Wood Badge training: Difference between revisions

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On completion of the course, participants are awarded the [[Wood Badge]] [[bead]]s to recognize significant achievement in leadership and direct service to young people. Recipients of the Wood Badge are known as ''Wood Badgers'' or ''Gilwellians''.

[[image:wb course first.jpg|thumb|300px|right|First Wood Badge training at [[Gilwell Park]]]]

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Soon after founding the [[Scouting|Scout movement]], [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert Baden-Powell]] saw the need for leader training. Early [[Scoutmaster]] training camps were held in [[London]] in 1910, and in [[Yorkshire]] in 1911. Baden-Powell wanted his training to be as practical as possible, and that meant holding it in the [[outdoors]] in [[camp]]. [[World War I]] delayed the development of leader training, so the first formal Wood Badge course was not offered until 1919.<ref name="wbfounding"/><ref name="gillwbhist"/><ref name="origins"/> [[Gilwell Park]], just outside of [[London]], was purchased specifically to provide a venue for the course and was opened for use on [[June 2]], [[1919]]. Francis Gidney, the first Camp Chief at Gilwell Park, conducted the first Wood Badge course there from [[September 8]] to [[September 19]], [[1919]]. It was produced by [[Percy Everett]], the Commissioner of Training, and Baden-Powell himself gave lectures. The course was attended by 18 participants, and other lecturers. After this first course, Wood Badge training continued at Gilwell Park, and it became the home of leadership training in the Scout movement.<ref name="gillwbhist2">{{cite web | url = http://pinetreeweb.com/woodbadg.htm | title = The Wood Badge Homepage | publisher = Pinetree Web | accessdate = 2006-08-01}}</ref>

[[Image:GilwellLogo.svg|thumb|100px|Gilwell Park's axe and log represents Wood Badge]]

* Recognize the contemporary leadership concepts utilized in the corporate world and leading government organizations that are relevant to Scouting's values.  

* Apply the skills one learns from participating as a member of a successful working team.

The training includes both theoretical and experiential learning. All course participants are introduced to ''1st Gilwell Scout group'' or ''Gilwell Scout Troop 1'', and assigned to one of the traditional Wood Badge "critter" [[patrol]]s. Instructors deliver training designed to strengthen the patrols. One-on-one work with an assigned troop guide helps each participant to reflect on what he has learned, so that he can better prepare an individualized "ticket". This part of the training program gives the adult [[Scout Leader|Scouter]] the opportunity to assume the role of a Scout joining the original "model" troop, to learn firsthand how a troop ideally operates. The [[locale]] of all initial training is referred to as ''Gilwell Field'', no matter its geographical location.<ref>{{cite book | title = Wood Badge For The 21st Century - Staff Guide | year = 2001 | publisher = Boy Scouts of America}}</ref>

The phrase 'working your ticket' comes from a story attributed to Baden-Powell: Upon completion of a British soldier's service in India, he had to pay the cost of his ticket home. The most affordable way for a soldier to return was to engineer a progression of assignments that were successively closer to home.

Part of the transformative power of the Wood Badge experience is the effective use of [[metaphor]] and [[tradition]] to reach both heart and mind. In most Scout associations, "working your ticket" is the [[culmination]] of Wood Badge training. Participants apply themselves and their new knowledge and skills to the completion of items designed to strengthen the individual's leadership and the home unit's organizational [[resilience]] in a project or "ticket". The ticket consists of specific goals that must be accomplished within a specified time. Effective tickets require much planning and are approved by the Wood Badge course staff before the course phase ends. Upon completion of the ticket, a participant is said to have earned his way back to Gilwell.<ref name="21stticket">{{cite web | last = Barnard | first = Mike | year = 2003 | url =http://www.woodbadge.org/WB21/wb21ticket.htm | title = What is a Wood Badge Ticket? | publisher = Woodbadge.org | accessdate= 2007-01-07}}</ref>

After completion of the Wood Badge course, participants are awarded the insignia in a Wood Badge bead ceremony.<ref name="21stceremony">{{cite web | last = Barnard | first = Mike | year = 2002 | url =http://www.woodbadge.org/Ceremonies/wbcere.htm | title = Wood Badge Presentation Ceremonies | publisher = Woodbadge.org| accessdate= 2007-01-07}}</ref> They receive automatic membership in 1st Gilwell Park Scout Group (called Gilwell Troop 1 in America and other countries). These leaders are henceforth called Wood Badgers or Gilwellians. It is estimated that worldwide over 100,000 Scouters have completed their Wood Badge training.<ref name="recipients"> {{cite web | year = 2007 | url = http://www.scoutingvermont.org/training/woodbadge/woodbadge_invitation_files/woodbadge_invitation.htm| title = Wood Badge - 2007 Letter of Invitation| publisher = Green Mountain Council Boy Scouts of America | accessdate = 2007-01-26}}</ref> The 1st Gilwell Scout Group meets annually during the first weekend in September at [[Gilwell Park]] for the Gilwell Reunion.<ref name="historyofficial">{{cite book | last = Rogers | first = Peter | title = Gilwell Park: A Brief History and Guided Tour | year = 1998 | publisher = [[The Scout Association]] | location = London, England | language= English |pages = pages 5-46}}</ref>

[[Image:1ste Gillwell Leiderscursus.jpg|thumb|Gilwell Leiderscursus, The Netherlands 9-21 July 1923]]

The first Wood Badge training took place on Gilwell Park. The estate continues to provide the service in 2007, for British Scouters of [[The Scout Association]] and international participants. Original trainers include Baden-Powell and Gilwell Camp Chiefs [[Francis Gidney]], [[J.S. Wilson|John Wilson]] and, until the 1960s, [[John Thurman]].   

Since 1948, Wood Badge training has been provided in the United States at [[Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation|Schiff Scout Reservation]] and, in the last decades, mostly at [[Philmont Scout Ranch]].<ref name="ubushist">{{cite web | last = Barnard | first = Mike | year = 2002 | url = http://www.woodbadge.org/wbhistus.htm |title = History of Wood Badge in the United States | publisher = Woodbadge.org| accessdate= 2007-01-07}}</ref><ref name="schiff"/> [[William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt|Bill Hillcourt]] was a key figure of the early days of Wood Badge in the U.S., where it developed into a core asset of the [[Boy Scouts of America]].<ref name="schiff">{{cite web | last = Barnard| first = Mike | year = 2001 | url = http://www.woodbadge.org/wbgbbWB.htm | title = Green Bar Bill Hillcourt's Impact on Wood Badge | publisher = Woodbadge.org | accessdate = 2007-01-30}}</ref> A new curriculum called "21st Century Wood Badge" was introduced in 2001. It is aimed at all adult leaders in the Boy Scouts of America, regardless of the program area they serve in, and eliminates the need for the previous program-specific Wood Badge courses: [[Cub Scout]], [[Boy Scout]], [[Varsity Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)|Varsity Scout]], [[Venturing]], and [[Sea Scouting]].<ref name="ubushist"/><ref name="goals"/><ref name="21stticket"/><ref name="21sttheme">{{cite web | last = Barnard | first = Mike | year = 2004 | url = http://www.woodbadge.org/WB21/wb21themes.htm | title = The Objectives of Wood Badge for the Twenty-First Century | publisher = Woodbadge.org| accessdate = 2007-01-07}}</ref> No person may serve as Wood Badge staff on courses in 2007 or later unless that person took the course, or served on staff, after 2001.<ref name="21stceremony"/><ref name="ubushist"/>

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[[fi:Kolmiapila-Gilwell-kurssi]]