Learning for Life
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Learning for Life (LFL) is an United States school and work-site based program that is a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America. It utilizes programs designed for schools and community-based organizations that are designed to prepare youth to for the complexities of contemporary society and to enhance their self-confidence, motivation, and self-esteem.[1]
Although it is not considered a traditional Scouting program (as among other things it does not include a Scout Promise or Scout Law nor are the children enrolled in it considered Scouts) it is open to all youth and adult participants of the appropriate age without discrimination on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, or religion.
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[edit] Programs
[edit] School based programs
These are lesson plans that schools can buy and use.
Seekers is designed for kindergarten through second-grade youth, Discoverers is for third- and fourth-grades, Challengers is for fifth- and sixth-grades, Builders is for seventh- and eighth-graders and Navigators is for high school youth. Champions is a program for children with mental disabilities. The first three programs concentrate on eight character traits: respect, responsibility, honesty/trust, caring/fairness, perseverance, self-discipline, courage, and citizenship. The two programs for older children continue this and add career preparedness. Champions concentrates on self-concept, personal/social skills, and life skills.
[edit] Workplace based programs
Exploring is the career oriented program for youth ages fourteen through twenty-one. Exploring's purpose is to provide experiences that help young people mature and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults. Local community organizations such as a police department or local company sponsor Explorer posts in a particular field such as police work or computers. They encourage and support activities that help youths pursue their special interests, grow, and develop. Exploring programs have five areas of emphasis: career opportunities, life skills, citizenship, character education, and leadership experience.
[edit] History
The school based part of Learning for Life started in 1991. In 1998 the older Exploring program was split with the work-based posts such as those in fire and police stations retaining the name but moving to Learning for Life and the rest, such as Sea Scouts, remaining in traditional Scouting but renamed Venturing. To date, there are over 200 career interest programs provided by Learning For Life-Exploring throughout the 304 Councils in the United States and at the locales overseas where Scouting is served.
[edit] Issues
[edit] Tax status and funding
Although the Boy Scouts of America claim that Learning For Life is an independent subsidiary of their own organization, it has never been allowed to have its own independent tax identification number for tax and grant writing purposes. This has led to some difficulty for the program on the council level throughout the United States, as part of the measurable outcomes assigned to Learning For Life program executives is to find independent funding for the local Learning For Life programs outside of traditional Boy Scout fund raising. When writing for grants to promote the independent program, the local Learning For Life subsidiaries must use their local Boy Scout Council tax identification numbers when filling out grant applications for funding. As a result, many Learning For Life programs struggle because potential grant making agencies do not desire to affiliate with the Boy Scouts of America due to their stance on membership and/or social issues. Those groups that do support the Boy Scouts of America won't support Learning For Life on the council level because they assume that their donations are distributed to Learning For Life programs via the operational budget during the year when financial projects are undertaken. As a result of this, Learning for Life on a council level is severely underfunded and operates on a shoe-string budget as a whole with some exceptions.
[edit] Leadership
Nationally, Learning For Life is a separate entity within the Boy Scouts of America's umbrella. Consisting of a leadership team of seasoned senior executive management Scouting professionals, they advise and provide support to the Learning for Life field offices across the United States and overseas. This support and leadership however is in an advisory capacity, and a Learning for Life executive on a council level is found to be answerable to three types of superiors: the council professional leadership (Scout executive and the field director); the council executive board volunteer vice president for Learning for Life–Exploring programs; the national Learning For Life office. This has in some cases lead to concerns about who supervises Learning for Life executives and who and how they are evaluated when it is time to evaluate their performance at the end of the year. As Learning for Life Executives are part of an independent subsidiary they are then, technically, not answerable to the outcomes and measures placed upon them by their traditional council leadership and the Boy Scouts of America; but, instead, it has been argued, should be evaluated by the Learning For Life office, which has, up to this date, failed to implement this kind of control and leadership.
[edit] Marketing and promotions
While Learning for Life on a council level has its own version of a Key-3 (chair, vice chair and program executive), and is responsible for creating its own subcommittees (finance, marketing, program, membership), its overall activities are tied into the council it operates out of. Hence, while Learning For Life is deemed an independent subsidiary, it cannot function without assistance from its council. Yet, council operations in many councils throughout the United States do not acknowledge Learning for Life as a service on their websites or in their Council newsletters, or post Learning for Life materials on local council links. As a result, Learning for Life has to advertise itself via the actions of its own program executives and volunteers– without the benefit of having a suitable budget to distribute materials. As a result, many Learning for Life executives have been attributed as remarking that "Learning for Life is the best kept secret in Scouting".
[edit] References
- ^ Learning for Life - Exploring. Retrieved on 2006-01-15.
- Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development; Great Transitions, Preparing Adolescents for a New Century, page 49
- Peter L. Benson, Ph.D.; Judy Galbraith, M.A.; and Pamela Espeland; What Teens Need to Succeed; Search Institute and Free Spirit Publishing, 1998
