The Wood Badge or Woodbadge is the recognition received by adults in Scouting who have completed the Leader training program provided by their respective Scout Association. Those who successfully complete the training receive recognition in the form of two wooden beads on a leather thong or bootlace. A Wood Badge recipient is called a Wood Badger or Gilwellian and holders of the Woodbadge automatically become members of the 1st Gilwell Scout Group in the United Kingdom (U.K.). The 1st Gilwell Scout Group meets every first week-end of September in Gilwell Park for the Gilwell Reunion.
Additional beads are awarded to Wood Badgers who serve as part of their council's Wood Badge training team. One additional bead is awarded to Assistant Leader Trainers (Wood Badge Staff) and two additional beads are awarded to Leader Trainers (Wood Badge Course Director), for a total of four.
As part of a tradition that is not widely practiced, if at all, a total of five beads is worn by the National Scout Association's person in charge of Wood Badge trainings. This symbolizes his position as the official representative of Gilwell in his country and as a Deputy Camp Chief of Gilwell.
Scouting's founder Robert Baden-Powell himself wore a total of six beads which he passed on to Sir Percy Everett, then Deputy Chief Scout. Percy in turn gave the six beads to Gilwell to be worn by the Gilwell Camp Chief as a badge of office. This tradition continues today.
All Wood Badgers (anyone presented Wood Badge beads) are generally held in high esteem throughout the Scouting world and being awarded these beads is a highly coveted achievement.
Origins
The origin of the Wood Badge beads is a necklace once worn by Dinizulu, a Zulu chief. When Baden-Powell was on a military campaign in Zululand, now part of South Africa, he pursued Dinizulu for some time but never managed to catch up with him. Baden-Powell is said to have found the necklace when he came to Dinizulu's deserted mountain stronghold Template:Ref. The necklace, 12 feet long, consisted of more than 1000 acacia wooden beads. Such necklaces were known as iziqu in Zulu.
Much later, Baden-Powell looked for a distinctive award for the participants in the first Gilwell course. He constructed the first Wood Badge using took two beads from Dinizulu's necklace, and threaded them onto a leather thong given to him by an elderly African in Mafeking.
Wood Badge training of WOSM member organizations
BRAZIL
Australia
Australian Wood Badge training largely follows that of the U.K., however in 2003, Scouts Australia established the "Scouts Australia Institute of Training" which is a government registered National Vocational & Education Training (VET) Provider. Under this registration, Scouts Australia designed and had formally approved a "Diploma in Leadership" which is awarded to those Adult Leaders who complete the Wood Badge and then go on to complete a number of additional competencies.
The Diploma of Leadership (like all Australian VET Qualifications) is recognised throughout Australia by both Government and Private Industry alike. The qualification is issued under the auspices of Vocational Training and Education Acts in the various States and Territories. This is the first time that Scout Leader Training has had recognition beyond Scouting anywhere in the World.
United States of America
In the United States, Wood Badge is the advanced leader training, taken after completion of the initial "Fast Start," the basic "New Leader Essentials" and "Leader Specific Training" (which is program specific- Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, and Venturing/Sea Scouting).
In 1936, an experimental course was conducted, along with a Rover Wood Badge Course. However, it wasn't until 1948 that Wood Badge training was officially inaugurated in the United States. Since that time it has grown, developed, and become a key motivating force in the training of volunteer leaders in the Boy Scouts of America.
During the 1950s, Wood Badge courses were conducted by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) exclusively for the purpose of training representatives from councils in methods of training and how to help with the leadership training programs of their own councils. Participants were required to subscribe to an agreement of service to this effect. Courses were mainly run at Schiff Scout Reservation and Philmont Scout Ranch. Also during this time, an Explorer Wood Badge course was available.
Beginning around 1958, qualified local councils were authorized to conduct their own Wood Badge courses to provide advanced leadership training for Scoutmasters and those Scouters who support troop operations. With regional approval, two or more local councils may also cooperate in conducting this training experience in a cluster-council Wood Badge course.
In the late 1960s, the principles of leadership development were introduced experimentally into Wood Badge. By 1972, they had become an integral part of the program. The skills of leadership were emphasized in Wood Badge as a means of fostering the growth of up-to-date leadership knowledge, skills, and attitudes among Scouting’s leaders. By the late 1970s, Wood Badge had further evolved. Revisions completed in 1979 provided a continued emphasis on leadership skills, balanced by both Scoutcraft and program activities. By this time, the BSA was delivering three different Wood Badge courses: Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge, Cub Scout Trainer Wood Badge, and (later) Varsity Scout Wood Badge. Not to be left out, Explorer leaders in the western states developed Explorer Leader Institute, and Sea Scout Leaders developed Sea Badge.
The course content was revised in 1994 to incorporate key elements of Ethics in Action introduced into Boy Scout training and literature between 1991-1995.
A new version of advanced leadership training, "21st Century Wood Badge", was introduced in 2001. This Wood Badge course is aimed at all adult leaders in the BSA, and eliminated the need for the previous program-specific Wood Badge courses. Sea Badge is still offered. Wood Badge continues to provide advanced training in the most current methods of the Boy Scouts of America.
See also
Footnotes
External links
- Scouting Milestones site has page devoted to Wood Badge history
- UK Scout Association fact sheet on Wood Badge history
- Wood Badge BSA site
- Sea Badge site at the official Sea Scouts Homepage
- Scouts Australia Institute of Training Site