Learning experience vs. letting them fail

[ozemu]

I'm doing a leadership course for state wards. Not a Scout thing but I found one of their slogans is 'celebrate your mistakes'. Because the mistake has shown you one more way NOT to do something.

 

They really get into the celebration to show the kids that it's okay; they over-do it, jumping round and cheering. It takes the whole impending doom feeling out of making a mistake.

 

In outdoor education we talk about 'immediate and unambigous feedback' when we fall off a cliff, capsize a boat, get lost etc. These mistakes can leave some big bruises. If we use the 'celebrate your mistakes' idea the bruises on self esteem will be smaller or absent.

 

Getting too serious about the missing foil is not the way to go. It is and should be treated as mildly funny. 'Now you can learn to cook in the ashes/mud/leaves/on a stick etc'. The learning is there but it doesn't hurt too much.

[bugle344]

This is one of my favorite topics! I REALLY like all your great posts!

 

My 2 cents:

1. I draw the line when "the public" is affected.

 

Example: A guest speaker has been invited. I want the boy leader to make the contact and act as host, but an follows up, working hand in hand with the boy.

 

Example: Our Scouts were ushers for a recent community wide veterans' service. The officers still had responsibilty to organize their Scouts, but s were right there to guide the PL, every step of the way.

 

2. I use the words "mess up", not "fail". It's OK for the PL to mess up, but we don't stop there. What can he do to correct the error or do better next time?

 

3. I like the bicycle analogy. I learned to ride my bike with my Dad guiding the bike from the side and later from the back. He would run alongside to get it started, then I had to take control.

 

I didn't do very well the first few times, but with his patience and my practice, I needed him less and less.

 

After a few more trys, I could do it all by myself. What a thrill!

 

4. I don't remember how many times a fell from my bike. I DO remember how Dad was right there, ready to let me try one more time.