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Shaping the learning curve
The Adult Training Scheme now offers a host of opportunities to enhance your
skills, from e-learning to group exercises. In fact, the hardest decision is choosing
the best method to suit you, as Harry Cornish discovers
The Adult Training Scheme is all about choice. Just as you agree to complete
the modules appropriate to your specific role, the way you complete these
modules will also be tailored to your own situation. And it is important that you
have the correct skills to help you in your role. You may gain these through
video, e-learning, workbooks, small group work or one-to-one meetings, as
well as the more traditional courses that we run. You may already have some
of the skills required for some of the elements, which could mean that they
only need to be validated by your Training Adviser.
Making the right choice
The knowledge and abilities you need depend on your role. How best to
ensure that you have these skills will depend on a wide variety of factors. You
will probably find that a diverse range of learning methods will best equip you
for your Scouting appointment.
Anna, a Scouter from Berkshire, found e-learning especially convenient to
use at home. She said: “Being able to use the e-learning at home or even in
my lunch hour really helps.”
Those living in remote areas may find physically accessing training courses
time consuming or costly and, hence, prefer learning by workbooks and/or elearning. Others often favour courses because they offer a chance to meet
peers and to ask trainers questions directly. The right choice of learning
methods is something each adult in Scouting must decide for themselves,
with the support of their Training Adviser.
Valuing Diversity
One of the current projects being undertaken by the Adult Training Team is
the video, Valuing Diversity , for Module Seven of the Adult Training Scheme.
This video is intended to both explain and promote The Scout Association's
Equal Opportunities Policy, and give Leaders inspiration and information
about how to implement these policies locally.
Increased diversity of gender, ability, ethnicity, religion or belief, age and so
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Scouting Magazine On-line
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on, will benefit both Scouting and the wider society in which we all live. It is
important that we recognise that it is attitudes rather than the core Programme
or aims of The Scout Association that need to change.
The video is intended as one of a variety of training tools. It is hoped that it will
be used to stimulate debate, rather than be seen in isolation.
One Group of participants to be involved in the making of this resource were
the 13th Southall Scout Group. They are an open single faith Group and cater
for the large Sikh community in the local area. The Group is one example of
how The Scout Association is reaching out to sections of society who have
been under-represented in Scouting in the past. As Daljit Singh Aubby, the
Group Section Leader said: “Scouting acts as a ‘bridge', allowing young people
and adults to look past their differences and recognise what we all have in
common.”
Understanding Individual Needs
We are all in the Movement to provide quality Scouting and in order to do that
every adult must receive quality training. One of the ways in which this is
achieved is through the provision of a range of learning opportunities.
Each individual has different prior knowledge and experience, learning styles,
personal circumstances and support mechanisms both within and outside
Scouting. For this reason, the Adult Training Scheme offers as many different
learning methods as possible. People are encouraged to use the methods most
suitable for their needs and the skills that they wish to gain.
But there are certain features that are likely to unite the whole range of learning
experiences an adult may undertake. These include:
 Ownership of the learning process by the individual
 Learning by doing Interaction with others
 A high proportion of ‘on the job' learning
 Support from a named individual
 A demonstration of competency in the learning
For more information on your learning options adults should contact their
Training Adviser or Local Training Manager.
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3/19/2008