Everyone remembers the great teachers that they had at school and a great teacher has the ability to influence pupils far beyond the classroom. Many people state a teacher from their past to be someone who had a profound impact on their life and may have influenced them in many ways – including igniting a passion which went on to become a career or helped to shape the kind of person that they became. Great teachers will be able to do much more than simply educate to the required standard and have a high pass rate (although this is also very important), so read on to find out what you need to be a great teacher.
1. Passion
The best teachers are the ones that have a clear passion for what they do. They can make learning fun by bringing a certain level of enjoyment and energy to the classroom and the content that they teach. This is often what helps to inspire and ignite a passion in some of the students. It is hard to succeed as a teacher if you clearly do not care about the content, so if you want to be one of the teachers that stand out then you need to have passion.
2. Respect (Both Ways)
Respect is essential in the classroom and this goes both ways. You need to show respect to your pupils so that they feel confident in sharing their thoughts and opinions – when you create this environment, you should find that the pupils respect you too which is so important for success and learning.
3. Ability to Connect With Pupils
As a teacher, it is very hard to get the pupils to really engage with the content and put the work in if you are not able to connect and build relationships with them. Of course, there are also teachers that try too hard to be friends with the pupils, which can make it hard to command respect – so there is a fine balance to strike. The great teachers are the ones that can find this balance and will connect with pupils and have fun, but also command respect and be able to handle difficult students and situations.
4. Positivity
Following this point, positivity is a hugely important trait in the classroom. Having positive energy can be infectious, so if you are encouraging and have a smile on your face then you are much more likely to engage the group and get the message across. Additionally, being positive when certain students are struggling can be helpful for showing support and encouraging them to succeed.
5. Excellent Observation & Listening Skills
As a teacher, you obviously need to have excellent communication skills and be able to present confidently. An overlooked area of this is your observational and listening skills, as a great teacher will be able to use these to pick up on who is struggling with the content and who may need some additional help. Every pupil is different and you need to be able to recognize this and determine which pupils may be struggling.
6. Flexibility
As a teacher you need to have some flexibility when it comes to your approach or method. You need to have your main style of teaching that you use to present to the entire class, but when you notice that some students are struggling (as above) then you need to be able to change your approach and perhaps offer some individual support. This flexibility is key as not every pupil is the same and people respond to different methods of teaching in different ways.
7. MA in Education
The teachers that excel in the classroom as well as develop their career need to have the right qualifications and an MA is an excellent qualification that can take your teaching and your career to new heights. You will learn all that you need to know to become a great teacher and even qualify for leadership roles, plus you can earn this qualification online with a masters in education distance learning programme.
8. To Be A Good Planner
Great teaching is all about preparation, so you will need to spend time preparing every single lesson carefully. This will help you to get the content across, to maximize the time that you have with your pupils and make sure that you do not miss anything important out. As mentioned above, you need to have some flexibility but a solid plan is vital too.
9. To Be Accessible & Approachable
Everyone remembers teachers from school that people were afraid to talk to and were nervous about their lessons. While it is good to command respect, you also need to be accessible and approachable to students so that they can come to you if they have any problems (about school or even their home life). It is not always possible to pick up on when a student is struggling, so being accessible and approachable is important and will help you to form stronger connections while helping your students to succeed in the classroom.
10. Positive Relationships with Colleagues
It is not just the pupils that you must think about as a great teacher is also one that has positive relationships with their colleagues. This is important in terms of having respect throughout the school, receiving and giving support and advice to other teachers and generally for creating a team-based mentality in the school.
11. Professionalism
While it is certainly helpful to have some fun and to form connections with your pupils, there must also be a clear line and you need to maintain professionalism at all times. Your personal life should never seep through into the classroom as this can complicate the student-teacher relationship, plus you must always take pride in your appearance, act professionally and be prepared each day so that you will be respected and to create the right atmosphere to learn.
These are all attributes that the great teachers have and if you have these then you could be the kind of teacher that people remember forever and have a huge impact on people’s lives long after leaving school.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
