Scout Leadership Course Session Overview

Teamwork is about communicating, sharing ideas and working our solutions collaboratively. In managing a Scout Troop, the communication centres around The Troop Council. But it is not easy to make the Troop Council effective. This session covers ways to make it more effective.

Time to allocate for this session

45 minutes.

Recomended programming for this session

This session should take place AFTER the role of a PL and Patrol System sessions, and AFTER the Patrol in Council sessions.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the session, Scouts will:

• Know the purpose and structure of a Troop Council
• List different styles of Troop Council and where, when and how they should be held
• List topics that should be discussed by the Troop Council
• Demonstrate an ability to discuss, make decisions and monitor outcomes of a range of issues brought to a Troop Council

Content to be Covered

During the session, you must cover:

• The structure and purpose of a Troop Council
• Examples of different types of Troop Council for different purposes
• Brain storm of discussion topics relevant to a Troop Council
• Practical examples of a Troop Council

Measuring Success

The session outcomes will have been achieved if:

• Scouts show a keen participation in a Troop Council.
• Scouts can state the types of topics that should be discussed at a Troop Council and their role in it.
• Scouts show confidence in wanting to run the Troop Council in their own Troop.

Suggested Activities and Resources

Here are the suggested activities for this session:

Activity	Type of activity	Resources
Choice 1. Role Play	A chance to act out an actual council in an interactive Role Play. Sitting down session.	Mock Agenda
Choice 2. Different Types	Five quite different approaches to a Troop Council are played off against each other. Some Patrols inside, some out.	Different Types
Choice 3. Council Video	A video demonstrating good and bad examples of a Troop Council. Sitting down session.	The Video is on the resource disk.

Participant Handouts

Resources that can be printed or included on a disk to take home:

The Troop Council

Training Adult Leaders

Adult Leaders attending for training purposes should:

• All of the outcomes expected of the Scouts
• Show their understanding of the Troop Council and their role in it.