EDGE In Action

[NJCubScouter]

Howcum MATH is at the END of that acronym?  Shouldn't it be the FIRST?   It is the basis of the Technology, the Engineering and the Science.....

Assuming you are talking about STEM, a significant portion of the people who live (as I do) in the Greater New York Metropolitan area wouldn't mind if it was METS. Not a majority, though.

[qwazse]

First of all, if the Scouts do not understand how to use EDGE and that it includes reference material as part of the Explain portion, whoever taught them has failed. Any time you are teaching anything you should always be able to refer the students to something for additional material even if that reference is "it is in your Scout Handbook".  ...

Whoever taught them? Like maybe the scouter who takes his cues from Scouting? Go to the OP above, follow the link to the article, generate a word histogram, and let us know the number of synonyms of handbook, reference, literature, or reading you find. (I could tell you how many I found, but my count may be biased.)

 

To be clear: if you have boys who are teaching other boys more efficiently than their counterparts did ten years ago, we all would benefit from hearing about it. It's just that from what I've seen, the emperor has no clothes.

Edited January 3, 2017 by qwazse

[pchadbo]

Whoever taught them? Like maybe the scouter who takes his cues from Scouting? Go to the OP above, follow the link to the article, generate a word histogram, and let us know the number of synonyms of handbook, reference, literature, or reading you find. (I could tell you how many I found, but my count may be biased.)

 

To be clear: if you have boys who are teaching other boys more efficiently than their counterparts did ten years ago, we all would benefit from hearing about it. It's just that from what I've seen, the emperor has no clothes.

 

So let me get this straight. A ​Magazine article​ is your source of knowledge on this?!?!? The article does reference the Troop Leader Guidebook as to where the excerpt came from, but if you are basing your argument against EDGE on a magazine article, then I am not even to engage in further discussion as you are equating a magazine article​ to training, Hey I read an article about brain surgery so I must be able to do it right? Maybe read the referenced materials in the article, maybe, here is a crazy idea, take EDGE training and learn about it, or heck maybe even look up the syllabus online.

 

If a Scouter is "taking his cues" only from magazine articles and not seeking other sources of knowledge and education, I am not surprised the message is not being conveyed appropriately.

[Stosh]

That might be true @@pchadbo about the references, but they do encourage the learner to seek background to the issue and not just take a "because I said so" as the definitive authority.

[qwazse]

... If a Scouter is "taking his cues" only from magazine articles and not seeking other sources of knowledge and education, I am not surprised the message is not being conveyed appropriately.

How about from Introduction to Leadership Skills for Troops? (Spoiler: currently no instructions on having the students refer to the handbook.)

 

You could have settled this two posts ago by saying "What? Don't you read {Insert official BSA publication here} where it says {insert quote about being sure to use a reference wherever possible here}."

[Eagledad]

I'm not wasting this thread re-explaining why I think your teaching is incomplete if you haven't offered at least one good source that a student could call upon in your absence. I'm just reporting my observations. Obviously I have biases. Thus, in this case I'm quick to highlight the negatives, and cynical about any perceived positives.

Interesting. Before EDGE, our Troop guided our teachers (adults and scouts) to:

 

1. Introduce themselves and the skill they are teaching.

2. Give the students resources where they can review the skill.

3. Demonstrate the skill until the student can demonstrate the skill.

 

I learned this list from the old Woodbadge Course.

 

My Child Psychologist Scoutmaster friend taught me that most humans can remember only list of three items without having to study, so keep the lists short. I tried to never give a list of more than three even in adult classes.

 

We taught that point number two was the most important to learn. I was anal that scouts know their resources.

 

Now we have EDGE. I'm not sure what to think of EDGE when the old list of three worked pretty good. But at least it has a resource. LOL

 

Barry

[Stosh]

Maybe the boys need to use the EDGE method to teach how to use references.  I find that especially when teaching the S->FC skills that making references to the handbook, the boys then get reinforced that if one uses the handbook for the Scout rank, it also applies to TF, SC and FC as well.  I am disappointed in the fact that the new SB does not show pages in the HB that show the boys where to go to find the material to study and learn before coming to the lesson.  If they do, it really speeds up the learning process if the boys Be Prepared BEFORE they are instructed.  By emphasizing this when it comes time to learn the requirement, the references can be, "Did you check out YouTube about starting fires with flint and steel?  or did you check out www.cooking.com for some ideas about what you might want on your menus?  These aren't really instructional references to support what is being taught, but they might inspire the boys to "dig a little deeper" into the subject matter.