"Mandatory" training

[scoutldr 726]

"The trainers out there deserve a lot of respect for what they do , sometimes because no one else will do it."

 

Thanks for the compliment...and that's more true than you imagine. I have two people on my District training team...myself and one other who is willing to help, but just doesn't know the program that well to be cut loose on his own yet. There are a few others who will help out an hour here and there, but not full time. With that, we do all Cub and all BS training. Yes, I know we are not doing Cub Specific correctly...but we do what we can with what we have. Council advertises them as one course...otherwise I would need to spend five times more evenings and have courses of onesies and twosies. It takes as much effort on the trainers part to teach two people as it does 30. Sorry, but that's not an efficient use of my time. I am devoting about as much time to Scouting as I can...any more and I will have to retain a good divorce lawyer.

 

I have no doubt that the SEs have gotten together and decided to do this...whether National agrees or not. Maybe they have their own forum somewhere.

 

My Council's "draft policy" has been softened somewhat...now they are talking about a "goal" of 100% trained with a phase in period. What frosted me was that this was decided in private meetings without the benefit of talking to the Council training chairman or the District Trainers who are expected to implement this edict. It was presented as "here's what we want...now do it." And I keep hearing, "well the Girl Scouts don't seem to have a problem with it." NJCubScouter's council policy is the most draconian yet. While it may be a "good idea" in concept, what I object to is the heavy-handed and unilateral way in which it's being dictated. We're "volunteers", remember? I do this because I like it...for now.

 

[Twocubdad 665]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out when councils are forced to choose between enforcing this policy and dropping units and membership.

 

I'd feel a whole lot better about this if our training committee had spent as much effort getting their act together, making sure adequate trainers were in place, that training records were accurate and that all leaders have plenty of opportunities for training.

 

These mandates only shift the responsibility from the the training committee to the units and individuals: They don't have to provide convenient training times because you have to take the training whether it's convenient or not. They don't have to make the training interesting because you have to take the training whether it's interesting or not. They don't have to do a good job communicating with leaders because you have to find out when the training is going to be available.

[OldGreyEagle 5]

from our Council Newsletter

 

http://www.minsitrails.com/Data/Documents/Newsletter/Feb2004/p01.pdf

 

"In support of the councils new Strategic

Plan, the Executive Board of the Minsi

Trails Council announced a new training

requirement for top unit leaders.

Beginning in December, 2004, any Pack,

Troop or Crew that recharters will be

required to have their Cubmaster,

Scoutmaster or Venture Crew Advisor

complete the basic training course for their

position.

To be considered trained, a Cubmaster

must complete the New Leader Essentials

course, and the Cubmaster Specific course,

unless they completed Cub Leader Basic

Training prior to September, 2001. The

Essentials & Specific course can generally

be completed in a five-hour session.

For a Scoutmaster to be considered

trained, they must have completed the New

Leader Essentials course, the Scoutmaster

Specific course, and the Introduction to

Outdoor Leader Skills course. The

Essentials & Specific course can be

completed in one day, and the Outdoor

Skills course is generally held over a full

weekend. If a Scoutmaster has completed

Scoutmaster Fundamentals prior to

September, 2001, or any earlier version of

Boy Scout leader training, they will be

considered trained.

For Venture Crew Advisors to be

considered trained, they must have

completed the New Leader Essentials

course and the Venturing Leader Specifics

course. These two courses can be typically

completed in five hours.

If a new unit leader is recruited prior to that

units recharter date, a grace period will be

extended to allow that leader to complete

their appropriate course.

This is the councils first step in moving

towards the vision of every Scout has a

trained leader. Our hope is that through

better training, the quality of our Scouting

program will improve and the retention of

our youth will increase."

 

From what I understand, next year the requirement will be all "contact" leaders must be trained.

 

So, can they do this? I am all for it, but I read here that a Council can't do this

 

[scoutldr 726]

They can do whatever they will be allowed to get away with. According to dsteele, Councils are "autonomous" and if the Executive Boards want to do it, they can. Of course, if the volunteer leaders, trainers and Chartered Organizations disagree, it's a free country and they can vote with their feet. It will be very interesting, indeed. What infuriated me was that the decision was made without even talking to the Council Training Chairman or his committee (the district trainers who have to make it happen.) Not a good way to get buy-in from the stakeholders.

 

I still think it's quite a coincidence that so many councils have decided that this a good idea all at the same time, and National claims they know nothing about it.