First Wood Badge Course at Gilwell, 1919
The First Scoutmasters' Course at Gilwell Park, September, 1919
Baden-Powell is seated center in the front row.

On the morning of September 8, 1919, a 61 year-old retired general of the British Army stepped out into the center of a clearing at Gilwell Park, in Epping Forest, outside London, England. He raised to his lips the horn of a Greater Kudu, one of the largest of African antelopes. He blew a long sharp blast. Nineteen men dressed in short pants and knee socks, their shirt-sleeves rolled up, assembled by patrols for the first Scoutmasters’ training camp held at Gilwell. The camp was designed and guided by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the World Scouting Movement.

When they had finished their training together, Baden-Powell gave each man a simple wooden bead from a necklace he had found in a Zulu chieftain’s deserted hut when on campaign in South Africa in 1888. The Scoutmasters’ training course was a great success and continued to be held year-after-year. At the end of each course the wooden beads were used to recognize the completion of training. When the original beads ran out, new ones were whittled to maintain the tradition established by Baden-Powell. Because of these beads, the course came to be known as the Wood Badge Course. It continues to this day in England and around the world as the advanced training course for leaders in Scouting.


The History of Wood Badge in the United States

Although an experimental course was conducted in 1936, Wood Badge training was officially inaugurated in the United States in 1948. Since that time it has grown and developed and become a key motivating force in the training of volunteer leaders in the Boy Scouts of America.

For 10 years, Wood Badge courses were conducted by the Boy Scouts of America 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.

Since 1958, qualified local councils have been authorized to conduct their own Wood Badge courses to provide advanced leadership training for Scoutmasters and those Scouters who support troop opera-tions. 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 1960’s, 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 1970’s, Wood Badge had evolved. Revisions completed in 1979 provided a continued emphasis on leadership skills, balanced by both Scoutcraft and program activities.

The course content was revised in 1994 and now incorporates key elements of Ethics in Action introduced into Boy Scout training and literature over the last several years. Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge reinforces and supplements the new materials included in the Scoutmaster Handbook (1991), Scoutmasters’ Junior Leader Training Kit (1991), Junior Leader Training Conference (1992), Continuing Education for Scout Leaders (1993), the Train the Trainer Conference (1993), and Scoutmastership Fundamentals (1994). Wood Badge continues to provide advanced training in the most current methods of the Boy Scouts of America.

A Unique Opportunity

Boy Scout Leader Wood Badge Training offers a unique opportunity for learning and for leadership. Participants live and work together in a patrol with other Scouters. While they learn about the skills of leadership and the techniques of Scoutcraft, they have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the values and the methods of Scouting. They experience the fun and adventure of Scouting at first hand, and in a very special way. With other Scouting leaders, and an experienced staff setting the example, they try to live Scouting at its best.

Wood Badge is considered by many as a peak experience in their Scouting careers. It has served as a source of training and inspiration to thousands of Scouters. In their turn, these Scout leaders have affected the lives of millions of America’s youth.

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