We are excited to welcome Dawn Ledbitter as our new Chair of National Adult Leader Training. Dawn brings over a decade of experience in Rovering, mentoring and adult leader training, as well as an infectious enthusiasm for helping people discover what they are capable of.

As Dawn takes on this new role, we thank Cameron Belling for his years of service and dedication to Rovering and Adult Leader Training. We are grateful for everything he has given to Scouting and wish him success as he begins his next journey.

Let’s find out more about the woman who is driven to bring adult learning to our leaders.

“My Scouting journey began as a 15-year-old teenager with 22^nd Pretoria Sea Scouts.  I joined in 2008 as a late walk-in Scout. All peers were all miles ahead of me. I was like, ‘I’m so behind the curve, I need to step up’. By the time I was 17, I was a Patrol Leader and was learning very fast how to lead and how to encourage others. In 2012, I left the Scout Movement for a year. I did not think that I had the skills to be an adult leader and so it didn’t cross my mind. But a year later, my Troop Scouter pulled me back in and because he believed in me, I was like, ‘How hard can it be?’. What I did not expect was all our leaders to leave! I was on my own as a Troop Scouter at 20, and it was so hard. That’s when I started my Adult Leader training journey. I was so nervous, but the trainers pointed out my inherent abilities and said, ‘You’ve got this.’ Their belief in me sparked a self-confidence I did not know I had. This support is so important!”

When one of her Scouts wanted to be a Springbok Scout, Dawn wanted to learn how to help them get there. “In 2016 I did my Scout Wood Badge. Gosh I can’t believe it has been ten years! The trainers were so inspiring that I just fell in love with training! In 2017 I did my Tutor course. That is where I developed a deep appreciation for mentorship. Carl Nietzsche, the former Gauteng Region’s Regional Adult Leader Trainer Coordination saw something in me. He recruited me as a tutor on my first Scout Warrant. It was scary because I was 24 and I was tutoring people much older than me. But I realised that Scouting does not have an age limit on what people have to offer. People are just keen to learn and in turn give back to children in their communities.

That first experience as a tutor opened the door to many more. After being called ‘a good tutor’, I went on to tutor on 15 more Scout Warrant courses and a few Scout Wood Badges. “I get that absolute buzz when working in my highest passion. Helping people learn, I just love it!” Being a trainer, built Dawn’s inner strength and self-belief. “I started to notice that when I ran sessions, people listened when I spoke. They understood what I meant, or they told me that I said something that impacted them. When I then visited their Scout Groups and saw the Patrol system working and the youth thriving, I felt so proud!”

Dawn went on to complete Adult Leader Training in 2022, receiving her beads and certifications, and was invited to complete her Leader Trainer in 2026. Since 2022 she has served as an Assistant Leader Trainer and has taken on a range of training responsibilities, including course directing various courses like IAL, Rover Warrant, Rover Wood Badge, and Water Awareness courses.

Essentials delivery in Covid lockdown

In addition to being a member of the training team, Dawn has held several volunteer roles, including the Communications Lead for the 2nd Africa Scout Moot. After moving to the east of Joburg, she became an Assistant Troop Scouter at 1st Benoni and later an Assistant Troop Scouter at 3rd Kensington. She also joined the Prometheus Rover Crew in 2015, becoming a Council member and later the Gauteng Regional Council Chair. “I loved my Rover journey but with time being so limited I never thought I could go for my BP Award, and then COVID hit. I had time. For my community service I decided to coordinate a team where together with fellow Rovers we offered essential delivery services for the elderly and vulnerable people during the Covid-19 lockdown. I never thought it would take off like that, but the need was high. I continued to work on my BP Award requirements and decided I wanted to do a training project where I could combine theory and technology and bring learning to our leaders. So, I brought the Oars Charge theory online. I did research into training methodologies and how you teach this online, and that is where I really saw the value and importance of blended or hybrid learning.”

“When our Gauteng Regional Commissioner Angus Hay asked me to step into a Regional Role as RTC Rovers, I was keen to try. In fact, I wanted 30 Rover Crews in Gauteng before I turned 30. That did not go as planned. Although Rovering did grow, Rovers don’t work on a timeline,” she quips.

Training at the heart of Scouting

For Dawn, training isn’t something that sits separately from the rest of Scouting. It is fundamental to everything we do. “Scouts is an informal training institution. Everything is about training. We train our adults to train our Patrol Leaders to train our Scouts. It is at the centre of everything. It is also everyone’s responsibility. We are all in charge of our own learning journey and I want to encourage people to learn. If that means bringing learning to our leaders, then that is what we will need to do.”

Together with Regional ALT Coordinators, I aim to make our training teams more accessible to leaders, to bring learning to where people are by utilising the technology and tools that are available to us. I also want to enable training teams to work together, to streamline training courses, to recognise prior learning, and to foster a culture of openness nationwide. Every Scouter must know who their Regional Training team is and should feel comfortable becoming a trainer themselves. We need to spot and nurture our trainers. The success of this plan is based on having the right people in our teams who are passionate and good at what they do, and who understand servant leadership.”

Dawn’s passion for adult learning extends beyond Scouting. Since 2018, she has worked in the online tertiary training industry, advising and supporting government institutions, organisations and adult learners. “As a learner support specialist for language training my clients are adults. I understand that sometimes learning can be uncomfortable and there are certain shortcomings with programmes and training. My role is to bridge those gaps and make them feel supported so they can succeed and get their qualifications. This industry learning is something I will be bringing to my new role. My professional career evolves around educational technology, bringing learning to people, and there are crossovers that I hope to introduce into Scouting.

We need to make training more accessible by embracing technology and new ways of learning. I want to take our training into the digital age. Our training should remain human-centred but can be technology driven.  In Gauteng there are some good examples of this like bite-sized animations for the Cub Camping course, or the modular Rover Warrant course assisted by WhatsApp. Using technology isn’t about replacing people. It is about making learning easier to access and freeing trainers up to focus on what they do best.”

2nd Africa Scout Moot, by Caroline Boshoff

When asked where this passion for Adult Leader Training comes from, she laughs and says: “Scouting! I believe that learning inspires curiosity. In Scouting, our Meerkats and Cubs are so excited to explore the world and learn new things. As adults we can follow their example and stay curious, and then step up and learn new things to inspire them to grow. It’s a circle of growth. If we can empower well trained Scouters, we can solve most of our problems and enable our Scouts to do the same. That is what lights up my soul and why I love training!”

So, where to from now, to quote Dawn, “Let’s get it done! “