Deconstructing Scouting

Don’t be afraid, deconstruction is not demolition, it is examination. I am not suggesting that we tear things down, but that we understand them.

By deconstruction I mean discovering, recognizing, and understanding the unspoken and the implicit assumptions, ideas, and frameworks of scouting. It is not my intention to deconstruct the program but to describe the process because I have found it helpful.

For example one of the implicit ideas in scouting is promoting good citizenship. If I deconstruct the idea I have to define good citizenship and identify the actions that will promote it. From there I can build a program that achieves this goal.

If, instead, I launch a program based on the existing framework of promoting good citizenship without examining what