The Importance Of A Good Educator

There are many ways for an educator to be ‘good’, they all have their own styles, strengths and weaknesses. As the ways they teach vary so are the qualities educators possess that enhance their teaching and make them ‘good’. There no definitive qualities that make an educator great, however it is a combination of many that work together to enhance and produce quality teaching that is more effective, inspire and capture the audience. These all work together to help create an environment the children feel safe, secure, comfortable and happy in, a space that encourages their learning. At the begging of the semester when asked “what makes a good educator?’ my answer was very broad including lots of qualities that didn’t seem to connect to each

“Qualification requirements.. mean greater individual care and attention for your child” (NQS quality area 4). Educators need the knowledge provided by other educators and theorists to understand the effectiveness, appropriateness and context in which to use teaching practices and styles. They need to be able to understand and have the ability to use strategies such as ‘modelling and demonstrating, open questioning, speculating, explaining, engaging in shared thinking and problem solving to extend children’s thinking and learning” (DEEWR 2009 p. 15). For example Vygotsky’s theory on play, that talks of the importance using play as a fundamental tool to create experiences the children can learn from as it “provides opportunities for children to learn as they discover, create, improvise and imagine” (DEEWR 2009 p.15). Or other teachers recording and evaluating their own teaching and making it public so others can learn from their mistakes and success. Such as Deans’ etal (2007) drama experience where they show the importance of switching teaching roles, from guided to direct teaching so their is a balance between child led, child initiated and teacher supported activities (DEEWR 2009). An educators qualification, knowledge and understanding are important as they allow educators to get to know and understand the child. To fulfil the EYLF’s

These dispositions are important because they make the teaching dynamic and engaging. If someone loves their work they are more willing to put effort into making it more comprehensive and fun, enabling more effective learning. Theses dispositions also inference an educators communication and teamwork skills, to build strong positive relationships these dispositions are needed. For example to build an educator-family relationship showing they care and are aware of their child’s needs is vital, or child-educator relationships where the child feeds off the dispositions and energy of the educator. As mentioned previously children learn by observation, so when educators display these dispositions they help promote children 's own development of them. The EYLF also helps to show the importance of teachers possessing positive dispositions. Within the document the outcomes are broken down to show how they are evident in children and how educators can promote the their development, through out the suggested strategies for educators it expresses an importance in them role modelling and exposing the children to the skills they need to develop. Educators are asked to display “delight, encouragement and enthusiasm for children’s attempts... model care, empathy and respect...” (DEEWR