ted lasso it has many lessons for teachers when viewed through an educational lens. This should come as no surprise as the show, which debuts in season three March 15 on Apple TV+, was inspired by an educator. Star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis, who plays the perpetually optimistic and always mustachioed main character, based Lasso largely on Donnie Campbell, his former high school basketball coach and real-world math teacher.
Yo interviewed campbell in 2021, and it was easy to see why Sudeikis had been so inspired by him. Like the fictional Lasso, Campbell prioritizes human connection, mentoring, and relationships above all else. As an educator, I find the motivational strategies Lasso has shared on screen so far helpful and a good reminder of what a true teacher and mentor can do when we’re at our best.
I look forward to what the third season has in store. Meanwhile, the first two seasons of the show serve as good reminders of just how positivity, curiosity, kindness, and caring can inspire and guide students, and also just how bad tea tastes.
Here are my teaching tips from Ted Lasso.
1. Subject matter expertise is not everything
When Lasso arrives in England in Season 1, he knows next to nothing about soccer (even by the end of Season 2 his knowledge seems pretty rudimentary), but that doesn’t stop the eager Yankee from helping his players grow both on and off the field. field. field, even if actually winning soccer games is only sometimes a part of that growth. It’s a good reminder that our job as teachers is not always to teach students what we know, but rather to help guide them on their own educational journeys, advise or coach them in their accumulation of knowledge rather than impart our wisdom to them.
2. Curiosity is key
In one of the show’s iconic scenes, Lasso takes part in a high-stakes game of darts and wows everyone with his hitting skills. “Guys underestimated me my whole life,” he says in the scene. “And for years, I never understood why. It used to really annoy me. But one day I was driving my little son to school and I saw this Walt Whitman quote and it was painted on the wall. He would say, ‘Be curious, not critical.’
Realizing that those who underestimate him share a common trait: a lack of curiosity, Lasso never stops to wonder about him as a person or ask questions about his experience.
Curiosity is what makes Lasso who she is and one of the most important attributes students can have. Once we get students curious to learn, the rest is easy. Well, easier.
3. Don’t be afraid to incorporate ideas from others.
One of Lasso’s strengths, possibly his only one, as a football strategist is his willingness to incorporate ideas that others have without threatening his ego or authority. Whether taking advice from Coach Beard, Roy Kent or Nathan, or learning player tips from him, Lasso is always open to hearing new ideas. This is particularly important for teachers who now need to constantly adapt to new technology and be willing to communicate with colleagues and students to learn about everything from new digital platforms to what kind of music students listen to.
4. Positivity is not a miracle cure
“Be positive” is Lasso’s motto, but in Season 2, he and other characters learn that positivity alone isn’t always enough. The season frequently features darker themes and not-so-happy-happy turns, much to the dismay of some viewers. And while we can debate the merits of the direction Season 2 took from a dramatic perspective, it’s certainly true in life and in the classroom that being positive can’t overcome all obstacles. No matter how hard we work and how optimistic we are, we will encounter stumbling blocks, obstacles, and losses. Avoiding toxic positivity means not overlooking the struggles of students, colleagues, and ourselves. In other words, even if we choose to see the cup as half full, we must recognize that it is sometimes half full of tea.
5. Winning is not everything
Lasso cares more about the players on his team than about winning. And while that might not be the attitude he’d prefer the coach of his favorite sports team to have, there’s a lesson for teachers. As educators, we are rightly concerned with test scores and how well students understand the subjects we are teaching, but while evaluating student academic performance is important, the impact of a good class is more than just the final score or qualification, and education is not zero sum. Often when adults look back on their education, they don’t remember what an educator or mentor taught them on a specific topic, but they do remember how the educator cared about them as people and got them excited about the class, whatever it is. the class was. Sometimes it’s not the final score that really counts, but how you played the game.
Bonus lesson: Tea is terrible
This vital lesson on “junk water” is probably not part of your curriculum, but it should be.
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