The Scout method is the informal educational system used in the Scouting Movement. The aim of Scouting is character training with the goal of helping participants become independent and helpful, and thereby become "healthy, happy, helpful citizens".
The Scout method uses appealing games in the primitive outdoors to generate challenges which a Scout learns to solve by themselves. Through the training and the example of the leader, Scouts are taught independence, leadership, the ambition to learn by themselves, and a moral code with positive goals. According to founder Robert Baden-Powell, the Scout method works naturally and unconsciously: naturally in the way that it follows the natural impulses of the Scout, and unconsciously because the Scout is not aware of the education.
Hands-on orientation provides a practical method of learning and helps the Scout build confidence. Activities and games provide a fun way to develop skills and provide contact with nature and the environment when pursued in an outdoor setting. Scouts learn in small groups to build unity, and a family atmosphere. Developing the characteristics of responsibility, self-reliance, self-confidence, and readiness, the Scouts eventually learn collaboration and leadership skills. An attractive program of varying activities expands a Scout's horizons and bonds the Scout even more to the group.
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement's (WOSM) definition of the Scout method has changed over the years. Through the 1980s it was composed of four elements: Scout Law and Scout Promise (Scout Oath), learning by doing, development of small groups, and a progressive and attractive programs of different activities. This changed in the 1990s when WOSM restated the method in seven elements. At the 41st World Scout Conference in 2017, an eighth element was added, "community involvement". These eight elements are summarized here.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts uses a very similar, five-part method.
Law and promise
The Scout law is a personal code of living to guide the way each Scout lives his or her life. It is not a repression of faults, so was not framed as a list of prohibitions. It states what is good form and what is expected of a Scout. The Scout Law is at the heart of the Scout method. With the Scout promise a Scout is engaged to do his best to obey the Scout law. The main principles are: Duty to God Duty to others Duty to self
Prohibition
Scouting does not prohibit bad habits, but instead gives better alternatives that will absorb the Scout's attention and gradually lead him to forget the old habit. The reasoning is that "prohibition generally invites evasion, since it challenges the spirit inherent in every red-blooded boy. The boy is not governed by DON'T, but is led on by DO."
Spirituality
A Scout should be spiritual but Scouting is open to all religions. Scouting deals with religions in the practical way: by nature study (to see what God is) and helping others (which is what God asks for). According to Baden-Powell this is part of all religions. Scouting develops the spiritual side through teaching life-saving techniques and by promoting the daily good deed. Some national organizations, like The Scout Association, do not require religious practice as a duty any more.
Good deeds
The good deed is a key component of the law and promise. Baden-Powell felt this is the main duty God asks for, and fulfilling our duty to others makes us happy, which fulfills the duty to ourselves. The point is not so much the deed itself, which could be minor, but to teach the Scout to always pay attention and recognise if he could help someone.
Scouts believe that education is a process of seeking and finding, this should be accomplished by planning and revisiting matters again in different contexts, presenting them to ourselves and working to keep operational 'activities' helping the boy scout find the idea and "experience the thrill of the real Good Turn.".
Learning by doing
Scouts games are full of practical action. This holds the participant's attention and gives the Scout hands-on experience in how the theory works. Although Baden-Powell put emphasis on practical work and independent learning, he did not rule out the need for instruction by leaders or in books. The phrase "Learning by doing" is nowadays much used in Scouting.