Everything centers around the girl in Girl Scouts: Activities are
girl-led, which gives girls the opportunity to take on leadership
roles and learn by doing in a cooperative learning environment. It’s
what makes Girl Scouts truly unique—our program is designed by,
with, and for girls.
Although girls may start building their leadership skills in school
and on sports teams, research shows that the courage,
confidence, and character they develop as Girl Scouts stay with them
throughout their lives. Our program and outcomes are based in
research, and our studies show that Girl Scouting has a measurable
impact on girls. Check out our studies and in-depth research.
What girls do in Girl Scouting all fits within three
keys: Discover, Connect, and Take Action.
- When Girl Scouts do exciting badge activities, earn
a Girl Scout Journey award, attend an amazing program or
event, or go camping, you are helping them discover
who they are, what excites them, and what their talents
are.
- Girl Scouts connect when they collaborate
with others—their troop, leaders, or community experts—and expand
their horizons. This helps them care about, support, inspire, and
team with others locally and globally.
- With your guidance,
your Girl Scouts will deepen their relationship with the world
around them, and they’ll be eager to take action to make the
world a better place.
As for how they do it? The Girl Scout Leadership Experience draws on
three unique processes that help girls unlock their inner leader.
-
Girl-led means Girl Scouts of every age take an active and
age-appropriate role in figuring out the what, where, when, why, and
how of all the exciting activities they’ll do. The girl-led process
is critically important to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience—when
girls actively lead and shape their experiences, they know their
voices matters, they feel empowered to make decisions, and they stay
engaged in their activities.
- Girl Scouts enjoy hands-on
activities and learn by doing. Then, after reflecting on
their activities, girls gain a deeper understanding of the concepts
and skills the activities require.
- Through cooperative
learning, Girl Scouts share knowledge and skills in an
atmosphere of respect, teamwork, and collaboration as they work
toward a common goal.
As a volunteer, you’ll draw on these Girl Scout processes as you
lead girls of any age. Girl-led at the Daisy level will look very
different from the Ambassador level, of course. What’s most important
is that your Girl Scouts make decisions about the activities they
do together and that they also make choices within
that activity. As they learn from their successes and failures and
gain a major confidence boost, all girls have the opportunity to lead
within their peer groups. By the time girls are Cadettes, Seniors, and
Ambassadors, they’ll be using the leadership skills they’ve developed
to take more ownership of their activities, mentor younger Girl
Scouts, and take action to make the world a better place.
One last tip about following these processes: Girl Scouting isn’t a
to-do list, so please don’t ever feel that checking activities off a
list is more important than tuning in to what interests girls and
sparks their imaginations. Projects don’t have to come out
perfectly—in fact, it’s a valuable learning experience when they
don’t—and Girl Scouts don’t have to fill their vests and sashes with
badges. What matters most is the fun and learning that happens as they
make experiences their own, so don’t be afraid to step
back and let your girls take the lead.
