I've heard it said that sometimes your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness. I get many of my ideas for posts on this blog by reading the Facebook groups in which I promote it. I write posts to address questions that are frequently asked, or to address thoughts that run through my mind as I read the groups. This post addresses thoughts that run through my mind.
A great strength of the Girl Scout program is the ability of leaders to adapt it to meet the needs of your girls. There are very few "musts" and not even a lot of "shoulds". In the current program, badges have five requirements (except Daisies have three) and those requirements are quite vague, at least on the Brownie level. While the badge inserts in the Girls' Guide to Girl Scouting say "Every step has three choices. Do ONE choice to complete each step. Inspired? Do more", which sounds to me like you are supposed to choose an activity from the badge packet, evidently people are now being told that the "requirements" are the short phrases on the front of the pack and/or on the Badge Explorer, not the listed activities. That belief is carried through on VTK, which offers activities which are not on the inserts, and which, in fact, sometimes has plans that don't even meet the short requirements (e.g. the First Aid badge has a requirement to talk to someone who treats injured people, and the VTK plan for the badge does not include doing so). So, what do you HAVE to do to earn a badge?
For example, I've been beating the Snacks badge to death on this blog, so I'll bring it up yet again. The requirements, per the Badge Explorer, are:
Now, just reading that, by itself, I'd say that to earn the badge, the girls have to make a savory snack, and eat a sweet snack and an energy snack, and slurp a snack, besides finding out about different types of snack--after all, it doesn't say they have to make anything but the savory snack. Reading the badge insert tells you that the girls need to make four snacks, and learn about nutrition/food labels or similar. In the grand scheme of things in life, whether a particular girl helps make one snack or four probably isn't that big a deal, but reading some leaders' meeting plans does make me wonder sometimes.
And then there are the "Progressive" badges--those that focus on STEM topics and do not come with a choice of three activities per requirement, but rather with what I can only call lesson plans. By that I mean that it is the leader comments from the script that turn a craft into a coding activity or into something that teaches about robotics or engineering. To what extent should you follow those plans?
The most "adaptable" programming in GS right now is the Journey. What was originally designed to be our "core program" has been "adapted" to a day-long program, an overnight or even two or three regular meetings. The VTK plans for the Think Like a Citizen Scientist journey basically have the girls learning about observation and data gathering and then participating in a citizen science project--a project where ordinary citizens gather data to help professional scientists-- followed by a Take Action Project. I've read more than a few posts from leaders who taught the scientific method and then had the girls do some random science experiments. They clearly had not read the VTK plans at all--and I get it, those plans are long, and with all the "talking points" take a long time to go through, especially if reading isn't easy for you, but clearly some leaders miss the whole point of "citizen science".
I've heard it said that there are no badge police, and I'm certainly not auditioning for the job, but, as I said at the beginning of this post, is our greatest strength also a great weakness. Another post I've recently seen on Facebook is about a female member of Scouts BSA who was trying to get them to give her extra time to earn her Eagle since she had not been able to start in BSA until recently. The comments on that post turned into a discussion of Eagle vs Gold, and whether the Gold Award was as respected as BSA's Eagle or whether it was as hard to earn. From what I've seen, its like saying that an "A" in math is equivalent to an "A" in English. Yes, both take work, but they measure two very different things, and there are plenty of people who couldn't get an "A" in English or Math who could get an "A" in the other.
From what I can see, the path to Eagle is more difficult than the path to Gold, but the project for Gold, in general, is more involved than an Eagle project. The Eagle has a whole series of requirements, from badges to leadership positions, and, once those requirements are met, a project must be done. The Gold requires two Journeys and then a project--but the requirements for the Journey are so nebulous that, if desired, a girl could join GS as a high school Junior or Senior, do two Journeys in a Day that have posters as TAPs and then start her project. Does the fact that the Gold has so few pre-requisites to the project contribute to it being less honored than the Eagle?
I for one enjoy the flexibility to follow the interests of my girls and myself without having to cover certain topics every so often to prepare them for higher awards, but when you don't have any standards is that a good thing? It seems that the first time our girls run up against "must" is in submitting projects for the higher awards and I've heard of more than one girl who grew frustrated with the process because the "musts" weren't clear to her when she started, and her ideas and those of the people judging the projects were totally different.
What do you think? Does GSUSA need stronger standards or is our flexibility our strength?
Actually, I agree with everything you said and get frustrated with what seems like different requirements with every different version of badges..with a multi-level troop in a small town. When I was a Scout, back in the 60’s, I would sometimes find myself on a lazy Sunday afternoon opening up my GS handbook and tackling some requirements so I could earn a badge of interest- that doesn’t feel like a possibility for individuals girls anymore which makes me sad. I truly appreciate the research and information you continue to offer- thank you!
ReplyDeleteActually, I agree with everything you said and get frustrated with what seems like different requirements with every different version of badges..with a multi-level troop in a small town. When I was a Scout, back in the 60’s, I would sometimes find myself on a lazy Sunday afternoon opening up my GS handbook and tackling some requirements so I could earn a badge of interest- that doesn’t feel like a possibility for individuals girls anymore which makes me sad. I truly appreciate the research and information you continue to offer- thank you!
ReplyDeleteI will say I agree with a lot of what you have said here. Bottom line I think a girls get out of it what they put into it. The leaders are here to create and provide opportunities and nurture the girls through adolescence. The path to Eagle is not easy but bots and scoutmasters can take shortcuts here too. I’m the mother if two Eagle Scouts and a troop leader x2 for Cadettes and Seniors. The prescribed merit badges and very structured workbook for a Eagle projects and final reports make the GSUSA look like we lack firm requirements or standards like you suggest. However on the flip side, the need for a Girl Scout to choose her own path to success is actually a lot more daunting and requires a lot more ambition than a marked trail we give the boys. The elevated status and prestige of the Eagle Scout rank is, in my humble opinion, a result of a history of power imbalance in the country. Juliette Gordon Low created GSUSA following Lord Baden Powell’s model but with room for creativity, ingenuity and problem solving, because that is our super power. The 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage is upon us but our country is over 250 yrs old. Our representation in the halls of Congress is still less than half. Our Gold Award girls are just so few in number that their impact has not yet been realized. Just you wait till a Gold Award Girl helps put the first person on Mars or runs fir President of the United States. Help get the success stories out there. Keep strong teens getting stronger. Reward those who try. I don’t like JIAD but a year is too long. Ideas need time to marinate. Our TAPs are powerful even in poster form if they represent the thought process and the girls’ ideas. They are building blocks for high awards so leaders beware — you must ensure your girls are prepared. Some get what they need from other programs and can change the world through high awards but others need to work on LIA several times to grow confident enough. One TAP may be enough or a girl may need to try again to connect or discover. Make it work. Adapt as needed. We are flexible enough to give birth we can be flexible in building a generation of considerate and caring, courageous and strong girls the world needs!! Thanks for writing your article.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Journeys are a great concept, and it wasn't until I took my local Council training that I learned how to implement them, and how to suss out the Leadership benefit or the practice of expansive thinking.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, speaking for the Daisy Level, the activities themselves are either repetitive (which is not good for learning, variety is) or boring.
For example, this time, let's take a color walk. Next time, let's take a texture walk. Next time, let's take a shape walk.
What we did with our Daisy Troop is a Journey-in-a-Day but the leadership "theme" (Emotional Maturity and Problem Solving) I pulled out and continue to practice that part of it overtime.
I feel like (a) if you have to train someone to use a handbook, one should build a new handbook and (b) most Leaders, because they haven't taken the training, don't know how to implement the integrity of the program.
Yes, they need to be stricter on what is required to be able to earn the awards. All the changes made since 2002 have made badges more like participation trophies. When badges are so poorly written that girls can earn FA without ever learning First Aid it is a problem. When GSUSA writes in double dipping into a badge they violate their own no double dipping rule it is a problem. The outcomes on the packets are not supported by the requirements, that is a problem. Add on the VTK suggestions that do nothing more than circumvent the requirements, you end up with everyone making up their own rules. This underminds the intention on a unified program across the country as Journeys were to do as promised. JGL believed a girl was not worthy of a badge UNTIL they were proficient in the subject matter. And Until GSUSA goes back to it's roots,JLG; the program will not be of the quality of other scouting alternatives. Those that are growing while GSUSA is declining.
ReplyDeleteThe program is what you make and JGL did not design it for us to stay the same. Everything we have is a guideline and if what we have is boring we change it. WE ASK THE GIRLS! Structure is awesome, but then it becomes like school - so we don't want that. I want my girls to learn things and have fun. I want them to be creative and use their imaginations and think outside the box.
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