The method of instruction in Scouting is that of creating in the boy the desire to learn for himself.
Erudition - that is, reading, writing, and arithmetic - is taught in the schools; but where is the more important quality, character, taught? Nowhere in particular. There is no authorized training for children in character.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that while academic subjects are taught in schools, character development is often neglected.
Robert Baden-Powell highlights a significant gap in education systems, where traditional subjects such as reading, writing, and arithmetic take precedence over essential qualities like character. He argues that character education is not formally addressed, suggesting that instilling values, ethics, and character in children is just as important, if not more so, than academic knowledge. This raises a crucial point about the holistic development of individuals and the responsibility of educators and society in nurturing moral character.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on education reform, this quote can be used to highlight the need for character education.
More from Robert Baden-Powell
All quotes →The more responsibility the Scoutmaster gives his patrol leaders, the more they will respond.
Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.
Success in training the boy depends largely on the Scoutmaster's own personal example.
Football is a grand game for developing a lad physically and also morally, for he learns to play with good temper and unselfishness, to play in his place, and to play the game, and these are the best of training for any game of life.
Life would pall if it were all sugar; salt is bitter if taken by itself; but when tasted as part of the dish, it savours the meat. Difficulties are the salt of life.
Similar quotes
In my writing class, we never, ever talk about the writing - ever. We never address a story that's been read. I also won't let anyone look at the person who's reading. No eye contact; everybody has to draw a spiral. And I would like to do a drawing class where we could talk about anything except for the drawing. No one could even mention it.
And let no one suppose that I claim that just living can be taught for, in a word, I hold that there does not exist an art of the kind which can implant sobriety and justice into depraved natures. Nevertheless, I do think that the study of political discourse can help more than any other thing to stimulate and form such qualities of character
Education is identical with helping the child realize his potentialities. The opposite of education is manipulation, which is based on the absence of faith in the growth of potentialities and the connection that a child will be right only if the adults put into him what is desirable and suppress what seems to be undesirable.
The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary.
You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences.
Simply put, girls and women are the keys that will unlock sustainable development. They are also at the center of the healthier and more resilient societies we desire.