'Forming' a Better Strategy

So if worksheets and forms are a lesser ‘form’ of Scouting what are the alternatives?

Short answer: conversations, dialogues, counseling, mentoring, listening and a selective memory.

Longer answer follows. Note that I may not be perfectly correct in my invocations of classical history or methods of communication but I have attempted to lay out some broad concepts as I understand them.

I may use one or all of these methods in the course of a Scoutmaster conference.

Conversations Casual exchanges without an underlying motive. Conversations can happen free of role or position. I needn’t always speak in my official role and every conversation does not need to be weighted with importance or undertaken with a specific goal in mind.

Dialogues A venerable rhetorical method from antiquity (the dialogues of Plato for instance) dialogues are more formal exchanges with a definite point.

Questions and answers in dialogues are designed to encourage independent thought that comprehends the point of the dialogue:

SM: What do you think you should pack for this trip? S: Well, the usual stuff I guess. SM: Are we planning anything that will require specific equipment? S: The orienteering course? SM: So what do you want to pack for the orienteering course? S: A compass? SM: Sounds like a good idea. Anything else?

In this simple example the Scout is encouraged to think through the problem himself.

Alternatively I could proclaim – ‘remember to bring your compass’ but using the form of dialogue I have initiated a thought process that is much more likely to stick in the Scouts mind and encourages him to use the same pattern of thought in the future. Once my Scouts have been around for a year or so they understand the dialog method and use it frequently.

Counseling Marked more by listening than speaking counseling demands adeptly using open-ended questions to draw the story out. The best counselors help people arrive at answers themselves rather than suggesting remedies.

Mentoring In this exchange there is an understanding that one participant is analyzing and weighing the work of the other. Mentoring relationships are based on mutual trust and frankness enabling true and useful critique. Mentors have to possess a certain relentlessness marked by empathy and encouragement. Coaching and mentoring are reasonably synonymous. An investment in success places this relationship on a more formal footing.

Listening Epictetus, the Greek Philosopher, said; “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

Enough said.

Having a Selective Memory Scouts can consciously and unconsciously push our buttons. On account of their age they will do or say astoundingly stupid things.

Negative words and actions should be dealt with quickly, brought around to quiet, swift resolution and then forgotten. In contrast any achievement should be talked of glowingly, celebrated loudly, recognized publicly then nearly forgotten to make room for the next step forward. No Scout should have to bear with continuous condemnation or being elevated on a pedestal.

Every motivation in Scouting is a positive one. We do not punish, penalize or practice other more subtle forms of revenge.

Finally a word on merit badge worksheets; don’t. Counselors should pay close attention to the active words in requirements: discuss, show, demonstrate, make, do, and very rarely ‘write’. It is easy to keep track of what the Scout has achieved on his blue card and you really don’t need any other forms.