[Philmont] Learn By Doing

I read the selection below from John¹s recent list serve post and thought I
was listening to my daughter on the telephone. She is a ranger at Philmont
this summer. She tells me that many advisors look at solving all the
³problems² of Philmont before they arrive. Some apparently make their crews
memorize everything about previously assigned portions of their trek in
advance of even arriving at the camp. Some are terrified that they won¹t
measure up or ³worse² will get lost and incur the wrath of their advisor.

My first trip to Philmont as an advisor I thought the best way to having the
kids enjoy the trip was to try to prevent anything going wrong by lots of
advanced planning and brain storming. I realized on the third day of the
trek that I had nearly eliminated the learning curve and had squashed many
of the potential problem solving and leadership opportunities of the trip by
all that advanced planning. I had been psyched out by all the stories I had
heard and was determined to be completely prepared for all possible
experiences. My second trip I planned for myself and let the crew take on
the rest of the planning. I believe they learned a lot more and became
better problem solvers and leaders as a result.

Personally, I don¹t have any plans to wonder out into the wilderness on a 10
day or longer trek without lots of planning. I have learned the advantage
of studying maps to plan out where the next couple of days water is going to
come from, where the potential campsites will be, where the best chance of
emergency care might be flagged down. But Its what I¹ve LEARNED works best
for me. I learned it the hard way from my teenage years camping and
backpacking. I think the scouts, under our ³watchful eyes², will be better
off if we stop solving so many of their potential problems before they occur
and let them discover more of these lessons by experience.

I have tried for years as a scoutmaster and as a father to short circuit the
hard knocks process of learning by sharing hard lessons of my own life.
Unfortunately, I have rarely found those comments sped up the learning
process or allowed them to concentrate on other issues. They still seem to
have to learn many of these lessons the hard way. As I am coming around to
understand, its O.K. to let them fail in non-lethal situations more often
then not.

Thanks, John, for keeping us grounded.

Gregg Nuessly
Venturing Assoc Advisor
Wellington, FL

On 9/7/07 3:21 PM, "John LeBlanc" <philmontjohn@yahoo.com> wrote:

> In regard to the posts about fuel and stove problems, please don't look at
> these problems as failures. Look at them as learning experiences for the
> Scouts....and for you! Philmont is an adventure along a long path, not a
> destination. It's a place where Scouts learn things that will be with them
> forever. The learning curve there is steep and jam packed over a short period
> of time
>
>
>
> If everything goes acoring to yoru plan, you might as well be at an amusement
> park or on a Grey Line bus tour. Adults look on these kinds of things as
> problems to be avoided. Scouts on the other hand gain knowledge and lifes
> experiences from dealing with these mishaps. It becomes part of their kit bag
> for life.
>
>

-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
To Unsubscribe send text email to:

     To: listserv@troop47.com
     Subject: unsubscribe
     Body: unsubscribe philmont@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------

As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Mon Jul 9 19:04:56 2007