Areas of Personal Growth

Although there is a large amount of fun and adventure in Scouting, that is our method not our purpose.

In Aids to Scoutmastership, Baden-Powell wrote:

“The aim of the Scout training is to improve the standard of our future citizenhood, especially in character and health; to replace self with service, to make the lads individually efficient, morally and physically, with the object of using that efficiency for service for their fellow-men.”

Our purpose

“The purpose of the Scout Movement is to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities.”

There are six areas of personal growth                     Area of Development

• Spiritual Development                                      SOUL
• Physical Development                                      BODY 
• Intellectual Development                                 INTELLIGENCE
• Emotional Development                                   EMOTIONS
• Social Development                                           SOCIAL NATURE
• Character Development                                    CHARACTER 

Character is the dimension of personal identity. It unifies all the other areas in a process of personal growth. Without the dimension of character, the person cannot be the actor of his/her own development.

The six areas

Scouting takes all the dimensions of the human personality into account and, therefore, identifies several areas of growth on which Scouting's educational objectives are based.

The areas of growth should not be considered separate elements, but as parts of a whole. They are all interrelated and form a whole, the human personality.

Let us illustrate this with a concrete example: making a cube from cardboard. You start by drawing the six faces of the cube in the form of a cross on the cardboard. The six faces are identical and are on the same level, just like the six areas of growth described above. However, to build a cube, it is necessary to join each of the six faces to the others on different planes.

In the same way, when the human personality is developing, the six areas of growth interact with each other. The human personality is a whole integrating all the areas of growth. The character occupies a central position: it unifies a person and forms their identity.

The body seems to be at the root of everything else: emotions, intelligence and social nature. It is through one's senses and body that one discovers the world and communicates with others. However, physical development is itself influenced by emotions and social relationships. Disorders such as obesity are often due to emotional or relationship problems. The spiritual dimension is related to the meaning of life. It cannot develop independently from one's relationship with others and with oneself; it is based on sociability, intelligence and emotion.

It would be a serious error to consider each area of growth independently from the others. The human personality cannot be cut into slices.

Scouting has an explicit goal: to help young people develop their full potential so that they can be fulfilled as individuals and contribute towards the development of society (the Mission of Scouting).

These results should be observable by the young person themselves, by peers and by adult leaders.