Dynamic patrols and the patrol method

[TAHAWK]

48 minutes ago, MattR said:

My idea was form the patrols for the event a month before the event. As soon as one camput ends the scouts should know their schedule well enough to decide if they can go on the next. This gives enough time to coalesce around the tasks that need to be done. I really dislike when the patrols start deciding the meeting before the campout. There's no way the new members will have had time to prepare for anything other than doing the usual meals, not to mention whatever the main event is at the campout. Then everyone wonders why there's no teamwork.

A month is a blink of an eye if the objective is the Patrol Method.  If the objective is something else, a month is surely better than a week.

How would Little League do it? 

 

 

Hpw

[blw2]

12 hours ago, MattR said:

My idea was form the patrols for the event a month before the event. As soon as one camput ends the scouts should know their schedule well enough to decide if they can go on the next. This gives enough time to coalesce around the tasks that need to be done. I really dislike when the patrols start deciding the meeting before the campout. There's no way the new members will have had time to prepare for anything other than doing the usual meals, not to mention whatever the main event is at the campout. Then everyone wonders why there's no teamwork.

My son's troop sorta did this.... it wouldn't really be a calendar month, but basically they'd form for the trip.... decide menu and duties for the trip

I think that this way of thinking complete misses what a patrol is supposed to be....misses the point of the patrol method.

I saw very little if any patrol spirit, no energy or excitement at all.

12 hours ago, DuctTape said:

"Form the patrols for the event..." confuses me.  I think of it as the patrol forming the events. I find most ad hoc patrol issues arise when events are planned as a troop instead of as a patrol. If the patrol is the primary unit, then all decisions, events, planning arise from that primary unit. When the troop is tbe primary unit which makes tbe decisions, plans the events it is no wonder the patrols break down. In essence the troop is trying to operate as a giant patrol ineffectively.

well said!

again, our troop functioned as if the troop was the core unit.  I don't think anyone really understood that, but it was the reality.  Events were all planned around patrols,  menus and such...but everything was done as a troop.  the groups of friends that were in different patrols would naturally form up as friends whenever possible.  I thought the problem was rather obvious once you looked at it.

[MattHiggins]

22 hours ago, blw2 said:

old thread so I'm sorry if I've already written this...b I disagree with this idea.... I think it's never fine

Exactly!!!

well I've never actually seen it happen so I can't confirm it's fun to see, but "Exactly" to the first part of what you said!!!  makes total sense!

Keep in mind I wasn't endorsing the idea. I too wish it would never happen, but if it's a reality a troop can't escape, having an ad hoc patrol perform the functions of a patrol is better than Scouts showing up for an adult run event

[MattR]

To be clear, if most of the scouts went on most of the campouts then this is a useless idea. However, that ended a decade ago as other extra curricular activities have ratcheted up participation requirements and scouting has not. Also I never meant to suggest that the event based patrols are the only patrols. Have regular, permanent patrols. The PLs, for each event, decide well enough ahead of time to modify those patrols to suit who is going, make sure nobody gets dropped, there's plenty of time to prepare. It certainly isn't ideal but adapts to a certain reality.

The one stumbling block to all of this is scouts would have to decide roughly a month out whether or not they're going. Sounds easy but for some reason making a decision, and sticking with it, is hard.

[DuctTape]

I cannot recall any time in the past when most of a patrol attended an event. There were always conflicts. A patrol can still be a patrol with two guys. IMO that is better than ad hoc, plus it allows for the addition of a patrol member whose conflict was eliminated at the last minute.