Every Scout deserves a trained leader

[Bob White]

We all have heard this. I would like to think we all believe it.

Many councils have even made basic training mandatory for direct youth contact leaders. So as Dr. Phil would say...How's that workin for ya?

 

What do you suppose is the national percentage of direct contact leaders who have attended basic training?

 

20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% 70% more?

[Beavah]

Yah, BobWhite, do yeh know of a council that has required training for all direct contact leaders? Seems like what I've seen so far is mostly a requirement for da unit leader or for at least one person in the unit.

 

Which of course would make your percentage figure off, eh?

 

B

 

[evmori]

I love multiple choice questions! I usually get them wrong, though. Too many choices! I'll take 30%, Bob! What do I win?

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

 

 

[scoutldr]

My district averaged 28% while I was training chair. Due to a high-turnover military population, I couldn't get above that. I'd train them and 6 months later they were gone. Maybe if there was a better way of documenting training in other councils, they could come in "trained"...but I couldn't even get accurate records from my own council. If they were trained before the new training program, forget it.

[OldGreyEagle]

"Seems like what I've seen so far is mostly a requirement for da unit leader or for at least one person in the unit."

 

Then again, there may be things on Heaven and Earth that are not dreamt of in your philosophy Beavah...

 

From the August Newsletter of the COuncil I serve

 

http://www.minsitrails.com/Documents/Newsletter/Aug2007/final.pdf

 

 

In 2004, all Cubmasters, Scoutmasters and Crew Advisors were required to complete the basic training for their position before the council would renew their units charter.

 

In 2005, this training requirement was expanded to include the Committee Chairmen of each unit.

 

In 2006, all newly registered direct contact leaders, age 21 and over, must complete the basic training for their position by the units rechartering date or the Council will not reregister that person in that position. (18-20 year olds must finish training before turning 21)

 

Direct contact leaders for Cub Scout Packs include: Tiger Cub Den Leaders, Cub Scout Den Leaders, Webelos Den Leaders, Cubmasters, and Assistant Cubmasters.

 

Direct contact leaders for Boy Scout Troops include: Scoutmasters and Assistant Scoutmasters.

 

Direct contact leaders for Venturing Crews include:Venture Crew Advisors and Associate Crew Advisors.

 

National Average? According to the COuncil Newsletter it's 29.5%

 

http://www.minsitrails.com/Documents/Newsletter/Mar2007/final.pdf

 

 

 

PS Ed, you win, being within .5% is good enough for me!

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[Bob White]

OGE is right, and yes Ed was close too.

 

The National figure is that 29% of direct service adults have taken basic training. Is that figure be acceptable to anyone? Is there any chance that it explains why there is a membership loss, or why units fail, or why leaders do not understand the charter concept or the role of the CO? Or why there were a number of needless young people who died last year in incidents that should never have happened?

 

What accounts for such a horrific number of adults not being trained?

 

Leader selection at the unit level. What should units do with leaders who will not attend training, or do not follow the BSA program Methods and policies?

 

Right now there are about 600,000 direct contact leaders in the BSA, thats 426,000 untrained adults working with scouts. That should be unacceptable to every parent in the BSA. It also places fewer than 2 trained leaders in each unit on average.

 

Add in the scouters that are trained but ignore the training, and you see why this is such a huge concern. Once again it comes down to how units select their leaders, something the BSA has very little say in.

 

[resqman]

Ok. Generally speaking I think most who post here would agree that having all leaders or even more leaders trained for their positions would be more gooder. I would guess that we all agree that only ~30% is much lower than would be ideal.

 

What are you proposing?

[evmori]

I win! What do I win? YIPPIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

Seems this falls back on the CO since they are the ones that are supposed to be choosing the adult leaders. Then maybe it goes back to the council for not ensuring the CO is more than in name only.

 

What should the unit do? Well, when I was SM, all the ASM's & committee members were required to attend training for their role in the unit. Until they did, they were kept on a short leash.

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Bob White]

I am proposing that the problems of scouting often raised by 'scouters', are raised by people who never even bothered to attend even 'basic' training, and by some who may have attended training but by their own choice ignore it. I propose that units and individuals would probably have fewer problems if they took the time to learn and follow the program. But only 3 out of 10 leaders do that, and that does not even count the number of committee chairs and committee members who are not trained.

 

Saying that a person went to a training and didn't like it is for the most part a reflection of the trainers, I have seen the same syllabus taught very well and very poorly, the syllabus was the same only the trainers were different. Again, it is a problem of selecting the right people and requiring that the plan be adhered to.

 

Still, to have been able to make that criticism about the course one would have had to have gone to it, and only three out of ten direct contact leaders are doing that.

 

I am proposing that the only solution is through the conscientious efforts to actually choose people for their job rather than just take anyone willing to do it.

 

And to require those that are trained to actually follow the program methods. Wearing a uniform ad going camping is not what scouting is about.

 

I do not see how you will get more people to attend the training and follow the program unless you select people whose character supports that behavior. Integrity can be found in people in all walks of life.

 

Can you see another solution?

(This message has been edited by Bob White)

[SMEagle819]

I do agree that trained leaders are a good thing. The biggest problem facing my troop in getting leaders trained is knowing when and where the training will take place. Right now, I have 2 leaders chomping at the bit to be trained. However, the district/council is not posting when training will be. I even asked the DC about it, and he suggested to look at other districts nearby. Same story: no schedule! Most of the time when the training is scheduled, we get 2 maybe 3 weeks notice. I would suggest to any DCs out there to get a training schedule out so the leaders that wish to go can make plans, and the troops they serve can be flexible with their planning as well.

[Beavah]

Yah, thanks, OGE. You're NE Region, eh? I don't see your stuff. But I note that you're also claimin' to have the highest percentage trained in da nation or somesuch, so I reckon you're out in front on the requirements curve, eh? Be interestin' to see how that works for yeh. I expect you're not gonna see a sudden surge in membership numbers or high-quality programs, eh? And if yeh did, I reckon it would still be hard for larger councils to replicate. Heck, an awful lot of districts are like SMEagle819's, eh?

 

The three-out-of-ten figure is of course skewed because of da Cub Program, particularly Den Leaders. There's a lot of 'em, eh? And they tend to be fairly high turnover compared with the upper division programs.

 

In da end, I sorta agree with BW, eh? The success of a program usually depends on a few highly dedicated and skilled folks in the program. Ain't an effect of trainin'. Not really an effect of program materials either. The correlation comes from the fact that highly dedicated and skilled folks tend to be lifelong learners; they take trainin' and read books and seek out effective programs. The challenge is findin', recruitin', and selecting such people.

 

But this ain't a new problem or anythin'. Been this way since I first joined, back in da Jurassic Epoch.

 

Beavah

(This message has been edited by Beavah)

[Bob White]

SMeagle819

The Council has agreed by contract with with units to provide training. I would call the council president to task on that point and insist that the training be provided to your leaders on a timely basis as agreed unpon. There is no need for a course to be on the schedule. The sessions of the training continuum are designed to be done in the unit with a single instructor and even a single participant if needed. If they are not making an opportunity for you to go to training then they should be making it possible for training to come to you.

 

BW

[evmori]

BW isn't in the NE region.

 

Well, if the solution is to choose better people to be adult leaders instead of taking all comers, the local councils better get up to speed on their CO training because the CO is the one responsible for choosing the adult leaders.

 

What did I win?

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10(This message has been edited by evmori)

[OldGreyEagle]

One free shot at me with no retaliation

[evmori]

Nah. I pass my prize on to the runner up!