Sidekicks and Supporting Roles: Modeling The Minor Character

Every classroom is full of leaders, first responder's, accomplices, background performers even understudies but if given an opportunity, most students jump in to become the headliner. The name in all CAPS on the marquee. But as we have seen in superhero and action films, it is the sidekick or "friend" that comes to the rescue. They are the man in the chair, directing the hero to the villains lair, the scene of the kerfuffle, or the arena of the battle. Yet, when we model for our students responsibility and duty of participating in a group, leadership is what we focus on. We discuss how to be a leader, how to direct, how to organize and get the group functioning on task, but we rarely model how to be a sidekick. It is important though to make sure that situations change and on occasion Hulk is in the line of fire and protecting his team, while Captain America is playing a supportive role. They are both superheroes, both will leap into any situation to fight evil but they each have their strengths and thus share the enterprise and undertaking of conquering the bad guys. 

How do we model being a sidekick? Most students will feel this position is inferior to that of the starring role. But, if we discuss our stories of working with others, where we supported those who needed us, we highlighted their abilities and stayed in the shadows: organizing and planning not implementing the mission, they will discover that no one can go it alone all the time. Even the strongest of leaders have a team who work behind the scene to make them look good. To let them appear flawless. Without these administrative proponents and ally's, superheros would not have time to defend. Leaders would not have the opportunity to prioritize their abilities, encourage their tribe, pilot their ship. When the ark gets off course it is the support staff that get it repaired and aligned with the groups vision and mission. Every member of the troop is integral to the machine that makes up the cohort. The leader is only as good as their staff, volunteers and cadre. In the Marvel universe it is the Agent's of Shield that have the Avenger's back, that make it possible for them to simply fight the enemy.

I explain to my students that the witty banter of any movie can only happen when the sidekick or best friend is along side the main character. There is a history there. They know each other so well that they do not have to speak, just eye contact explains any situation. If the protagonist is getting too full of themselves, are losing sight of the goal or getting obsessive about catching the bad guy, no matter the danger, the sidekick steps in and without hassle speaks the truth, re-centering their best friend. This is the importance of this character, this role, they are exposed to risk, they break the rules to help their comrade but they stay out of the action in order to make sure that the hero is successful. Without the partner, pal, buddy, things may not always turn out the right way or positively for our hero.

If we set up student-centered classrooms, these roles of hero, sidekick, extra's and even background actors all become interchangeable with different activities and lessons. While the loudest and most confident may automatically steer their way to the leader position, we must show them that the supporting role, the organizer, the planner, the director is just as important as the starring role. Show them that our role as teacher is supportive. Every part that is played in a group is dependent on one another. I explain that in our classroom, I am not the star or the hero, or even the director. I am a background character, listening to them, the actors, perform their lines, improv their scenes and supervise the set. The hero changes from day to day, the star becomes the sidekick and the set-designer takes on the role of the lighting crew because without knowledge and experience of every role in the classroom, the movie set would not be successful. Someday's we watch dailies while others we add the soundtrack but together, intricately, humbly and selflessly, we are making movie history.