About the Girl Scout Leadership Experience Model
Do you know this girl?
She knows herself. She values friendship.
She is ethical, smart and aware. She respects
the environment, knowledge, and those who
guide her. She is independent, kind, and powerful.
She has qualities, skills, and talents and uses them
to make a difference in the world.
She is a Girl Scout.
The New Girl Scout Leadership Experience Program Model
The New Girl Scout Leadership Experience program model is centered on building the world’s best leadership experience that ties activities to outcomes, provides differentiation for girls from kindergarten through high school, and offers flexible pathways for today’s diverse and busy girls and volunteers.
The Girl Scout Leadership Experience engages girls in discovering themselves, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place. Discover, Connect, and Take Action are the three keys to Leadership.
In Girl Scouting, Discover + Connect + Take Action=Leadership. All Girl Scout experiences are intentionally designed to tie to one or more of the 15 national leadership outcomes, or benefits, categorized under the three keys to leadership.
As part of Girl Scouts of the USA’s (GSUSA) new Girl Scout Leadership Experience, a new series of program resource options for girls and leaders, called Leadership Journeys, has been created. The first two Journey serries are It’s Your World – Change It! and It's Your Planet - Love It!: “How to” books corresponding to each of the girl books have also been created for adults. These guides for adult volunteers offer plenty of support, including sample sessions to tailor with girls, to carry out the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
DISCOVER:
Girls understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world.
CONNECT:
Girls care about, inspire, and team with others locally and globally.
TAKE ACTION:
Girls act to make the world a better place.
As the new program option is rolled out, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles will continue to provide high-quality, low-cost council-sponsored programs for girls of all levels of Girl Scouting. Programs will be adapted to the new program model and tie to the 15 national outcomes on an ongoing basis.
By using the Leadership Experience as the “engine” for all programming, we will be able to adjust local offerings and purposefully plan them based on the leadership outcomes intended for girls. Leaders are encouraged to adapt their program planning to the new program model and consider the 15 national outcomes over the next few years.
What about badges? In addition to the journeys, Girls can continue choosing and earning badges that represent their varied interests. Earning badges is an important tradition in Girl Scouting, and it is here to stay! As adults and girls become more familiar with the elements of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, they will even be able to see how the Discover, Connect, and Take Action leadership keys can be integrated into earning badges.
Of course, no matter what activities girls do in Girl Scouting, the experience is always best when it incorporates the Girl Scout processes: Girl Led, Learning by Doing, and Cooperative Learning.
Over the next several years, Girl Scouts of the USA will be updating some badges to ensure the learning experiences tie to the national leadership outcomes intended for girls. As new or refreshed badges become available and “old” badges are phased out, girls will have time to transition. They will not “lose out” on activities they have begun or planned.