The Scout Method

This opening statement applies to the whole of the method. This means that adults should work in partnership with young people to achieve all of the other parts of the method as described below. This partnership is crucial. Scouts is, at its heart, values-based youth work.

Clearly we all have to enjoy Scouts, whether as young people or volunteers, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it. We all need to have fun. But, this enjoyment had to be considered carefully. For example, it doesn’t mean always doing the same thing, as eventually it might become boring and not enjoyable. It does mean stretching ourselves and young people to try new things that are also enjoyable.

Many people will immediately recognise the importance of activities outdoors, whether these are adventurous activities or not. However, it’s also true that great Scouts can take place indoors as well. The key here is participating in activities that help us to enjoy the great outdoors and also to enjoy the indoors.

Scouts actively engages young people – and the best way to engage young people is to let them do things. This is really simple, for example, don’t spend hours talking about how to read a map, go for a walk and experience how the map fits the real world. As adults, we sometimes get too focused on telling young people everything rather than helping them to discover it for themselves. Learning by doing is great fun for the young people and the volunteers. It might take a little longer, but the results are usually far better.

Scouts is open to everyone and we don’t identify exclusively with one faith. Scouts is open to people of all faiths and of none.

As an inclusive and values based movement, we support our members to engage with reflection and spirituality in an exciting and meaningful way. Sharing in reflection is a very wide and deep activity. It encompasses the diversity of our members beliefs, whether faith based or not.

It’s important to help young people to spend some time reflecting on themselves, their personal progression, their values and the world around them.

Celebrating and understanding differences, including differences in faiths and beliefs, is an important part of the educational and developmental side of Scouts, too.

Moments of reflection may include poems, music, drama, readings, songs, activities and crafts. It may include prayer and worship for all faiths and beliefs.

It’s time to slow down and perhaps be quiet and still. We live in an increasingly noisy and frenetic world, but there is a great power in peace, quiet and contemplation, which we sometimes forget.

Scouts encourages young people to take responsibility and make choices for themselves and for others. The skill of weighing up options and making decisions that are best for people will help in all aspects of a young person’s life and, indeed, as an adult.

Scouts activities challenge us all the time – to think differently, to push ourselves, to achieve things that we never thought we could do.

Scouts is working really well when we help young people to recognise for themselves the right activities that would challenge them. This means that we need to find new activities for young people.

Remember that this means activities that are new to the young people, not necessarily new to the adults.

The final part of the method links us back to our Promise.

It’s the final part because in many ways it underpins everything we do.

We want young people to make their Promise – we use ‘make’ because the Promise is more than the words.

The Promise is what we understand from the words and how it feels inside us.

We expect Scouts to live by their Promise, because the Promise isn’t just for the time that we hold our section meetings, but it’s a way of life.