Components and Strands

The training scheme for Programme Scouters comprises four Components and each Component has a number of Strands. The Components are:

• This is Scouting
• The Scouter in Action
• The Dynamic Scouter
• Continuing your Journey

This is Scouting, enables:

• The participant to integrate into their local Scout Group
• An understanding of the fundamental principles of Scouting and the core elements of our Programme
• An understanding of the principles involved in Safeguarding Children and Young People Strands are:
• The Induction Process
• The Story of Scouting
• Being a Scouter

The Scouter in Action, the first part of the Wood Badge Trail, enables:

• Understanding of effective interpersonal skills for working with young people and adults
• An in-depth understanding of how to facilitate Youth Led Programme
• The skills required to facilitate Youth Members in attaining Stages 1 through 5 in an Adventure Skill of choice

• Learning for your Team, enabling the participant to choose from a range of learning modules to enhance their Scouter Programme Team
• Scouters to review their learning to date, and provides the opportunity for enhanced understanding of Youth Led Programme and Interpersonal Skills

Strands are:

• Scouting Together
• Youth Led Programme
• Adventure Skills Facilitator (for a chosen Adventure Skill)
• Learning for your Team (choice of modules)
• You the Scouter

The Dynamic Scouter, the second and last part of the Wood Badge Trail, enables:

• The skills required to facilitate Youth Members in attaining Stages 1 through 5 in another Adventure Skill of choice
• Learning for your Team, enabling the participant to choose from a range of learning modules to further enhance their Scouter Programme Team

Strands are:

• Adventure Skills Facilitator (for another chosen Adventure Skill)
• Learning for your Team (additional choice of modules)

Continuing Your Journey:

• Enables the participant to choose from a range of options to enhance their skills set and avail of continuous learning after they have attained the Wood Badge Pin

Features

Programme Scouter training incorporates the following aspects:

• Many of the courses are residential to enable the participant to get maximum benefit from the learning experience, it also facilitates opportunities for peer-learning and networking and it enables participants to immerse themselves in many aspects of the Scout Programme in a practical way
• Individual choice is provided in a number of ways
  • Most courses in The Scouter in Action may be undertaken in any sequence, but You the Scouter is to be undertaken as the final course
  • The courses in The Dynamic Scouter may be undertaken in any sequence
  • Learning for your Team consists of a number of learning modules which the participant may choose from
  • Continuing your Journey consists of a number of learning modules which the participant may choose from
• A variety of methods are used, including:
  • Training /Courses, Interactive learning – Instructor / Trainer led sessions
  • eLearning Modules for some knowledge-based subjects
  • Practical Hands-On experience in the Scout Group following some of the courses
  • Provision of printed and electronic resources as appropriate

This training is designed to meet the needs of Programme Scouters, and other adults in Scouting may elect to undertake this training if they feel it would be helpful to them in their Scouting role(s).

Purpose

This training scheme:

• Aims to promote a deep understanding of what it is to be a Scout rather than simply an adult volunteer in a youth organisation
• Attempts to engage effectively with individuals by offering choice and immersive experiences
• Provides a range of learning approaches incorporating non formal and informal learning opportunities that offer depth and breadth
• Embeds the basics of Scouting in its modules as the Scout Method is not just explained but used as a training tool so Scouters ‘Learn by Doing’
• Gives Programme Scouters a more practical understanding of the Programme objectives as well as a better understanding of how to enable Youth Led Programme as mentors or facilitators rather than as ‘Leaders’
• Aims to give Programme Scouters the confidence to allow our Scouts to be the leaders through a better understanding of how to facilitate the various elements of One Programme

If our Youth Members are the lifeblood of Scouting Ireland then our Scouters are the beating heart of our organisation, and this training scheme aims to support them in that vital role; it is involved and challenging for this reason. It is also flexible and provides optional elements, it recognises prior learning where possible and encourages continuous structured learning.

This is Scouting

This Component is made up of three strands (courses)

• The Induction Process
• The Story of Scouting
• Being a Scouter

The Induction Process

The Scouting Ireland induction process is a structured approach to supporting a prospective new Scouter, helping them to get to know more about the role while also getting thorough the paperwork and processes to enable Vetting and Appointment Application.

This process should be followed for any adult who volunteers to become a Scouter. It should also be followed for Youth Members (Rover Scouts and ex-Venture Scouts) who wish to become Scouters, although they are not required to undertake The Story of Scouting eLearning module and interactive training course.

The process is supported within the local Scout Group by the Group Leader directly or by a Guide that they nominate.

Each person undertaking the Induction process will be given an Induction Handbook containing useful information which they should refer to during their Induction. The handbook sets out a number of meetings to be attended and provides an amount of useful information for the person wishing to become a Scouter.

The Induction process is designed to support an adult who wishes to become a Scouter to understand what Scouting is and what it means to become a Scout before they agree to take on that commitment. It also helps the Scout Group welcome and include the new adult volunteer so that they come to feel that they will be a valued part of the team.

The Story of Scouting

The Story of Scouting starts with an eLearning module and continues with an interactive (trainer led) training session.

The eLearning module takes about 20 minutes for most people to complete. It provides the participant with an overview of our Aim, the age ranges we work with, some of the benefits of Scouting and an overview of the origins of the Movement.

The interactive session introduces the participant to some of the concepts and methodologies used in Scouting, such as the Scout Method. It is structured like a Programme Section meeting so that participants can experience and appreciate what we do and how we do it.

Being a Scouter

Being a Scouter, is a two-day residential training course for all new Programme Scouters; those with previous Scouting experience, and those who have none. Normally there will be a large element of time spent in the out of doors during this course.

Participants who arrive feeling they know very little about Scouting will go away with confidence, knowledge and ability; feeling a lot more ‘like a Scout’, having experienced our methods, our symbolism and our motivations.

The participant who has already experienced Scouting as a Youth Member will go away with a new outlook on how to achieve our Aim, and with the confidence to deliver Scouting as a Programme Scouter.

Being a Scouter:

• Provides an introduction to the fundamentals of Scouting: what we do, why we do it and how we do it

• Introduces the participant to non-formal education, the elements of the Scout Method, and the Learning Objectives through which we achieve our Aim; it does this though imaginative and interactive methods and the process of the learning sessions
• Provides an opportunity for the participant to ‘Learn By Doing’, to experience Scouting in action so that they leave with a bank of methodologies that they can use directly with Youth Members in their own Scout Group
• Promotes an understanding that programme direction and ideas come from the Youth Members and that the role of the Scouter is that of facilitator

Participants will work together in small groups, to use and build their understanding of:

• The symbolism of Scouting, including spirituality, how it is used and how it is celebrated
• The Small Group / Patrol System, its benefits and how it supports the individual’s development and the group’s operation
• Fun activities with purpose, how the Progressive Scheme is an integrated part of the sections Programme Cycle
• The core values integral to Scouting, including the relationship between young people and adults, and promoting and facilitating Youth Led Programme
• The process of the Programme Cycle, how it works, breaking down the complexity of it, and how it offers opportunities for achievement.
• The importance of ‘Plan, Do, Review’ as a tool for facilitating imaginative Youth Led Programme
• The components of a Section meeting, including ceremonies, games, the Small Group System, activities and Youth/Adult involvement
• The One Programme materials and their use in the Programme Section
• Scouting Ireland’s policies and guidelines for safeguarding young people

The Scout Method is used by the Trainers who introduce and facilitate the learning experience. They will work together as a team, to provide the best possible experience for the participants who will finish the training course with a Promise Ceremony – welcoming them to the World Scout Movement.

Insignia

By the end of Being a Scouter the participants will have become more knowledgeable and confident Scouters. They should feel that they are now full members of the World Scout Movement, and they will receive the Gillwell Woggle to symbolise this.

The Scouter in Action

The second Component of the scheme, and the first part of the Wood Badge Trail, is The Scouter in Action. This component is composed of five Strands, four of which may be undertaken in any sequence, followed by You, The Scouter as the final strand leading to qualification for the Wood Badge.

Strands are:

• Youth Led Programme
• Scouting Together
• Adventure Skills Facilitator (for a chosen Adventure Skill)
• Learning for your Team (choice of modules)
• You, The Scouter

Youth Led Programme

Youth Led Programme deals with the Youth Programme which we call ONE Programme. This is a two-day residential training course with two pre-course eLearning modules.

The first eLearning module examines how our Youth Programme caters for each of the Areas of Growth (the ‘SPICES’), while the second eLearning module allows the participant to explore and learn about how and why we operate a Youth Led Programme.

The two-day training course incorporates:

• A review of the Scout Method
• An introduction to the use of games in the programme
• A focus on facilitating youth leadership and adventure planning within their Programme Section while understanding how young people learn
• An exploration of the elements of a Programme Section meeting
• Planning and leading a campfire
• Planning and leading a ‘Scouts Own’
• A review of the SPICES and Programme Cycles
• How to introduce imagination and creativity to everything we do when working with young people
• A Hands-on task which asks participants to facilitate Young Members in their own Scout Group in planning the next Programme Cycle and keeping a record of this using the Plan, Do, Review approach.

Youth Led Programme aims to provide Programme Scouters with the tools to facilitate the young people in their Programme Section to plan and run their own programme. Participants are placed in Section-specific teams, to ensure that each participant gets as much from the experience as possible. The learning experience strives not to tell Scouters how to run programme for our Youth Members but to ensure that Scouters understand how to facilitate Youth Led Programme within their Programme Section.

Scouting Together

Scouting Together aims to help participants to explore their role in supporting our Youth Members develop and exercise leadership and teamwork. It is a two-day residential training course. The participant will come away with a greater awareness of how to work effectively with young people and how to ensure a safe and supportive environment for them.

Scouting Together incorporates the following:

• Opportunities for participants to expand and enhance their ability to communicate effectively with others and to provide a supportive, positive and inclusive Scouting environment
• Participants explore their leadership qualities and their potential to maximise the performance of their Scouting team Through active involvement in this learning experience participants will gain the skills to identify their strengths, limitations and the sources of stress within their Scouting role; they will develop techniques to reduce the impact of stressors associated with their role and increase their time management capabilities and so their effectiveness
• The participant will be encouraged to explore their own beliefs and prejudices and what is meant by the term ‘Inclusion’
• They will gain a heightened awareness of the characteristics of Child and Youth development and how it impacts on the various Programme Sections
• The participant will gain an enhanced understanding of Safeguarding children and young people

Adventure Skills Facilitator

The Adventure Skills Facilitator delivers training that helps the participant to support Youth Members as they pursue the early Stages (roughly 1 through 5) in a specific Adventure Skill. It consists of practical skills instruction appropriate to the Adventure Skill and it will be delivered in a way most appropriate for that Adventure Skill, this may be over several evenings, a couple of days or a single weekend.

Successful completion of this training allows the Scouter to support youth learning in the skills covered. It also allows them to award Adventure Skills badges for Stage 1 through Stage 5 in the chosen Adventure Skill.

There are National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for the outdoor pursuits relevant to some of the Adventure Skills areas, some cover the island of Ireland, and some have separate NGBs for each jurisdiction. These NGBs already have accredited training schemes, so in order to ensure alignment and to enable general availability the Adventure Skills Facilitator training requirement may be met by holding a certificate issued by the relevant NGB.

Work is ongoing on this aspect and at time of writing the situation is as summarised in the following table.