John Simkin Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Nils Clausson teaches in the Department of English at the University of Regina in Canada. In this article he examines the characteristics of a good teacher. He argues that a good teacher is: Sociable Personalized to student needs Makes it comfortable, fun, etc. Caring, kind, supportive, positive, funny Involved Passionate about teaching Patient Fair, equal Organized Respect Creative Do you all agree? Is there anything he has missed? http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-09-27-03.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Koene Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Perhaps that he has a working knowledge of the subject he/she is teaching? We are at the moment trying to come up with our own list of the characteristics of a good teacher and most of them we also had on our own list. But there are also some we did not think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Intelligent flexible realistic assertive autonomous self aware subversive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Koene Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 subversive Could you please explain that one to me? The dutch translation has for me a negative connotation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 subversive Could you please explain that one to me? The dutch translation has for me a negative connotation. Some would also interpret it thus in English. I however believe that the best teachers are lateral, critical and subversive thinkers given that I believe our aim should be to create lateral, critical and subversive thinking in our students... students who can think for themselves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Koene Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Thank you! And I agree with the part that students should be thinking for themselves. Perhaps an idea for another thread; describe the ideal student. Tried to start that thread but keep getting an error message. Will try again later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UlrikeSchuhFricke Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 How about asking students to join the debate ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nico Zijlstra Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 How about asking students to join the debate ? Good idea! I'll start that topic in my own school forum and I'll post the results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted January 15, 2004 Author Share Posted January 15, 2004 I did not encounter any good teachers while I was at school. Luckily I did meet one soon after while working in a factory. One of the things he taught me was that you did not have to work in an educational institution to be a good teacher. I did however have a couple of good teachers at university. More importantly, I also found a couple more while training to become a teacher. I agree with Nils Clausson that a good teacher needs to be caring, supportive, humorous, patient, fair, creative, sociable and well-organized. As well as being passionate about teaching, they should also be passionate about the subject they are teaching. As a result of the dominant ideology existing in schools, students are in danger of believing that teaching is mainly about delivering good exam grades. That education is a means to an end. Being passionate about your subject helps to show your students that it is a means in itself. In this way you help to communicate to the student that the subject you are teaching is vitally important in the process of turning that student into an active citizen. I also agree with Andy Walker that a good teacher should be a subversive. This is the only trait mentioned so far where there is likely to some disagreement about. However, I feel Andy is quite right to stress this character trait. All schools are more about training than educating. A good teacher has to constantly question this process. Being a good teacher is not about providing right answers. It is about getting the students to ask the right questions. A good teacher also has to be energetic. Without a lot of energy the system will grind you down and you will end up being pessimistic about what you can achieve. Surely the worst teacher of all is the one who entered the profession as an idealist and ends up as a negative pragmatist. The good teacher also has to be courageous. The need to take risks is vitally important in order to become a good teacher. The mediocre teacher finds an approach to teaching that makes them feel safe. The good teacher rejects the idea of safety and constantly seeks new ways of making education relevant to their students. Being brave is a vital part of being a good teacher. Being passionate about your subject is going to be a painful experience. Many students will reject your subject as being boring and irrelevant. That hurts. You have to be fairly brave to keep coming back for more. A music teacher once told me that he was retraining to become a maths teacher. When I asked him why he replied: “because I love music and I find the rejection too painful”. Finally, and most importantly, the good teacher has to be generous. I remember a young art teacher telling me he was leaving the profession. I was surprised because he had the reputation of being a good teacher. I asked him why he made that decision. He replied that he was leaving teaching because he realised that he cared more about his own work, than that of his students. He added that he was not generous enough to be a good teacher. I expect most of the regular contributors to this forum are good teachers. By finding time to contribute their views on education and by their willingness to share resources with their colleagues, they show their generosity. As I said at the beginning, good teachers are not only found in the classroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Koene Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 A good teacher has to constantly question this process. Being a good teacher is not about providing right answers. It is about getting the students to ask the right questions This is exactly what we are trying to accomplish with the concept of natural learning. (see thread on natural learing elsewhere on this forum). But for a teacher to leave the relative safety(see the recent tragic events here in The Hague) of his classroom is a big step. Many teachers may still feel that they are 'kings' in the classroom and are not open for change. having an open-mind is therefore a very important characteristic. For me change is inevitable, society is changing, why not education? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mshapiro Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 Please be careful to read Nils' article in its entirety. The list that has been quoted from the article is one that Nils criticizes in the article because of its omission of important characteristics such as subject matter competence. Sincerely, Dr. Mark H. Shapiro Editor and Publisher The Irascible Professor http://irascibleprofessor.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Richmond Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 'Subversive' does have some negative connotations but I know what you mean. I think one of the most important characteristics a good teacher can have is to be a life-long student themsleves. There are plenty of occasions when I have extended my own knowldege (and I hasten to add that I think I have a pretty extensive range of knowldge and skills already) through teaching students. I try to enthuse everyone with my own enthusiasm and that's tiring sometimes ! So tireless might be added and I guess possessing 'Great Commitment ' (with capitals !) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Koene Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 There are plenty of occasions when I have extended my own knowldege (and I hasten to add that I think I have a pretty extensive range of knowldge and skills already) through teaching students. So teaching others is indeed the best way of learning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max dAyala Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I can still remember reading lists of characteristics of good teachers when I did my teacher training. I think that if you had all those qualities mentioned so far you wouldn't be just a good teacher you'd be a brilliant teacher. I can certainly think of many teachers I have worked with that I would rank as being very good teachers. (Very good at interacting with other teachers as well as students!) Personally, I know I'm deficient in some of these traits, although probably above average in a few of them as well. So overall I would hopefully come out about average; I can think of some pupils who seemed to hate me, others I got on really well with. (I'm no longer a class room teacher.) It's difficult to judge who were the best teachers when I was at school. Most of them were competent, a few dreadful, but having seen the other side of the fence I can only say that the education I received could have been much better. I guess the teachers I've liked best are those that are genuine and honest and don't try to be something they are not. Max www.8886.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmayo Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 Came across this on this website http://www.gillmacmillan.ie/ECom/Library3....c7?OpenDocument Students' perceptions of 'good' teachers 'Good' teachers Get angry sometimes, when there is a reason Listen to all sides Stick to the rules Treat all the children fairly Say sorry when they have done something wrong Give interesting lessons Always have things for the pupils to do Always mark classwork and homework Ask the children what they think Are on time for lessons Stop children behaving badly Deal with bad behaviour quietly (do not shout) Are the same way every day Try to make children understand Students' perceptions of 'bad' teachers 'Bad' teachers Have favourites Are not ready for lessons Are late to lessons Are rude to children Don't know the children's names Let some children get away with things and not others Shout at children Don't help when the work is too hard Don't like some children Waste time Are too strict Do not listen to children Do not give children a second chance Are friendly out of class but not in class Leave the classroom halfway through a lesson Do not care if children work or not Are moody Do not bother to mark classwork Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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