From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Thu Mar 26 01:42:13 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from mail1.bellatlantic.net (mail1.bellatlantic.net [199.45.32.38]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with ESMTP id BAA11480 for ; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 01:42:13 -0500 Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by mail1.bellatlantic.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id BAA14197 for ; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 01:34:26 -0500 (EST) Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 1975; Thu, 26 Mar 98 00:34:18 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 5292; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 00:25:10 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 4029 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Thu, 26 Mar 1998 00:24:16 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 4028; Wed, 25 Mar 1998 18:30:22 -0500 Received: from ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Wed, 25 Mar 98 18:30:14 CDT Received: from mail.scouter.net (bp.SCOUTER.com) by ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU (PMDF V5.0-5 #20456) id <01IV3D2AXIRK00E3UP@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU> for scouts-l@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU; Wed, 25 Mar 1998 18:28:48 -0500 (CDT) Received: from buffnet.buffnet.net [205.246.19.227] by mail.scouter.net (SMTPD32-4.03) id AF8A40F014E; Wed, 25 Mar 1998 18:21:30 CST6CDT X-Sender: rick@scouter.net MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980325192643.008024d0@scouter.net> Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 19:26:43 -0500 Reply-To: Rick Seymour Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: Rick Seymour Subject: The Green Bar Patrol X-To: scouts-l@tcu.edu X-cc: centaur@bluemoon.net To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: =20 Our Troop has recently adopted the "Green Bar Patrol" as one of our methods for training Junior Leaders. It was introduced in the 1936 Third Edition of the Handbook for Scoutmasters by William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt: "The Green Bar Patrol "For this training purpose the Troop Leaders=92 Council takes on the aspects of a Patrol, with the Scoutmaster as its Patrol Leader [the=20 SPL as Assistant Patrol Leader, ASMs as special instructors], and=20 the boy leaders as members=85. "This =91Green Bar Patrol=92 ... is then conducted in a manner similar=20 to a regular Patrol, with meetings, hikes, camps and special features such as might be planned and executed by a normal Patrol, with the possible exception that many of its activities, such as games,=20 contests, handicrafts, become =91condensed,=92 i.e., started as demon- strations of what might be done in a Patrol rather than carried=20 through to their absolute conclusion. "The Green Bar Patrol should meet at least once every month with occasional outdoor practices scheduled at times that will not=20 interfere with the work of the Troop and Patrols [page 200-201]". We have a young Troop in which the Senior Patrol Leader is only thirteen, and some of our Assistant Patrol Leaders are only the=20 "rank" of Scout. To be "certified" to sign off requirements,=20 Green Bar Patrol members must have attended a Green Bar Patrol=20 campout in which those particular requirements were covered. =20 As a group, they spend the weekend team-teaching the "Scout=20 rank" Junior Leaders, requirement by requirement. They all=20 have their Handbooks open. As one demonstrates, the others quickly read a paragraph ahead, then another Scout takes over. Often, they are learning things themselves for the first time=20 (the most-often observation mentioned in their reflections). =20 We do this all outdoors, tent-camping in Buffalo winters. We try to move to a new location every twenty minutes. When the candidate has been instructed and quizzed, we ask=20 who in the group wants to testify that this candidate knows his=20 stuff. Sometimes no one will sign off, as they know that it is=20 they, not the candidate, who is being "tested" in the Scoutmaster=92s Conference. We had to drag them kicking and screaming to the first Green Bar Campout (for some reason no one wanted to spend a week- end on advancement - "We already DID that stuff!"), but they left=20 saying it was the best campout they had ever been to, "Yeah, no little kids." The big advantage to these campouts is that they can practice their techniques without everyone seeing them in the=20 process of learning themselves. We try to treat them like=20 colleagues. The idea is to relax and have fun. Once they have signed off on a requirement, they are in charge of that phase of advancement. We require the PL and APL to team- teach together with their books open when they go home to their=20 Patrols. Advancement is to be done at Patrol meetings and Troop=20 campouts. No adult is to hover around them once they get the hang of it. =20 The power to sign off requirements gives the Patrol Leader the authority he needs to be truly in charge of his Patrol in the eyes=20 of his Patrol members. Without it there is no Patrol Method. It=20 also gives the Patrol a reason to meet outside of the weekly Troop=20 meetings. The transition from adult leadership to quality boy-led Advancement with strict standards is admittedly tricky, and=20 different in every Troop. Woodbadge helps. Green Bar Campouts can be also be used to practice new skills that are not related to advancement. Our next "Green Bar" will include working out a new outdoor nighttime Troop Induction=20 Ceremony with six-foot torches. =20 In the later printings of the Third Edition, Hillcourt added a 16=20 page section titled "Intensive Training in The Green Bar Patrol." This was a six month course in which the Green Bar Patrol met once a month as a Patrol (with the Scoutmaster still as Patrol Leader),=20 culminating in a Patrol hike in the fifth month and a special Patrol campout in the sixth. =20 Patrol Leader Training differed from Junior Leader Training in=20 that it taught Patrol Leaders how to actually run a Patrol and how to conduct adult-free Patrol meetings, Patrol hikes and even Patrol campouts. If the Scouts in your Troop know every line of the BSA=20 Troop-JLT video by heart, you might want to consider Hillcourt=92s =20 Patrol Leader Training as a change of pace.=20 Yours in Scouting, Rick Seymour Contributing Editor, Scouter Magazine