A Good Teacher – Discover 7 Traits That Make One
A good teacher can transform an average academic performer into an excellent one. It is a proven fact that a teacher with a set of specific traits can do wonders with learners of all kinds. Researches in this area have shown that a skilled teacher can positively affect the academic performance of a student, even when other contributing factors like school resources and school leadership are not up to the mark.
A study of the American Economic Association (AEA) further supports this fact by stating that a good teacher can not only shape the present of a student but can mould his or her future for a better life. A good teacher improves the quality of institutions that students attend while directly impacting their future salaries, the quality of their neighbourhood and even their trends in choosing savings plans.
What are the traits that empower the teacher with the ability to enrich lives? The faculty of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) has thrown light on a few aspects that answer this question. Let’s find out from them!
Good Teacher, Good Communicator
Experts say that effective communication not only gets students to be attentive to what teachers have to say but also play a significant role in creating interest in the subjects being taught. A teacher who is a good communicator is more successful in removing fears associated with subjects like mathematics than someone who is not a great communicator. Using communication skills a teacher can simplify methods and concepts to a large extent making it easy for children to grasp and remember the lesson for a longer time.
Good Teachers Are Good Listeners Too
Is conveying a message well enough to be a good teacher? No. One must be a good listener too. Only a good listener will know the needs of students to tackle them accordingly. Good listeners usually tend to be good observers as well, which is an important skill for teachers to be successful in their career. When a teacher listens well he or she is better equipped with opportunities to mend the learning process of students using various techniques based on their needs.
Collaboration Is Key
A teacher who has been good at his or her job for a while knows the importance of working in collaboration with students and other facilitators of education. This will give constructive feedback to the teacher while ensuring that the givers, supporters and seekers of knowledge are all on the same page. Coming together with a variety of experienced people will eliminate flaws in the teaching process and open up the educator to various methods of keeping kids engaged and learning faster.
Adaptability Helps You Teach Better
This takes us to the next quality of a good teacher. Adaptability is an essential element for a successful teaching career. It is important to apply the trial and error method while teaching kids and switch to a new method if one is not giving the desired results. If a teacher is not adaptable, he or she will be hindering their own progress as a teacher while compromising the learning opportunities that students could otherwise have. Change, not only in terms of the tools of teaching but in the approach as well, is crucial.
A Good Teacher Engages Teaching
A good educator knows the importance of two-way communication in his or her job. Just passing information to students is not a good idea. It is important to know if the students are able to understand what is being taught to them. An engaging method of teaching or learning facilitates an opportunity for kids to explore things while being assisted by the teachers. Asking questions to prompt answers from students and will make them come to a conclusion on their own. It will promote critical thinking at an early stage and begin a foundation of a good habit. Engaging students in a question-answer session allows them to correlate what they have learnt in the past and what they are learning in the present.
Patience Is A Must For A Good Teacher
A teacher has to deal with a lot of things in a day. Right from maintaining order in class to explaining concepts, conducting tests, evaluating them and improving students who are lagging behind. All these activities demand a lot of patience from a person who has taken up the responsibility of educating the children. Patience also plays a key role in the life of a teacher when she has to deal with 30 different children in 30 different ways. Some kids will be slow learners while others will require a different type of demonstration to learn. Under such circumstances, patience is what the teachers must use to smartly tackle the situation and ensure the desired outcome.
Empathy Enhances Teaching
To be a successful teacher one must have empathy towards his or her students. Empathy will sensitise a teacher towards abilities and circumstances that her students are in. Keeping in mind these things will enable a teacher to adopt ways in which the student will best understand concepts. Empathy allows a teacher to understand that every student is unique and each one of them will give out different responses to the same stimuli. Knowing and accepting this fact will enable a teacher to adopt a different method for different students. As students come from different socio-economic backgrounds it is important for a teacher to have at least a basic understanding of this to help a child learn better.
A combination of all these traits makes an ideal teacher who in turn gives ideal human beings to the society.
