Introductory

The Material We Have to Deal With

The slogan of the times—whether for a nation or an individual—seems to be Selbst uber alles. “Down with everything—and up with me.”

The convulsion of the war has opened our eyes to many strange things. Few of us had realised till war had exposed it how thin is the veneer of civilisation over the underlying animal proclivities. In the brutality of even those who boasted of their superior kultur, in the mad riot of Bolshevism, in the want of all Christian consideration for others by men in pushing for their own claims for money or power—in other words, in the world-wide assertion of self one cannot help recognising, almost with hopelessness, the failure of religion to direct, and of education to balance, the actions of men.

At the same time there is an encouraging reverse to the picture, where we see such splendid spirit of self-sacrifice and of superhuman endurance and fearlessness of death among the manhoods of the world. With the natural elements, good as well as bad, thus exposed, we surely ought to be able to oust the worst by the interposition of the best.

The Church and Education

In our own country we have realised in what directions we were failing morally, materially and physically, and where we can, if we will, remedy our national defects. Whether we are going to profit by the lessons of the war and really bring our education and religion up to meet present day needs is another question. New Education Acts altering the hours of the curriculum, new rubrics based on the letter of some old-time instruction, are only going to scratch the surface; it is deep ploughing out that is needed to kill the weeds and to bring on the healthy crop.

Is not a new and wider survey now needed on the part of the authorities whether Church of State or Schools, and a practical recognition of the present day needs? Cannot a remedy be devised more in accordance with the modern spirit of freedom, something in the direction of a true education through the development of an eager desire from within on the part of the individual to improve himself in place of the out-of-date imposition of automatic instruction upon the mass from without?

The report of the Mission of Prepentance and Hope sounds one call, among many others, in this direction. Will it be responded to?

Scouting

It is at any rate gratifying to us in the Scout Movement to find that the lessons of the war do not call for any great change in our aims or methods, and it is a further encouragement to realise that not only here in Great Britain, but in most other civilised countries, educationists and others are turning to our system as one which may help in a practical way to remedy some at least of the previous shortcomings.

So it is up to us to develop our efficiency in order to respond to the expectations that have been formed of us. For this reason, as a temporary measure to meet the present need, I offer this reprint of a short course of Scoutmasters’ Training much of which has already appeared in the Scout Headquarters Gazette.

The Boy-Man

As a preliminary word of comfort to intending Scout masters, I should like to contradict the usual misconception that, to be a successful Scoutmaster, a man must be an Admirable Crichton—a know-all. Not a bit of it.

He has simply to be a boy-man, that is:—

1. He must have the boy spirit in him; and must be able to place himself on a right plane with his boys as a first step.
2. He must realise the needs, outlooks and desires of the different ages of boy life.
3. He must deal with the individual boy rather than with the mass.
4. He then needs to promote a corporate spirit among his individuals to gain the best results.

These are the main principles on which the Scout and Girl Guide training is based.

With regard to the first point, the Scoutmaster has to be neither schoolmaster nor commanding officer, nor pastor, nor instructor. All that is needed is the capacity to enjoy the out-of-doors, to enter into the boys’ ambitions, and to find other men who will give them instruction in the desired directions, whether it be flute playing, nature study or engineering.

He has got to put himself on the level of the older brother, that is, to see things from the boy’s point of view, and to lead and guide and give enthusiasm in the right direction. That is all.

The Movement is a jolly fraternity, all the jollier because in the game of Scouting you are doing a big thing for others, you are combating the kultur of selfishness.

Regarding the second point, the handbooks for Wolf Cubs, Girl Guides and Rovers cover the successive phases of adolescent life.

Thirdly, the business of the Scoutmaster—and a very interesting one it is—is to draw out each boy and find out what is in him, and then to catch hold of the good and develop it to the exclusion of the bad. There is five per cent of good even in the worst character. The sport is to find it, and then to develop it on to an 80 or 90 per cent basis. This is education instead of instruction of the young mind, which you will find more fully dealt with in Scouting for Boys or in Girl Guiding.

Fourth. In the Scout training the Patrol or gang system gives the corporate expression of the individual training, which brings into practice all that the boy has been taught.

The Patrol system and its methods and power are described in the text-books, and since it is the key to successful results it should be fully studied.

Religion

To the man who reads Scouting for Boys superficially there is a disappointing lack of religion in the book. But to him who tries it in practice the basic religion underlying it soon becomes apparent. This is not that of any particular church or sect, but it catches on to the boy without his knowing it, and gives him a Christianity for everyday practice, and not merely for Sunday wear.

One writer has recently said of Scouting—”What are the Churches doing to deglect such a lever?”

Well, they are beginning to use it now.

What Scouting Is Not

Experience in different fields shows that there are certain shoals to be avoided in launching Scouting, lest it get stranded in commercialism or diverted into dead-end channels that never lead to the open sea.

Here, then, are some of the things that Scouting is not:—

It is not a charity organisation for people in society to run for the benefit of the poor children.

It is not a school having a definite curriculum and standards of examination.

It is not a brigade of officers and privates drilling manliness into boys and girls.

It is not a messenger agency for the convenience of the public.

It is not a show where surface results are gained through payment in merit badges, medals, etc.

These all come from without, whereas the Scout training all comes from within.

What Scouting Is

It is a game in which elder brothers (or sisters) can give their younger brothers healthy environment and encourage them to healthy activities such as will help them to develop CITIZENSHIP.

Its strongest appeal is through Nature Study and Woodcraft. It deals with the individual, not with the Company. It raises intellectual as well as purely physical or purely moral qualities.

At first it used to aim for these ends—now by experience we know that, where properly handled, it gains them.

Cadets, Scouts, and Guides

The following general comparative survey of the Scout training appeared in the Times of 14th July, 1918, and may give a useful line to Scoutmasters:—

“Both Cadet and Scout movements are out for the good of the body. The outstanding difference between their respective methods of training is that of principle - one works through impression, the other through expression. The Cadet training imposes collective instruction upon the boys from without; while the Scout movement encourages self-development on the part of the individual from within. Military drill fashions him on to an approved standard as a part of the machine; whereas the aim of Scouting is to develop his personal character and initiative as a first step.

“‘You cannot teach character, any more than you can teach religion, collectively to a class’ is, I believe, an axiom accepted by educationists. The battalion or company may be the medium for giving excellent finish to older lads who have had previous grounding in character, but it is not a school in which character can be taught in the first instance. This fact I discovered for myself long ago when training young soldiers in the Army. For parade purposes the drilled article was fine, for war purposes useless. My first step, therefore, was to instil into each young soldier character; that is to say, personal initiative, self-control, sense of honour and duty, responsibility, self-reliance, observation and deduction, etc. This was done through the method now known as Scouting—in other words, through education—not merely instruction - of the individual in moral and mental qualities. The final polish of drill was then quite easily applied to give the collective discipline and cohesion needed for military purposes. It was thus a true polish on seasoned foundations, and not a veneer that would crack off under strain. The same moral qualities are equally the basis for building good citizenship, and it may be that such a filing down process may then have its use in fitting individuality into its place in the civic machine.

“We cannot, however, disregard the social evolution that is going on around us. Self-determination is in the air for the individual as it is for the State. I am therefore inclined to think that the continuation of the Scout training towards producing the habit of self-reliance, unselfish outlook, and balanced freedom and self-expression is perhaps the most important point in our training, and is a more practical preparation for sane democracy than the repression of such qualities under temporary collective discipline. We have had an object-lesson in Russia to show that this latter will not prevent Bolshevism.

“The aim of the Cadet movement is presumably, like that of the Scouts, to supply an environment and activities in the lads’ leisure time on lines complementary to the school training. But to offer the old style of imposed instruction seems neither complementary nor complimentary to the modern educationist’s methods, nor in keeping with the needs of the times. Then, again, in the matter of psychology. At this most difficult age what is good for the adolescent of sixteen is not equally so for the lad of fifteen, and may be bad for the boy of fourteen or thirteen. Yet the Cadet training treats them all on the same footing. Whereas the Scout training, though for both seniors and juniors it comprises the same four principles, viz.: Character, Handcrafts, Health and Service, varies their details to meet the different stages of the boys’ progressivity.

“Space forbids me going into many interesting points on this head, but if we take one alone it will suffice. Probably the average man in the street scarcely realises the extent to which immorality is rife among lads, not merely the poorest—indeed, it is probably less prevalent among the working boys than among those who have leisure time on their hands—throughout the country—but it is there; and too little is done to stop it or prevent it. There is a difference between stopping what exists and preventing it before it comes into existence. Individual education is, I am certain, the only way to ‘prevent’ in this case. It means a close confidence between teacher and pupil, on the relationship of elder and younger brother; a different treatment of each case being employed through personal knowledge of his temperament, age and character. You cannot get this relations between an officer and his company of 100 or more Cadets, but where established it means everything towards training the boy in character, in religious belief, and all that tends to build the man. For military purposes most soldiers who have experience of it regard the Cadet training of young boys as negligible value; so much of it has to be unlearned afterwards. The War Office bear them out in this.

“One of my boys put in the form of a question the other day a criticism rather difficult to answer:—’If they are not going to make Cadets into soldiers, isn’t it a bit of camouflage to register them under the War Office and put their officers in the Army list?’ Well, it is a matter of whether you elect to put gilt on your pill or sugar. We put sugar on the pill of Scoutcraft.

“Personal experience of Cadets, as a Cadet, as a commander of Cadets, and as an interested visitor to Cadets in Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and Russia, showed to me that the system did not do all that was wanted towards what was most needed—namely, preparing boys for conscientious, efficient, happy citizenhood, on up-to-date lines. Had it done so I should not have bothered about evolving the Scout scheme. Other reasons there are which prevent us asking to come under the control of the War Department, since they involve our oversea relations. The Scout brotherhood has, in the ten years of its existence, already spread itself to almost every civilised country, as well as to every British Oversea State. That, however, is another story which, although teeming with interesting possibilities, is outside the scope of this letter. The results of the system have at any rate been successful beyond our hopes, both in effect and in popularity (and we have some 750,000 Scouts in training over the world to-day).”

Possibilities

Having thus spread itself automatically about the world the Scout and Guide movement has the following possibilities:—

(a) The making of the individual into an efficient and happy citizen.

(b) The harnessing of the individual to work for the community.

(c) The strengthening of the bond of the British Commonwealth through its brotherhood.

(d) The promotion of International goodwill, again through its brotherhood, as a practical step towards permanent peace.

National Defects

We want to prevent in the next generation some of the defects apparent in the present. Here is a statement of these, together with the steps which we employ in Scouting to remedy them.

Such are the failings and remedies which fall outside the school purview, and with which we endeavour to deal in the Scout movement.

How to help the Scoutmaster most readily to master them is the object of this work.

Through mutual conferences and instruction it can be done most happily.

Suggestion of Work for a Study Patrol

Where there are a number of candidates living in the same town or district, it is suggested they might form themselves into a Study Patrol, and the following is the programme suggested, which can, of course, be altered to suit local conditions. It is very desirable to get an experienced Scoutmaster, where possible, to act as Leader.

Commissioners and Scoutmasters might do good work by collecting a number of young men from among their friends and explaining the scheme to them with the view of forming such a Patrol.

Roughly, one night a week for four weeks might be given to each of the five subjects specified below.

Principles could be taught by an informal lecture with questions and discussion for about an hour, followed by practical work for another hour.

Where circumstances permit, a week-end camp will give the best opportunity for training, and each Patrol should try to arrange one at the end of each four weeks. If the weather is too bad for the first month or two, the use of some Scout Hall or other building at the seaside or in the country might be obtained.

List of Subjects for Study