Learn from the Handbook: Lessons Learned

BSA-Handbook-Cover The new Boy Scout
Handbook
is great, but its title is somewhat misleading. It’s not just
useful for boys or Scouts—anyone can find a wealth of information inside.

That’s where our Learn from the Handbook series comes in.
Each week we’re bringing you great tips straight from the handbook to enhance
both your Scouting life and your experiences outside of the program.

This week, let’s talk about teaching others a skill. Since a
Scout is helpful, conferring your talents to the boys in your unit is a
basically the Law. But in your professional life or time spent at home, we know
you find yourself training others to perform tasks all the time.

For help, simply flip open your handbook to page 53 or grab
your iPhone and open the new BSA Handbook app (read our review of the app here
{INSERTLINK}). There you’ll find the “Teaching EDGE,” a clever guide to
instructing others. Check it out:

E: Explain how the skill is done.
D: Demonstrate the necessary steps.
G: Guide the learners as they participate.
E: Enable them to use the new skill on their own.

So whether you’re teaching a group of Webelos Scouts how to
tie a square knot or demonstrating the finer points of open-heart surgery to a
bunch of medical students, the EDGE method helps others learn while also making
you better at performing the skill. Everybody wins! 

Chime In: How
have you used the EDGE method to teach others?


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.