Embedded Files
Building on the work of Leslie Paul, this book is still used as a manual for Woodcraft. It breaks down the philosophy into more practical tests and badges, based on the training Basil Rawson was already delivering for Woodcraft Folk.
More about
More about
The version of The Woodcraft Way published around 1951–1952 (sometimes subtitled First Year Tests and How to Pass Them). Rawson's book was a post-war effort to modernize the organization’s educational curriculum.
Basil ‘Brown Eagle’ Rawson was a founder of ‘Shefstanthing’. He was President of the Folk Council for over 30 years (1941–1976).
The tests were in woodcraft skills, nature study, and social history, and there were further short books for each badge. Rawson viewed the woodcraft camp as a "socialist society in miniature," wanted badges to promote cooperation rather than competition.
The book reflects Leslie Paul's message that by practicing cooperation and equality in the woods, 'learning by doing', children would develop habits and skills to be better citizens - see The Republic of Children.
Rawson moved Woodcraft away from Native American-inspired imagery, emphasising a more modern, internationalist, and explicitly cooperative outlook. Despite his push for modernization, Rawson was a firm believer in Folk tradition like naming ceremonies.
His naming the book 'The Woodcraft Way' deliberately refered back to Ernest Seton's 'Woodcraft' and 'The Woodcraft Way' manuals for young people written mostly by Marcus Woodward, a British naturalist, author, and journalist who became one of the most prolific voices for the countryside during the early 1900s and is remembered for his association with the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry (OWC). His book was it was a manifesto for living, outlining a system that used "Tribal" organization and outdoor mastery as a way to build character, similar to Kibbo Kift, and also co-educational and sharing many values with Woodcraft Folk, like co-education, peace and nature.
"Woodcraft is the science of the woods... it is the oldest of the sciences, but it is also the newest, for it is the science of seeing things." Marcus Woodward
How it became one of our 100 Objects
How it became one of our 100 Objects
This specific edition is quite rare and mostly lives in archives (like the UCL Institute of Education or the Woodcraft Folk Heritage Archive). While much of Rawson's writing was incorporated into Woodcraft Folk Leader's Handbooks, many woodcraft members remember the 'Pocket sized' Woodcraft Way, along with the test pamplets.
References
References
Woodcraft Folk Archives, UCL Special Collections YMA/WF/270
Woodcraft Folk Archives, UCL Special Collections YMA/WF/72
Where can I find it?
Where can I find it?
This copy was loaned by Linda Norris
Early versions of Basil Rawson's notes printed using 'Spirit Duplicator'.
The Woodcraft Way 'Wayfarer' and ''Supple limb' badge guides.
‘You are facing a most important challenge in the Woodcraft Way' - The Challenge of "Purpose"
Souvenir Brochure introducing Basil Rawson and Henry Fair for the International Children's Camp 1951 - notice the 'Festival of Britain' Emblem. Loaned from Linda Osborn
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