What makes a great teacher?
Some teachers regularly improve students’ test scores, while others leave their students with below-average results year after year. This can happen right next to each other; same rank, same building. The results of dozens of studies point to the same most significant factor: a good teacher is the single greatest influence on a student’s chances of success.
Among the factors that do not predict a teacher’s ability? “A graduate degree, a high SAT score, an outgoing personality, friendliness, confidence, warmth, enthusiasm, and passing the teacher certification exam on the first try,” quotes Elizabeth Green, a writer for The New York Times.
“Parents have always been concerned about where to send their children to school, but school, statistically speaking, doesn’t matter as much as which adult stands in front of their children,” said Amanda Ripley, reporting on Teach’s statistical findings. forAmerica. .
Teach for America data suggests two main traits that link all good teachers: setting high goals for their students and continually seeking ways to improve their teaching. “Grandmasters constantly reevaluate what they’re doing,” Ripley said.
A teacher must constantly reassess and pay attention to what works for their students because every classroom is different. This requires patience and dedication, and a love of teaching, to do well. Teacher Marie F. Hassett states: “Good teachers habitually think and reflect about their classes, their students, their methods and their materials.”
“Another trait seemed to matter even more,” says Ripley. Teachers who scored high on “life satisfaction” based on evaluation tests were 43 percent more likely to perform well in the classroom. No wonder here, a happy person is usually the best teacher.
Doug Lemov, teacher, principal, founder and consultant for the Uncommon Schools charter school network in New York, has a different approach when he thinks about good teaching. Lemov, who has conducted his own research and published a “Taxonomy of Effective Teaching Practices,” believes that what often seems like “born genius” is actually “deliberate technique in disguise.” He suggests that good teaching is not purely instinctive, but that good teachers can be formed by acquiring knowledge of pedagogical techniques.
“Lemov’s view is that getting students to pay attention is not only crucial, but also a skill as specialized, complex and easy to learn as playing the guitar,” explains Green.
In a 2010 study by German researchers, Baumert and colleagues evaluated 194 high school math teachers and found that while content knowledge is essential, teachers who possessed strong math and pedagogical knowledge were the most effective.
What about passion and talent?
Author, educator, and activist Parker Palmer argues that good teaching is not about technique. After many conversations with students about what makes a good teacher, Palmer says, “They all describe people who have had some kind of connective ability, who connect themselves with their students, their students with each other, and with each other. all with the subject being studied.
“Good teaching often has less to do with our knowledge and skills than with our attitude toward our students, our subject matter, and our work,” says Teacher Marie F. Hassett.
To add to the discussion, I asked my colleagues for their thoughts on what makes a good teacher, and these are the traits we came up with here at 360 Education Solutions:
Making it fun. Using different teaching styles, a hands-on approach, and being adaptable are all marks of a good teacher. Good teachers have to stay on top of educational standards while keeping their students engaged by making it fun and including activities in their lessons. If a teacher can keep his students engaged and constantly make things an argument, he is doing well. A good teacher must challenge their students to think creatively and influence them by being creative with the way they teach.
be invested. A good teacher is invested in the subject and the students in it. It is important to know the subject material well, but also to understand how students can understand or misunderstand it, and to be aware of them and what they need. Getting to know your students on a personal level, like what is going on in their lives, is important not only to connect, but also to understand what they need as students. Elementary school teachers and even high school teachers must often play the role of teacher and parent.
Preparing students for the ‘battle’. A colleague gave me a very descriptive example of how he views a great teacher. His job is to give his students “the sword and shield,” he explained, “so they can go into battle.” Because when they complete his challenges, he empowers them, he says, and when they’ve done it themselves, they can claim ownership. “Good teachers are the ones who don’t give you the answer… they open the door for you but let you walk through it,” he says. “And the reason I say this is because the important things in my life happened because of teachers and mentors like this.”
Be hard. No one likes a teacher who is mean, spiteful, or over-punishing. But a co-worker likes a tough teacher because they challenge him. “It seems like the teachers that everyone hates for giving the most work and not letting you do well end up being the ones you learn the most from,” he said.
Other qualities we remember from our favorite teachers:
• Relationability
• Respect your students
• Have enthusiasm
• Present new perspectives
• They care about their students and what they teach
• Are willing to go the extra mile
Most importantly, good teachers are the ones who have the patience to give their students the attention they deserve and are dedicated to helping them go further than anyone thought possible.
“Good teaching is not a static state, but a constant process,” concludes Hassett. “Every day we have new opportunities to become better teachers; good teachers are those who take more opportunities than they lose”.
Remember: good teaching means student success, but student success cannot be judged solely on test scores. Furthermore, a student’s success depends not only on a good teacher, but also on her own motivation. A good teacher can only “show them the door”, the student must go through it.