What Is It Like To Be A Good Teacher?

We have all, at one time or another in our lives, been students. During this period, we met various professors, and among them, some who stood out for their abilities. But, what are the qualities that make someone a good teacher? Educational psychologists have long tried to answer this question, and in this article we present to you the conclusions they reached.

Before starting to talk about the qualities that it takes to be a good teacher, it is necessary to say that we are facing one of the most complex professions. The processes of education and instruction require intelligence and precision, and just knowing them and knowing how to use them is a difficult task. On the other hand, a professor does not face this only problem; They must also know how to deal with the students and the individual conditions of each.

Studies on this subject have shown that educational quality increases when the teacher achieves the following aspects:

• Subject Matter Skills: It is essential that the teacher has a good command of the subject matter they are teaching. Of course, this knowledge involves knowing more than just terms, facts and concepts. Good organization as well as a good connection between ideas are also necessary. It is essential that the teacher is able to discuss all aspects of the subject and to extrapolate his / her knowledge to other fields.
• Instructional Strategies: To achieve good instruction, the appropriate strategies must be applied. Today, we consider that the most optimal strategies are those of a constructivist character, which lead to see the pupil as a little theoretician who builds his world, which is why the strategy to be followed consists in stimulating the pupil so that he explores, discovers knowledge and thinks critically.

• Goal setting and educational planning: Effective teachers don’t improvise their lessons. They set complex goals for teaching and put in place plans to get there. Good planning involves a lot of work and time. But thanks to this, we manage to make learning a challenge and an interesting activity.
• Developmentally Appropriate Practices: As they grow older, students change the way they learn and cope with the challenges they encounter. Therefore, it is necessary that teachers know the different stages of development in children, so that they are willing to design the instructional materials according to the level of development.

• Abilities to control and manage the classroom: An important characteristic of an effective teacher is to see the class as a whole, to work as a team and to direct tasks. To achieve this, it is preferable that the teacher can count on a whole series of skills, such as defining rules, organizing groups, supervising tasks, controlling bad behavior, etc. A very disciplinary or very lax control has very negative consequences on teaching; it is necessary to succeed in establishing a democratic and coherent environment.
• Motivational skills: if students do not have the necessary motivation, the quality of learning will be reduced. This is why it is preferable for the teacher to rely on various strategies aimed at stimulating the student’s interest in the subject. In this sense, effective teachers make educational tasks creative and stimulating activities that improve educational quality.

• Communication skills: being a teacher means getting involved in debates and presentations, but also using public speaking. Indeed, a good teacher has no problems adapting his level of expression to the characteristics of the receptor. We are talking here about a communication which is not only directed towards the pupils, but also towards the rest of the school communication.
• Recognition of individual differences: no student is identical to another, each has their own qualities and their own learning profile. Being a good teacher therefore implies presenting the skills necessary to recognize these individual differences. On the other hand, it is also necessary for the teacher to adapt his / her instruction in an individualized manner to each pupil.

• Effective work in diverse cultural contexts: Nowadays, due to globalization, it is common to find culturally diverse classes. This is why, among the skills required for the position of teacher, there is that of knowing the cultural peculiarities of his students, so that they interact only for the good of the instructional process. The teacher’s role will therefore consist in encouraging the pupils to bond positively with one another and to avoid cultural stigmatization.

• Assessment skills: an effective teacher is aware of the learning level of each student. To do this, he knows how to use assessment tools appropriately, and thus knows the strengths and weaknesses of his students. Evaluation, even if it is now a verification system, should work differently. The optimal function of the evaluation is to know the state as well as the level of the pupil to guide his instruction.

• Technological capacities: Technological tools, if used correctly, imply an increase in educational quality. This is why good teachers have knowledge and are up to date on new technologies. On the other hand, they are also responsible for familiarizing students with said technologies.

Now that we know what qualities it takes to be a good teacher, we can see that the level of requirements is quite high. It seems almost impossible that one person is able to combine all of these conditions and abilities. But being a teacher is a profession of great responsibility, and you can’t afford not to be up to the task.

The teacher is a central figure in the development of the instruction and education of the pupil. If the teacher is bad, then some of his / her students will not be able to develop to their full potential.

On the other hand, we must not ignore that, if we want quality professionals, we need training for teachers that is also of quality. It is certain that attitude is very important, but the knowledge and skills acquired are no less so, hence the fact that investing in education is one of the best investments of the future that a society can make.

Our thoughts

Before starting to study, the child has already created a series of theories that explain his reality: these are the intuitive theories.