The Scout Method is a system based on the concept of self-education and it is also progressive. The elements of the Scout Method can be illustrated as follows:

The Scout law is a code of living for each individual scout and for the members of the unit collectively – based on Scouting’s principles. Through the practical experience of a code of living applied to daily life, the Scout law provides a concrete (i.e. not abstract) and practical way for young people to understand the values (see Section: Based upon a value system) which Scouting proposes as a basis for one’s life.

The promise is a personal pledge to do one’s best to live according to that code which every young person makes before a group of peers when he or she chooses to join the Movement. By making the Scout promise, the young person makes a conscious and voluntary decision to accept the scout law and to assume the responsibility of that decision through personal effort (“doing one’s best”). The fact of making the promise in front of peers not only makes the personal commitment public, it also symbolizes a social commitment to the others in the group. Making the promise is thus the first symbolic step in the process of self-education.

The law and promise are considered as one element because they are closely linked.

Learning by doing means developing as a result of first-hand experience as opposed to theoretical instruction. It reflects the active way in which young people gain knowledge, skills and attitudes; it reflects Scouting’s practical approach to education, based on learning through the opportunities for experiences that arise in the course of pursuing interests and dealing with everyday life. It is thus a way of helping young people to develop in all dimensions of the personality through extracting what is personally significant from everything that they experience.

The tea system (or patrol system, as it is often called) is the basic organizational structure of the local unit, which is composed of small groups of youth members and the adult leadership.

Each small group, normally comprising 6-8 youth members, operates as a team with one member acting as team leader. Within each team and in ways appropriate to their capacities, the youth members organize their life as a group, sharing responsibilities, and decide upon, organize, carry out and evaluate their activities. This is done with the support of the adult leadership. A representational system ensures that the youth members also participate in the decision-making processes of the unit as a whole with the adult leaders.

The team system, based on young people’s natural tendency to form small groups, channels the substantial influence that peers have on each other in a constructive direction. It enables young people to develop their personal and collective capacities through pooling and building on their individuals’ skills, talents and experience and through the development of mutually supportive team spirit. It also enables them to develop constructive relationships with other young people and adults and to learn to live according to a democratic form of self-government.

A symbol can be described as something familiar which represents something more vast or abstract (e.g. in advertising) t help people to understand and identify with concepts through an appeal to the imagination. In Scouting, a symbolic framework is a set of symbols which represent Scouting’s educational proposal for a particular age range.
The purpose of the symbolic framework is to build on young people’s capacity for imagination, adventure, creativity and inventiveness in a way which stimulates their development, helps them to identify with the directions of development and the values underlying Scouting and stimulates cohesiveness and solidarity within the group.

The very name of the Movement, “Scouting”, is an element of a symbolic framework adopted by Baden-Powell when he wrote Scouting for Boys, intended to inspire the youth of his day. “By the term “Scouting” is meant the work and attributes of backwoodsmen, explorers, hunters, seamen, airmen, pioneers and frontiersmen”. Scouting represented adventure, close-knit groups, developed powers of observation, resourcefulness and a simple healthy life in the great outdoors- all qualities which Baden-Powell sought to promote.

As Scouting now addresses a wider range of ages than when first invented, each age section has a distinct symbolic framework which corresponds to the level of maturity of the age section and focuses on a specific educational need which is characteristic of the age section.

Personal progression is the element concerned with helping each young person to develop the inner motivation to be consciously and actively involved in his or her own development. It enables the young person to progress in his or her own way at his or her own pace in the general direction of the educational objectives of the age section; to gain confidence and to recognize the progress made. The progress scheme is the main tool used to support this element of the Scout Method.

Nature refers to the natural environment - the woods, the plains, the sea, the mountains, the desert – as opposed to the artificially created environments, such as the school yard, cement campsites and crowded cities. Nature also refers to what Baden-Powell called the “harmonious whole” of the “infinite, the historic and microscopic”, and of mankind’s place in it.

Due to immense possibilities that the natural world offers for the development of the young person’s physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual potentials, the natural environment provides an ideal setting in which the Scout Method can be applied. Indeed, although it may not always be readily accessible especially in today’s urbanized environment, most Scouts activities should take place in a natural environment.

However, the use of Nature, as an element of the Scout Method, involves more than activities carried out in the great outdoors. It involves the development of constructive contact with Nature, making full use of all the unique learning opportunities provided by the natural world in order to contribute to the development of young people.

Although referring to the forest, Baden-Powell’s view of Nature as an educational tool can be summarized as follows: “For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the forest is at once a laboratory, a club and a temple.”

Adult support to young people involves three aspects which correspond to the three different roles an adult needs to play within a scout unit:

• The activity leader: he or she must ensure that every activity that the group undertakes is successfully carried out. While no adult can be expected to have all skills required for all activities, it is his or her responsibility to ensure that the necessary technical support and expertise is made available to the group when and where needed.
  
• The educator: he or she needs to directly support the process of self-education and ensure that what a young person experiences has a positive impact on the development of that young person’s knowledge, skills or attitudes. In other words, as an educator, the adult leader needs to relate to each individual member – male or female – so as to help the young person to identify his or her development needs and to ensure that they are met adequately through the Youth Programme.
  
• The group facilitator: based on a voluntary partnership between adults and young people, he or she needs to ensure that relationships within the group are positive and enriching to all and that the group provides an attractive and supportive environment for the continued growth of the group as whole. This implies a rich learning partnership between young people and adults, based on mutual respect, trust and acceptance of each other as persons.