What makes a great teacher?

What makes a great teacher? I have met countless teachers, teachers at all stages of their careers. Veterans, novices and those somewhere in between these two extremes. I have sat with teachers as they reminisce about the good old times, with those who are wishing for better days and with those who are optimistic about what lies ahead. There are those that stay back until dusk and those that arrive at school at dawn. There are so many wonderful, committed and brilliant teachers, and to be honest, there are some average ones, and some shockers. There is no one that isn’t or hasn’t been impacted by education. No matter who you speak to, whatever their age, social background, country of birth or belief system, everybody has a story about education and how it has impacted their lives. Education is the single point of contact for all people. For parents, education represents opportunities for their children. Education represents a gateway to great jobs, income, critical thinking and innovation for their most prized possessions: their children. Regardless of their political persuasion, income or background, education presents a way forward and upward. As teachers within that system, you are the holders of such keys.

Within that system, everyone also has experience with and memories of teachers. Brilliant teachers, teachers who have cared, teachers who couldn’t have been bothered, teachers who were mean and spoke badly of their students and those who did incredible damage to student confidence and self-belief. Whoever you ask, there are always stories.

Allow me to take you on a quick journey and introduce you to three of the different types of teachers: the great, the disinterested and the average.

The Great

The great teacher was Miss J. I had her in both Year 3 and Year 5 - I interviewed this wonderful teacher here for The Art of Teaching Podcast. She was caring, inspirational and always willing to ask how my day was going. I remember once, she wrote me a card after I had done very poorly in my Year 5 spelling test. She said, “I know that you tried hard, and that is all anyone can ask for.” She cared incredibly about her class; she saw individual students and celebrated with us. I left her classes with wonder and optimism for the world around me.

The Disinterested

Mr. C. was my maths teacher in Year 10. He would come into class late, if at all. He wrote on the board the page number that we were to work from and sat in his seat. I loved maths all through school, but I dropped the subject after a year with him. He would sit at the desk, text on his phone, and read the paper. He had been teaching too long and lost interest in his profession and his students many years ago. I left his classes with a pessimism and a dislike of? mathematics.

The Average

Mr. H. was my humanities teacher in High School. I chose the subject for my Year 11 elective, as I was interested in looking at how the world operated and how we functioned as participating members of society. He would come in late, read the paper and then instruct us to start our group work, He was a nice guy. I have no doubt that he cared about his students, but he was an average educator. I hope that at the beginning he went into his career to make a difference, but if so, those days were long gone. I left his classes with a dullness and reluctance to dream.

These are just a few of the types of teachers that I experienced in my school life. The list could go on and on. While each of these personalities is very specific, they are also characters that come up time and time again when I am talking to other adults about their experiences with their schooling.

What you do in your classroom truly, truly matters. Your students are watching,

Which teacher are you?

It begs the question? What is it that makes a great teacher? Is it something that we are born with or is it something that is taught? Are there similarities between the great teachers of the world?