Wood Badge | |||
---|---|---|---|
Founded | 1919 | ||
Founder | The Boy Scouts Association (United Kingdom) | ||
Awarded for | Completion of leadership training | ||
The Wood Badge is an award for Scout leader training, first awarded by The Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom in 1919 and subsequently adopted, with variations, by some other Scout organizations. Wood Badge courses teach Scout leadership skills and instil an ideological bond and commitment to the organizations. Courses generally have theory and practical phases followed by a practice project. Scouters who complete the course are awarded a pair of wood beads on each end of a leather thong, from a necklace of beads Robert Baden-Powell claimed to have taken from the African chief Dinizulu.
The Wood Badge is worn around the neck as part of the Scouter's uniform. In some Scout organizations, the wood badge is presented together with a Gilwell scarf and a Gilwell woggle, denoting membership of the notional 1st Gilwell Scout Group.
Early Wood Badge beads came from a necklace that Baden-Powell claimed to have taken from a deserted Zulu mountain stronghold while on a failed military campaign to capture Dinizulu in Zululand (now part of South Africa). [1] [2] [3] Such necklaces of beads made from acacia, known as iziQu in Zulu, were presented to brave warrior leaders. [4] In 1919, Baden-Powell threaded beads from the necklace he had taken onto leather thong he claimed had been given to him by an elderly South African in Mafeking and called it the Wood Badge. [5] [6] [1]
When produced, the thong is joined by a simple overhand knot but the two ends of the thong are often tied together with a decorative diamond knot. Various rituals are practiced in tying the diamond knot, such as having a fellow course member tie it, having a mentor or course leader tie it or having the recipient tie it after completing an additional activity that shows they have mastered training skills. [1]
Additional beads are awarded for completion of training for different levels:
Baden-Powell, wore six beads, as did his Deputy Chief Scout and right-hand man, Percy Everett. Baden-Powell's beads are on display at Baden-Powell House in London. Everett endowed his six beads to be worn by the Camp Chief of Gilwell as a badge of office. [1]
The Gilwell scarf is a triangular scarf or neckerchief made of cotton or wool twill with a taupe face and red back, with a patch of Clan MacLaren tartan affixed near the point. [9] The patch of Maclaren clan tartan honours William de Bois Maclaren, The Boy Scouts Association commissioner who donated £7000 to The Boy Scouts Association in 1919 to purchase Gilwell Park as a leader training centre and an additional £3000 for improvements to the house on the estate. [1] [3] [10] The Maclaren tartan represents the Wood Badge and training ties to Gilwell Park. Originally, the scarf was made entirely of triangular pieces of the tartan but its expense forced the adoption of the current design. [6] [1]
The Gilwell woggle is a braided leather two or three-strand Turk's head knot, which has no beginning and no end[ dubious – discuss ] and symbolizes the commitment to the Scout Movement. [6] [1] In some countries, Wood Badge training is divided into parts and the Gilwell woggle is given for completion of part one. First designed in the early 1920s by British Scouter Bill Shankley, making a Turk's head knot woggle was part of the leader training scheme by 1926. [11] [12]
The Boy Scouts Association conducted early Scoutmaster training camps in London and Yorkshire. The first Wood Badge training, with 18 participants, was organized by The Boy Scouts Association and held from 8 to 19 September 1919 at its newly acquired leader training centre, Gilwell Park, then just outside London. The training was led by The Boy Scouts Association's Gilwell Park Camp Chief, Francis Gidney and its Commissioner for Training Percy Everett, with lectures by Baden-Powell and others. [5] [6] [1] Wood Badge training courses continued at Gilwell Park. [13] Other sites providing Wood Badge training have taken the Gilwell name.
The principles underpinning the Wood Badge Training Scheme are:
Included in the areas above, a Wood Badge competence framework is directed to cover development of the competencies in the following topic clusters:
Every suggested topic is directed to have a list of competencies developed through various training programs. [16]
Generally, a Wood Badge course consists of classroom work, a series of self-study modules, outdoor training and the Wood Badge "ticket" or "project". Classroom and outdoor training are often combined and taught together and occur over one or more weeks or weekends. As part of completing this portion of the course, participants must write their tickets.
The exact curriculum varies from country to country but the training generally includes both theoretical and experiential learning. All course participants are introduced to the 1st Gilwell Scout group or Gilwell Scout Troop 1 (the latter name is used in the Boy Scouts of America and some other countries). In the Boy Scouts of America, they are also assigned to one of the traditional Wood Badge "critter" patrols. Instructors deliver training designed to strengthen the patrols. One-on-one work with an assigned troop guide helps each participant to reflect on what they have learned, so that he can better prepare an individualized "ticket". This part of the training program gives the adult Scouter the opportunity to assume the role of a Scout joining the original "model" troop, to learn firsthand how a troop ideally operates. The locale of all initial training is referred to as Gilwell Field, no matter its geographical location. [17]
The phrase 'working your ticket' comes from a story attributed in Scouting legend to Baden-Powell: Upon completion of a British soldier's service in India, he had to pay the cost of his ticket home. The most affordable way for a soldier to return was to engineer a progression of assignments that were successively closer to home.
Part of the transformative power of the Wood Badge experience is the effective use of metaphor and tradition to reach both heart and mind. In most Scout associations, "working your ticket" is the culmination of Wood Badge training. Participants apply themselves and their new knowledge and skills to the completion of items designed to strengthen the individual's leadership and the home unit's organizational resilience in a project or "ticket". The ticket consists of specific goals that must be accomplished within a specified time, often 18 months due to the large amount of work involved. Effective tickets require much planning and are approved by the Wood Badge course staff before the course phase ends. Upon completion of the ticket, a participant is said to have earned his way back to Gilwell. [18]
After completion of the Wood Badge course, participants are awarded the insignia in a Wood Badge bead ceremony. [19] They receive automatic membership in the notional 1st Gilwell Park Scout Group or Gilwell Troop 1. These leaders are henceforth called Gilwellians or Wood Badgers.[ by whom? ] It is estimated that worldwide over 100,000 Scouters have completed their Wood Badge training. [20]
The 1st Gilwell Scout Group is a notional Scout Group composed of Wood Badge recipients. A meeting of the Group is held annually, during the first weekend in September at Gilwell Park for the Gilwell Reunion. [21] Gilwell Reunions are also held in other places, often on that same weekend.
The axe and log logo was conceived by the first Camp Chief, Francis Gidney, in the early 1920s to distinguish Gilwell Park from the Scout Headquarters. Gidney wanted to associate Gilwell Park with the outdoors and Scoutcraft rather than the business or administrative Headquarters offices. Scouters present at the original Wood Badge courses regularly saw axe blades masked for safety by being buried in a log. Seeing this, Gidney chose the axe and log as the totem of Gilwell Park. [22]
The kudu horn is another Wood Badge symbol. Baden-Powell first encountered the kudu horn at the Battle of Shangani, where he discovered how the Matabele warriors used it to quickly spread a signal of alarm. He used the horn at the first Scout encampment at Brownsea Island in 1907. It is used from the early Wood Badge courses to signal the beginning of the course or an activity and to inspire Scouters to always do better.
The grass fields at the back of the White House at Gilwell Park are known as the Training Ground and The Orchard and are where Wood Badge training was held from the early years onward. A large oak, known as the Gilwell Oak , separates the two fields. The Gilwell Oak symbol is associated with Wood Badge, although the beads for the Wood Badge have never been made of this oak. [21]
Wolf Cub leaders briefly followed a separate training system beginning in 1922, in which they were awarded the Akela Badge on completion. The badge was a single fang on a leather thong. Wolf Cub Leader Trainers wore two fangs. [3] [23] The Akela Badge was discontinued in 1925 and all leaders were awarded the Wood Badge on completion of their training. Very few of the fangs issued as Akela Badges can now be found. [1]
The first Australian Wood Badge courses were held in 1920 at Gilwell Park, Gembrook after the return of two deputy camp chiefs, Charles Hoadley and Mr. Russell from training at Gilwell Park in England. In 2003, Scouts Australia established its Scouts Australia Institute of Training, a government-registered National Vocational & Education Training (VET) provider and awards a "Diploma of Leadership and Management" to adult leaders who complete the Wood Badge training and additional competencies. [24] The VET qualifications are recognized throughout Australia by government and private industry. [25]
The first Wood Badge Training in Austria took place in 1932. Scoutmaster Joesef Miegl took his Wood Badge training in Gilwell Park and September 8 to 17, 1922, he led a Leader Training near Vienna, one of the first in Austria. Scouters from Austria, Germany, Italy and Hungary took part. He brought in many things he learned in Gilwell Park about International and British Scouting but it was not an official Wood Badge training. [26]
The first Wood Badge training in Belgium was held in August 1923 at Jannée, led by Étienne Van Hoof. In the largest Scout association of the country, known as Les Scouts – Fédération des Scouts Baden-Powell de Belgique, it is necessary to complete the 3-steps formation in 3 years. After the 3 steps, the scout leader become a Wood Badger and he receives a Certificate as an animator in a holiday centre (Brevet d’animateur en centre de vacances (BACV)) by the French Community of Belgium.
Scouts Canada requires that Scouters (volunteers) are required to complete an online Wood Badge Part I Course, [27] and are encouraged to complete a Wood Badge Part II program that includes self-directed learning, conducted through mentorship and coaching in addition to traditional courses and workshops. [28] Upon completion of the Wood Badge Part II [29] program a volunteer is conferred their "beads" and the Gilwell Necker.
Alfons Åkerman gave the first eight Wood Badge courses and was from 1927 to 1935 the first Deputy Camp Chief. In lieu of Gilwell training, the Finnish Scouts have a "Kolmiapila-Gilwell" (Trefoil-Gilwell), combining aspects of both girls' and boys' advanced leadership training. [30]
The first Wood Badge training in France was held Easter 1923 by Père Sevin in Chamarande. [31]
Wood Badge training in Ireland goes back to the 1st Larch Hill of the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland, who conducted Wood Badge courses that emphasized the Catholic approach to Scouting. This emphasis is now disappeared since the formation of Scouting Ireland. [32]
In 2010, 21 year after the reorganization of Hungarian Scout Association, was the first Scoutmaster training with the Wood Badge. (There was other Scoutmaster training before but these weren't organized according to the Wood Badge Framework.) The head of the first Wood Badge training in Hungary was Balázs Solymosi who has four beads. From 2010 to 2018, in 8 courses more than 50 adult leader performed successfully and awarded. In 2019 started a new era in Wood Badge training in Hungary. Two type of courses are available: one for leaders in the Association and one for local group leaders. The association level have the basis made by Balázs Solymosi, the group leader level based on a new training program. Both program gives the highest level of scouting knowledge from different point of view for the participants. [33]
The First Wood Badge training of the Tily eto Madagasikara, known as the first Lasy Ravinala, was held in 1957 at Dinta Ambohidratrimo, Antananarivo, led by the first malagasy Chief Commissioner Samuel Randria. [34]
In Madagascar, the participants of the Wood badge camp can only wear the woggle. They will get their first two bead one year later after writing and defend a dissertation.The Gilwell scarf can only be worn by a three-bead (Trainer) and a four-bead (Trainer of trainer) holder.
The first Wood Badge training in the Netherlands was held in July 1923 by Scoutmaster Jan Schaap, on Gilwell Ada's Hoeve, Ommen. At Gilwell Sint Walrick, Overasselt, the Catholic Scouts had their training. Since approximately 2000, the Dutch Wood Badge training takes place on the Scout campsite Buitenzorg, Baarn, or outdoors in Belgium or Germany under the name 'Gilwell Training'. [35]
In Norway, Woodbadge is known as Trefoil-Gilwell Training. [36]
Wood Badge was introduced in the Philippines in 1953 with the first course held at Camp Gre-Zar in Novaliches, Quezon City. Today, Wood Badge courses are held at the Philippine Scouting Center for the Asia-Pacific Region, at the foothills of Mount Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna province. [37]
As in several other Nordic countries, the Swedish Wood Badge training is known as Trefoil Gilwell, being a unification of the former higher leadership programmes of the Swedish Guides and Scouts, known respectively as the Trefoil training and the Gilwell training. [38]
The first Wood Badge training took place on Gilwell Park. The estate continues to provide the service for British Scouters of The Scout Association and international participants. Original trainers include Baden-Powell and Gilwell Camp Chiefs Francis Gidney, John Wilson and John Thurman. [39]
Wood Badge was introduced to the United States by Baden-Powell. The first course was held in 1936 at the Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation, the Boy Scouts of America national training center until 1979. [40] Despite this early first course, Wood Badge was not formally adopted in the United States until 1948 under the guidance of Bill Hillcourt who became the first national Deputy Camp Chief of Gilwell in the BSA, also called the Deputy Camp Chief for the United States. [41] Wood Badge courses are held throughout the country at local council camps, others are held at the National High Adventure Bases. [42]
A neckerchief, sometimes called a necker, kerchief or scarf, is a type of neckwear associated with those working or living outdoors, including farm labourers, cowboys and sailors. It is most commonly still seen today in the Scouts, Girl Guides and other similar youth movements. A neckerchief consists of a triangular piece of cloth or a rectangular piece folded into a triangle. The long edge is rolled towards the point, leaving a portion unrolled. The neckerchief is then fastened around the neck with the ends either tied or clasped with a slide or woggle.
Gilwell Park is The Scout Association's principal camp site and activity centre in the United Kingdom. It is a 109-acre (44 ha) site, located in East London in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey within Epping Forest near the border with Chingford. It is used by Scout and Guide groups. Adult Scout leader training undertaken at Gilwell Park since 1919 is known as Wood Badge training. Scout leaders from many countries have trained at Gilwell Park and Wood Badge training was followed by some other Scout organisations, and, therefore, Gilwell Park has taken on importance to other Scout organisations.
Malaysian Scouts Association, officially known as the Scouts Association of Malaysia, is the largest informal youth and educational organisation in Malaysia, and member of World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).
A woggle is a device to fasten the neckerchief, or scarf, worn as part of the Scout or Girl Guides uniform, originated by a Scout in the 1920s.
William Hillcourt, known within the Scouting movement as "Green Bar Bill", was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization from 1927 to 1992. Hillcourt was a prolific writer and teacher in the areas of woodcraft, troop and patrol structure, and training; his written works include three editions of the BSA's official Boy Scout Handbook, with over 12.6 million copies printed, other Scouting-related books and numerous magazine articles. Hillcourt developed and promoted the American adaptation of the Wood Badge adult Scout leader training program.
A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit.
Scouting started in Victoria, Australia, as early as 1907 and local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently. Several separate central organisations began operating including Boys' Brigade Scouts, Church Lads' Brigade Scouts, Chums Scouts, Imperial Boy Scouts, Girl Peace Scouts, Imperial Boy Scouts Victoria Section, Imperial Boy Scouts Victorian Section, Gippsland Boy Scouts Association, Australian Boy Scouts, Australian Imperial Boy Scouts, The Boy Scouts Association, Life-Saving Scouts of the Salvation Army and Methodist Boy Scouts.
Scout spirit is an attitude that Scouts around the world are supposed to show, based on adherence to the ideals of Scouting. Scouting's founder, Baden Powell, once said, "The spirit is there in every boy; it has to be discovered and brought to light."
Scouts BSA is the flagship program and membership level of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for coeducational young people between the ages of typically 11 and 17. It provides youth training in character, citizenship, personal fitness, and leadership, and aims to develop the skills necessary to become successful adults.
The Pathfinder & Rover Explorer Scouts' Association (P-RESA) is an independent Traditional Scouting Association in the United Kingdom, with International branches. The Association's training programme runs along the lines of Baden-Powell's original Scouting for Boys, upholding the traditions and practices set out by B-P, using the 1938 Boy Scouts' Association Policy Organisation & Rules (POR) as its basis.
Richard Francis "John" Thurman OBE JP was a British Scouting notable and Camp Chief of Gilwell Park from 1943 to 1969 and scouting’s first International Director of Adult Leader Training
Sir Percy Winn Everett was an English editor-in-chief for the publisher C. Arthur Pearson Limited and a Scouter who became The Boy Scouts Association's Deputy Chief Scout.
Francis "Skipper" Gidney (1890–1928) was an early leader of the Scouting movement in the United Kingdom. He was appointed the first Camp Chief of Gilwell Park in May 1919, and organized the first Wood Badge adult leader training course there in September 1919. He served in the Scouting organization until 1923, and was honoured by having the Gidney Cabin at Gilwell, a training centre, named for him.
Hubert Stanley Martin was a British diplomat, an early Boy Scout leader, The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom International Commissioner and the Boy Scouts International Bureau's first director, from 1920 until his death in 1938.
Wood Badge in the United States is an advanced level leadership training available to adult Scout leaders. The first Wood Badge course was presented in England by the founder of Scouting, Baden-Powell, and he introduced the program into the United States during a visit in 1936. The first course was held at the Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation, but Americans did not fully adopt Wood Badge until 1948. The National BSA Council staff provided direct leadership to the program through 1958, when the increased demand encouraged them to permit local councils to deliver the training.
Gilwell Ada's Hoeve is one of the oldest Dutch national Scouting campsites, and from July 1923 until the 1960s hosted the Wood Badge trainings for Scouting leadership in the Netherlands. The site was founded as a Scouting campsite in 1923 by Philip baron van Pallandt on his Eerde Estate in Ommen. One of the largest Dutch sites of Scouting Nederland, it covers 45 hectares, and has 25 camping fields and other accommodation, hosting approximately 10,000 camping nights annually.
Leadership training in the Boy Scouts of America includes training on how to administer the Scouting program, outdoor skills training for adults and youth, and leadership development courses for adults and youth. Some of these courses like Youth Protection Training are mandatory. Most of the courses are offered by the local council, while a few are hosted at the national level, currently at Philmont Training Center in New Mexico. They are available to members of all of the Boy Scout programs, including Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Explorer Posts, and Venturing Crews.
B-P's footprint is a casting, usually in bronze or brass, of the right foot of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout and Guide Movements, who is known as "B-P." The idea is that people may put their foot into this casting, so that they can say that they have "walked in the footsteps of B-P."
The Gilwell Oak is an oak tree on the grounds of The Scout Association's headquarters at Gilwell Park, Essex. It is reputed to have been used as a hiding place by Dick Turpin and since the 20th century has become closely associated with the Scout movement. The tree is situated close to the training ground for the association's first Scout leaders and provided material for the earliest Wood Badges. The oak inspired Scout movement founder Robert Baden-Powell to create "the moral of the acorn and the oak" an analogy for the growth of the Scout movement and the personal growth of its members. The Gilwell Oak was voted England's Tree of the Year by the public in 2017 and was subsequently selected by a panel of experts as the UK Tree of the Year.
In the Boy Scouts of America, a Scout leader refers to the trained leaders of a Scout unit. Adult leaders are generally referred to as "Scouters," and the youth leaders are referred to by their position within a unit. In all Scouting units above the Cub Scout pack and units serving adolescent Scouts, leadership of the unit comprises both adult leaders (Scouters) and youth leaders (Scouts). This is a key part of the Aims and Methods of Scouting. In order to learn leadership, the youth must actually serve in leadership roles.