. There were rats, rats, big as blooming cats in the quartermaster's stores. My eyes are dim, I cannot see. I have not brought my specs with me. I have not brought my specs with me.

So this is our last installment, number five, of Instructional Methods for Scouts. We may return to the subject later, but this is a good basis of information on the way that Scout instruction is different from a lot of other teaching situations. And some interesting methods and promising practices that I've used over time that I think you will find useful. Now you can find all of this information also at the blog, at the Scoutmaster blog, at scoutmaster.typepad.com. You know, naturally, it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, that good instructions based on good preparation.

And that instructors should be able to begin with a clear goal and a real good understanding of their subject. And then resolve to keep the session active, focused, and brief. As brief, you know, only as long as necessary. An instructor with a plan can always adjust. Okay, because things will change during the session. A scout may ask questions or a new thought may come up. But without a plan, we're likely to digress and drift and yield to distractions and generally lose our way.

And I am a great one for digressing and drifting and yielding. And, you know, if you start talking about something, then another idea comes up in your mind. And pretty soon, you're talking about summer camp 23 years ago and something that happened. And then that guy, you know how it is? That's called a digression.

Stay away from that. Stick with your plan. First of all, you have to have a plan. And I really don't think it's a plan unless it's written down. So it's a good idea to make a few notes. And in those notes, you can have the gear required for instructing the particular thing that you're going to do. Make sure that you're all set. And then once you've mastered some of the methods that we've talked about, you should be able to prepare any instructional thing for scouts in minutes.

And you should be able to deal with the subject. Even if you're not fully versed in it, you know, that's a good way to begin the instructional method. Hey, fellas, we're all going to learn this together because I really don't know what I'm talking about. So why don't we start by discovering this together?

You know, if you tend towards being long-winded and rambling as I do, plan is so incredibly important. And as I mentioned before, I think one aid to keeping me focused is to hand one of my scouts a stopwatch and tell them I have exactly two minutes or three minutes or whatever to talk. And they enjoy having the control.

And they also know that I am going to talk longer than the two or three minutes. And they are rapturous when they're able to cut me off and hold me to the commitment.

So that's something to think about. Now, who is supposed to be instructing in a scout troop? Well, you would think it's the guy with the master in the name, Scoutmaster or assistant Scoutmaster, that we should be there instructing.

Well, I'm going to argue no. I'm going to argue that your goal should be not to instruct at all. Your goal and your job as a Scoutmaster or an assistant Scoutmaster is to train your scouts in instruction. Train your senior patrol leader, patrol leaders, and your older scouts in how to instruct. And then they will train the younger scouts in these things, not so much intentionally as by osmosis. When younger scouts see what the instructional methods are, hey, we stand in a circle.

Hey, we ask a lot of questions. We have a round robin. We do this Kim's game thing. We use the coach and the pupil method. Then they will just adapt them.

They will just adapt them naturally. I haven't really instructed my scouts in a specific skill or anything like that in a very long time. I would say on average I get to do this about once a year in an actual troop meeting or at a campout.

Maybe on a campout, maybe let's say twice a year. And I do this with the permission of the senior patrol leader. And I ask a lot because I really enjoy instructing and I'm pretty good at it. I am the best instructor in my troop. And I don't think I'm being egotistical about that. I'm just telling you the truth. I've had a lot of practice at it. I'm the best guy. I'm the best one. I'm certainly better than my senior patrol leader. I'm certainly better than any of my patrol leaders.

I'm a great instructor. But if I do all the instructing, I'm denying them the opportunity to learn how to do it and to have the experience of being the instructor, which is one of the things that I really enjoy. So I have to kind of say, well, I don't get to instruct and I need to empower my youth leadership to do that. If there is something that a youth leader can do, let them do it.

If there's something that they can't do, train them how to do it. The more responsibility you give to them, the better they will perform. And they will amaze you every time.

So that is the end of this particular little series on instruction for scouts. I'm sure we'll return to it at one point. But again, if you want the PDF file that helps with this, go to the Scoutmaster blog, scoutmaster.typepad.com. And use the Google search box in the right-hand column of the blog, search instructional. And that will lead you to a downloadable PDF file. I hope that these methods are useful for you and prove as effective as they have for me.

That's right, it's time for a Scoutmaster's Minute.

February 22nd marks the birthday of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement. And it is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's Founder's Day, an annual celebration. And nearly all national scout associations throughout the world celebrate Founder's Day as an opportunity to learn a little bit more about BP's life and his work.

In 1922, Baden-Powell spoke to the Third International Congress on Moral Education in Geneva, Switzerland. His speech laid out a vision for Scouting as an education in peace and love in the aftermath of the ordeal of the First World War.

And following the vision he laid out in that speech became the focus of the rest of Baden-Powell's life. You know, war's horrible devastation really influenced this old soldier. He was a very famous soldier and a hero to the British people.

And he joined many others in looking for alternatives to armed conflict. And the speech suggests that Scouting could be used to foster world peace by giving young men and women an education and international goodwill. This really expansive and inspiring vision has yet to be fully realized.

It's all too easy for us to lose sight of the international scope and possibilities of Scouting. You know, in our own personal involvement in the movement. Because we're focused on what we need to do that day and what's happening with our troop or our pack or our crew.

But Founders Day represents an opportunity for us to focus on that aspect of Scouting, this world brotherhood. Let me read to you just one part of Baden-Powell's speech. If such training be encouraged in all countries in such a manner that the rising generation throughout the world feel themselves tangibly linked in brotherhood, it is going to contribute markedly to the abolition of war and to that coming of the long-looked-for era of peace and goodwill among men. So there's another one in the can.