Good teacher

Ten Characteristics of a Good Teacher

            There is a line in Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince that applies to any endeavor, but especially taching. It reads:
“That which is essential cannot be seen with the eye. Only with the heart can one know it rightly.” These essence of teaching id difficult to qualify but that line leads directly into my most essential criterion.

            1. I want a teacher who has a contagious enthusiasm for his teaching—one who, as Rich ard Via says, loves his students and his work.  Mr. Via is an educational specialist  in using drama techniques to teach EFL at the East West Center in Hawaii. I was fortunate enough to attend his teacher-training seminar in Korea in 1976. It was a pleasure to be in his audience. His enjoyment in  transmitting knowledge and participating in theseminar was apparent and infectious. His passion for

teaching instilled a passion for learning in all the participants. For me, the most crucial factors in effectivete aching are who the teacher is and how he acts in the classroom. This influences the way the students react toward the target language and, therefore, their success in learning it.

2. I want a teacher who is creative. Teaching must be more than simply opening a book, doing exercises, and following an outline written by someone else. In the tedium of repetition, the student can go through the motions of doing the exercises without his mind being engaged. What can a teacher do to engage the student’s mind? There are a myriad of techniques that the creative teacher can employ—information-gap exercises, games, songs, jazz chants, problem solving, and other techniques that allow the student to utilize the skills he has already developed in his first language.

3. I want a teacher who can add pace and humor to the class. The humor of one of my teachers had the effect of alleviating my nervousness—of reducing my affective filter. There was a rapport among the students and the teacher because we were all laughing together. We had a good time learning, and we made a lot of progress because we were not afraid to make mistakes; we could take chances. As Krashen would say, the affective filters of the students were low, facilitating acquisition.

Another teacher that I had maintained an excellent pace in the class. She never lost an instant consulting a list or thinking about what to do next; she had prepared—that was evident—and she was going to capitalize on every second. I was somewhat nervous in her class, but I didn’t have time to worry about it because events moved so quickly. I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat so that I wouldn’t miss anything, and my adrenalin was a positive force.

I should add that humor is a double-edged sword: it can backfire, for what is funny to one person may not be funny to another. Humor across cultures can add a layer of difficulty to communication.

4. I want a teacher who challenges me. I had several teachers who always spoke to me in Spanish, both in and out of class. I felt they were showing confidence in me and chal lenging me to speak Spanish. The student’s passive knowledge of the target language is always greater than his active knowledge. There is no reason why a teacher should use any language other than the target language except possibly for purposes of expediency. When a teacher reverts to the native language, he is showing a lack of patience with the students’ struggles in the target  language. In addition, switching codes is confusing. I was  given a test in which all the in structions were read to me  in English, so that I would be sure to understand every-thing. Then I had to answer in Spanish. But the test had three parts and I had to continue switching codes back  and forth from En glish to Spanish; I found this very  confus ing. It is like going off a diet—once you cheat a  little, then you want to cheat a little more. If someone  speaks to me in English, this activates my English chan-nel and I am prepared to think in English. Speaking in  the target language to the learner prepares and challeng-es him to speak in that language.

            In addition, I want a teacher who can maintain a level of difficulty high enough to challenge me, but not so high as to discourage me.

5.  I want a teacher who is encouraging and patient, and who will not give up on me. Some of the teachers that I have had demonstrated incredible patience with all of their students, never allowing even a shadow of displeasure to cross their faces in reaction to continued incor-rect speaking after endless correction (which may say something about the policy of correction). When the teacher is positive—encouraging initial and repeated attempts—the students will apply themselves more diligently. Motivation thrives on success.

6.  I want a teacher who will take an interest in me as a per-son—one who will try to discover discussion topics  that interest me. When I was teaching, one of the first  things I did was to try to find out what my students’ in-terests were: hobbies, past employment, family, travel, etc. The easiest, most accessible area of conversation is oneself. The initial and intermediate stages of devel-opment for the language student do not abound with opportunities for coherent self-expression. Most of the time, we language students feel fairly incompetent be-cause we cannot express ourselves adequately, as we are accustomed to doing in our native language. Thus, if we can discuss some little accomplishment we’ve had, or something that we take pleasure in or are proud of, so

much the better.

7.  I want a teacher who knows grammar well and who can explain something on the spot 1

if necessary.I also want  a teacher who is realistic and has the simple courage  to admit that he doesn’t know an answer if indeed he doesn’t. I have had some teachers who, probably as the result of the de-emphasis on grammar explanation in the structuralist tradition, did not provide enough explanations. It seems to me that a more eclectic ap-proach would take into consideration the needs of the adult learner, who should be given some insight into the intricacies of grammar.

8.  I want a teacher who will take a minute or two to answer a question after class, or who will take five minutes to correct something that I have done on my own. I had several teachers who did this willingly and who encouraged the students to do extra work on their own. I also had a teacher who made some corrections for me at my request, but somehow I felt as if I had  encroached on her time. Is teaching to be exactly 50 minutes of the hour and no more? First, we as teach-ers need to encourage students not only to study what is required, but to pursue on their own areas in which they are interested. Acquisition is facilitated when it concerns information that we need or are interested in. And second, we need to appreciate our students’ efforts.

9.  I want a teacher who will treat me as a per son, on an equal basis with all the members of the class, regardless of sex, marital status, race, or my future need for the language. In some of my classes women were given discussion topics relating only to the home and family, and men were rarely asked to talk about their families. Men were also given more “talk” time than the women. This can be discouraging to the student, and that is not conducive to progress. As teachers, we must look carefully at our classes to be certain that we are in-cluding everyone equally. I know that I have prob-ably been guilty of bias toward the brighter and more energetic students—they’re more challenging for the teacher and more interesting for the class. But now that I have been a victim of bias my self, I will cer-tainly be more aware of treating my students equally.

10.  Finally, I want a teacher who will leave his emotional baggage outside the classroom. The classroom is a stage, and to be effective the teacher must in some cases be an actor. I do not want to interrupt my concentration by worrying about what might be bothering the teacher. Nor do I want a teacher who sustains himself through  ridicule or sarcasm, playing havoc with the emotions of his students and thereby blocking any learning/acqui-sition that might take place.