When was 4th Aim added?

[AltadenaCraig]

"Leadership" is now included among four Aims of Scouting (up from the previously clearly understood three), which are prominently displayed in boldface on the face-page, along with the BSA Mission Statement, in the 2019 Guide to Advancement.  The eight Methods of Scouting, though they remain unchanged, are not so highlighted and practically buried on page 11 of the GTA.

Perhaps someone on the blog, preferably a professional Scouter can speak to this?  I saw where some of this was discussed elsewhere in the topic "Whats in a Name"; however, the root of this change was never discussed nor was any official BSA policy change ever highlighted.

I have to say I'm stunned at the lack of communication regarding an addition to the Aims (as well as the apparent subordination of the Methods).  I've been championing three Aims and eight Methods over my 15 years of scouter-ship and I actually feel foolish that I wasn't aware of this change.  If Leadership is truly now one of our Aims, I think National could start by demonstrating better care and concern over our cherished values ... either they mean something, ladies & gentlemen, or they don't.

I remember when AYSO - recreational youth soccer - added a sixth philosophy "player development" several years ago.  That change was communicated far and wide, up and down the structure, because everybody in that organization respected and cherished the core principles.

Far from being nit-picky, or trifling, everything in my professional and volunteer leadership training - which is considerable - says that capricious or slight-of-hand changes to core principles are significant red-flags in an organization.  I hold the BSA so very dear, I hope someone accountable can stand up and explain the change to our Aims and its unacceptably poor communication. -

- Craig

[RememberSchiff]

Introduction

1.0.3.0 Significant Changes

"To reflect the Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America, the objectives of Scouting, otherwise known as the aims, have been modified wherever they appear to include character development, citizenship training, leadership, and mental and physical fitness."

https://www.scouting.org/resources/guide-to-advancement/introduction/

Edited April 16, 2019 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

 

Bylaws, Article 1

Purpose, Section 2

The purpose of the Corporation is as set forth in the original certificate of incorporation under the laws of the District of Columbia, dated February 8, 1910, and restated in the Act of Incorporation enacted by the Congress of the United States of America on June 15, 1916, as follows: “That the purpose of this Corporation shall be to promote, through organization and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in Scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues, using the methods which are now in common use by Boy Scouts.” In achieving this purpose, emphasis shall be placed upon its educational program and the oaths, promises, and codes of the Scouting program for character development, citizenship training, leadership, and mental and physical fitness.

https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/Charter_and_Bylaws_June_2018.pdf

[AltadenaCraig]

Thank you, @RememberSchiff.  Both of the references you cite clearly identify four, not three, Aims.

But am I off the mark in feeling that these references only underscore my point?  These references make it absolutely clear the change was intentional, and 1.0.3.0 identifies it as "significant"!  So why make such a significant and intentional change without championing it across the organization?

Again, either they mean something or they don't.

Edited April 16, 2019 by AltadenaCraig
Noted that the change was significant as well

[RememberSchiff]

I agree with your concerns. 

Somewhat reminiscent of the mid 80's when suddenly an 8th Method appeared - the Uniform Method. This was unexpected and odd as the uniform was and remains optional.

[AltadenaCraig]

39 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

I agree with your concerns. 

Somewhat reminiscent of the mid 80's when suddenly an 8th Method appeared - the Uniform Method. This was unexpected and odd as the uniform was and remains optional.

Just to put my money where my mouth is, here are three actions which I hope National would take regarding any changes to Aims & Methods:

• Immediate notification to all scouters of the added Aim upon adoption of the bylaws by the Executive Committee (while I wouldn't expect everything the ExComm does to be so advertised, the Aims & Methods are foundational lists which are emphasized during initial training across the org - Scoutmaster Corps, Troop Committee, and Charter Org.).
• Commented by Michael Surbaugh in an end-of-year video or memo to all Scouters
• Two or three PowerPoint Slides released to every Roundtable Commissioner to be shared at Roundtable.  The slides would specify the change, the rationale behind the change, and place the change in context of Methods (which retains Leadership Development as a Method), answering "is it an Aim or a Method?"

Edited April 17, 2019 by AltadenaCraig
emphasized initial training

[RichardB]

If I remember correctly, it was 2014.  Five years ago.   

Moving forward to stay informed, I'd suggest you make sure you have a valid email address associated with your membership @AltadenaCraig and  / or subscribe to https://scoutingwire.org/volunteers/.  You get weekly updates.    

 

 

[Treflienne]

The 2017 printing of the Troop Leader Guidebook (which BSA was still selling in 2018) lists only the three aims, not including leadership.

[Treflienne]

Also the online training at my.scouting.org was still listing only three aims of scouting as of spring 2018 when I took the training.

[Eagle94-A1]

 

You know an organization has too large a bureaucracy when  a key part of the mission statement, one of it's aims,  is changed and it take 5 years to get it in print. 

[qwazse]

Five years, and I am still trying to sort out how leadership is in any way distinct from character development, citizenship, and mental and physical fitness.

[AltadenaCraig]

14 hours ago, RichardB said:

If I remember correctly, it was 2014.  Five years ago.   

Moving forward to stay informed, I'd suggest you make sure you have a valid email address associated with your membership @AltadenaCraig and  / or subscribe to https://scoutingwire.org/volunteers/.  You get weekly updates.    

@RichardB - Thank you for taking time to respond.  I've seen other posts of yours and I gather you're either a professional scouter or closely-tied, so I want to also thank you for standing-up to my plaintive request for someone accountable to reply.

Nevertheless, your reply really frosts me, it is so condescending.  I've been a subscriber of Scouting Wire since its inception on March 5, 2015.  I'm also a lazy manager of my gmail account and am in possession of all 215 eMails I've received from "ScoutingWire" since.  I was able to perform a simple search and I'm sorry to say NONE of them makes any announcement of the change to the Aims of Scouting.  I agree that Scouting Wire would have been a great vehicle with which to announce the change, so its absence only frustrates me more.

If the change occurred in 2014, before Scouting Wire, then I concur with the others on this thread that several resources up through 2017, including the 2015 Guide to Advancement, reference only the original three Aims.

So I'll challenge any other BSA authority -- Do the Aims and Methods of Scouting really mean something or don't they?

Edited April 17, 2019 by AltadenaCraig
Aims & Methods

[Jameson76]

13 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

 

You know an organization has too large a bureaucracy when  a key part of the mission statement, one of it's aims,  is changed and it take 5 years to get it in print. 

Well...they've all been so busy justifying The Summit, whose got time for Mission Statements

[qwazse]

19 minutes ago, AltadenaCraig said:

... So I'll challenge any other BSA authority -- Do the Aims and Methods of Scouting really mean something or don't they?

@AltadenaCraig, time to smell the coffee. The Aims and Methods are a marketing pitch ... no different than any mission or vision statement. As far as I can tell, folks think "leadership" sells, so "leadership" is in the aims. They think "character" sells, so "character" is in the aims. Even though a US president signed off on it, folks don't think "courage" or "kindred values" sells anymore, so it's not in the aims. This aspect of BSA decision making is not transparent, so without someone doing a PhD thesis on it, we may never know how or why these word-choices shift.

Would you be a better scouter if your aim was "patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues"? I don't know. I do think that those four items are quite distinct from one another, whereas "character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness" overlap. And, "leadership" in my mind is redundant to all three. But, I also don't think any of this is mutually exclusive.

We have scouters who say, "All I do is teach boys how to stack sticks and keep a fire going." We know that's not all they do. But, we also know that from their perspective, everything else flows from that. I'm not going to force them in their little corner of the world to restate their aims because some policy wonk thinks that new verbiage resonates better with the rest of the country.

Do they mean something? Yes. Do other things have the same effect? Sure. That's why there's no panic in changing documentation.

[T2Eagle]

5 hours ago, qwazse said:

Five years, and I am still trying to sort out how leadership is in any way distinct from character development, citizenship, and mental and physical fitness.

It's not, even by their own admission: From Troopleader.org "The Scouting program has specific objectives, commonly referred to as the “Aims of Scouting.” They are character development, leadership development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. Leadership development is also one of Scoutings eight methods contributing to both good character and good citizenship."