Yesterday India won the match against Australia in Melbourne. It was a remarkable win away from home, and that too after the disastrous 36 all out at the first match in Adelaide. One interesting note in winning match was that Rahane was the captain as Kohli is on break. Suresh Menon writes in his column in The Hindu that “It was confirmation of another theory — that you can be a successful captain either in the assertive Virat Kohli manner or in the composed Rahane manner. “. Menon also adds later “that cricket teams tend to reflect the temperament of their captains.”
These two approaches – calm and assertive – is applicable to other situations in life too. In particular this is a recurring question for me as a teacher . All of us at some at point of time have studied under these two types of teachers. We respond to them differently. But i am still unsure which is a better method when teaching, as it also depends on one’s own personal character a lot. I have heard of many teachers who were more assertive when they were young than they were old and vice versa. I prefer and assume to be a ‘calm’ one but not sure if i behave the same way too. The temperament of the teacher always reflects in the class.
Ron Ritchhart writes in his brilliant book on learning ‘Creating Cultures of Thinking’ about teachers role of modeling in learning environments “As a culture shaper, modeling operates on both an explicit and an implicit level. Explicitly, we may demonstrate techniques, processes, and strategies in a way that makes our own thinking visible for students to learn from and appropriate. Implicitly, our actions are constantly on display for our students. They see our passions, our interests, our caring, and our authenticity as thinkers, learners, community members, and leaders. Adult models surround students and make real a world that they may choose to enter or reject.”
Notes : (1) A note of thanks to Aabid Raheem (his blog) to introduce me to Ron Ritchhart‘s book. (2) Suresh Menon ‘Between Wickets’ column in The Hindu dated 30 December,2020
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