Instructional Methods on ScoutmasterCG Archive

Scout Games Backpack

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a great idea from The Trainers Corner blog: A Scout games backpack is filled with games and various items for quick game ideas. As you can see from the picture, which has some of the contents of my backpack, there’s a lot of things that can be turned into games.

Among the contents are balls, balloons, note cards, spoons, sticks, ropes, game tokens, dice, and a really old cell phone (which I love – and it always gets a laugh). So now even if I don’t have time to research a game, I have one at hand. We can do a spoon and ping pong ball relay. We can do a game where you pass the balloon along without using your hands. We have bean bags that we can use for a bean bag toss. We have a great giant cell phone to play Guess Who’s Calling. And of course a notepad and pencil to keep score, or use for a quick game of hang-man.

Are You Sharing Too Much Information?

Thu, 20 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Information educates the mind, experience develops skill. Too much information can be paralyzing. We live in the information age. Our Scouts get plenty of information, much more than they can do anything with. What they really need is experience.

Scouting is an educational movement, but it’s not educational in the traditional sense.

Scouting is a journey through experiences that develop skill.

Sometimes we get a little mixed up, we think our Scouts need a lot of information to develop skills. They don’t. What they really need is experience. This is true of almost everything we do in Scouting. If we wanted to teach someone to ride a bike we’d show them the bike, put them in the seat, give them a couple of pointers and tell them to try. As they figured things out we’d coach them, encourage them , and work with them until they developed enough skill to go ahead on their own. We usually apply this method when we are instructing Scouts on building a campfire, safely handling woods tools, or flipping a flapjack. How can we apply it to training youth leaders? Much of our training, both for youth and adults, is aimed at sharing information. More often than not we plop folks down in front of a PowerPoint presentation or a video, fill their hands with handouts, and consider that they have been trained.

B-P's Blog - Drawing

Tue, 11 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

I REMEMBER how my education in Greek was a dead washout because they tried to teach me the grammar first, with all its intricacies and uninteresting detail, before showing me anything of the beauty of the language itself. In the same way a youngster who is anxious to draw is often put off by having to go through a course of making straight lines and curves up to the required standard and drawing blocks and cubes, etc. Whereas to the young mind eager to express itself one can do better, I think, by encouraging a boy to paint a volcano in eruption, if you want to encourage his colour vision, or to draw any incident that interests him. The inclination to draw lies there in every human mind. But self-expression is one of the results that can be got by encouraging drawing, however crude, on the part of the youngster. With a sympathetic critic or instructor, he can then be led on to recognise beauty in colour or in form, to realise that even in sordid surroundings there may yet be light and shadow, colour and beauty. A further stage in his education can be brought about by getting him to practise mental photography, that is to notice the details of a scene or incident or person, and fix these in his mind, and then to go and reproduce them on paper. This teaches observation in the highest degree.

Thoughts on Scout Requirements

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Are you motivated and inspired by the Scout requirements? What about your Scouts? Are your fellow Scouters inspired to administer them by adopting an encouraging, inspiring tone themselves? Can you smell the wood smoke and feel the warming glow of a campfire against the cold sting of a winter campout when you read them? Ask your Scouts to sit down and read a couple of rank or merit badge requirements and ask them what they mean. Do exactly the same thing this with a couple of your fellow Scouters too. My guess is that by the time you are done you will have found way to untangle a couple of tortured ideas or phrases that makes the requirement easier to follow and understand .

B-P's Blog - Scoutcraft

Fri, 16 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

Instruction in scoutcraft should be given as far as possible through practices, games, and competitions.

Games should be organized mainly as team matches, where the patrol forms the team, and every boy is playing, none merely looking on.

Strict obedience to the rules to be at all times insisted on as instruction in discipline. The rules given in the book as to games may be altered by Scout-masters where necessary to suit local conditions. The ideas given here are merely offered as suggestions, upon which it is hoped that instructors will develop further games, competitions, and displays.

Plan-Do-Review

Sun, 12 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Scouts Canada has created a clear, uncluttered, engaging process in the “Plan-Do-Review” component of the Canadian Path .

Scouting is made up of intuitive principles that are intended to be taken at face value.

Simplicity can be elusive; we tend to prefer complications. At first blush there’s nothing groundbreaking or new about this approach. It’s so intuitive and simple I think most of us would pass it over with a “sure, I get that” and start looking for a ‘Plan-Do-Review” training syllabus or PowerPoint presentation, but you won’t find one – it’s just that simple! Plan-Do-Review is useful in a Tiger Den, a Venturing Crew, and every age division in between. The process remains the same while the contribution of adults is scalable in response to their Scout’s capabilities. Plan Scouts are involved in the planning process—brainstorming, making suggestions and providing input about the program Areas they are interested in. Then, with guidance from the Scouters, Scouts make the choices about what activities they will pursue.

Developing Youth Leaders - Ready, Fire, Aim

Sat, 11 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I want to encourage you to stop training youth leaders and start developing their leadership skills – two very different things.

Scouts learn best experimentally, “ready, fire, aim” is an apt description of the process.

Directing the archery and rifle range at our camp many years ago I learned some important lessons about how to help Scouts develop skills. Most Scouts that showed up at the range weren’t receptive to formal instruction because they had that jumpy “beginner energy”, assumptions about their own skill, and they were excited to try things out.

B.P.'s Blog - Physical Exercises

Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

God didn’t invent physical “jerks.” The Zulu warrior, splendid specimen though he is, never went through Swedish drill. Even the ordinary well-to-do British boy, who has played football and hockey, or who has run his paper chases regularly and has kept himself fit by training exercises between whiles, seldom needs physical drill to develop him afterwards. It is good open-air games and sport which bring to the boy health and strength in a natural and not an artificial way.

Cub Scout Leader "Survival Guide" 2

Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This is the second of a five-part series, Part one Understanding Cubs Part three – Understanding Volunteering Part four – Blessed are the Den Leaders Part five – Understanding Parents I’ve been a Cubmaster, and a den leader for Wolf, Bear,and Webelos dens.

Volunteering as a Cub Scout leader ought to be a lot of fun, and it is, most of the time.

I want to share thoughts about things that often don’t get a whole lot of attention in formal training, the things we talk about in the hallway or the parking lot after the meeting. Of course these are my opinions and observations, not expressions of official policy. You may or may not share my opinions, but you’ll at least get something to think about! If you think about it most of our time is spent in a meeting of one form or another.

What is Scouting Fun?

Sun, 09 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

We can all agree that Scouting is fun, right? What is Scouting fun, and what isn’t?

Young people are in Scouting because they crave an honest challenge. They don’t need any more “bread and circuses” (benefits or entertainments intended to placate discontent or distract attention).

Scouts love to learn, but don’t like to be educated; Scouts like to work hard, but dislike being driven; Scouts strive to achieve, but at their own speed. An “honest” challenge isn’t a canned experience or spectator event.

Fun

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

“We want to make our program fun.”

I hear this repeated often by adult and youth leadership in Scouting; fun, fun , fun. If the Scouts don’t have fun they won’t stay in scouting. But what kind of fun are they really looking for?

I contend that boys are in Scouting not because they want more bread and circuses ( benefits or entertainments intended to placate discontent or distract attention) but because they crave an honest challenge. They love to learn, but hate to be educated; to work hard, but dislike being driven; to achieve, but despise regimentation.

Einstein The Beast of Prey and Inquiry

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

IT IS, IN FACT, NOTHING short of a miracle that the modern methods of education have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe that it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if the food, handed out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly. –Albert Einstein The curious mind is voracious so long as it is free to follow its own course of inquiry. The genius Einstein possessed bridled against the compulsion of formal education but free to follow its own course developed concepts that changed the world. Many of us respond well to the discipline of education, many do not.

Scouting Jargon

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Jargon is an Old French word meaning “the chatter of birds”. At it’s best Scouting jargon encapsulates a complex idea or definition for easy reference. At it’s worst jargon can become unintelligible, pretentious, convoluted vocabulary of the initiated.

Scouting has a lot of acronyms and initialization: ‘ We talked about EDGE at the PLC and encouraged them to use MaSeR during their SSC and SMART exercises.’

Scouting jargon is not, in itself, a bad thing. The danger is we use it until the concept expressed becomes secondary and the meaning is clouded or lost. In training both adults and youth we often identify an idea or skill with a mnemonic or an acronym.

Why do Scouts Play Games?

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Scouting is a game, not a science. - Baden-Powell Games suffer from a bad reputation. Why have Scouts play games? What about some serious learning? Aren’t games just fillers? Are they a waste of time? Fun has a bad reputation too; many adults think that learning is a rigorous, difficult, serious endeavor.

After all we want our Scouts to take things seriously.

Lighten up! Look at what happens when our Scouts play: Scouts Have fun!

Salamanders and Limitations

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Do you know why the Smoky Mountains have so many species of salamanders?

I didn’t.

After watching this video I do. I ‘m sharing this with you because there’s more to it than salamanders. Part of our work as Scouters is encouraging the joy of learning and discovery.

Every time I see a group of Scouts sitting down listening to someone tell them something I wonder how we could do better. We know scouts learn when they are on their feet and active, not in a seat and passive; but how do we actually make this work? The students in this video are having fun; there is no indication that they are simply slogging through a school assignment. I’ll bet twenty years from now they will still remember what they learned about salamanders.

Scouter Training Do's and Don'ts

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve headed up a number of Scouter training events, and been trained in several different volunteer positions.

Scouters are typically gregarious, good-spirited folks; but the dedication and single-mindedness required to be a good Scouter sometimes makes us difficult trainees. Here’s my do’s and don’ts for getting the most out of a Scouter training course: Do Expect to Learn. To get the most out of training you have to be open to new ideas and techniques, even those you have may have tried and rejected deserve a second chance. If you go to a training course thinking you won’t learn much, well, you won’t learn much. Do Listen Actively and Cooperatively. As a trainee, I find taking notes helps me follow the course. As a trainer, I am always encouraged when I see people taking notes because it indicates they are following along. Do Ask Questions but Don’t Interrupt.

B.P.'S Blog - Education

Sun, 29 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

ONE of the most important possibilities before us lies in the direction of Education. We have by other lines arrived at much the same conclusions as have the education authorities through their experiences. This is briefly, that the secret of sound education is TO GET EACH PUPIL TO LEARN FOR HIMSELF, INSTEAD OF INSTRUCTING HIM BY DRIVING KNOWLEDGE INTO HIM ON A STEREOTYPED SYSTEM. The method is to lead the boy on to tackle the OBJECTIVE of his training, and not to bore him with the preliminary steps at the outset. The education authorities have come to recognise us as would-be helpers in the same field, the aim of both of us being to produce healthy, prosperous citizenship. They take the intellectual development, we go rather more for the development of “character,” and that, after all, is the most important attribute for prevention of the social diseases of slackness and selfishness, and gives the best chance to a man of a successful career in any line of life. We are endeavouring to help the education authorities in every way that we can. They are working entirely in accord with us in a number of important centres.

B.P.'S Blog - First Aid

Sun, 25 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

“WHAT is the matter with your patient?”

I ask the Ambulance Scout who has just bandaged up another in most approved fashion. “Please, sir — broken clavicle.” “Yes. Now what bone is this?” “The femur, sir. No — it’s — it’s the tibi — it’s the —- ” ” Well, what would you call it, if you got a kick on it, and were telling your pal about it? ” “Shin, sir.” When I asked the instructor why it is considered necessary to confuse the boys’ minds with the Latin names for ordinary bones, he said that it was necessary in order to pass the doctor’s examination for badges or certificates.

B.P.'S Blog - Our Aim in Boy Scouts

Sun, 04 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

IN the Army we have certain points to aim for in training our men; but in the long course of years the steps in training have become so absorbing and important that in many cases the aim has come to be lost sight of. Take, for instance, the sword exercise. Here a number of recruits are instructed in the use of the sword in order to become expert fighters with it. They are put into a squad and drilled to stand in certain positions and to deliver certain cuts, thrusts, and guards on a certain approved plan. So soon as they can do this accurately and together like one man — and it is the work of months to effect this — they are passed as efficient swordsmen, but they can no more fight an enemy than can my boot. The aim of their instruction has been overlooked in the development of the steps to it.

Linear Versus Interactive Learning

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

In his essay The Impending Demise of the University Don Tapscott defines linear learning;

In the industrial model of student mass production, the teacher is the broadcaster. A broadcast is by definition the transmission of information from transmitter to receiver in a one-way, linear fashion. The teacher is the transmitter and student is a receptor in the learning process. The formula goes like this: “I’m a professor and I have knowledge. You’re a student, you’re an empty vessel and you don’t. Get ready, here it comes. Your goal is to take this data into your short-term memory and through practice and repetition build deeper cognitive structures so you can recall it to me when I test you.” He asserts that this style of teaching and learning is changing … students, who have grown up in an interactive digital world, learn differently.

Merit Badge Instruction

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Merit Badge Program is

An active dialogue between scouts and counselors Merit Badge counseling is an active, engaged dialogue; not a passive lecture.
Based on evaluation of effort. The effort extended by the scout bears more weight than his mastery of a skill.
Process valued. The general process of interacting with counselors, learning skills, building and maintaining cooperative relationships with other scouts are as important as the specific skills and knowledge learned.

What Are Scouting Skills, Why Are They (Still) Important and How do We Get Them Right?

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

What are Scouting Skills? Can you throw some things in a pack, step off the road into the woods and live comfortably for a few days without getting lost? Can you build a fire, lash a tripod together, set up a shelter, cook your food, stay warm and dry and leave no trace of your presence when you leave? If the answer is yes then you possess what I would call some basic ‘Scouting Skills’.

Reading Scout Requirements

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

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. (Requirements for ranks up to First Class are almost exclusively signed off by our older Scouts.)

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:

Kim's Game

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

is a game of observation and memory. In Rudyard Kipling’s 1901 novel Kim the hero, Kim, plays the game as a part of his training as a spy. Kim spends a month in Simla, India at the home of Mr. Lurgan, who runs a jewel shopas a cover for his real work as a secret agent for the British against the Russians.

Lurgan tosses a handful of jewels brings out a copper tray and says: Look on them as long as thou wilt, stranger.

What is Wood Badge?

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Wood Badge is Scouting’s premier adult leader training. It was a mystery to me before I took the course, but it turned out to be simple to understand and very useful to my work in Scouting. Wood Badge is much like any modern corporate leadership course but it does not cost $3000, it is outdoors, and it is fun . The first Wood Badge course was presented in 1919 to train Scoutmasters but now any Scouter can particpate.

Four Steps to Scout Advancement - A Scout Learns

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Second in a series of articles about the four steps to Scout Advancement.

Articles will be published each Tuesday beginning November 20, 2012 “… It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy spirit of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty.” - Albert Einstein Learning is a natural outcome of Scouting activities.

Scouting 2.0?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

What if? Two very powerful words. Our Scouts are are digital natives – they aren’t simply ‘dependent’ or ‘addicted’ to technology, it’s a part of their world. They don’t see a dichotomy of real and virtual – it’s all kind of the same. What if, like our Scouts, we stopped seeing this as two irreconcilable worlds and welcomed the potential of every resource to further the aims and methods of Scouting? For example my blog and podcast are one of several out there that have built a virtual community of real people share ideas and assist each other. It’s useful and compelling work. So where are the Scouts? What happens when we tap the potential of this virtual world to help them? If you accept the premise that this is possible tell me what you think about these ideas based on the aims and methods of Scouting: Ideals Right now any one active online has a number of different identities shaped to meet the focus and limitations of the tools they are using. One of the challenges of working within a number of different social media sites is maintaining a consistent appearance and identity that connects them all. What, in each of these different expressions, is the best way to own our identity as Scouts and the ideals we share?

Scout Advancement - Carts, Horses, and Suntans

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

“Advancement is like a suntan; something you get naturally whilst having fun in the outdoors.”

Baden-Powell Scout advancement is not a goal; it is an indicator. Our aim is not that Scouts attain a certain level of skill or expertise but that they have fun in the outdoors doing things Scouts do.

When they do the things Scouts do they gain skills and have fun. In the course of a camping trip Scouts work with their hands, understand and adapt to their environment, build fires, cook food, explore, talk, work together and do all manner of things they consider fun with little prompting.

Preaching the Scoutmaster Minute

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Walter Underwood I’m a preacher’s kid, so I’ve sat through a lot of sermons, pretty much all of them longer than a minute. When it became my turn to talk at the close of the troop meeting, I tried to use some of what I’d learned in all that time. My dad was a really good preacher, but he got even better after a short post-graduate course with Dr. Reuel Howe at the Institute for Advanced Pastoral Studies. As my dad explained it, he learned a simple approach to an effective sermon.

Scouting is a Verb

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Use this image as your Facebook Cover: here’s how On my honor, I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight Be Prepared Do a good turn daily How do Scouts advance ? By doing the things that Scouts do .

Scouts go, camping , hiking , exploring , discovering … they build fires, cook, and eat … they plan , develop , and present… they instruct , lead, and create … they sing , speak and yell… they run, play and shout… they learn, develop, and grow Scouts are happy when they are doing something.

Four Ways to be a Leader

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

What follows is a first look at one part of a youth leadership training-mentoring program I have been working on. I’ve imposed a few rules on myself - no paperwork, no presentations and no sitting down. In addition the adult role in this will be largely as a silent observer. As I develop the ideas I am working on ways that Scouts can first experience the concept and then discover the answers. In other words they would work their way through some sort of challenge designed to show the idea or concept at hand and then have a guided reflection afterwards where they talk about what happened. This is not a new method – I am drawing on my experience with COPE and similar activities. ‘Four Ways to be a Leader” will sound familiar too.

Why Most Smart People are Bad Teachers.

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Burak Kanber is an engineer with a blog. He recently posted an article titled Effective Teaching is a Long Con ; If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan The above Carl Sagan quote is why most smart people are bad teachers.

Smart, impassioned people know the whole story behind what they’re teaching.

Smart people like to think about the whole story; they run it through their heads over and over in the shower, while they’re cooking, and on the subway.

Escaping the Classroom

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Individual active instruction and personal evaluation are at the heart of Scouting but classroom style instruction is the universal default method of sharing knowledge.

Please don’t mistake what I am about to say as denigrating teachers; many of my friends are teachers and wonderful people.

I simply want to point out the difference between classroom methods and Scouting methods.

Classroom methods are not Scouting. In the classroom students are seated, inactive, passive receptors. In the classroom the teacher is the authority figure. In Scouting youth leaders are the authority figure.

Circle of Knowledge Game

Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a game to help Scouts with requirements that have a number of things to remember or identify For example First Class rank requirement 6: Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of native plants found in your community. For this particular requirement you’ll need to know how to identify ten native plants. Not a very daunting task with the internet at your disposal. Try Googling ‘native plants’ and your state and county.Take notes, print out pictures and spend some time acquainting yourself with the plants you’ve chosen. I’d aim for ten trees, ten wildflowers and ten other plants (in my area that’s common forest under-story plants, it may be different where you live). If you know thirty plants you’ll be able to find at least ten anytime you are out camping.

Models of Learning and Leadership

Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Our perception of learning shapes the way we instruct and lead. Here are four common models of learning and the corresponding methods applied: Learning Model – EMPTY VESSEL – BLANK STATE Students are empty vessels that are filled by learning new things.

Additive learning assumes uniform voids are filled by uniform chunks of learning.

Leading Method – PASSIVE STUDENT – ACTIVE TEACHER Classic classroom techniques of presenting blocks of material (lectures, repetition, etc.) with students in a passive role and teachers as presenters.

The Nature of the Game

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

“At its most elementary level then we can define game as an exercise of voluntary control systems in which there is an opposition between forces, confined by a procedure and rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome.”

Avedon and Smith Play and games are valued as vital contributors to our development as humans.

Children at play are not simply whiling away the hours until they can find some more useful way to occupy their time. Play is serious work that helps us all learn how the society is organized and our role within it.

The way to the brain, goes through the hand

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Doug Stowe’s The Wisdom of the Hands blog discusses a saying I find particularly compelling:

“The way to the brain, goes through the hand”

This isn’t a new thought, but it is particularly relevant to Scouting. (If you take the time to look at Doug’s writings you’ll soon discover that this isn’t just a saying; it has a scientific basis.) Are we at our best when we are telling, showing or doing? To my mind it’s the doing, the ‘hands on’ part of our work that is the most valuable.

Scouting in the Electronic Age

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

How far back do you go? Did you have a Little Orphan Annie or Captain Midnight decoder ring? Did you marvel at Dick Tracy’s two way wrist T.V.? Were you amazed by the communicator on Star Trek? How about Mr. Spock’s tricorder? As fantastically implausible as these futuristic technologies looked at the time most of us now carry them around every day.

Cellphones, smart-phones, iPods, laptops, and the internet are all part of our daily lives and an even larger part of the lives of our Scouts. If you think about it most the Scouts we work with today were all born after all of these things were commonplace in our society. How do we incorprate these technologies into Scouting? Most of us have embraced email, websites and computerized record keeping into our Scout troops, packs and crews. But when it comes to portable electronic devices what happens next? Just saying ’no’ to cellphones, iPods and associted electronics is a common approach that may not be as valid or possible as it once was.

Teaching is Listening, Learning is Talking

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s an interesting piece from the Outdoor Ed Community blog; Teaching is listening, learning is talking. This wonderful rule of thumb, from the educator and writer, Deborah Meier , reminds us that real learning comes, in large part, from being actively involved in the educational moment.

Experiential educators have long known this and frequently advocate for teaching that involves the learner and does not, as Paulo Freire famously described, treat students as empty “banks” in which to deposit information… One of the most respected scientific journals, Science , recently (and without much media attention), published a study that, in its simplicity, is astounding in terms of its significance. “Why Peer Discussion Improves Student Performance on In-Class Concept Questions,” published in the January 2nd edition of Science (vol. 323) is one of those simple research studies that yields powerful results… This study shows, very simply but very powerfully, that students learn more and they learn better through talking… This simple study provides strong evidence to something experiential educators have long advocated.

Manual Training - Experiential Learning

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Much is said about the scope and effectiveness of our national education system but one irrefutable fact is the decline of what was once called ‘manual training’ then ‘industrial arts’ and now ’tech ed’. As schooling has become increasingly focused on academics scools have closed or diminished shop classes.

Purely academic pursuits are important but the value of experiential learning is equally so.

Scouting is an important source of experiential learning.

Scouting's Progressive Program

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Scouting’s progressive program is built on the idea of developmental stages.

Tiger Cubs work hand in hand with their parents, Wolf Cubs build on the relationships with their family, Bears build on the concepts of community, Webelos on self-reliance and independence. The Scout Troop and Patrol builds on all these skills as Scouts progress through the ranks.

Every so often I come across a situation where some overheated leadership has taken it on themselves to depart from the age appropriate activities and blaze their own trail. The most common offenders are Webelos leaders.

New" lashings at Ropes and Poles

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Peter at the Ropes and Poles pioneering blog has posted three lashings from John Thurman’s book Pioneering Principles (available in PDF format from The Dump ) These ‘new’ lashings are certainly worthy of wider use.

While we are on the subject check out the Japanese Square Lashing at Ropeworks a website featuring the work of Gerald L.

Findley.

Compared to the traditional method that involves two clove hitches the Japanese square lashing is simpler and usually stronger in that it is much more effectively tightened. (I favor the Mark II) Findley’s book Rope Works is well worth the ten bucks.

Instructional Methods for Scouts - Skill Teams

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000

The skill team approach lends itself to the dual goals of instructing Scouts and training instructors. As an example here is an application of the method in familiarizing Scouts with ten native plants for the First Class requirement #6: First gather and identify ten plant samples (leaves, flowers, seeds, etc).

Select a group of Scouts (in this example they are First Class or above) to serve as instructors. Each instructor learns one, two or three of the samples according to the number of instructors and samples. Once the instructors are throughly conversant with the samples they share the responsibility of instructing as a team. In this example the troop goes on a short hike where each instructor, in turn, points out the plants they have learned to identify.

Instructional Methods For Scouts - Who Instructs?

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Methods If adults are doing all the instruction they are denying their Scouts the opportunity to develop some important skills. Our role is to empower our youth leadership to instruct by training them in the methods of Scout instruction. All of the skills and methods discussed here can be applied to instructing the methods themselves.

Gather your youth leadership together and use these methods to train them in Scout Instruction. Give them alot of support and encouragement the first few times they instruct and they will quickly develop into an effective team. Once they have some mastery of the skills and intentions make it a practice to instruct only when invited to do so by your youth leadership.

Instructional Methods For Scouts - Preparing

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

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 - Circle Up!

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

It may seem a fine point but the physical position and posture of the instructor and the Scouts is an important distinction between Scout instruction and other forms of instruction: Neither the Scouts nor the instructor should be seated unless absolutely necessary.Keeping everyone on their feet in a circle, has several important advantages Standing requires more alertness than sitting.

Scouts all have the same perspective when they are standing in a circle.

Instructional Methods For Scouts - Kims Game and Variations

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Rudyard Kipling’s book for boy’s “Kim” is the story of the orphan son of an Irish soldier in India who was trained for government intelligence work by showing him a tray of precious stones for a minute’s observation, then covering it, and asking Kim how many stones and what kind they were. At first Kim could remember only a few, soon he was able not only to say exactly how many, but to describe the stones. Then he practiced with other articles, and ultimately was able to glance to see all sorts of details of items that were of value in tracing and dealing with criminals.

Instructional Methods for Scouts - Coach and Pupil

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Developing the leadership skill of training or instructing others is an important goal of Scouting.

Using the coach-pupil method has the twofold result of perfecting a specific skill and developing teacher/leaders.

Scouts are paired up into coach-pupil teams. The instructor first guides all the teams through the basic components of the skill as a group. For a set period of time one Scout coaches and one practices the skill. At first the coach should walk the pupil through each specific component, then drill the whole skill and then observe as the scout demonstrates the skill on his own. Once the time period ends the roles reverse and the coach becomes the pupil. The instructor can observe each group in turn and offer assistance were needed. Once the coach/pupil session has ended a game or competition featuring the new skill cements it in the minds of the Scouts. It is important to stick to brief coach/pupil sessions so that the roles reverse often. It is surprising how quickly Scouts learn even complex skills when they coach another Scout.

Instructional Methods For Scouts - Round Robins

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Small groups, 10-15 minutes of instruction at each station, lots of activity.

Example - Instructing Tote’n Chip (axe, knife, saw) skills.

Three stations are set up, one each for knife, saw and axe.

Three groups of five rotate through the stations at ten or fifteen minute intervals where they are shown the equipment and led through the demonstration of the associated skills.

Round robins are active and teach small groups rather than a large group all at once.