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There are times that what I assume or the way I feel Scout requirements are fulfilled does not jibe with the actual wording of the requirement.
I don’t sign off many requirements. Requirements for ranks up to First Class are almost exclusively signed off by our older Scouts. I do sign off requirements in the if I am functioning as a merit badge counselor, but not too much in my role as a Scoutmaster.
When I am showing Scouts how to sign off requirements I tell them to look for the verbs and modifiers and pay attention to them. I tell them to read the requirement carefully and to make sure that they are actually doing what it says rather than just glossing over the wording and getting the wrong idea.
Here are some examples:
Scout 7. Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath or Promise, Law, motto, and slogan, and the Outdoor Code.
‘Understand and Agree’ does not mean ‘repeat from memory’. In some ways this is a higher standard than rote memorization. What does it mean to be thrifty, to be reverent?
Tenderfoot 12. B. Show first aid for the following: …
‘Show’ does not mean ‘talk about’ or ‘write down’ it means ‘show’. To complete this requirement a Scout has to use his hands and a first aid kit to show what needs to happen in the cases listed in the requirement.
Second Class 1. A. Demonstrate how a compass works and how to orient a map. Explain what map symbols mean.
‘Demonstrate’ does not mean ‘tell’, it means actively showing how the skill is accomplished using the actual tools required to accomplish it. ‘Explain’ indicates that a Scout should no only know the information but what it means.
First Class 6. Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of native plants found in your community.
‘Identify’ means being able to recognize or distinguish something. Modified by ‘show evidence of’ indicating that the actual object being identified may or may not be present, perhaps it’s a picture of the object. The modifier ‘native’ is important too, what does it mean and how does it modify the type of plant used to fulfil the requirement?
Camping Merit Badge 3. Make a written plan for an overnight trek and show how to get to your camping spot using a topographical map and compass OR a topographical map and a GPS receiver.
‘Make a written plan’ is not telling or demonstrating, it’s writing. You won’t see many requirements that require book work or writing (thank goodness)
When we read Scout requirements and take them at face value we’ll better serve their intentions and be less likely to water them down or to add to them.
2/3rds of the advancement issues I run into hinge on a simple misunderstanding of the verbs and modifiers in the actual requirements, either by the Scout or the person signing them off. In most cases, both the Scout and the person signing them off are relieved to find out the requirement, as written, is simpler and more straightforward than their perception of it. In other cases, unfortunately, there are those who are quick to declare that tradition/pride/etc compels them to create new hurdles.
One other thing…if you read carefully, the requirements are written to allow for disabilities. It doesn’t say “write a plan”, it says “make a written plan”. Maybe you need to dictate that. You can “demonstrate how a compass works” by walking someone else through it.
Well done Clark! We couldn’t agree more about the importance of following 100% about what is stated in each requirement.
“re-do it” Tom, you monster 🙂
That’s pretty good stuff Clarke. Again, I’m a little more simple sometimes. I tell the Troop leadership, when you are signing off on a requirement, does the Scout know it well enough to help you if you have a first aid issue? Have you trained him to know and understand how to help rescue you from the lake? Can the Scout you are teaching help you put a dining fly by knowing the correct knot? Taut line hitch? Would you eat the food he cooks? Oooooooooooh, that last one is a tough one. I encourage them to eat the food their Patrol members cook 🙂
Clarke…I’m not saying they shouldn’t be working together and learning together, it’s just that when they are being tested on a particular skill or their knowledge of a requirement, that should be one-on-one with the counselor or adult leader. If its done in a group, by the time the last boy is being tested he has the answer just by listening to the previous boys’ answers, or demonstrations.
Still disagree with you Bob, adults don’t have to be the one signing a requirement, and I don’t care how a Scout learns, so long as he get’s it. I’ll bet he will have learned it pretty well if he’s sees or hears the right skill or information repeated a bunch of times watching other Scouts repeat the same skill or giving the same answer.
When I counseled 20+ Scouts for rifle shooting merit badge at summer camp every week we had a ‘test’ on Friday to certify some of the requirements for the badge. The test was me asking the group questions or showing them something they had to name and having them write their answer on a piece of paper. When I was finished they exchanged their paper with another Scout and we went over each question. If someone wrote something different than the correct answer it was read out loud. Once we went through all the questions the papers were given back to the owners and anyone who had answered them all correctly was done.
The Scouts who had a wrong answer then talked to me individually and I would ask them for to give me the right answers (they had just heard them repeated at least once), if they couldn’t remember the right answer I pointed them to a copy of the merit badge book and asked them to look up the right answer and moved on to the next Scout. Pretty soon they all figured out they could talk to each other and help each other get all the answers right.
Needless to say the Scouts who hadn’t bothered to know the information required to answer the questions properly heard the correct answer repeated several times from their fellow Scouts. I am confident that when they left the rifle range they all knew their stuff and we had a lot of fun getting there.
Scouting is not school, we don’t use School methods of instructing, evaluation or testing, we use the Scouting method. How do Scouts learn? Any way they can! There’s no wrong way to learn the right things.
I explain this to the Scouts testing the requirements using Second Class 7c as an example. When a Scout is demonstrating first aid for shock, somebody needs to be laying on the ground.
These requirements should be done out of earshot and sight of Scouts also wanting to be signed off.
I don’t agree with you on that one Bob. Certainly Scouts should know and do for themselves when fulfilling requirements but they shouldn’t be prevented from working together to better learn them. Does it matter how a Scout attained a certain bit of knowledge or skill or if he actually has it?
And my favorite one is 1st #4. This requirement builds from a through e. I don’t know how many times a Scout will work on part of this at summer camp and then come home with out the menu plans. “how are you going to cook something without the menu?” , ” I don’t know…re-do it?”
Not being mean, just reading the requirements and doing them in order.
Take care,