These [proficiency badges] are established with a view to developing in each lad the taste for hobbies or handicrafts, one of which may ultimately give him a career and not leave him helpless on going out into the world.
Moreover, they put into the hands of the Scoutmaster a means of encouraging the dull or backward boys – provided that the Scoutmaster uses our standard of proficiency – that standard is not so much the quality of his knowledge or skill as the amount of effort he has put into acquiring such knowledge or skill.
An understanding Scoutmaster who has made a study of the boys’ psychology can thus give to the boy an encouraging handicap, such as will give the slum boy a fair start alongside his better-educated brother. And the dull or hopeless boy can have his first win or two made easy for him so that he is led to intensify his efforts.
Lord Baden –Powell of Gilwell in “SCOUTING FOR BOYS” - 1908 |