PURPOSE, PRINCIPLES AND METHOD OF THE SCOUT MOVEMENT
Boy scout, scout, scout organization – these words, perhaps, are little known to us. For decades, they were practically not used in everyday life, except perhaps in scientific works.
Meanwhile, the Scout Movement (Scouting) grew, developed dynamically and progressively.
THE WORLD ORGANIZATION OF THE CHILDREN AND YOUTH SCOUT MOVEMENT is a voluntary, independent, non-political, non-governmental organization.
Very often you will come across the name “Scouting” – this is an abbreviation of the name of the Scout Movement.
First of all, let us turn to the explanation of the basic concepts of Scouting.
The Scout Movement is defined “… as a voluntary, non-political, educational Movement for young people, open to all without restriction of origin, creed or race, in accordance with the purpose, principles and method developed by the Founder of the Movement …”‘.
The concept of “Movement” means a continuous series of organized activities carried out in accordance with the goal, as well as a certain type of organization as a system of forms through which the goal is achieved.
Voluntariness is a necessary condition, which indicates that all members of the Movement join it of their own free will, since they recognize the principles of Scouting. This applies equally to children, young people and adults.
Scouting is an educational movement aimed at the versatile development and education of the individual; “education” here means the development of ability – “learning to know” and the development of attitude – “learning to be”.
In Scouting training, “to educate” is not to teach, but to involve the child in learning for himself, for himself, of his own free will, that which forms his character. In Scouting, the concept of “education” is not associated with the concept of “school”. Scout education is INFORMAL education, organized educational activity outside the established formal educational system.
Scouting is an organized institution with a specific purpose and is associated with specific social groups. Above all, Scouting appeals to children and young people, because at its core it is a children’s youth movement, where the role of adults is to help young people achieve the goals of Scouting.
Each National Scout Organization itself determines the age categories of young people accepted into the Scout Movement. Any child or young man, girl, regardless of origin, race, class or religion can join here. Thus, the principle of non-discrimination is one of the basic requirements of Scouting.
Purpose of Scouting
The purpose of Scouting, which determines the content of its activities, is to “educate responsible and worthy citizens of their country through the participation of scouts in local, national and international organizations, to promote the development of young people to reveal their fullest physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential” . This definition reflects the leading principle of education – all components of the human personality, namely, physical, mental, intellectual, social and spiritual qualities always develop in interaction.
Scouting includes many factors that contribute to the most complete development of the individual. But this does not mean that it replaces the family, school, religion and other social institutions of education, it only complements the educational activities of these institutions. Scouting is of particular importance in shaping the concept of the duties of a citizen of society. This goal is fundamental and must be understood in a broad sense: each person must be progressive, individual. At the same time, each person is a comprehensive part of society, it is part of the political structure of the region, region, country, etc., the absolute expression of which is the sovereignty of the motherland and to which the individual is responsible.