Girl Scouts has always been a leadership-driven organization for girls,
adults and volunteers alike. That rich history is reflected in the Girl
Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE).
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience encompasses everything we know and
love about Girl Scouts – troops, camp, events patches, cookies, etc. –
and enhances these elements with critical leadership processes and
outcomes.
In this illustration of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (above),
Girl Scouts' activities and the way they do them (processes) result in
outcomes that empower girls to become leaders.
Outcomes
Girl Scouts has identified 15 specific outcomes, organized around three themes, that girls achieve through Girl Scouting:
Discover: Girls understand themselves, their values, and their world
Connect: Girls care about, inspire, and team with others
Take Action: Girls act to make the world a better place
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience is designed to make sure every Girl
Scout achieves the same outcomes, regardless of how she participates.
Processes
The outcomes are what girls gain from the Girl Scout Leadership
Experience . . . and processes are how they gain those outcomes. These
processes – the heart of Girl Scouting – are:
- Girl-led: Girls play an active part in determining the what, where, when, how, and why of their activities.
- Learning by doing: Rather than listening to someone tell them
what to do or how to do it, girls get in there and do it themselves.
They explore their own questions, gain new skills, share ideas and take
time to reflect.
- Cooperative learning: Girls work together toward shared goals in an atmosphere of respect and collaboration.
Girl
Scouts Heart of the South aims to empower and teach young girls key values, including courage,
confidence, and character, so they may become leaders in their own lives and in
their communities. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience uses a variety of
programs, resources, and activities to lead girls to three outcomes:
discovering self and values, connecting with others, and taking action to make
the world a better place.
GSLE Outcomes Study Results
Girl
Scouts Heart of the South commissioned the Center for Research on Women (CROW)
at the University
of Memphis to evaluate
their programming with specific age levels (grades 6-12) on progress toward
these three outcomes. Six indicators, established by Girl Scouts of the
USA, were measured: Girls will
develop positive values, develop strong sense of self, promote cooperation and
team building, develop healthy relationships, feel empowered to make a
difference and identify a community need.
The
data from this evaluation provides preliminary evidence that Girl Scouts Heart
of the South is meeting these objectives. Supplemental data from parents and
leaders provide additional support that outcomes are being achieved.
The full report can be viewed here.
Overall,
girls indicated a positive Girl Scout experience. Girl Scouting is helping girls
to recognize and realize their potential, learn from their experiences, work
with others toward shared goals, and apply lessons learned to other areas of
their lives. Specifically, results indicated that Girl Scouts Heart of the South
successfully:
- Nurtured self discovery by
developing positive values and a strong sense of self among
participants
- Successfully promoted connecting
with others through teaching and demonstrating cooperation, team building, and
the development of healthy relationships
- Enabled Seniors and Ambassadors to
feel empowered to make a difference in the world
Through
Girl Scouting, girls are engaged in a leadership development journey that
empowers them to take action to make a difference in their own lives, their
communities, and the world. Girl
Scouts affords the opportunity for girls to develop good self-esteem, adopt
healthy life skills, avoid risky behaviors, stay in school, and gain the
employable skills they need to make themselves and their families healthy and
self-sufficient for generations to come.
Girl Scout Leadership Experience Frequently Asked Questions