In my Master's thesis, I explored the state of support for young scout leaders, provided by different scout groups within Scout Associaltion of Slovenia. Besides that I was interested in what problems young scout leaders face when working with small groups of younger children.
I have been a scout as long as I can remember and have the experience of taking a great deal of responsibility, when I started leading a group of younger scouts, at sixteen years old. I encountered many different problems that I could not face and solve successfully, and was constantly accompanied by a sense of incompetence. I gained the »necessary« knowledge in short ten days at a guide course, but after that I was left to myself, without any support and assistance. I notice that in the local scout group I volunteer in, this is still the case. This encouraged me to explore the state of support in Slovenia, to determine whether this is a general problem.
Given that Scouting is a voluntary activity for youth, I also presented the fields of youth work and volunteering, which is also strongly integrated with social pedagogy. In particular, I have highlighted the support and educational dimensions that are much more researched in these two areas, compared to Scouting, but at the same time they are strongly connected. . I want to emphasize the importance of volunteers' support through research and gain insight into good practices and into established kinds of support within the Slovenian scout groups. Based on the future, I formulate recommendations for a better functioning of my local scout group Rod gorjanskih tabornikov, in the field of supporting young leadears.
The results of the study have demonstrated the presence of problems of young especially in the field of motivation, the preparation of activities and conflict resolution. Despite the presence of various forms of support, which can be of great help to young guides in dealing with problems, there is still a need for additional knowledge, support and assistance.
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