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This instrumental case study explored non-formal educators’ lay theories of adolescence using the case of the Boy Scouts of America’s Scouts BSA program, a co-ed program serving youth between the ages of 11 and 17. We conducted an iterative analysis of 110 structured interviews with Scouts BSA adult volunteer leaders who served as scoutmasters or a...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... participants identified themselves as either scoutmasters or assistant scoutmasters in their respective Scouts BSA units. Demographic data for participants is presented in Table 1. <<Insert Table 1>> Due to the timing of the study, fewer participants reported leading and/or interacting with female scouts and/or non-white scouts in their leadership role within Scouts BSA troops. Survey data from the larger study offers some indication of youth demographics within the BSA. ...Context 2
... data for participants is presented in Table 1. <<Insert Table 1>> Due to the timing of the study, fewer participants reported leading and/or interacting with female scouts and/or non-white scouts in their leadership role within Scouts BSA troops. Survey data from the larger study offers some indication of youth demographics within the BSA. ...Citations
... Educator Action: While effective Scouting is distinguished by being child-led rather than adult-led, the role of adults in facilitating this process is crucial. Therefore, further investigating the necessary training and skills required for adult educators to deliver intricate pedagogical experiences, such as experiential and differentiated learning, could end up revealing key success factors and enriching the capacity of Scout movements to inspire formal education [18,34,35]. ...
The Portuguese educational system aims at nurturing the holistic development of individuals and societal progress, surpassing the mere transmission of curriculum-based knowledge. While considerable advancements have been made, the need for ongoing innovation and equal educational opportunities remains evident, so that all children can have not only equal access to education, but also equal chances of success. This study investigates the largest Portuguese Scout movement, the CNE, exploring its organisational and pedagogical approaches, potentially applicable in formal education settings. This research surveyed participants aged 18–22, having completed approximately 12 years in the Scout movement. Data collection via focus group followed a semi-structured script, before a thorough content analysis was carried. Findings are organised as follows: Pedagogical organisation in learning cycles; Patrol system; The four stages of the Project Method; Characterization of the Scout Game and other learning process dimensions; Other competencies and values developed throughout the Scout learning course; and Comparisons with formal education contexts. The discourse of participants strongly suggests the Scout movement’s potential to inspire educational change, displaying consistent indicators of pedagogical innovation. The study advocates for further exploration of the CNE’s pedagogical functioning and its potential to serve as an inspiration for transformative changes in educational systems worldwide, as evidenced by the learners’ reflections.
... In response to a multiple-answer question where they were allowed to choose more than one option, 65% of students stated that they consider their parents and family members to be the most influential figures in their leadership development, a factor that has been found to have a major impact on youth [63][64][65]. Furthermore, 54% of the participants mentioned youth movements and organizations to be the most effective factor contributing to young leadership development, which is supported extensively by the literature [66][67][68]. Even the media was pointed out as an influential factor by 29% of this study population, mostly by girls, while only 30% mentioned school, and just 17% cited school staff. ...
This article examines the way students attending middle and high schools in Israel evaluate leadership education in their schools and the extent to which it contributes to their leader self-efficacy. Based on 376 questionnaires completed by teenage girls (n = 243) and boys (n = 133) who attend middle and high school in the public education system in Israel, it focuses on their perceptions regarding their school as their main leadership development establishment. Using a Likert scale to measure attitudes and perceptions of youth leadership, the questionnaire was used to investigate the following topics: the school’s efforts to impart leadership and encourage leadership and leadership ability, their self-perceptions of leadership ability, and the impact of the school staff on their leadership development. Students expressed discontent with the school’s ability to impart and motivate leadership, and family members and youth organizations are perceived as more influential. Students in middle schools participate more in leadership programs but evaluate the school’s contribution to leadership development less favorably than high school students. Although girls and boys are participating in leadership programs at a similar rate, girls’ leader self-efficacy is relatively low. Implementing leadership education has some deficiencies that require policymakers to make necessary adjustments regarding age and gender.
... have contributed to significant membership declines in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scoutstogether, youth membership is estimated to include 1,800,000 youth-other programs like 4-H serve nearly 6 million youth (Crary, 2021, June 30;What is 4-H, n.d.). Teaching plays a critical role in each of these NFE programs; Culp et al. (2007) characterized the ability to teach as "a critical component of a 4-H volunteer's role" (p 7), whereas Davis et al. (2021) found teaching youth-particularly those with social, emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges-a major challenge for BSA leaders. Exposure to teaching and learning activities in NFE programs is not as frequently encountered as experiences with professional teachers in formal educational institutions, yet NFE programs provide models of teaching to a noteworthy percentage of American youth. ...
The purpose of this study was to create a third space between a teacher educator and an undergraduate student to explore teaching experiences while in high school within non-formal education (NFE) programs in which we participated. We developed a series of five prompts that we responded to individually, meeting via Zoom to discuss our experiences and teacher learning. Our collaborative and iterative analysis revealed four categories related to our non-formal education teaching experiences: 1) how teacher learning was impacted by particular contexts in which it took place; 2) how our experiences revealed different and broader notions of teaching than we observed in our formal education experiences; 3) how certain contradictions shaped, and perhaps inhibited, our learning as teachers; and 4) what we learned from the teaching we did in NFE programs. Our findings depict how young people in recent years may accrue experiences teaching infrequently accounted for in previous scholarship.
... They found the state's 4-H program was not always addressing the shifting needs of volunteers, which staff and volunteers identified as training in teaching and facilitation skills, utilizing technology for education, and supporting young people in experiential learning. Top-down trainings may succeed in transmitting procedural or factual knowledge, allowing volunteers to "regurgitate facts," yet these trainings may be ineffective in providing volunteers with the skills necessary to apply their learning in experiential learning activities with youth (Wootton et al., 2017, p. 103; see also Davis et al., 2021a). The challenge attributed to tailoring or individualizing learning in volunteer trainings (e.g., Franck & Donaldson, 2020) is likely a major factor limiting the research on accommodating volunteer needs and adapting volunteer trainings like Wood Badge. ...
... On one hand, it would be easy to dismiss the absence of differentiation, or the overadherence we described above, since Scouters and other non-formal educators may have received limited training enhancing their teaching and their understanding of what it means for others to learn. And yet, these educators' potentially linear understanding of teaching and learning-and the diverse learning, social, and emotional needs of the youth they work with (Davis et al., 2021a(Davis et al., , 2021b)-may exacerbate the issues they encounter in their practice, thus heightening the need for appropriate training. This need for training raises two concerns. ...
The purpose of this instrumental, multisite case study is to examine fidelity, adaptation, and differentiation challenges found at Wood Badge, a nationwide Boy Scouts of America training for adult volunteer leaders. Our iterative analysis of more than 900 pages of fieldnotes and 400 pages of documents revealed facilitators often explicitly taught syllabus content during the trainings. Observers noted 119 minor differentiations across trainings, notably involving facilitator delivery methods and the duration and scheduling of training segments. Facilitators observed 16 adaptations, which appeared to be based on external conditions at trainings or facilitator preferences, and just three instances of differentiation. Our analysis of the trainings surfaced key fidelity/adaptation issues like overadherence, conflicting notions of deviation, and the impact of preparation on fidelity. In addition, we identified factors influencing facilitators’ use of adaptation and differentiation. Recommendations for large-scale trainings are made based on the study’s findings.
This study aimed to explore Russian young people’s perceptions of autonomy and the sources of these perceptions. It included thirty participants (16 female and 14 male) aged 11 to 24. Thirteen were Muscovites and 17 were from other Russian cities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online in summer of 2022. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. Findings suggest that the majority of participants perceived autonomous actions in a non-specific way or as being actions independent from others. Other meanings included adult, unruly, disciplined, responsible, successful, creative, and authoritative. The main sources of these perceptions were family, peers, education, and public opinion. Additional sources were the media, university, supplementary education, romantic partners, work, and older people. Overall, it is recommended to use non-interview methods such as observation to determine the influence of different sources on youth perceptions of individual autonomy, as it was difficult to fully capture this in interviews although their presence was detected.
This paper reflects on the possibilities and limits of a team-based, multi-site, evaluative ethnography. In this study, a team of qualitative researchers deployed participant ob- servation methods to assess the level of standardization and local adaptation in the training curriculum for adult leaders in the Boy Scouts of America. While the umbrella organization remained consistent over the course of the 12-months project, researchers completed intense intervals of observation in 13 different settings across the United States over the course of a year. We reflect on the benefits and challenges that fast-paced, evaluative ethnographic approaches offer for applied settings as well as insight into the complexities of team-based field work with regards to positionality, legitimacy, and relationships between researchers.
