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Creative and Critical Thinking PDF Print E-mail

In the Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA, our Scouts have the opportunity to choose which of their interests and passions they wish to pursue and how.  Consequently, our Scouts participate in worthwhile activities they have personalized.  We believe by creating an environment where our Scouts can voluntarily choose to follow their own interests and participate in something they are interested in, they are more enthusiastic.  Our Scouts use the skills of creative and critical thinking and choose how they wish to spend their time as a part of our Scout Programs.  This allows our Scouts to choose, organize, and lead their own adventures.  Scouts use both creative and critical thinking to come to a reasonable conclusion about what choices to make.  Creative and critical thinking are almost direct opposites, but both are necessary in decision making.

Creative Thinkingconfident girl with computer

Creative thinking is a specific type of thinking in which our Scouts generate new ideas or find relationships between known ideas.  Free association is a hallmark of creative thinking.  The most well known form of creative thinking, Brainstorming, is a tool our Scouts use regularly to come up with new ideas, weigh them for how possible and popular they are, and ultimately pick one. 

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a specific type of thinking in which our Scouts actually improve their ability to think by analyzing the way in which they think.  By analyzing how and why they view certain pieces of data certain ways, our Scouts have the ability to set their own intellectual standards.  wondered childThe most attractive feature of critical thinking is the ability to self-correct.  It is expected in critical thinking that new facts will be discovered and new ideas will come to light, and therefore our Scouts' conclusions have the ability change given new information.  We are more concerned with how our Scouts can use an experience combined with other experiences than they are with memorization of details.

Creative and critical thinking are skills in which our Scouts are able to analyze data and experiences and come to reasonable conclusions.  They can then take that information and come up with innovative solutions to problems.

The Importance of Creative and Critical Thinking

We have created an environment that permits our Scouts to work toward common goals and our mutually shared mission.  Our efforts ensure continuity and an integrated, choice-filled programs organized, created and led by our Scouts.  We are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the content of our programs, and of our systems, and strive to create challenging character-oriented program activities that is FUN for all.  We encourage the acquisition of creative and critical thinking skills based upon analytical fact-finding from the broadest number of sources. 

We believe it is important that all of our Scouts possess the ability to critically think, and therefore, have the ability to uncover bias, question and analyze information, and to creatively think, thereby combining unexpected ideas and thoughts to come up with innovative solutions.  While we seek much from our Scouts; however, we only ask each Scout to give their best.  We believe strongly in fulfilling the promise and potential of each Scout.  Although all our Scouts are held to the same high standards, each receives the support and assistance they need in order for them to give their best. 

Our Scouts use creative and critical thinking during their Challenges, Personal Achievement projects, and will continue to build the skills throughout their lives.

Acquiring the Skills of Creative and Critical Thinking

Our Scouts discover they are unique, and develop skills which encourage them to be responsible for their life physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually.  We enhance the character that parents have instilled in their child.  Our Scouts acquire creative and critical thinking, decision-making, problem solving, and communication skills.

The use of action hero play by our Rising Star Scouts enables them to develop creative and critical thinking, friendship, and leadership skills.  boys dressed up as action heroesThe wearing of capes, costumes, and the use of super powers by our Rising Star Scouts creates a FUN and imaginative play space that encourages creativity and the acquisition of practical life skills.

We allow our Scouts the freedom to discover for themselves who they are and how they can be individually great.  We focus on our Scouts' abilities and encourage their use of the skills of creative and critical thinking while accepting personal responsibility for themselves and their decisions.  We believe in the future and support our Scouts finding strength in the present, yet bounded by the past.  We encourage our Scouts as they stride into the future, to have hope as they discover new vistas, build their lives and their future families.  It is our intention they always be proud of what they committed to when they accepted the title of Scout in the Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA.  We act with care today, so in the future others will always be proud of the effort we put forth as we carry the torch from this generation to the next.

Our Scouts develop the skills of creative and critical thinking and subsequently follow their own conscience and act with conviction.  It is our desire that our Scouts have an opportunity to lead happy, healthy and productive lives.  Skills and abilities that were adequate in prior generations are potentially today no longer sufficient.  We recognize education is the foundation for the development of career and job skills.  We therefore provide our Scouts the opportunity to explore content using creative and critical thinking skills.

We encourage our North Star Scouts to explore various jobs and careers, and interact with professionals from all walks of life.  Our Scouts become thinking, caring, and competent adults.

Learning By Doing

We are aware that parents are conscious that their child should not just know facts and figures, but also know how to figure things out on their own.  They are aware that most rarely remember detail but rather the more important things that life is all about.  We all remember the last trip we took and every trip we took, though we might not remember what we had for dinner two nights ago.  The experiences our Scouts have are theirs.  After all, when our Scouts do something rather than talk or think about it, it is even more exciting.  That is why We Do More!  They are great experiences because the Scouts themselves are responsible for choosing, organizing, and leading them, and what is most important is that they had choice.  Democracy trusts the people and, in the Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA, we trust our Scouts.

Our Scouts choose, organize, and lead their own meetings, programs, and activities and consequently have the opportunity to choose how they wish to spend their time and in what way.  After all, our Scouts are not just the future, but also a part of the present.  It is their present, their time, and their choices that we enable.  The Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA are more concerned with how our Scouts can use an experience combined with other experiences than they are with memorization of details.  One of our goals is to ensure our Scouts develop responsible citizenship using critical thinking skills based upon analytical fact finding from the broadest number of sources.  We seek for our Scouts to play a par t in society and they do so by serving their communities.  We have developed challenging programs that encourage effort, personal achievement, and good character.  We include the opportunity for our Scouts to demonstrate skills previously acquired based upon new circumstances.  This permits challenging our Scouts to give their best, not in some endeavors but in every endeavor.  Our Scouts acquire respect for themselves and appreciation for others by virtue of their participation in the Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA. 

We are proud our Scout Program inspires our Scouts to get out of the house and away from television.  Our activities challenge our Scouts to use and develop their creative and critical thinking skills.  Our Scouts discover new interests by participating in social activities, which they themselves choose, organize, and lead.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Adventure Scouts USA