If EDGE is bad/wrong/poor, How do you Teach Youth to Teac

[OldGreyEagle]

One of the things all the Education Majors used to say in College was "Those who can, do, those who can't teach" and then the follow up, "and those who can't teach, teach teachers to teach"

 

So, IF we assume EDGE is bad for all the reasons that were stated in the parent thread and the parent thread is still there so please lets not discuss EDGE here. I would like examples on how you would tell a new crop of Boy Scout Instructors how to teach the skills they teach, perhaps one of these various topics, or any other scouty skill

 

Tie a Square knot, Taut line hitch,

Whip a rope

Fold the American Flag

Orient a Map

Use a Compass

etc

 

How do you have your instructors instruct the above?

 

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[pchadbo]

I am not familiar with EDGE as a Cubby leader but I wa taught to teach by employing the

Explain -- tell what you are going to do

Show -- show 'em how to do it

Try -- we do it together

Practice -- You do it while I watch and offer tips

Teach -- have them teach someone else how to do it once they have learned

Just the way I do it

 

 

[SR540Beaver]

We have them put on tight black pants, white and black striped shirts, red suspenders and berets with white face pant and mime each skill. The guys absolutely love it and pick up each skill immediately.

 

Sorry OGE, I couldn't resist the hijack. Carry on!

[AvidSM]

Same as what pchadbo wrote: Explain, Show, Try, Practice and Teach.

 

But saying ESTPT sounds like like you are trying to suppress a sneeze.

[evmori]

Ditto to Explain, Show, Try, Practice and Teach!

 

Who cares if there is a fancy acronym! Them things is pricey!

[Kudu]

All this angst over teaching Scouts how to teach Scoutcraft only dates back to when Wood Badge declared that Scoutcraft and Patrol Leaders are not important:

 

In general, Patrol Leader training should concentrate on leadership skills rather than on Scoutcraft Skills. The Patrol will not rise and fall on the Patrol Leader's ability to cook, follow a map, or do first aid, but it very definitely depends on his leadership skill.

 

http://inquiry.net/leadership/index.htm

 

Our goal is not to teach someone to rub two sticks together and make a fire. But when you rub two sticks together and make a fire side by side with an adult of good character, you're going to learn about who you are and go on to lead men...You can teach a kid about character and leadership using aerospace and computers. The secret is to get them side by side with adults of character.

 

We run the risk of becoming irrelevant if we don't adapt to things that attract kids today... We recognize the evolving science of leadership. We've had CEOs on our board say they want to send their people to Wood Badge, our adult leader training program, because we use state-of-the-art techniques

 

http://inquiry.net/leadership/sitting_side_by_side_with_adults.htm

 

Wood Badge finally won its 45 year war against Scoutcraft and Patrol Leaders during the centenial when (according to popular wisdom) we finally outlawed Patrol overnights.

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

 

 

 

[sherminator505]

I don't think EDGE is bad/wrong/poor. I think the BSA'a emphasis on EDGE as the "only" way to teach a skill worthy enough to be embodied in its training and Boy Scout advancement requirements IS very bad/wrong/poor!

[qwazse]

For the record (I've said it elswhere) the best thing we can give our youth:

 

Read the Handbook,

Have them Read the Handbook,

Do the Handbook,

Have them do the Handbook.

 

That way, when they don't have you, they have the handbook.

 

My problem: I have a bunch of boys who when they want to start a merit badge, ask me if we have the merit badge book in our library.

[evmori]

My problem: I have a bunch of boys who when they want to start a merit badge, ask me if we have the merit badge book in our library.

 

How is this a problem? A Scout is thrifty.

[OldGreyEagle]

Ed, I think the idea is, if scouts are ready to start a merit badge, it is they, the scouts themselves, who should have checked out the Troop Library to see if it has the merit badge book and if it didnt, they would have already pooled resources to get the book or obtained one in any manner of scoutlike endeavour

 

Now, to repeat the threads theme, How do you teach someone to teach a skill if you don't use EDGE

[sherminator505]

OGE-

 

I'm not sure what you're looking for here. Some good methods of teaching have already been presented in this thread. I'm sure 8-10 more pages of equally good methods will follow in the coming days, because there are a nigh infinite array of ways to teach a skill.

 

What I am questioning is the premise of your thread. When you begin the question with "If EDGE is good/bad/poor...", you are assuming that EDGE, in and of itself, is the problem. I would argue that the mindset that created EDGE in particular and shaped its deployment as we have seen it, is the problem.

[shortridge]

Don't know if this is what you're looking for exactly, but here are a few teaching topics I've picked up that I'd be sure to recount to the instructors:

 

- Teaching a group: Consider your approach, your physical position to the group, speak clearly, demonstrate so all can see, your use of props/visual aids, etc. You're putting on a show!

 

- Teaching one-on-one: Especially when demonstrating a skill such as knots, evaluate the position and placement of your hands. When facing someone, you're reversed, and so are the whole left/right elements.

 

- Always ask if the students have questions.

 

- Have "stuff" sitting around to handle and play with. Never, ever simply lecture.

 

- Ask them what makes a class in school boring. Suggest that they should do the exact opposite of what their boring teachers do.

[OldGreyEagle]

Yes, thats it, hints on how to teach youth to teach I apologize for my obtuseness

 

Thank You shortridge

[evmori]

Sorry, OGE. I still don't see the problem.

[pchadbo]

Ev,

 

Unless I am being obtuse as well, and am incorrectly reading between the lines, OGE is asking, from our experience, what ways work in getting youngsters to learn how to teach others, and also what have you tried that definitely NOT worked.

From what I read between the lines he's lookin' to train him some boys to teach others in the not too distant future and wants something other than EDGE and his hat in his hand to go with.

 

I've been wrong before. . .but that's my take.