Looking back, looking forward, looking in…
Reflection is as important as, and sometimes more important than, evaluating and reviewing. Reflection is what helps a Scout learn to tie a bowline. Evaluation helps he see the mistakes he makes on his first couple tries. Reviewing helps him see what the end result of a bowline is supposed to be like. Reflection helps him make the leap between what he’s done, and where he wants to go. The same is true in everything we do, including our jobs in Scouting.
Like that Tenderfoot, a Scouter is taught how to do his or her job, does the job for a while, and then reflects on the experience. That reflection helps the Scouter learn how to apply his or her knowledge of the job using his or her personal abilities. Through reflection, we learn what we’re good at, and what we’re not so good at. That helps us be better adult leaders, because it focuses our attention on the things we need to improve.
If we don’t reflect on what we’ve done, or are doing, we can’t learn from the experience until it’s too late. Reflection should be a natural part of what we do as leaders, just as reviewing and evaluating should be. It’s what we want our Scouts to do.
To be continued:
via: Green Bar
