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Naw, focus on the boys, that's where the real reward in scouting is.  District and council politics is not my game.  I was in scouting for over 20 years before I got District Award of Merit and I've b

My overall premise is that someone who has already had corporate-style leadership training in the private sector or the military (really, many other governmental setting could apply) will gain very li

This game is nothing new. My college did something similar back in the day, and I was required by one of my teachers to attend the 3 hour time-wasting exercise as a part of one of my classes. He would

If you didn't get anything out of wood Badge look in the mirror?

 

Really?

 

So it's our fault the pompous scouters can't teach a poor course with little real meat in it?

 

I think that's the attitude Flagg is talking about.

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You spend hours and hours with other dedicated Scouters and there was nothing to learn?  I think that's the attitude I am is talking about. 

 

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I guess sadly for me, I still have lots to learn.

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You spend hours and hours with other dedicated Scouters and there was nothing to learn? I think that's the attitude I am is talking about.

 

I guess sadly for me, I still have lots to learn.

That's hard to believe? Not everyone can teach. Not everyone can communicate effectively. Not everyone knows as much as they think they do.

 

My wood Badge experience is similar to a few here. Not worth the time or effort. Tel me, what's was I supposed to learn in those two weekends. Four folks my troop just finished and they're just as baffled.

Edited by Back Pack
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That's hard to believe? Not everyone can teach. Not everyone can communicate effectively. Not everyone knows as much as they think they do.

 

My wood Badge experience is similar to a few here. Not worth the time or effort. Tel me, what's was I supposed to learn in those two weekends. Four folks my troop just finished and they're just as baffled.

Direction. Not everyone leaves feeling fulfilled from the course, but that doesn't mean the course is wrong for everyone. Many folks find their calling in the BSA as a result of the course. 

 

Believe it or not, most course participants don't really have much understanding of what they will be doing in their unit a year from now. The course is designed to help give them that vision. If the staff knows what they are doing, most participants leave with direction and goals. 

 

That being said, the course has a lot more impact if the participants' unit leaders work with them in developing those goals. What do you think your four adults would say if you asked them what they think they will be doing a year from now? 

 

Barry

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WoodBadge sure gets a bad rep!

 

Staffing my first time around starting next Thursday

JG, have a great time staffing.

Use what you've learned here to help students navigate around pitfalls.

Respect the "two weekends away" cost to their units. Help build tickets that actually offset that.

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As with most things in Scouting, WB will have its supporters and its detractors. I have yet to see it take a raw Scouter and turn them in to a selfless Scouter. Imagine if the time spent on WB was spent on making a failing unit better, helping a kid who was flailing in rank advancement, developing a true buddy system so that bullying was eliminated in units, etc. Couldn't think of a better use of one's time.

 

I have my own deep routed issues with Woodbadge, which I have discussed before and will not repeat here.

 

That said, when my son's troop selected a new Scoutmaster and he came to me for advice for what and how to do the job, I did recommend the Woodbadge course.  He went and recently completed his ticket. 

 

For him, it was a really good course; while already a division manager or some such in his day job, he found the skills to be useful, and has since done a really good job, in my opinion, as the Scoutmaster.  He likes that the skills fit well with the NYLT training that we send the older scouts to.  He felt that it gave him a really good foundation for what he was supposed to instill upon the scouts as their Scoutmaster.

 

As for bragging rights; he's been less in your face about it than most woodbadgers I have met.  I'm not sure he wears his beads; but he does wear the neckerchief instead of the troop one.

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I am always intrigued by those wo "get nothing" from a specific training. If you go in with an open mind, there is something to learn from every trainer you encounter, regardless of how competent (or incompetent) they are.

 

The course content absolutely has been covered for decades in other formats and classroom.  

 

As one of the members of "my" patrol when I was a Troop Guide told me, he did not think that this course would be able to teach a retired Brigadier General with more than 30 years of military leadership training anything new. Truthfully, he did not learn anything new,   but he learned it in a new way and made connections to Scouting that he had not seen before.

 

That and the connections to the people that are made are some the biggest reasons to take Wood Badge.

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I am always intrigued by those wo "get nothing" from a specific training. If you go in with an open mind, there is something to learn from every trainer you encounter, regardless of how competent (or incompetent) they are.

 

The course content absolutely has been covered for decades in other formats and classroom.  

 

As one of the members of "my" patrol when I was a Troop Guide told me, he did not think that this course would be able to teach a retired Brigadier General with more than 30 years of military leadership training anything new. Truthfully, he did not learn anything new,   but he learned it in a new way and made connections to Scouting that he had not seen before.

 

That and the connections to the people that are made are some the biggest reasons to take Wood Badge.

 

Why are you so baffled? Ever been to a movie where you expected it to be good (Star Wars VII) and it turned out to be a complete disappointment and waste of time?

 

My frustration is the course content and curriculum. It does not speak to what units really need. It does not discuss how to avoid the pitfalls that kill most programs. It does not address conflict resolution effectively. The course is not designed to be taught uniformly, so it is rarely taught the same way twice.

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Why are you so baffled? Ever been to a movie where you expected it to be good (Star Wars VII) and it turned out to be a complete disappointment and waste of time?

 

My frustration is the course content and curriculum. It does not speak to what units really need. It does not discuss how to avoid the pitfalls that kill most programs. It does not address conflict resolution effectively. The course is not designed to be taught uniformly, so it is rarely taught the same way twice.

The chip on your shoulder may be served as a result of your staff, I don't know. But after working from a district position to with a lot of struggling units, the course design was almost exactly what I felt was needed. I believe most participant go into the program expecting to learn either scout specific skills or leadership specific skills. But those are not the skills that tear units down. Units lacking the understanding of goals and how to set them along with how to work as a team are the two areas that I most often saw as the cause of broken units at all levels of scouting. The course teaches those aspects pretty well if the staff does their part correctly. 

 

Barry

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Why are you so baffled? Ever been to a movie where you expected it to be good (Star Wars VII) and it turned out to be a complete disappointment and waste of time?

 

My frustration is the course content and curriculum. It does not speak to what units really need. It does not discuss how to avoid the pitfalls that kill most programs. It does not address conflict resolution effectively. The course is not designed to be taught uniformly, so it is rarely taught the same way twice.

OK, Now I see the issue.  It is a matter of expectations. 

 

Wood Badge is NOT a program training course. It is NOT designed (anymore) to teach Scout Craft.  It is NOT a course on conflict resolution.

 

It IS a leadership course that will give you tools that you can use and hone in your home unit to make you a better leader, and allow you to see where you see yourself and your unit going in the next year to 18 months, a reflection most of us do not do.

 

Goal setting, communication, time management, project management, team work, remembering to have fun and yes, some conflict resolution are all topics covered, and yes with any live training the quality will vary with the presenters.

Edited by pchadbo
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The chip on your shoulder may be served as a result of your staff, I don't know. But after working from a district position to with a lot of struggling units, the course design was almost exactly what I felt was needed. I believe most participant go into the program expecting to learn either scout specific skills or leadership specific skills. But those are not the skills that tear units down. Units lacking the understanding of goals and how to set them along with how to work as a team are the two areas that I most often saw as the cause of broken units at all levels of scouting. The course teaches those aspects pretty well if the staff does their part correctly

 

Barry

 

There's no chip on my shoulder. This is an honest evaluation of a course, how it is developed and presented, from someone with the experience to spot the gaps and draw a conclusion. And looking at your response you missed one of my major criticisms of the course (above in red). It is rarely taught in the same manner with the same content and same goals.

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There's no chip on my shoulder. This is an honest evaluation of a course, how it is developed and presented, from someone with the experience to spot the gaps and draw a conclusion. And looking at your response you missed one of my major criticisms of the course (above in red). It is rarely taught in the same manner with the same content and same goals.

Your major criticism is not the case in our council, so your observation is local. 

 

Barry

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