Cross bridges
Discover GPS in a Nutshell
These are the questions that we have been asking:
1. To fulfil the requirements and challenges stated by the World Organization of the Scout Movement, mainly on the growth matter.
2. Once taken the political decision, the most important step was to analyse the relevance and suitability of Scouting in Mexico.
3. Understanding the word relevance as the scouts’ ability to respond to the country’s needs and interests and considering the new generations as the main axis. This will be the purpose (what for) of Scouts ranging from the individual to the social impact.
4. Suitability means the need of significance Scouting must have to people from multiple social and cultural segments, considering their abilities and interests. The challenge is to develop such a flexible model that it may adapt to diverse needs and features within different contexts.
The Youth Programme is not finished yet. Within a year cycle we have barely reached the first phase of the Educational Project. The youth programme update will take place in the next two years.
The main changes are the visibility and recognition of the different development stages of children teenagers and young people. This means that those stages are to be notorious from the mission and vision of Scouting in Mexico.
As a result of our research, we have identified crosswise approaches that reflect the quality of relationships among all the young scout members. It’s the way people are considered in their relationships with the others and with their common space, reflected in the ways they act based on their values and attitudes. These approaches include Human Rights, sustainable human development, the four pillars of education, and the intergenerational and intercultural dialogue.
We have also stated some postulates assumed as the set of philosophical premises, ideas or principles whose truth is admitted without being proven to be the base of something, and which are sustained by an individual, group or organization.
These postulates are:
a. The acknowledgement and trust in childhood and youth in all their diversity, of having the right and opportunity to create new responses to the sustainable local and global community development.
b. The importance of creating a better world through the involvement and leadership of children and young people in the promotion of a sustainable way of living together, in harmony with oneself, with others and with Nature.
c. The mandatory “no-harm” policy for mature and psychologically balanced adults to develop a genuine educational partnership with the young people they assist, and assure the necessary conditions to always create a safe from harm environment, in order to protect and respect the children and young people dignity.
Finally, we also stated educational priorities which are the educational contents determined as the most important by our national organization, in response to the current social and environmental challenges. These are the educational priorities for Mexico: Peace Culture and collaborative effort; personal and social resiliency; and, transformational leadership (being a change agent).
Based on the above, we have also developed the expected profile for young people completing their scout formation and the competencies expected when leaving each section. These competencies are expressed according to the four types of relationships and principles along their development.
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Type of Relationship / Section |
Wolf Cub Pack |
Scout Troop |
Venture Scouts |
Rovers |
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Relationship to oneself |
Se reconoce como una persona integrada por los ámbitos corporal, de la voluntad, intelectual, afectivo-emocional, y aplica las recomendaciones del adulto para su autocuidado, así como sobre el reconocimiento de sus capacidades y sus límites. |
Comprende su proceso de cambio en los ámbitos corporal, de la voluntad, intelectual, afectivo-emocional, y se hace responsable de su autocuidado. |
Se apropia del proceso de construcción de su propia identidad desde los ámbitos corporal, de la voluntad, intelectual, afectivo-emocional, y se hace responsable de su autocuidado, así como del desarrollo de sus potencialidades y del respeto a sus límites. |
Valora su persona, desde los ámbitos corporal, de la voluntad, intelectual, afectivo-emocional, y se hace responsable de su autocuidado, así como del desarrollo de sus potencialidades y del respeto a sus límites con creatividad y una actitud positiva para sobreponerse ante situaciones difíciles y dolorosas. |
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Conoce su potencial y sus límites y los acepta con responsabilidad. |
Adopta una actitud positiva que le permite sobreponerse ante situaciones difíciles y dolorosas, a partir de la reflexión de su historia de vida y del reconocimiento de sus recursos personales y redes de apoyo. |
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Escucha la opinión de sus pares y de los adultos para hacer siempre lo mejor. |
Incorpora la opinión de sus pares en su proceso de construcción de sí mismo y escucha las sugerencias del adulto. |
Asume críticamente la opinión de sus pares y adultos en el proceso de construcción de sí mismo |
Incrementa constantemente sus competencias personales y técnicas, buscando la opinión y evaluación de sus pares en el proceso. |
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Relationship to others |
Convive con los demás, practicando la empatía, la solidaridad y el respeto hacia la diversidad social. |
Establece relaciones interpersonales empáticas, solidarias y respetuosas hacia la diversidad social. |
Promueve las relaciones con los demás de manera empática, solidaria y respetuosa, especialmente hacia la diversidad social. |
Construye relaciones interpersonales empáticas, solidarias, respetuosas hacia la diversidad social y generacional, con características interculturales, desde un liderazgo transformador y democrático. |
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Participa activamente en procesos democráticos para la toma de decisiones, tendiendo al bien común, mediante el trabajo en equipo. |
Participa activamente en procesos democráticos para la toma de decisiones, promoviendo el bien común y desarrollando habilidades de liderazgo. |
Desarrolla un liderazgo responsable que promueva la participación democrática. |
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Type of Relationship / Section |
Wolf Cub Pack |
Scout Troop |
Venture Scouts |
Rovers |
|
Relationship to others |
Se siente orgulloso de su familia y de su patria, aprendiendo a convivir desde la cultura de paz. |
Se involucra en actividades que promueven el bien común, desde su conciencia de ser mexicano, contribuyendo con la cultura de paz. |
Valora la herencia cultural mexicana, colaborando activamente en favor de la cultura de paz. |
Asume un sentido de pertenencia y amor a México y/o a su país de origen, fomentando la cultura de paz y el esfuerzo colectivo. |
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Relationships to the World and to Nature |
Aprecia el valor de la Naturaleza y cuida la biodiversidad. |
Preserva la biodiversidad, sintiéndose parte de la Naturaleza y realizando actividades de importante alcance. |
Se asume como colaborador del fortalecimiento de la cohesión social y del cuidado y preservación de la biodiversidad mediante actividades integrales y creativas. |
Se asume como integrante activo de la Naturaleza y la sociedad; así como colaborador del fortalecimiento de la cohesión social y, del cuidado y preservación de la biodiversidad por medio de soluciones integrales e innovadoras. |
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Reconoce el valor de su herencia cultural y respeta las culturas diferentes de la propia. |
Participa en los valores de su herencia cultural y fomenta el respeto hacia las culturas diferentes de la propia. |
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Conoce la vida al aire libre, respetando el entorno natural. |
Valora la vida al aire libre, respetando y cuidando el entorno natural. |
Promueve la vida al aire libre, respetando y cuidando el entorno natural. |
Disfruta responsablemente la vida al aire libre, se compromete con el cuidado y conservación del entorno natural. |
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Participa en proyectos de desarrollo sustentable, propuestos por los adultos. |
Colabora en el diseño de proyectos de desarrollo sustentable, en alianza con los adultos. |
Propone proyectos de desarrollo sustentable y los diseña e implementa, de manera colaborativa con sus pares, en alianza con los adultos. |
Conduce proyectos de desarrollo sustentables, involucrándose activamente en la solución de problemáticas locales. |
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Relationship to the trascendental |
Se plantea preguntas que lo ponen en contacto con su dimensión espiritual. |
Explora su espiritualidad por medio de la reflexión sobre el sentido de su vida. |
Fortalece su espiritualidad mediante la reflexión de las preguntas sobre el sentido de su vida. |
Busca su bienestar espiritual a través de los conocimientos que ha ido adquiriendo sobre su persona y sentido de vida, para vivir congruente y comprometidamente. |
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Comprende la importancia de la fe que profesa su comunidad y las prácticas de la misma. |
Reflexiona sobre los principios y prácticas de la fe compartidas con la comunidad y entiende que es un medio para el desarrollo espiritual. |
Asume una postura personal sobre las prácticas de su fe, de manera crítica hacia su comunidad, como parte de su desarrollo espiritual. |
Profesa su fe mediante las prácticas propias de sus creencias. |
The main change has been the process, the research, for it has brought us the tools to know the scout members and, above all, the children, the teenagers and the young people we have not reached yet, as well as the hierarchy of minimal indispensable learning to achieve the Scouting mission and vision.
The second main change has been to promote the democratic process, by conducting different polls and workshops to sensitize people on the importance of stating the new generations as the centre of the programme design.
The third main change has been the political change. We have run the necessary processes to make the changes in the Statutory level for the next National Assembly, so the educational action is assumed as a true political priority.
Finally, all the research results have been published in different scout and non-scout media, including academy congresses. This has allowed the penetration in the public policies of our country, for we have introduced a law initiative to the Mexican Deputy Chamber, where we are asking for the non-formal education acknowledgement within the secondary regulations of the Mexican General Education Law.
We have not reached this process yet.
Launching the Mares Limpios Campaign (Clean Seas) with the run of a pilot of Personal Progression Proposal, with the following features (December 2019 to February 2020):
1. Setting of challenges to change the use, consume and commitment habits to our Planet Life.
2. Setting the bronze badge as the minimal indispensable learning on the topic.
3. Setting the silver badge for Scouts to choose among the topics: My House, My Environment and Sustainable Nutrition.
4. Setting the third badge for the link with other organizations to conduct the cleansing of water bodies.
5. Designing the digital educational materials synthesized in a challenge list. The follow-up was made through social media posts, explicitly explained in the challenge list.
6. Using mascots to allow the theoretical knowledge approach. The three topics were: (a) endangered animals, (b) animals affected by pollution-diseases, and (c) barely or totally unknown animals.
Results were: (1) about 300 badge applications in 21 of the 32 Mexican Republic States, from which only ten are close to seashores, (2) the disposal of 38,855 one-use plastics in recycling containers, and (3) 33 cleansed water bodies.
We are now studying other educational data that will allow us to make future decisions.
Avoid making decisions out of the national context. Each country has its own features: educational and economical levels vary within peoples; uses and customs determine many behaviours; many environmental problems have different causes and effects that are specific to each population; social problems derive from a bio-social-cultural-political-economical system.
Avoid making decisions based on personal experience and trajectory. New generations are and will face a different world to the current one. Technology and environment are dramatically and quickly changing, resulting in a faster consumer market absorption of interests. Biological needs have not changed much, but there is a need to develop better social-emotional abilities to develop potentials, as well as the respect and protection of rights and freedom.
Avoid the assumption of already knowing the population. In facing our planet problems, it is necessary to conduct more serious studies, for in many cases, scouts not only complete family or school education, but they sometimes even substitute it or prompt more significative knowledge. Our research in Mexican ethnic communities, disabled groups, and margined urban zones, helped us realise that the Scouting approach need to be different, more development-oriented to balance inequity. This requires a major investment of human, cultural and financial capital.
Human resources involved in the process (one team for designing and another team for implementation)
The Design Team was a professional multi-disciplinary group from fields as Pedagogy, Psychology, Anthropology, Economy, Marketing, and Philosophy, composed by scout members, former scouts, and non-scout members.
The Implementation Team (for Mares Limpios and political processes) has been composed by the executive and voluntary members (not necessarily professional) of our National Scouts Office.
We have just started to analyse how the scheme will be.