Topic
Small groups of Scouts, led by Scouts. The patrol method was one of the most talked-about ideas in troop leadership, and these posts work through patrol leaders' councils, patrol identity and letting youth lead.
136 posts · 2007–2019
8 posts
I often have discussions with Scoutmasters about what constitutes a "Boy Led Troop". There seems to be a misunderstanding as to what that means and it is executed in different ways depending on the unit. But there is a right way to have youth lead and a wrong way.
My son was frustrated, decided to change troops, and was elected senior patrol leader in his new troop. The Scoutmaster is a man of good intentions but with a commanding presence. Over time he has taken to leading himself because it's easier and less messy.
Think back to those exceptional, specific moments when you saw a Patrol in your Troop really shine. Maybe it was the way they prepared a meal during that camping trip last Fall: everyone doing their job quickly and enthusiastically. Maybe it was the way the whole Patrol came together to help one of its members…
We had our annual "Advancement Campout" recently and I saw (well heard) the scouts do something that really brought joy that the patrol method works. It was the first troop campout for most of the new scouts in the troop, and the whole group of new scouts made it.
Curlews. Bulls. Wolves. Ravens. – These are the very first Scout Patrols that ever existed. They were the Patrols Baden-Powell formed from the twenty-one boys that had come to Brownsea Island for his famous experiment with the Scouting framework. Baden-Powell could have led the whole camp single-handedly through the respect his reputation had earned and the…
Scout Leaders, is your Scout Troop on autopilot? You're busy. I know I sure am! Most likely, the ‘Scout Leader' hat isn't the only hat you wear. Between work, family, and social responsibilities, you probably have a crazy schedule. Because life has so many ups and downs, it's tempting for all of us to put…
Many Scouters claim; "We have a boy-led (or youth-led, or Scout-led) Troop," but what does that really mean? Official literature mentions this sort of thing often , but how is do we really define "boy-led"? We'd like to think what the Scouts do and how they do it defines "boy-led", but it doesn't.
The cog that turns the wheels of Boy Scouting is the patrol method, and the grease that lubes the axle is something nebulously called patrol spirit. Just what is patrol spirit? It's the sense of friendship and cooperation that exists between members of a patrol. It's the competitive nature and persistence that propels a patrol
