Matching the Sifu’s Leadership Style to the Student’s Learning Level - Application of Situational Leadership in Wing Chun Teaching and Learning
Those who know me are aware I’m a qualified teacher and psychologist as well as a Wing Chun teacher. My experience has been that skill in gung fu and skill in teaching don’t necessarily correlate positively. A gung fu master may be a very skilful fighter but be unable to consistently pass on his skills. Another may be less skilled, but consistently produce a high standard of student. This article draws on my areas of professional knowledge to present a simple view of how a sifu can enhance his students’ learning by varying his leadership style to match the level of his students’ development.
This article doesn’t focus on discussing in any depth ideas of what constitutes leadership. We will assume leadership in this context is appropriately guiding the student in the shared journey to mastery. Simplicity, practicality, efficiency are a few of the Wing Chun principles and this approach measures up well on those criteria.
Firstly, a comment on who is responsible for Wing Chun learning. No sifu is responsible for their student learning (though they can be responsible for them not learning!). The student is responsible for their own learning. Sifus are responsible for teaching and leading learning (as outlined in this article) whilst the students are the ones responsible for their own learning. They can sometimes even learn, if they are clever, if the sifu doesn’t teach properly! Clever students can learn what not to do from negative experiences as well as what to do from positive experiences. Good sifus can teach Wing Chun by employing best practice methods but, for a variety of reasons, some students may still not be able to learn to the required level. Sifus can “point the finger at the moon” but the student must look and see it for themself. The sifu has the moral obligation to pass on his Wing Chun and to do so to the best of their ability. The student has the moral responsibility to learn to the best of their ability. Sifus, however, also have the responsibility of deciding how best to teach each student. “One size fits all”, approaches to teaching is not the Wing Chun way. This is usually applied to teaching different things at different paces but in the same way. What this article suggests is that the sifu has to analyse the learning of the student and as a result also teach in a different way.
Therefore, this article presents a brief outline of some simple ideas as to how sifus can analyse their leadership styles in teaching their students and possibly be more effective in the leadership of student learning. The ideas presented here should provide some assistance in matching appropriate leading of student learning with the learning level of the student.
The categories of Wing Chun learning development used in this article can be defined on two student dimensions as experienced by the sifu in their interactions with the pupil: competence and commitment. Our aim, as sifus, is basically to teach - to lead the student to most effective learning - to move our students from a state of lesser competence and lesser commitment to learning to one of higher competence and higher commitment. This ought to be the students’ aims, too. Sometimes other factors intervene, however.
With respect to their Wing Chun learning, as in most other things in life, students can vary in both their competence and commitment. At any point in time, we can see both competence and commitment as either, high, variable, low, or absent. Generally when commitment is low enough the student will drop out - but not always! Whilst every student is unique and may have relatively unique learning styles, interests and abilities, we can then, under this leadership approach, divide any group of learners into four “categories” based on variations in these two dimensions. Rather than using the “one size fits all” leadership style, this enables us to lead the students’ learning more appropriately by matching their Wing Chun learning developmental level with the most effective sifu leadership style.
The four Wing Chun learning developmental categories define the level of development of the pupil as: above average - high commitment and high competence; high average - high competence and variable commitment; low average - some or variable competence and low commitment; or, low - low competence and high commitment.
Thus we can have the four developmental levels on these two dimensions as:
Student Learning 4 - (SL4) above average - high commitment and high competence;
Student Learning 3 - (SL3) high average - high competence and variable commitment;
Student Learning 2 - (SL2) low average - some or variable competence and low commitment;
Student Learning 1 - (SL1) low - low competence and high commitment.
Of course it isn’t as simple as this in reality but if we are to make sense of our world some generalisations and categorisations are logically essential. A given student’s developmental category will likely also vary with the content of the topic or lesson being studied. They may vary over time too, depending on a number of factors which every sifu can readily imagine. One of these is how well sifus can form a positive and productive relationship and lead Wing Chun learning by motivating students and facilitating their learning! So, the Wing Chun learning developmental levels are not necessarily static. In many cases they certainly won’t be. In some cases, however, there may certainly be more uniformity across the lesson topic and across the years with respect to a given student’s Wing Chun developmental learning category.
This leadership approach then proposes that we can match the most appropriate sifu leadership style with each of these student learning developmental categories. Sifu leadership styles under this approach are defined by their variation on the two dimensions of “support” and “direction”. Defining the leadership styles on the basis of high or low on each dimension we arrive at the following four types of leadership:
L1 - directing - high directive and low supportive behaviours
L2 - coaching - high directive and high supportive behaviours
L3 - supporting - high supportive and low directive behaviours
L4 - delegating - low supportive and low directive behaviours
Whilst, as noted at the outset, it is a logical fact that sifus are responsible for teaching and students are the only ones who can be held accountable for their learning, each of these leadership styles is on a continuum which focuses on enhancing responsibility for, and independence of, learning. The sifu leadership styles can be defined under this leadership notion thus:
L1 - directing - structure, control and supervision. The sifu provides very specific step by step instructions and closely supervises each step being accomplished. Modelling is featured strongly. The emphasis here in the teaching/learning nexus is more on the sifu’s act of teaching. For example I might teach a beginner with repeated models of a technique - either in air or with a partner - and count out the repetitions, offering corrections to faults as they practice.
L2 - coaching - directing and supporting - the sifu continues to direct and closely supervise task accomplishment, but also explains decisions, solicits suggestions, and supports progress. The emphasis here in the teaching/learning nexus shifts more onto the sifu’s act of motivating. For example, I might teach a group of intermediate students a given technique and tell them to go practice in the corner of the gwoon, correcting and helping each other. I will then later ask them what difficulties they found and ask the group for suggestions as to how they might resolve them.
L3 - supporting - praising/encouraging, focus on listening, facilitation - the sifu facilitates and supports student efforts towards accomplishment. The emphasis here in the teaching/learning nexus is more on the sifu sharing more responsibility for the student’s learning with them and fostering more independent learning. For example, I might teach a group of intermediate students some chi sau points and ask them to go to a corner of the gwoon and explore the possibilities. Later, I will assist them in distilling, summarising and sharing their collective findings.
L4 - delegating - responsibility is largely given to the student. The emphasis here in the teaching/learning nexus is more on the student facilitating the increasing development of independent learning. For example I might teach a top student the Wing Chun pole or knives for a period of time then simply tell them to go practice out of class rather than schedule in regular training sessions. Another example might be that I teach an intermediate level student one of the Wing Chun kicks and tell them to practice it and I will check their progress in a few weeks. For a beginning level student I might teach them a technique like gan da and tell them to go practice it and I’ll check back in a few minutes. Later, I will review progress and offer suggestions. Often at this level my role is to guide the student not as much in the execution of techniques or their application but in the most effective ways to train. The responsibility is given to the student to approach me if they have difficulties or queries.
The next step is to match leadership styles to pupil developmental level. This is rationalised under the situational leadership notion being used here by matching the numbers as follows:
SL1< - >L1
SL2< - >L2
SL3< - > L3
SL4< - > L4.
Now this is all wrapped into a series of four steps in the learning environment as follows:
1. Set learning goals for, or with, the student depending on their learning developmental level. (Refer to my article on goal setting for more information here). Set, explain and exemplify performance standards. The sifu has to ask: what aspect of learning needs to be influenced; what constitutes an acceptable standard of performance in that area; and, how will this be measured.
2. Diagnose the student’s learning developmental level - SL1, SL2, SL3 or SL4 - in this area.
3. Match the student’s learning developmental level with the appropriate leadership style.
4. Deliver the appropriate leadership style. If the student’s performance is adequate then proceed to more support and less direction (L1 to L2 or L2 to L3). If performance continues as adequate then eventually provide less support (L3 to L4). Finally proceed, based on this success to setting new learning goals. If the student’s performance is inadequate then return to more support, (L4 to L3), or more direction, (L3 to L2). If performance continues as adequate then eventually allow less independence, provide less support and more direction (L2 to L1). Finally, if necessary, proceed to reviewing, clarifying and agreeing on the learning goals. A lower level goal may be required.
This, then, is briefly one way of seeing sifu leadership styles. In some respects I have seen traditional sifus using a similar model. Mostly, however, I see different ways of approaching Wing Chun teaching. Commonly there is not an analysis of the student’s level of learning and a matching of the sifu’s leadership style. How could this approach be utilised in your gwoon?