Characteristics Of A Teacher

Defining what makes a teacher particularly special and great is not something easy to do. All teachers possess certain qualities that make them unique, and depending on numerous factors such as school setting, personality of students, class size, etc., such qualities may turn out to be effective or ineffective. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes a teacher’s efforts worthwhile, because it is not necessarily a value or statistic that can be calculated numerically. How can one go about determining whether such extraordinary pedagogy is present? It is a matter of whether or not students scored high on standardized tests, whether they enjoyed coming to school everyday, whether they were successful throughout the rest of their

For example, teachers should have an innate desire to want to help and have an impact on a child’s life. Teaching is an incredibly important profession that is most certainly not easy, despite what others may think. It requires a great deal of patience and caring in order to be able to communicate with students and connect with them on a personal level. For this reason, first and foremost, if a teacher does not care about the success and future of his/her students, they cannot be a great teacher, because such disinterest will reveal itself and become apparent through his/her instruction. If one doesn’t truly care about the students, then they do not have sufficient reason to put effort in to their lessons and teaching, which would in turn be a great misfortune on the children’s behalf. On the other hand, should a teacher display such interest and truly care for a student’s success, the difference would be astounding, just as disinterest would come across in one’s instruction, so would interest. If a teacher is truly interested in a child’s successes, they will likely be more motivated to be the best educator they can be on the student’s

Going by the basis of Ducharme’s proposed speculations, it seems as if the term “great teacher” is used too liberally in our society today, and is awarded to too many educators without proper justification, when Ducharme claims that a more appropriate term to describe them would be “competent.” Nonetheless, he proceeds to define such characteristics that can truly be used to classify a teacher as great. For example, he explains that great teachers are those who spark some sort of curiosity and desire to learn in their students, by making them realize that “today’s answers provoke tomorrow’s uneasiness,” embedding in them a “lifelong pursuit of knowledge,” (Ducharme 4, 5). He also explains that great teachers must acknowledge the uniqueness amongst students and be willing to adapt their instruction in a way that fosters such individuality in the classroom without repressing or admonishing it, because each classroom has “students who understand the world through a different medium different from what the rest of the group may be using,” (Ducharme 5). Furthermore, the author goes on to explain that great teachers not only teach the material, but they do so in a manner that is interesting and engaging for the students, a quality which he refers to as the “aesthetic.” If the children cannot