A great teacher

 I was just going through feedbacks from parents and students as to what qualities they thought a good teacher must have.  Communication came out to be the key. A teacher who was able to communicate the way the students could understand the subject came out to be the winner. Let us go step by step as to what makes a good teacher. In all I could sum up all the qualities in three words: Communication, Knowledge and Commitment.

Communication

Interaction, affection and smiles and clarity of the topic got the major emphasis. For the parents it means communication to them.

Good teachers are considered to be those who come to the level of the students to make them understand what is being taught and at the same time be open to any doubts bothering the students. Effective teachers are approachable, that is the student feels that he can talk to them easily. A good teacher is that friendly person who does not let the student down even incase the student. Most good teachers follow written out lesson plans to give clarity and orientation to self as well as the students.

Parents prefer to be communicated to on a regular basis. For them a good teacher has all the above qualities along with a regular parents interaction plan.

As Chris Morgan, Senior Educational Development Adviser, Teaching and Learning Center says, “they are accessible, available, approachable, enthusiastic, energetic and excited.” In other words they ooze with positivity.

 Knowledge

In depth knowledge of the subject is definitely a must. Professionally skilled teachers with a knack of making the subject interesting score above the rest. Teachers, who are knowledgeable and are still in quest learning and expanding the knowledge base, strike the right cord with the students. They have the clarity of subject and how to go about it for a set of students.

 Knowledge here is not just in terms of the subject but also the knowledge of handling students. How they handle student’s queries, how well do they handle subject matter to the student’s understanding and with how much clarity are they able to put across even the complex topics.

 Commitment

A teacher’s commitment to teach well shows in various activities he takes up right from preparing for the lecture and delivering it to handling queries. It even shows in ones availability for the students.

 They try hard and when the students know the teacher is really trying hard to connect they give their best. 

 Apart from the CKC skill set other professional skills like that of handling students, taking a stand for them, being able to present the lecture to the level of students, making them take risks, allowing the scope of error and rectification accommodating different approaches and a positive attitude came up as major attributes of making of a good teacher.

 Not that teachers don’t do it. It is only when they are aware of what they are doing and where they have to reach, they can really make a good teacher.

http://www.ln.edu.hk/tlc/learning_matters/12-2003-482003.pdf

http://yahooed.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/259/improve

http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/6425.php