When I was in the Boy Scouts, I had the opportunity to work at a summer camp and my job was to teach merit badges to classes with a variety of ages ranging from 11 to 17. This was very difficult strictly because the varying ages. The older kids wouldn’t care about anything I was saying, they just wanted to get the badge without doing any work. Meanwhile I was trying to keep the younger kids from bouncing off the mountains. However this challenging experience helped me because, “learning happens best with emotion, challenge, and the requisite support” (El Education Core Practices).
I had several different classes and they each were a week long then the next week I would get another group of kids. So after the first day of instruction I had to assess how the rest of the week was going to be. Most of the kids enjoyed walking around and me using physical real life examples to teach them the requirements for the merit badge. The younger kids were able to move around and would pay attention when I would stop them. The older kids didn’t complain much because they weren’t just sitting there listening to me lecture. I would also get the students involved by quizzing them after the lesson by having them point out examples of plants or whatever I taught that day.
As John Dewey said, “every genuine experience has an active side, which changes in some degree the objective conditions under which experiences are had” (Dewey, 109). I believe what Dewey meant by this is every experience we have with one thing changes our perspective on that subject each time we are involved with said subject. Given that this was my first and only experience with teaching, as Dewey stated, the experiences I gain in fieldwork will change my perspective on teaching. This first experience I had with teaching was good for me, EL Education says, “People discover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the unexpected” (EL Education Core Practices).
Boy Scouts is not always recognized for their opportunities to develop boys and young men as educators. Boy Scouts requires individuals to teach, which is one thing that helps the development that they encourage.
I agree, and it really captures John Dewey’s idea of social life playing an enormous and fundamental role in education. When a young man interacts with his fellow Scouts, his values are shaped by what the group finds important (e.g. being outdoors, knowing how to survive, community service, etc.). Brilliant assessment, Casey!
I think this is a really great way to think about teaching. I believe it’s important for, not only the student to learn, but for the teacher to learn alongside the student as well. Maintaining that open mind in the classroom is such a vital component to cultivating a positive and comfortable learning atmosphere.
I really appreciated your personal tone used in your blog post. I feel like it added a layer of genuineness and authenticity. Voicing your concerns about teaching was good to hear as I too was a camp counselor of varying age groups. Good job!
Cole,
Thank you for sharing your teaching with Boy Scouts. Many appreciated your post, especially I think because it illustrates both your experience as a learner AND a teacher, and that in those interactions between your scout students, the objective materials you’re offering for the merit badge, and your sense of responsibility, you have reconstructed and thus grown in that moment. As you can attest, teaching can be utterly frustrating and surprisingly, at the same time, rewarding. Though the aim of fieldwork is not necessarily to make you expert teachers, you will have an opportunity to participate and lead as model learners in these classroom communities, so all of these experiences will be fruitful.
MAJ Hodde