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Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training
What is it?
Specific leader training for Scoutmasters and
Assistant Scoutmasters.
How long is it?
Three sessions, each of 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
Who attends?
The course is designed for Scoutmasters and
assistant Scoutmasters. Troop committee members, transitioning
Webelos leaders, and other adults expecting to support the success
of a troop are also encouraged to attend.
Where's it offered?
At scheduled District Trainings (link
to District Web Sites)
Course format:
Multiple presentations using lecture, discussion,
group activities, and video.
Where's it offered?
Teaching Objectives:
Session One
Presentation 1: Course overview
- Provide an overview of Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmaster
Leader Specific Training.
- Explain the importance of attending Introduction to Outdoor
Leader Skills training and announce the times and places of
upcoming courses.
- Establish the importance of The Scoutmaster
Handbook and The Boy Scout Handbook
as the texts for this training and as the primary sources of
information for all Scoutmasters.
- Continue to build participants' enthusiasm for becoming
Scoutmasters and to increase their confidence in their abilities
to succeed as troop leaders.
Presentation 2: The Role of the Scoutmaster
- Discuss the qualities of a Scoutmaster.
- Explore what a Scoutmaster must be, know, and do.
Presentation 3: Troop Organization
- Lay out the structure of a Boy Scout troop.
- Describe the roles of a troop's key boy leaders.
- Explain the supportive functions of the troop's adult leaders,
including the Scoutmaster and assistant Scoutmasters and the
members of committees and of district and council staffs.
Presentation 4: Troop Meetings
- Explore the purposes of troop meetings.
- Discuss the value of using the troop meeting plan.
- Explain the importance of allowing a troop meeting to be
planned, conducted, and reviewed by the boys themselves.
- Review the vital role a Scoutmaster plays by providing
coaching, support, and leadership to Scouts.
Presentation 5: Working with Boy Leaders / The Patrol Method
- Show how to establish an environment that is safe both
physically and emotionally in which Scouts can learn, grow, and
enjoy Scouting to its fullest.
- Explain that listening is the first step in using appropriate
leadership styles.
- Show how positive reinforcement is among the most valuable
contributions adults can bring to the lives of young people.
- Employ various supportive leadership styles, matching them to
the needs of each Scout and to the patrols and troop as a whole.
Among the most effective styles are directing,
coaching, supporting, and delegating.
Presentation 6: Patrol Leaders' Council
- Understand the purpose for and importance of the patrol
leaders' council.
- Explore ways in which a Scoutmaster can support and guide the
patrol leaders' council as it plans the troop's program and
activities.
- See how the patrol leaders' council and the Scoutmaster can
work together when Scout events or meetings do not go well.
- Review the key points in Session One.
Session Two
Presentation 7: Introduction
- Remind participants that New Leaders Essentials and
Scoutmaster/Assistant Scoutmaster Leader Specific Training are
built around the eight methods of Scouting.
- Briefly review the topics of Session One.
- Briefly overview the contents of Session Two.
Presentation 8: Sizzle of the Outdoor Program
- Discuss the excitement and importance of the outdoor program,
noting that the outdoors is the arena in which much of Scouting
unfolds.
- Highlight the fact that outdoor experiences are why many boys
- many adults, too - join the BSA.
- Give new Scoutmasters the confidence that they have the
resources and abilities to enjoy successful outdoor experiences
with their troops.
- Encourage Scoutmasters and their troops to get beyond
"tailgate camping" and explore a wider range of outdoor program
opportunities.
Presentation 9: Nuts and Bolts of the Outdoor Program
- Convey the understanding that skills
and safety are the two main elements of
adult leadership in delivering the promise of Scouting through the
outdoor program.
- Reinforce the principle that the boy-led troop using the
patrol method is the right framework for developing an exciting
and meaningful program of outdoor activities.
- Review the Sweet 16 of BSA Safety - the BSA's primary
guidelines for conducting outdoor activities.
- Encourage Scoutmasters to implement the principles of Leave No
Trace in planning and conducting every BSA experience in the
outdoors.
- Help Scoutmasters understand that conservation and service
projects are important components of the BSA's outdoor program.
Presentation 10: Outdoor Program Patrol/Group Activity
- Lead participants through the experience of a patrol planning
for an outdoor activity.
- Bring to light the various safety considerations that must be
kept in mind during the planning of outdoor Scouting activities.
- Invite participants to discuss the Sweet 16 of BSA Safety as
they apply to specific planning situations.
- Encourage participants to become accustomed to using BSA
literature as resources for planning adventures and ensuring their
safety.
Presentation 11: Advancement Program
Convey the following points:
- Scouting offers young people tremendous opportunities to learn
a wide range of skills.
- One of the most effective ways for boys to learn skills is
through the Four Steps to Advancement.
- Advancement is one of the eight methods of Scouting used by
BSA leaders to help boys fulfill the aims of the Boy Scouts of
America. Properly used, a troop's advancement program can tie
together and energize the other seven methods of Scouting.
- There are many resources available to a Scoutmaster to provide
ways for boys to learn skills and to advance through Scouting.
- Advancement should be kept in perspective. It is not an end in
itself, but rather is the outgrowth of the other seven methods of
Scouting. A Scout troop can have great Scouting without great
advancement, but a troop with an active outdoor program will
naturally have a strong advancement program.
Session Three
Presentation 12: Introduction
- Remind participants that they are gradually covering the
methods of Scouting.
- Briefly review the key points of Session One and Session Two.
.
- Preview the contents and methods of Session Three.
Presentation 13: Program Planning
- Conduct portions of the prsentation as team activities that
allow participants to gain hands-on experience conducting various
aspects of the annual program planning process.
- Stress the importance of Scoutmasters guiding their troops in
developing annual program plans and then sticking with those
plans.
- Discuss ways to involve Scouts in planning a troop's program,
in feeling invested in it, and in taking responsibility for
bringing it to life.
- Explore how the planning process allows troop members to
connect their activities with the values of Scouting.
- Direct participants to resources that will help them conduct
effective troop program planning.
- Speak to the needs of Scoutmasters with varying experience,
specifically:
- The new Scoutmaster, especially one with a new troop.
- The Scoutmaster of an established troop with boys
representing a wide range of ages and experience levels.
Presentation 14: Membership
- Discuss the ways in which recruiting new members is good for
boys and good for Scout troops.
- Encourage Scoutmasters to make a regular effort to bring new
boys into the troop.
- Stress the importance of retaining a troop's current
membership.
- Explore various ways of recruiting new members.
- Discuss membership recruitment as an important means of
ensuring diversity withing the Scouting program.
Presentation 15: Paperwork
Convey the following points:
- A finite amount of paperwork is required to manage a Scout
troop well.
- Scoutmasters can call upon troop committee members, assistant
Scoutmasters, and other supportive adults to manage much of the
troop's paperwork.
- Computer software and BSA literature are available to help
troop leaders track records and produce paperwork.
Presentation 16: Finances
Convey the following points:
- A troop needs to determine the budget they will need for the
upcoming year, then must figure out ways to earn that money as
quickly as possible.
- Money-earning activities of a Scout troop must conform to
standards set by the National Council.
Presentation 17: The Uniform
- Emphasize the role of the uniform as one of the eight methods
of Scouting.
- Discuss issues of importance concerning when, how, and where
the uniform should be worn.
Presentation 18: Other Training Opportunities
Convey the following points:
- The BSA offers adult leaders a continuum of training
opportunities and encourages lifelong learning.
- A wide spectrum of supplemental training experiences can
provide adult leaders with specialized skills and broader general
knowledge that will help them better deliver the promise of
Scouting.
What's Next?
Woodbadge leader
training.
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