TLT Evaluation

[Crew21_Adv]

Beavah and Fellow Scouters,

 

Greetings!

 

 

I like the current Troop Leadership Training.

 

TLT is short, concise and to the point. We spend two hours learning this material, the second hour usually eating pizza. The BSA (like other organizations) often is given permission or purchases the educational rights to other published literature.

 

For what its worth. I have been told that the BSA has obtain some of the material current TLT material from the U.S. Army.

 

Two manuals specifically which cover Be, Know, Do are; FM 22-100 Army Leadership, August 1999 and currently FM 6-22 Army Leadership September 2006. Also, there is a paperback book on Amazon called Be, Know, Do. There may be more references. But if the U.S. Army has a good track record in teaching leadership, why not request to use it. (Or a leader can jokingly say; Its been U.S. Army field tested and approved, if a Soldier can learn Be, Know, Do, so can my Scouts).

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

[hotdesk]

1. The CO DOES NOT select the Unit Leader, that process is usually left to the Unit Committee. The Unit Committee puts together their list of candidates. It then interviews their top candidate. IF the top candidate is willing to do the job and the interview committee feels comfortable with that candidate it is usually put in front of the entire committee. AFTER dicussion it's voted upon and, if passed, is forwarded to the CO for their approval.

 

Usually the CO only directly selects the Committee Chairman and Chartered Organization Represenative. It approves the rest of the leaders and volunteers.

 

2. For teachers and other professionals they are getting paid money. In exchange for money I am going to expect that they meet certain expectations. If the do not meet these expectations then I'm going to consult with them, recommend that they take additional training, and let them know of any additional progess that they need to make. IF they don't make this progress then, since they are being paid to make them, I will ask them to resign or I will fire them.

 

For volunteers I am going to inform them what their position is expected to do. I am going to point them toward the necessary training and ask them to complete the training. I'm then going to let them do their job.

 

If they are holding an office of the committee or serving as a Unit Leader or Assistant Unit Leader they are going to have a lot more room to do their job the way they want and to the capabilties that they have. VERY few people in our area are willing to take these positions. More parents are now willing to only work on small, time ended, projects. Therefore, we're usually stuck with what we have.

 

ALSO since the Unit Leaders, Assistant Unit Leaders, and Committee Officers are not being paid or otherwise compensated (other than the pleasure of working with scouts) I'm usually going to let it go unless they are not specfically following the ideals and methods of Boy Scouts. If they are trying to practice and get people to follow the ideals and methods then I'll be okay with it. I'm not going to replace them simply because they are not prefect.

 

3. I have used TLT a couple of times as an Assistant Scoutmaster. We train all scouts as leaders (older scouts) and we also train scouts in what can be expected from our leaders and what leader is doing what (newer scouts).

 

It is a training program that gives you the room to add stuff that will be more practicle to your particular unit. It allows for motivational songs and movie clips that match what is discussed.

 

HOWEVER, since I know that not all Scoutmaster's know what to add I'd really to like to see a more detailed plan.

[John-in-KC]

Beavah,

 

I have a Scouter friend. He's a Wood Badger, and in his current incarnation, is the Reservation Director for a neighboring Council's Scout Camp. He runs Scout Camp, Webelos Camp, and Council NYLT during his summers.

 

As his major ticket item, he implemented JLT in his Troop, and offered the experience to other area Troops which didn't have the resources to do the job well.

 

His program runs so well that his District training committee leverages the weekend and does IOLS right alongside the youth.

 

In his former day job, he was chief educational psychologist for an area school district.

 

When TLT rolled out, I asked him his professional evaluation of it as compared to the Unit JLT package. He made short work of slicing and dicing TLT. He said "If you can find a copy of Unit JLT and maintain it, do so. It is educationally and psychologically better for youth than TLT."

 

No, I didn't ask for the "whys." I asked for his evaluation. He gave it to me.

[fgoodwin]

John, I'm not surprised you got that response.

 

I've never taught JLT, so I haven't invested as much time or energy in that course as your friend has. Of course he's gonna stick with what he knows -- if something you spent so much time learning and perfecting was made obsolete overnite, how would you feel about the new toy?

 

I have taught TLT 5-6 tmes over the last three years. Each time, at the completion, I ask the boys who've been through both JLT and TLT which they prefer. Invariably, the boys with knowledge of both prefer TLT over JLT. To me, that's the acid test of the worth of the new course.

 

Plus, the concepts in the new course dovetail nicely with what the boys will learn in NYLT at the Council level, and for a lucky few, at NAYLE at Philmont. Some may even hear the concepts again at WB21C when they age-out and become young adult leaders.

 

Given such reinforcement at multiple levels, I think adults do their youth a disservice when they continue to teach the old curriculum. It doesn't matter how superior we personally think JLT was -- the fact is, TLT is the current youth training syllabus, and as a trainer and ASM, I believe I should follow the current syllabus.

 

What your friend is doing is tantamount to saying the old Scout HB from the 50s or 60s is superior to today's Scout HB, so that's what we'll use in our troop.

 

OTOH, if it works for him and his boys, who am I to judge?

[John-in-KC]

Fred,

 

Cool enough.

 

Crew21 Advisor

 

Yeah, Be---Know---Do. There is, however, a difference in the goal of the Army and the goal of Scouting. Army doctrine for training the individual soldier, for collective training of units, is designed to take the individual and mold him to an element in a team. I remember one of my Brigade commanders, now MG (Ret) Fred Marty... who talked about SOLDIERIZATION... it's a blended word, but it means the work we do to socialize soldiers into complete team players in all instances. Yes, the Army values initiative and judgment, but we expect everybody to become a round peg which fits in a round hole.

 

I have a problem with that when I try to develop 11 -14 year olds. There is great value in teamwork, there is also great value in the individual fruits of our labors.

 

hotdesk,

I think you need to read this, good Sir:

http://www.scouting.org/commissioners/resources/18-981.pdf

That you may deviate in execution is one thing.

That you can make identification level knowledge of the process is another.

 

 

[AvidSM]

I have taught both the old JLT and the new TLT and can say from experience that TLT is the way to go.

 

JLT had outdated videos and spent too much time on team building and other games. TLT tells the boys how a troop should be organized, who they should report to, what their job is, what sucess looks like in that job and to set a goal. I always say, "If you don't tell them, they don't know." JLT did not focus enough on what it is they are supposed to be doing as youth leaders in a Troop.

 

I agree that the TLT publication from the BSA is only an outline and does not provide a novice Scoutmaster with the details. But, with a little common sense and perhaps talking to some more experienced Scouters at a roundtable, a Scoutmaster can fill in the details and put together a training course which follows the outline. If a Scoutmaster can't teach, there is no reason why he/she shouldn't get help from someone who can.

 

As others have posted, the old JLT and Green Bar Bill's stuff does not fall in line with the new council level NYLT or national level NAYLE. Scouting is always changing and moving forward. Teaching the old JLT and sticking to the old methods does not serve the youth leaders in your troop or scouting well.