Instructional Methods For Scouts - Preparing

Good Scout instruction is based on the good preparation by the instructor.

Instructors should begin with a clear goal, a thorough understanding of the subject and the resolve to keep the session active, focused and brief. An instructor with a plan can always adjust to discoveries made during the session.

Without a plan we are likely to digress, drift, yield to distractions and generally loose our way towards the goal of the session. A plan is not really a plan unless it is expressed in writing and the plan must include a list of all the gear required for instructing the particualr skill. Once an instructor has mastered some of the these methods they should be able to prepare in minutes and present the subject by means of guided discovery, sometimes learning as much as the Scouts do. On a personal note; if you tend towards long-winded rambling (as I do) a plan is even more important. One aid to keeping me focused is to hand one of the Scouts a stopwatch and tell them that I have exactly two minutes to talk. As you may imagine they enjoy having some control. They know that given unlimited time I can talk the legs off an iron pot.

Instructional Methods for Scouts Introduction Round Robins Guided Discovery Coach and Pupil Kim’s Game and Variations Circle Up!

Preparing Who Instructs? All these posts as a PDF .