Re: BOR HELP!-To Retest or Not To Retest
Ben Parker (bparker@INTERACCESS.COM)
Wed, 6 Dec 1995 15:09:03 -0600
On Wed, 6 Dec 1995, Don Tolin wrote:
> The SM Handbook, and the Troop Committee Guide, clearly state that BOR's are
> not to RETEST. However, the advancement guidelines say that you can ask
> questions about the skill learned, like who taught it, what did you learn by
> doing it, etc. The Council has interpreted that to mean it is "okay"
> to retest skills during a BOR.
The Handbook, etc and all current training materials are correct, the BOR
is NOT to ReTest. But asking general questions about a skill learned
(as suggested above) is not out of place either. ('Either' is a better
word to describe the situation than 'however' because it allows both
possibilities.)
2 questions I usually ask at BOR is "What was the hardest (or most fun)
requirement (or merit badge) you have worked on since (last rank)?
Why?" Depending on the Scout's answer I _might_ follow up with 1-2 more
questions that probe the skill/knowledge gently.
Note, in our troop we ALWAYS ask a scout at some point during the BOR to
recite the Scout Oath and Scout Law and give the Motto and Slogan.
Usually we also pick on some part of the above to ask "What do you think
it means to (Do a Good Turn Daily)? The only practical way to do this is
for the Scout to stand there and say it (we also look for standing at
attention and proper hand/arm position) but we do not consider that THIS
falls into the category of 'ReTesting'.
> However, at a recent BOR they asked the scout to demonstrate the
> heimlech maneuver on a JASM, and asked him to explain the different norths
> on a compass and a map, and other skill questions.
This kind of obvious TESTING is completely out of place in any BOR, and
has no place in anywhere in Scouting, except by the skill instructor or
meritbadge counselor BEFORE signing off the requirement.
=====
When you say 'they' who actually is that and where (whom) in your council
is this opinion coming from? That is where you need to concentrate your
turn-around/re-education effort.
a BOR is NOT the Spanish Inquisition or a KGB (or FBI) grilling. If any
questioning about skills is done at all, it ought to be with the thought
in mind of whether the skills/merit badge/etc are being taught properly,
which not at all the same as whether or not this particular Scout has
learned them adequately. In other words, the real purpose of the BOR is a
check on 'the adequacy of the program as being conducted in that unit right
now', not the individual accomplishment of that Scout. People who don't
understand this distinction should not be sitting on the BOR.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Ben Parker .............. (Oak Park IL) ........... bparker@interaccess.com
* ASM T-16 Oak Park IL (founded 1916) * Beavers are Busy! (C-22W-93) *
* Pachsegink Lodge 246 * Des Plaines Valley Council IL * Eagle Scout-1962 *
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
