The Influence of Scouting Activities upon the Behaviour of the Young Pupil

Abstract

Through the present study we wish to show the degree in which the scouting activities, based on the scout method, have a significant positive influence upon the adaptation and school integration of the primary school pupils. Scouting is an educational system formed of 7 combined elements, which are: learning by doing, teamwork, the symbolic frame, the personal progress system, the nature, the law and the promise of the scout and the adults’ support . The applicative pedagogic research takes place over a year and a half, following the pupils from the preparatory grade up to the end of the first grade. In this study we have involved five classes from which 41 students have already enlisted to the scouts, being the experimental lot, and their colleagues, 95, who are the control lot. All five classes are from Tîrgu-Mureș and the students enrolled in scouts became full members of the National Organization of Romanian Scouts (ONCR) - branch in Tîrgu-Mureș. The scouts have attended weekly meetings and outdoor activities, which prove their efficiency according to the statistic processing of the SPSS program.

Keywords: Scouting activitiesthe scout methodadaptation and school integrationyoung pupilscubs

Introduction

The choice of the research theme was determined by a plurality of harmonised roles this generated questions, curiosities. The experience as a volunteer at the scouts gave us the opportunity to work with highschool and then with primary students. In parallel, through the position held at the Pedagogical Vocational Highschool „Mihai Eminescu”, I have coordinated the students’ pedagogical training. By chance, in the schools and application classes there were scouts whom we surprised as being adapted to the school life and integrated into the formal environment. These aspects determined us to find out if the scouting activity really contributed to their adaptation and integration, or if it was a mere coincidence.

Therefore, we followed the children enlisted at the Cubs age group (7-10 years), within the National Organisation “Romania’s Scouts” – Local Headquarter Tîrgu-Mureş, in order to highlight the strengths and the opportunities offered by the non-formal curriculum of the organisation, through the scout method, in order to adapt and integrate them into the formal context.

The paper’s theoretical foundation and the related literature

The Scouting’s mission in the Romanian society is to contribute to the education of young men through a system of values based on a Promise and on a Law that of helping to build a better world, in which people are fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role within the society. This is done by involving young people in a non-formal educational process, all through the years when they form themselves as individuals; the use of a specific method, which makes each individual the main agent of his own development as a trustful, motivated, responsible and open person; supporting the young people in establishing a system of values based on spiritual, social and individual principles, as they are expressed in the Promise and in the Law. (www.oncr.ro)

The National Organisation “Romania’s Scouts” has an educational offer which extends throughout a period of 16 years (from 5-21), being one which is based on a non-formal annual curriculum adapted to each age group. The activities of the organisation are dedicated to children and young people with ages between 5 and 21, being divided into age groups as follows: 5-7 years, cubs (7-10), scouts (11-14), explorers (15-18), seniors (18-21).

The Scouting pedagogy aims a series of areas of development, such as: physic, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, character. The specific pedagogic method, the scout method , is a form of non-formal education, tested and with successful results throughout 109 years of scouting. In order to achieve the propose of scouting, adult volunteer members (the leaders) use in their activities with the children and the young adults an educational system formed of 7 combined elements: learning by doing, teamwork, the symbolic frame, the personal progress system, the nature, the law and the promise of the scout and the adults’ support .

Methodology

The purpose of the research we initiated is to establish in what way the scouting activities, based on the scout method, have a significant positive influence over the adaptation and integration of the young student in formal contexts.

Starting from the multiple educational influences which scouting has, in general and particularly those which can be correlated with the formal education, we have shaped the hypothesis according to which the capitalization in formal contexts of the learning and forming experiences, lived by the children with ages between 6 and 8 in the scouting non-formal educational activities have a significant contribution to their adaptation and integration to the schooling environment.

In our research, the observation method was used in all the stages; it was also used with the purpose of choosing the research participants. 5 preparatory classes were chosen from 4 schools in Tîrgu-Mureş: Europe Gymnasium, Romulus Guga Gymnasium, Mihai Viteazul Gymnasium and George Coșbuc Gymnasium, which have first degree primary teachers.

The instruments we used were based on the primary teachers’ and our own observations during the class activities and the breaks are: School Behaviour Rating Scale (GECS)and Child Behavior Rating Scale – CBRS.

GECS (Annex 1) is an instrument we have conceived and which has been filled in by us, together with the primary teachers, for each student separately for each of the 4 testings. This instrument contains 10 items that follow the degree of adjustability and school integration of the students.

A procedure that checks the internal consistency of the items has been launched. The coefficient used here was Cronbach Alpha and it measured the co-variant between the values of the items. In general, the values around 0,90 are considered “excellent”, those of 0,80, “very good”, and those of 0,70, ”adequate” (Kline, 2005 apud. Popa, 2011, p. 89). The value of the GECS coefficient is 0,834; this value indicates a very good internal consistency of the items. The results obtained can be considered, from this perspective, valid.

CBRS is an instrument we borrowed, being translated and adapted to the Romanian population by the team of researchers belonging to the project Early literacy in Roma children from Romania: predictions, levels and strategies to improve the literacy ELIRA degree , project financed through the program “Research in Prioritary Sectors” within the Financial Mechanism of SEE 2009-2014 and the state budget, contract no. 15 SEE/30.06.2014.

CBRS (Annex 2) is an observational tool conceived in order to evaluate especially the social and control behaviour, more specifically the child’s ability to plan, organise and finalise tasks, cooperation with colleagues and the self-adjustment of behaviour. (Bronson apud McClellanda, M. M., Morrisonb, F. J., 2003). This scale is standardised and valid, it has been used in more studies in the western countries in order to evaluate the social abilities related to learning (for example: Matthews, Ponitz, & Morrison, 2009; McClelland & Morrison, 2003). More recently it was also used in a study of Ponitz, McClelland, Matthews and Morrison (2009) to evaluate both the interpersonal social skills and the learning-related social skills. (Lim, S. M., Rodger, S., Brown, T, 2010).

The value of the Cronbach Alpha coefficient for CBRS, in our research is of 0,951 which indicates an excellent internal consistency of the items. The results obtained can be considered, from this perspective, valid.

The psycho-pedagogical experiment is considered the main method of investigation used in the research, with the purpose of confirming or denying the hypothesis. Checking the hypothesis will require the organisation and development of a psycho-pedagogical experiment unfolded for 19 months, from December 2014 until June 2016. The experiment requires the intentional modification of the conditions of appearance and development of the phenomena, more specifically, using the scouting method in order to study its effects concerning the integration and the adaptation of young students to the school environment.

In the research we will use an experimental inter-subjects design, which involves the comparison between two groups: an experimental and a control one. Also, we will make an intra-subject analysis in order to see more explicitly the progress of those within the experimental lot.

The psycho-pedagogical experiment was organised in Tîrgu-Mureş County within the activities unfolded at the Local Centre Tîrgu-Mureş – the National Organisation of Romania’s scouts, at the Cubs’ age group. Two units were created ( one unit is a form of scouting organisation where a group of 20-30 children or young people are active), where the students wanted to be enlisted within the organisation, where they were randomly distributed.

During the psycho-pedagogical experiment, three semesters, there were weekly meetings with each unit and outdoor activities with the other cubs’ units and a summer camp with all the age branches from the Local Centre Tîrgu-Mureş. For each unit meeting sheets (for example Annex 3) were made, these can be considered the equivalent of activity projects within the formal education. Three development areas were followed: social, intellectual and emotional, according to the scouting pedagogy provided in The cubs Leader’s Guide (Petrea, E., 2010).

The content sample

The scouting pedagogy has its own contents, organised and structured according to the specific of maturity and of each age group’s educational needs, suited into a symbolic frame , in a story. Regarding the age branch we wish to discuss, the symbolic frame is The Jungle Book , by Rudyard Kipling, the children being able to identify themselves with certain story characters, to get involved, to make progress.

Through the symbolic frame a series of development areas are being targeted, each associated to a Jungle Book character. The development areas are crossed gradually, during the four years dedicated to this age branch, the children being aware that they are within the territory of the character that rules that development area.

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The standard model of implementing the symbolic frame implies the division of the development areas throughout 4 years:

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Results and Discussions

The results were introduced as a result of applying the two instruments (CBRS and GECS) and were statistically processed into the SPSS program, by calculating the “t” value up to a significance threshold of p<0,05 for the independent samples (the control and the experimental lot). The two tables, Group Statistics and Independent Samples Test, generated by the statistical data analysis program, were compressed in Tables 2 and 3 . In the tables the values of “t” and the significance threshold were written in the case of each item of the instruments applied to the four testings (pre-test, intermediary 1, intermediary 2 and post-test).

Next, we will present the results obtained with the CBRS scale. By analysing the values of “t”, in the pre-test, they are insignificant for a signfificance threshold of p>0,05 for fifteen of the seventeen items. From the items’ perspective that don’t have a significance threshold of p<0,05 we can say that between the two lots of participants there are no significant differences regarding the social and mastering behaviour, more precisely the children’s ability to plan, organise and finalise tasks, cooperation with colleagues and the behaviour’s self-adjustment. Therefore, the two lots can be used in research, in order to be compared after the intervention over the experimental lot.

In the case of the items “Cooperative with playmates when participating in a group play activity; willing to give and take in the group, to listen to or help others.” and “Does not fuss when he/she has to wait briefly to get attention from teacher or other adult; child may be asked once to wait by the teacher or adult.” the value of t=2,775 and t=3,944 is relevant for a significance threshold of p<0,01. This significance threshold highlights the fact that from the perspective of these items the two lots are different, in the case of the control lot the averages are higher (a=3,59 and a=3,46) than in the case of the experimental lot (a=3,10 and a=2,54). These differences may have even constituted the reason why parents were more inclined to enlist their children at the scouts. Another cause of the significant difference between the two lots in the case of item seventeen can be due to an evaluation error taking into account that at the next testing the difference is no longer significant, the averages being in the control lot of 2,89, and in the case of the experimental lot of 2,98.

In the experimental stage two testings were made, intermediary 1 and intermediary 2, where the values of “t” become more and more significant, so that at the intermediary evaluation 2, twelve items out of seventeen have a smaller significance threshold than p<0,05. These differences highlight the progressive growth of the children’s planning, organising and ending of tasks capacity, as well as of cooperation and slef-adjustment of behaviour in the case of the children who attend meetings and scouting activities.

This progressive increase continues at the post-test evaluation, when at all the items we notice significant values of “t” at a significance threshold of p<0,05. Moreover, for fourteen out of seventeen items the significance threshold drops to the value of p<0,01. Therefore, at the end of the 19 months of the experiment significant differences are recorded, reported to all the items of the scale, out of the two lots the experimental one shows progress.

Next, we will present the results we obtained with the GECS grid.

Analysing the values of “t”, in the pre-test, they are irrelevant at a significance threshold of >0,05 for nine out of the ten items. From the perspective of the items that don’t have a significance threshold of p<0,05 we can say that between the two participants lots there are no significant differences regarding the degree of school adjustability and integration. Therefore, the two lots can be used in research to be compared following the experimental lot’s intervention.

In the case of the item „Shows curiosity, asks questions in order to understand information” the value of t=-2,688 is relevant at a significance threshold of p<0,01. This significance threshold highlights the fact that from the perspective of this item the two lots are different, in the case of the control lot the average is lower (a=3,36) than in the case of the experimental lot (a=3,78). This difference can also be due to an evaluation error considering that at the next testing the difference is no longer significant, the average being of 3,89 in the case of the control lot, and of 3,83 in the case of the experimental lot.

In the experimental lot two testings were made, intermediary 1 and intermediary 2, the significant differences starting to appear only at the intermediary testing 2, which shows that the scouting program has notable influences after an adjustment period, which was expected. Until intermediary testing 1 the students followed integration activities into the scouting life, only after this testing passed to activities that had as a purpose social development (Chill’s territory).

Starting with intermediary testing 2 significant differences are noticeable between the two lots, the “t” value haing a significance threshold of p<0,05 at all the items.

At the end of the 19 months of the psycho-pedagogic experiment, at the post-test evaluation, there are significant differences, reported at all the scale’s items, between the two lots, highliting the the progress of the experimental lot. The increase of the adjustability degree and school integration are revealed in the case of the students who participate at scouting meetings and activities.

Conclusions

These days, the extra-curricular activities have increasing credibility, the teaching staff and the parents encourage non-formal activities not just as an alternative to spending free time by young students, but also as a way of education, complementary to school.

Through this research we wanted to establish whether the non-formal activities, more precisely those based on the scout method have a positive influence over the young student’s adjustability and integration within formal contexts. For this we used two instruments based on the observation method: the CBRS scale and the GECS grid. Through the statistic processings within the SPSS program, it was shown that in the pre-experimental stage there are no significant differences between the experimental and the control lot, the “t” value having a significance threshold of p>0,05 in the case of the majority of the items belonging to the two instruments. Throughout the other three testings the values of “t” have become more and more significant, so that in post-test the “t” reaches a significance threshold lower than p<0,01 at the majority of the two instruments. As a consequence, the research showed the increase of the degree of school adjustability and integration, especially the children’s planning, organising and finalising tasks ability, as well as cooperating and self-adjustment of behaviour in the case of the students who attend scouting meetings and activities.

This research is part of a bigger project where other methods to measure the dependent variables are used, such as: the sociometric test, the enquiry based on a questionnaire, the research of curricular documents and of other school documents.

Annex 1

School Behaviour Rating Scale (GECS)

The purpose of this instrument is to evaluate the student’s behaviour during classes and recesses.

The results of this scale are confidential and will be valued within a pedagogic research in order to elaborate a PhD thesis by the PhD candidate Oana Moldovan. The PhD thesis is entitled The influence of the non-formal education over the young student’s behaviour in formal educational contetxts and it is made at the Doctoral School: Education, Reflexion, Development– The Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, University Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca.

Name and surname of the student: ......................................................

Date: .......................................

Class/School: ...........................................................................................

Instructions: Please fill in the 10 items by circling the number which indicates how frequently the child shows the described behaviour. The numbers of the answer can indicate the following:

The student NEVER shows the described behaviour.

The student RARELY shows the described behaviour.

The student SOMETIMES shows the described behaviour.

The student FREQUENTLY shows the described behaviour.

The student ALWAYS shows the described behaviour.

Annex 2

Child Behavior Rating Scale

The purpose of this instrument is to evaluate the student’s behaviour during classes and recesses.

The results of this scale are confidential and will be valued within a pedagogic research in order to elaborate a PhD thesis by the PhD candidate Oana Moldovan. The PhD thesis is entitled The influence of the non-formal education over the young student’s behaviour in formal educational contetxts and it is made at the Doctoral School: Education, Reflexion, Development– The Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, University Babeş-Bolyai, Cluj-Napoca.

Name and surname of the student: ......................................................

Date: .......................................

Class/School: ...........................................................................................

Instructions: Please fill in the 17 items by circling the number which indicates how frequently the child shows the described behaviour. The numbers of the answer can indicate the following:

The student NEVER shows the described behaviour.

The student RARELY shows the described behaviour.

The student SOMETIMES shows the described behaviour.

The student FREQUENTLY shows the described behaviour.

The student ALWAYS shows the described behaviour.

Annex 3

Unit meeting sheet - Badgers

References

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2. McClellanda, M. M., Morrison, F. J. (2003), The emergence of learning-related social skills in preschool children, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, vol. 18, pp 206–224
3. Petrea, E. (2010), The guide of the cubs’ leader, The National Organisation of Romania’s Scouts Publising House, Bucharest
4. Ponitz, C. C., McClellanda, M. M., J. S. Matthews, F. J. Morrison (2009), A Structured Observation of Behavioral Self-Regulation and Its Contribution to Kindergarten Outcomes, Developmental Psychology, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 605– 619
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