Escoteiros do Brasil holds 1st Brazilian Scout Education Congress

Escoteiros do Brasil (The Boy Scouts of Brazil) held the first Brazilian Scout Education Congress in São Paulo from 5 – 7 September 2015.

Some 200 participants from around the country, Scouts from Uruguay and Portugal as well as representatives from the Bandeirantes Federation of Brazil (WAGGGS) gathered to discuss and reflect on the educational approach of Scouting as a programme for the self-development of children and teenagers.

Themed "Scouting - Education for Life", the event was attended by World Scout Committee Chairperson, João Armando Gonçalves who presented a lecture on "Scouting as a learning environment" that was followed by a debate.

Satisfied with the outcome of the Congress, he stressed on the importance of conducting discussions that address the educational part of the Scout Movement. "Doing things and doing them well, not only because we have always done so or because it is the tradition. We need to look around and adapt to this reality that we have around us," he noted.

Escoteiros do Brasil is the first National Scout Organization in the world to hold an education congress after participating in the 1st World Congress of Education that was held in Hong Kong in 2013 by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The experience gained at the world level congress served as a basis for the structuring of the Brazilian edition, which was promoted in partnership with the University of São Paulo, the largest university in the country.

Other speakers at the congress included Eduard Vallory, a doctor of political science studies on Scouting as an educational tool and president of the UNESCO Centre of Catalonia. He spoke about the purpose of Scouting and its role within the formal education, and pointed out that formal and non-formal education are merging and require new approaches.

Hector Carrer, a specialist in socio-communitarian education and Chairperson of the educational Scout Experience project by the Ecuador Scout Association, which is organised in partnership with the Ministry of the country Education, exemplified how Scouting empowers and develops a number of skills in young people through his presentation entitled "Non-formal education".

Fabiana Pioker, a professor at the University of São Paulo, explored interdisciplinarity and complexity in school to defragment the traditional view of teaching.

In addition to lectures, the event included seminars, exhibition of academic papers, and served as a space to share experiences and knowledge.

Abstracts of the papers presented - and soon the complete works - can be viewed at www.escoteiros.org.br/congressodeeducacao.