What Are Some Of The Implications For Programme Implementation ?

One implication of learning by doing is that young people are encouraged to experience things first and draw conclusions from what they have experienced later. In practical terms, this has several implications for the adult leader:

• The adult leader does not need to explain the educational objective of an activity. Not only are the young people likely to be uninterested, it would limit their spontaneity, limiting the experience to the confines of what they may imagine is being expected of them.

• On the other hand, verbalising their reactions, feelings, etc., afterwards helps them to reflect on the experience and to draw conclusions. A quiet moment at the end of a meeting or amp can be  used to evaluate in general terms how the activity went and to encourage the young people to express themselves. The young people may perceive the experience in different ways, and may actually feel that what they have gained from the experience has nothing to do with what was originally intended by the activity. The purpose for the adult leader here is not to insist on what they were “supposed” to have learned, but simply to accompany them as they reflect for themselves. The atmosphere needs to be constructive so that the young people do not feel afraid to speak. If needed, the code of living can be recalled to help young people to reflect on their experience or simply to remind the young people that each person has a right to express him or herself and that if complaints are to be made, to describe the problem and not to attack anyone personally.

• While the adult leader should gradually feel comfortable with making use of whatever opportunities arise to create an educational experience, the activities must always respect Scouting’s principles: all activities and the way they are conducted must be constructive and not destructive for anyone or anything, etc. 

• Difficult decisions that arise for the adult leader include how far to allow a young person to experiment or make mistakes before intervening. While the adult leader should always strive to make an activity successful, the success or efficiency of the activity cannot be at the expense of learning experiences. Making mistakes is an inevitable part of the learning process. However, through experiencing a mistake, a young person can better understand what, how and why something went wrong and, perhaps, how to go about things differently next time!

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What Are Some Of The Implications For Programme Delivery ?

Adult leaders need to have a thorough understanding of how the Scout Method and the group’s operating structure aim to contribute to young people’s development, and how the way in which they are used influences the educational experience that the young people derive from the activities that they take part in. 

With appropriate preparation, this enables the adult leader to take advantage of the variety of opportunities that may arise in the local community, the young people’s ideas on what they want to do, particular needs that are expressed, etc. – which cannot be anticipated at national level -so  as to offer young people a rich educational experience that is really relevant to those particular young people at a given time.

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What Are Some Of The Implications For Programme Development ?

In order to help young people to develop through extracting what is personally significant from what they experience, Scouting must provide young people with opportunities for potentially  meaningful experiences. A way of checking whether learning by doing is being used to its full potential would be to consider the educational objectives for the age section as a whole (knowledge, skills and attitudes in each of the development areas) and examine to what extent young people really do have opportunities to progress towards the objectives through first-hand experience. For example:

• • If an educational objective concerns, say, the development of a sense of interdependence, one  could examine whether:

1. The way in which the young people operate together during their activities really provides  opportunities for them to contribute different talents, take on useful responsibilities, experience the benefits of mutual support, etc;
2. There is room for improvement in the kind of contact that young people have with their local community so as to foster this sense of interdependence.

• Examining learning by doing from the perspective of educational objectives can help when seeking to help young people to cope with issues likely to affect them – unemployment, drug abuse, etc. The first, automatic response by associations is often to provide information and develop interesting activities to help young people to learn about the issue. 

At the same time, Scouting can do much more to help young people to cope effectively! For example, how are young people being helped to develop a positive approach to life, to adapt to new situations, to use existing resources in a creative way, to take initiative, to develop constructive contact with others, etc?

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How Does It Work ?

As young people have a natural desire for action, challenge and adventure, Scouting channels their energy and provides them with a rich learning environment which encourages them to explore, experiment, discover and thus to develop. Learning by doing stimulates an active  approach to life, encourages young people to be actively involved in everything that affects them, helps them to discover all of their capacities and make constructive use of them, to take charge of their lives, and be actors, not spectators, in their community. The motor which drives the educational experiences is the activities that the young people take part in.
 

In other words, it is the combination of experiencing a code of living, the difficulties and rewards of responsibility, the joys and tribulations in the relationships that develop with peers and supportive adults, setting and striving to reach personal and collective goals, etc., all woven into progressively challenging activities that they find stimulating and useful that contributes to holistic and balanced development. As the young people develop through a vast range of experiences, opportunities for new and richer experiences come within reach.

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What Is It Intended To ?

Learning by doing is a way of helping young people to develop in all dimensions through extracting what is personally significant from everything that they experience.

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What Is It ?

Learning by doing means developing as a result of first-hand experience – which, after all, is a very effective teacher!

Learning by doing:

• Reflects Scouting’s active approach to education. In other words, young people are helped to develop through opportunities for concrete, “hands-on” experience as opposed to passively listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration.
• Applies to the way in which young people gain knowledge, skills and attitudes in each of the areas of development and thus progress towards their educational objectives. Learning by doing is thus not limited to “doing” in the sense of learning practical or manual skills. For example, young people learn the meaning of responsibility through taking on responsibility. 
• Reflects Scouting’s practical approach to education based on learning through the opportunities for experiences that arise in the course of pursuing one’s interests and dealing with everyday life. In other words, Scouts do not gain knowledge, skills and attitudes in an abstract context, divorced from reality. In Scouting, young people would not learn to sew for  the sake of knowing how to sew, but because, or example, they want to put on a play and want to make their own costumes. Or, for example, Scouts would not learn to manage conflict simply through a specifically-designed activity, but through the natural process of sorting out whatever disagreements arise in the group (in a manner which is consistent with the Scout law!).

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